2020 Official Member Review: Nippon Zelos Iron Shafts

[StrokerAce]

 

Inspired by ZELOS, the Greek god of rivalry, the name ZELOS was chosen to encourage competitiveness among steel-shaft users who relentlessly seek progress.

N.S. PRO ZELOS employs newly developed, cutting-edge, high-intensity NZNS60 material that outperforms all other patented materials used in N.S PRO competitors’ steel shafts. In fact, it delivers the smooth control and performance of high-carbon material. The superior performance of its newly developed material contributes to a more stable swing and definitive impact.

Follow along as these 3 lucky members will be reshafting their irons with the new ZELOS shafts:
@TENBUCK - Zelos 6  | Review
@ZMendle10 - Zelos 7  | Review
@IDontGiveAchuck - Zelos 8 | Review

[TENBUCK]

[placeholder]

First off I want to thank MGS and Nippon for giving me the opportunity to test the Zelos 6, the worlds lightest steel golf shaft. This shaft fit into my wheelhouse and frankly I’ve learned a lot about these shafts in the time I’ve had them out on the course.  I really can’t believe how light they are and how they are so stable. These shafts are very comparable to graphite but with a lot more stability. I will try and give you my best possible review of these shafts. As usual, if there are any questions about the Zelos 6 shaft please ask.

 

I had high hopes in getting a full review in with some launch monitor data, but around here they are closed, so instead of delaying this repost any longer, I thought I would post it as is and put in any data from actual golf experiences. On course data will also be somewhat limited because of the dormant grass and quit a few bare areas where you really can’t get the full benefit of an iron just because of the lie.

 

My clubs that were re-shafted were Callaway CF16. I was fit in them with the Steelfiber i70 shafts. My driver SS is in the low 80’s(82-83) so I don’t generate much speed as compared to some on here. My HDCP. is a little over 14 at the current time and it generally stays there. It might shift a little lower during the summer months. My typical ball flight is high and I usually don’t work the ball.

 

Looks: (9 out of 10)

 It’s a steel shaft with blue lettering that I had installed down so I wouldn’t have to look at it during address. The shafts don’t have a label like TT puts on their shaft but the blue is painted on like their NS Pro models and looks really good

 

Feel: (9 out of 10)

 When you waggle the club, there is flex, a lot more than my steelfiber had so at first I was concerned. I thought wow this is not what I was looking for. It felt kind of whippy, but I could still feel the clubhead during my swing. Maybe the Zelos 6 wasn’t made for me, but oh well, I had them re-shafted so let’s see what happens.

 

Basic Characteristics (INC)

I could not get use of a launch monitor due to closures.

 

On Course (10-10)

To my surprise, on course my first swing produced a high shot that went straight (I actually launched a junk ball because I was curious). My first full swing with the irons was a 160 yd 7 iron shot that went straight and high. I was surprised again. Subsequent swings produced essentially the same type of shot, high and straight. That didn’t surprised me as much as the fact the with that much flex in the club, I didn’t slice. I expected it to slice, but it just produced a straight shot that I could harder at. This shaft fit me better than my Steelfiber which surprised me more than me not slicing the ball. I did take these out on the course(if you want to call it that since everything was dormant and bare). You will find my results written up in these review pages.

 

Play it or Trade it (10-10)

PLAY IT. These are in my CF16’s and will stay there.

Again I was lucky enough to be picked to test the Zelos 6 shafts and I’m very glad I was picked. I will be providing reviews as the season progresses, and also how gentle they are on the elbow which was the main reason I went with graphite.

 

Conclusion:

I don’t know how Nippon markets these shafts, but whatever, a disservice is being done here. These Zelos shafts could be the missing link for a lot of golfers who are in graphite but are having mixed results. I’m not a fitter by any stretch, but if anyone is doing a fitting, I would definitely include these, at least give them a shot. Maybe these(Zelos 6) aren’t for you but I can’t help but wonder the rest of the Zelos line for those who have a higher SS than I do or are in graphite and want more stability, height, distance.

 

 

 

 

[ZMendle10]

Hey everyone, I’m ZMendle10 and I joined the My Golf Spy forums in early September this year. This is my first testing opportunity, and it has been an honor to be selected to test the Nippon N.S. Pro Zelos 7. 

Intro

I am from New Jersey and I have lived here my whole life and as long as there is no snow on the ground courses remain open and the game doesn’t stop. I have been playing golf since I was little, and I was introduced to the game by my Nonno and have loved the game ever since. Since I have graduated from college and have been working full time in my field, I have been able to take my own game more seriously and try and improve as much as possible. I work 7am-4pm Mon-Fri as a mechanical engineer that gets to design mounts that hold mirrors so people can redirect light. Designing things has always been my second passion next to golf and the ultimate yet slightly unrealistic would be to design either irons or putters for a major OEM. Aside from my main job I was lucky enough to get a part time job at an indoor golf simulator business called Golf Cave (shameless plug I know). We utilize Trackman there and after hours I have the ability to practice and aside from on course testing is where I did all of the testing for the Nippon Zelos 7. 

 My current handicap for the year is a 14.5 with my biggest weakness being my approach shots with my irons. My putting and short game have been my saving grace during my rounds and when you keep missing GIR’s they kind of have to be in order to post a decent score. I was fitted in October 2019 for my 2019 P790’s from 4-GW with the Nippon N.S. Pro Modus 3 Tour 120 Stiff flex at 1/2in longer than standard length. While I love the P790’s the one thing that I have noticed about my irons is that they are heavy between the additional length and heavier Modus 120.  I’ve tried to use heavier grips to try and counterbalance the swingweight and this has helped but the heaviness of the club is still there. I wasn’t able to have the swingweight measured but I emailed Taylormade what my build makeup was, and they responded that it should be in the D3-D4 range. The hope is to see if the lighter Zelos 7 helps with this issue which I personally can’t think of a better chance for a thorough test.

I have a high ball flight and my typical miss is a huge hook off the planet. My tempo is a moderate back swing with an aggressive downswing. Whenever I have a number into the green I like, I am aiming at the center of the green and going for it. I don't usually go after pins unless I am really confident with the club and yardage but more often than not, I am going for the center of the green and letting my putting do the work from there. I rarely miss the green left or right and usually come up short on my approach shots from poor club selection and yardage calculation.

Now that the introductions are in order, we can get into the review of Nippon Zelos 7. 

What’s to be expected.

• Higher launch

• More distance

• Higher peak height

• Tighter dispersion

• Better stability in the shaft profile without sacrificing feel. 

First Impressions: First impressions were simply done by hitting some balls at random distances on trackman with random clubs then trying out a 9-hole course on trackman.

Looks

Nothing too fancy with the looks of an iron shaft. The logo clearly tells you the shaft name and specs and I am a fan of the blue but it's an iron shaft there is no wow and crazy logo or branding just clean and simple.

                               

 

The Waggle Test

These things are light. Much lighter than I was expecting but it was a welcomed change for me. Playing irons at a D3 to D4 I felt like I really had to swing hard to get the club moving but with these I feel that I can achieve the same speed much easier. 

Performance

Stable, for even aggressive swings AW was able to get to 90mph club head speed and the face was still fine, light but very balanced and by no means whippy. Smooth and what I felt like were slow swings were able to hit my club head speed with the Modus 120 shafts with ease. However, they still performed when my swings got aggressive and really allowed me to go after the ball. Shots were very high launching compared to the Modus 120’s this is exactly as the shafts were billed as.
 

Looks (8 out of 10 points) 

The looks of this shaft are very minimalistic and that is something that I tend to like for my iron shafts. The graphics are similar to my Modus 120 but instead of bright red Modus 120 it is bright blue and reads Zelos 7. Another small difference is the Modus 120 has these ovals expanding around the shaft name where the Zelos 7doesn’t have any additional shaping around the shaft name. The blue itself is very eye catching but not very readable at all unless you get right up close to it. Really the only thing I can fault it for and as stated earlier it's a steel iron shaft so looks wise there is not going to be much to it

. 

Feel (9 out of 10 points)

The feel I get from these things is they are incredibly balanced and just as stable. Even though I was coming from a 115-gram shaft I didn’t miss a beat at all with these shafts. The output you get with this shaft is whatever you put into it.  If you take an aggressive backswing the shafts will still perform just fine but it isn’t as easy to feel the shaft load. If you push or pull your shot, you will see just that and if you put a swing on the ball that either slices or in my case hooks it you will see just that.

I find it hard to get a sense of feel in a launch monitor setting and while I enjoyed them in the hitting bay these shafts came alive out on the course. Slower backswings out on the course and a more controlled downswing tempo allowed me to feel the loading of the shaft and the kick right through impact.

Basic Characteristics (18 out of 20 points)

Nippon claims that these shafts are incredibly stable providing more distance through higher launch while also tightening up dispersion. Nippon is essentially climbing that this shaft can do it all and you won’t need anything else. They also think that the Zelos 7 isn’t just for the slower swing speed golfer and handles even the quicker swinging golfer. While I am not as fast as a tour pro my swing speed with my modus 120’s was 85mph which I think is something a fair number of golfers can relate to.

 

A lot of the testing that I did was almost exclusively inside and on Trackman which I found essential when comparing things like peak height, launch angle, decent angle, and all the other things that these shafts are promising. The way shots were selected for data collection was that any shot that was offline from the center line by 20yds or more in either direction was not counted. The other remaining actor in shot selection was smash factor. If a shots smash factor was in line with a pga tour players average smash factor +/- 0.02 it was considered. So, if a shot was within that offline range of +/- 20yds of the centerline and the smash factor to that is in line with a PGA tour pro then it was considered a well struck ball with a good swing. 

 

Now let’s get into the data.

 

Club Head Speed: With the Zelos 7 weighing 40g less than my Modus 120’s swing speeds with the Zelos 7 was up across the board.

 

 

Launch Angle: The AW to 9i and 6i through 4i were all clearly higher launching in the Zelos 7 when compared to the Modus 120. The 8i and the 7i were launching higher with the Modus 120 but only by 0.1° which is negligible in the scheme of things especially when considering landing angle and peak height.

 

 

Peak Height: So far, the Zelos 7 is providing faster clubhead speeds and higher launch and those two things combined are a recipe for a greater peak height and the Zelos 7 beats the Modus 120 yet again. 

 

 

Carry Distance: The Zelos 7 was providing not only increased carry distances when compared to the Modus 120 and who is going to say no to some more free yardage. 

 

Landing Angle: The Zelos 7 was coming in substantially steeper than the Modus 120 with the shallowest landing angle at 46° with the 4 iron. None of these irons are going to have any issues stopping on a green and gives me the power to attack tucked pins without having to worry about rollout.

 

Dispersion: Each club had somewhere in the range of 50 to 65 shots and they were spaced out over the course of 3 or 4 sessions depending on how the session went. What is very interesting to note is that as you move from the shorter wedges to the longer iron’s shots spread themselves out more and more over the data range of +/- 20 yards as opposed to being heavily dominated to the left side from AW to 8 iron. Maybe this is typical for iron shafts in general and I am just seeing it for the first time, but it is worth noting. There is something to be said about the dispersion of these shafts as each graph has a distinct grouping of straight shots, shots to the left, and shots to the right.

 

 

On-Course / LM Performance (28 out of 30 points)

On the course these shafts started to sing. It’s very easy to get ahead of yourself on a launch monitor, open up your shoulders and swing away. If you hit a poor shot, who cares just delete it and move on but on the course, there is no delete button. I only was able to play 34 holes during the testing period as there was snow on the ground and prevented me from getting any real course testing in, but I made the most of the time I was able to get.

 The first 18 I played was when the course was frozen solid. There was a frost delay, but the course wasn’t too concerned, and the greens were frozen solid to the point of nowhere no shots would land softly but would roll out 5 to 10 yards instead. Although it was cold there was no wind at all, so I was able to get a really good idea of how the ball was flying. I wasn’t going to concern myself with distance because it was far too cold to compare the course to the trackman. I was happy to see exactly the ball flights I expected when I made solid contact. Overall, the ball was flying high and straight and the shafts were giving me the control I was looking for. 

Remember that increased descent angle? Since the greens started softening up this was the result with a 7 iron with only 3 inches of rollout. Stopping power was not an issue with these shafts at all.

                 

The next 16 holes were a bit more interesting as it was warmer, but wind was gusting up to 35mph. This to me was the bigger test because it allowed me to see if I could keep my ball flight low and out of the wind and if I can’t, will the ball balloon up or stay stable. On the range the wind is right in my face and my shots were going nowhere but they were not ballooning straight up just running out of steam. Nothing was going erratically left or right, so I was happy with what I was seeing, and this translated onto the course.

 

 

It’s only been 34 holes but so far, my strokes gained has gone from losing 4.0 strokes per round to gaining 2.3 strokes per round. It is far too early to tell if this is the shafts or not, but more course testing is in the for these shafts for sure.

Strokes Gained with Modus 120

                               

Strokes Gained with Zelos 7

                                                                 

 

Miscellaneous (7 out of 10 points)

Nippon had excellent customer service and Mark was very knowledgeable about the build process. He let me know about the swingweight of my irons and that they would be coming in at D1 and strongly advised against me using my midsize grips. I wasn’t fond of the idea, but I trusted his judgement and pressed onward. This didn’t last long as I wasn’t comfortable with the standard size grips and the early data shows this, so I put my midsize Pure DTX grips on was back at it. No idea what the swingweight would be now but that doesn’t concern me as I was able to feel comfortable swinging my irons again.

The diameter of the shafts is also on the thinner side and it required 2 pieces of double-sided tape to reach the diameter of a standard iron shaft. That coupled with the fact that putting on grip that is larger than standard isn’t recommended is what attributes to the score. I put my midsize grips on for the sake of the test. I might be lucky and have gotten away with it, but I do not recommend it and it should be considered when trying these shafts. 

Play it or Trade it? (18 out of 20 points)

Play it. I had my reservations at first after the initial excitement wore off but after switching my grips from standard MCC Align back to my midsize Pure DTX those slowly went away. I still had thoughts about possibly switching back but after playing 16 holes in really windy conditions on my last day of on course testing, they solidified a spot in the bag. What I was seeing on the course was what I was seeing on trackman which is always encouraging. And after looking at the bar graphs and seeing the Zelos 7 outperform the Modus 120 by launching only 1° higher at most that solidifies the decision. They have fully earned a spot in my bag and it is made official by the updated paint job.

                                     Out with the old…                                                                  

                                 

                                   In with the Blue!!                                              

Conclusion

These shafts were exactly as they were billed for. These shafts are very well balanced and feel fantastic which probably are the main reasons I like them so much.  You get high launching ball flights which will give you a higher peak height and more distance while also being incredibly stable. Due to the higher height my average decent angle increased, and shots would have no issue stopping on a green as well. You also don’t have to have a slow swing speed to benefit from them. I was swinging these over 90mph from 7i up through 4i and these shafts still performed great.  Want to hit a draw or fade?  Just set yourself up, fire away, and if you put a good swing on and the shaft will reward you with exactly the ball flight you are looking for.

 If you are going from a larger weighted shaft down to this super lite shaft (as I did going from 115g to 78g shaft) be sure to speak with a builder, you can trust. This is important especially when it comes to the layers of tape, grip size, and grip weight so that way you can get the most out of this shaft through a complete build. Nippon has a reputation for quality shafts at very reasonable prices and these are no exception. For what you get at the same price as the rest of their lineup these are definitely ones to try for those looking to go lighter.

 

Final Score: (88 out of 100 points)

 

Edited January 15, 2021 by ZMendle10
Review Posting

[IDontGiveAchuck]

The Review 11 January 2021
Nippon N.S. Pro Zelos 8 – Official MGS Forum Review by IDontGiveAchuck

Intro

Hello everyone.  First let me express my appreciation for being given the opportunity to be involved in this test and review.

I am a self-taught golfer who was sucked into the hobby during my military days.  What started out as a way to hang out with my buddies and have a few beers has evolved into a way to hang out with buddies and drink a few beers.  I take the game seriously but not to the point of high blood pressure; I get enough of that trying to figure out my swing.

I have an average score in the mid-80’s, most of the time.  I have a fairly smooth, medium paced swing that averages in the high-80’s to low-90’s.  On a side note, since September when I had an auto accident, my swing speed has decreased into the low- to mid-70’s due to a back/shoulder injury.  My doctor has stated that my golf swing may never recover.  Well we’ll just see about that!!

I’m in the PNW, so soggy conditions are not unusual, and the season is shorter than I like.  More on that later!

I normally have a slight to moderate fade of about 10 yards on average and my typical miss is a fat chunk to the right.

The strength of my game has been in my short game.  I need a strong short game to make up for my driver/woods.

This is my first experience with changing shafts on any of my clubs.  I have always been an off-the-rack golfer. 
 
My review will be on the replacement of the original Ping shafts in my Ping Eye2 3-P irons.

First Impressions

According to the Nippon website, the Zelos 8 target market is:
•    Players that would like to use steel shaft, but do not have enough power (swing speed)
•    Current graphite shaft players
•    Golfers not satisfied with graphite shafts
(I currently fall into this slower swing speed category due to the aforementioned injury.)

Nippon also claims that this shaft is “designed with a low kick point and evenly distributed rigidity which delivers more than ample flexibility from tip to butt.”

I had hopes of it having a good feel and being a bit of an improvement over my stock shafts as far as ball flight is concerned.  I was intrigued by the claim of the low kick point in the hopes of it helping my low ball flight with the stock shafts.

For my testing, I was limited to range time only as the weather around the PNW during the winter months is not friendly to golfers.  I was able to get some launch monitor data on a Trackman and TopTracer.

Grading

Looks (9 out of 10 points) 

When I received my clubs from Nippon and took them out of the box, I wasn’t stunned at the look of them.  They didn’t look any different from any other steel shaft.  No flashy graphics.  Nothing that jumped out and said, “HEY LOOK AT ME!”.  There is only the simple blue sticker.

With that being said these are some good-looking shafts.  I appreciate the simplicity of them.  Nothing distracting and they were installed with the name facing down so there is nothing in the line of sight at address.

 

Feel (9 out of 10 points)

Upon pulling each one of my clubs out of the box and feeling them, even without a grip yet, I could feel a difference.  The first thing I noticed about the feel was how much more I could feel the club head.  There is a good balance between rigidity and sensitivity to them especially towards the tip.

I got a really good feeling during my downswing of how the clubhead felt.  It felt as if the club were loading up right before impact and then a decent amount of kick on impact.  All in all, it felt like I was more aware of my clubhead during the swing, especially in the downswing and impact.

Basic Characteristics (18 out of 20 points)

I’ll get the one negative out of the way first; I took off a couple of points in this category only because these shafts are thinner than standard, and it took some extra tape to fit the grips.  I had to put a total of 3 wraps of tape on to get a proper fit.

I was able to get plenty of range time in both with and without a launch monitor.  I have a couple of options for ranges besides what is available at the local courses, one is covered and heated (very important in the winter months) with mats and TopTracer available, the other has both mats and natural grass with Trackman monitors available.

I was able to get around 100 shots with each club and compiled some good numbers which I averaged out and put in the table below.

I didn’t notice a big change in ball speed or club speed.  I do have to throw in a caveat that due to my injury from the auto accident my swing speed has slowed by about 15 – 20 mph.  So even though at this time I don’t see a marked improvement in distance, I believe there will be when I am back to 100%.

The one major difference in my shots that I noticed with the change in shafts was that I went from having a fade/push to more of a draw shaped shot.

The other game changer, the big one, for me was the increase in the height of my shots.  This was a dramatic increase compared to the shape of my shots with my old setup.  I’m getting a good height which increases the land angle which equates to less roll on of my shots.  I am absolutely loving that.  The stopping power of my ball is Italian sports car like!

On-Course / LM Performance (30 out of 30 points)

I am basing this score on my launch monitor performance.

I gave a perfect score because my shots showed a major improvement over my old shafts.  I have a much tighter dispersion and the shape of the shots is more desirable.  I have no problem saying that these will absolutely improve my game.  Considering the improved accuracy and the way my ball stops on a dime now, how can that not improve my game?  

Even though I was unable to get on course with them, I can say with a certainty that the performance will not diminish by taking them into a game time situation.  I’m hoping that my handicap will go down by quite a few points once I can get some game time with them.

Overall, I have no complaints with these shafts.  I don’t have any suggestions on improvement.  Granted, I’m not an expert on golf clubs or the manufacturing of shafts.  So, I won’t attempt to impart any “wisdom” on what Nippon should do next.

What I will say is how much I love the feel of these shafts.  It’s a feel (sensitivity) of graphite without it being graphite!  Nippon hit the mark with their claim in that regard.

Miscellaneous (8 out of 10 points)

The customer service when dealing with Nippon was fantastic.  Had a great call with Mark who fit my shafts.  We had about a 45-minute discussion about the particulars of my swing, what weight he thought would be best and the length I required.  It was a great intro into the aftermarket shaft world.  There is nothing to complain about in that area.

I was a little disappointed in the packaging of my clubs upon return.  There was just a bit of bubble wrap around the heads and rubber bands holding the clubs together with some packaging paper thrown in the gaps.  Maybe this is not that unusual, but I thought it would be better.  It just left a little to be desired.

Play it or Trade it? (20 out of 20 points)

Play it!

20 out of 20 because my shots have improved dramatically with these shafts and it’s going to take a lot to get them away from me!

I think they are fairly priced for the market.  At about $35/shaft, I would consider that a decent price and one that I would pay for considering the improvement they provided.

Conclusion

If you happen to fall into the not-so-fast swing speed category, then these are the shafts for you.
They have provided me with the shot characteristics of a higher speed swing while not having the higher speed swing.
If you have ever wanted to try graphite shafts but had reservations because of the stigma that graphite has, these are the cure.  You get good looking steel shafts that have very similar characteristics to graphite shafts.
No, you can’t have mine.  I’m keeping them.

Final Score: (94 out of 100 points)
 

[ZMendle10]

A quick little look at how I intend to do testing for this review. Hopefully the weather cooperates enough where I am able to get out onto the course but regardless expect a lot of data for this review. I'm excited to be apart of the testing process and let the testing begin!!!

Edited December 12, 2020 by ZMendle10

[IDontGiveAchuck]

I received my clubs in the mail and wanted to put up a few sneak peeks...

[dlow206]

47 minutes ago, IDontGiveAchuck said:

I received my clubs in the mail and wanted to put up a few sneak peeks...

Lookin good

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

I am curious what your swing speeds are and what shaft you are comparing these to? I always shyed away from lighter shafts in irons since i am deemed a high spin player and didn't want shots to ballon.

 

[IDontGiveAchuck]

6 minutes ago, rbsiedsc said:

I am curious what your swing speeds are and what shaft you are comparing these to? I always shyed away from lighter shafts in irons since i am deemed a high spin player and didn't want shots to ballon.

 

My swing speed has always been in the mid- to high-90's.  My comparison will be to stock shafts.  This is my first set of aftermarket iron shafts.  I haven't had much trouble with high spin, the opposite actually.  I could use a little extra spin.

[ZMendle10]

11 minutes ago, rbsiedsc said:

I am curious what your swing speeds are and what shaft you are comparing these to? I always shyed away from lighter shafts in irons since i am deemed a high spin player and didn't want shots to ballon.

 

I average 85mph for my swing speed my shafts prior to testing were the Nippon Modus 120 in stiff flex so I will be using those as my baseline. I'm more of a high launch medium spin player as I tend to scoop the ball ever so slightly but so far I have found you can still hit some low launching shots with these irons. 

My review is going to be mostly data driven as we are about to get a ton of snow dumped on us Wednesday into Thursday so I don't think I will be able to get much on course testing in. First round of true testing and data collection on trackman will be getting done tonight though.

[dlow206]

One thing that threw me off with the Zelos shafts (i tried to put one in a hybrid once, it as ok) is the butt size. They are 0.580" or less, depending on weight. To get them up to a standard grip size, that is a lot of tape.

[ejgaudette]

On 12/12/2020 at 8:35 AM, ZMendle10 said:

A quick little look at how I intend to do testing for this review. Hopefully the weather cooperates enough where I am able to get out onto the course but regardless expect a lot of data for this review. I'm excited to be apart of the testing process and let the testing begin!!!

Looks like a great set up, looking forward to the review.

[ZMendle10]

14 hours ago, dlow206 said:

One thing that threw me off with the Zelos shafts (i tried to put one in a hybrid once, it as ok) is the butt size. They are 0.580" or less, depending on weight. To get them up to a standard grip size, that is a lot of tape.

Nippon reached out to us and made all of the testers aware of this issue. The amount of tape varies depending on the shaft but for the Zelos 7 it was 2 layers of double sided tape or 3 layers of single sided tape to achieve a normal butt diameter for a standard sized grip which is also what they recommend. 

I ended up using two layers of double sided tape and the MCC align standard size when regripping my clubs and their recommendations were pretty spot on. 

[ZMendle10]

Testing is well underway for the Zelos 7 and so far they are seeming to be what they are billed out to be. Below is a little screenshot comparing 6 irons of the Zelos 7 and the Modus 120. The Zelos 7 data is on top and the Modus 120 data is on the bottom. I intend to get between 50 and 100 useable shots for each club and track the data listed in the image below. 

  

So far there have been no drop off in spin at all and due to the increased height landing angles have been increasing substantially so there have been no issues stopping the ball. All of my clubs (4-AW) have between 15 and 20 data points so far so if anyone is interested in a particular club fire away which one you would like to see.

Edit:

Standard deviation of the previous image was being calculated incorrectly. Image of the correct calculations has been updated.

Edited December 16, 2020 by ZMendle10

[Wedgie]

Just now, ZMendle10 said:

Testing is well underway for the Zelos 7 and so far they are seeming to be what they are billed out to be. Below is a little screenshot comparing 6 irons of the Zelos 7 and the Modus 120. The Zelos 7 data is on top and the Modus 120 data is on the bottom. I intend to get between 50 and 100 useable shots for each club and track the data listed in the image below. 

  

So far there have been no drop off in spin at all and due to the increased height landing angles have been increasing substantially so there have been no issues stopping the ball. All of my clubs (4-AW) have between 15 and 20 data points so far so if anyone is interested in a particular club fire away which one you would like to see.

To me that seems like a big leap to go from 120 gram to the Zelos so I'm curious how that transition has been? I have the Zelos 7's in some irons and I tend to lose them right and I see that in your numbers as well. Am I reading that right? I'm curious if the softer tip in these is what would cause this?

[ejgaudette]

15 minutes ago, ZMendle10 said:

Testing is well underway for the Zelos 7 and so far they are seeming to be what they are billed out to be. Below is a little screenshot comparing 6 irons of the Zelos 7 and the Modus 120. The Zelos 7 data is on top and the Modus 120 data is on the bottom. I intend to get between 50 and 100 useable shots for each club and track the data listed in the image below. 

  

So far there have been no drop off in spin at all and due to the increased height landing angles have been increasing substantially so there have been no issues stopping the ball. All of my clubs (4-AW) have between 15 and 20 data points so far so if anyone is interested in a particular club fire away which one you would like to see.

This does seem to be producing exactly what they advertise, and would indeed help a large portion of golfers. This data is great and very interesting. Also want to make sure I am reading this right, the offline standard deviation there at the bottom is 20 yards? If so that is a massive difference from your Modus 120 which is so much tighter.

Along the same lines how is the feel in dropping about 50 grams between these shafts?

[ZMendle10]

15 minutes ago, Wedgie said:

To me that seems like a big leap to go from 120 gram to the Zelos so I'm curious how that transition has been? I have the Zelos 7's in some irons and I tend to lose them right and I see that in your numbers as well. Am I reading that right? I'm curious if the softer tip in these is what would cause this?

The transition was actually much easier than I thought it would be. I was able to speak with a builder from Nippon over the phone and we discussed the changes in swing weight and he was able to make a few recommendations. Weight isn't something I tend to concern myself with as long as the club is balanced and stable. So after a few practice swings it was clear that the shaft and club was very balanced and stable so I didn't even notice much of a weight change at all honestly.

The biggest change was in swing weight going from a D3-D4ish to D1 and I noticed this right away but again everything was balanced as D1so I had no issues.  And to be honest D3-D4ish might have been a bit too heavy for my liking anyway so the shift is much welcomed. 

With response to losing them to the right that is more me making a poor swing. So far the shafts give you exact result as the swing. Trackman would have a 3 second delay from impact to the shot tracer so I would make an assumption of I pushed/pulled that or its going to cut or draw and every time my initial thought was spot on.

I haven't been seeing a lot of hooks or slices at all and there is very little curvature of the golf ball if any. Most of these misses were pushes or pulls with minimal curve to them if any. The reason I chose 20 yards as a range is that I figure 20 yards left or right of the centerline is either on a large green or just off on a smaller green.

Edited December 16, 2020 by ZMendle10

[ZMendle10]

22 minutes ago, ejgaudette said:

This does seem to be producing exactly what they advertise, and would indeed help a large portion of golfers. This data is great and very interesting. Also want to make sure I am reading this right, the offline standard deviation there at the bottom is 20 yards? If so that is a massive difference from your Modus 120 which is so much tighter.

Along the same lines how is the feel in dropping about 50 grams between these shafts?

So far they are exactly what they are billed as. A high launching shaft shaft to get the ball way up in the air and through that higher launch get more distance. 

The big difference is that I didn't have a large sample size at all for my Modus 120's I had to hit all my irons in one day and was only left with about 4-8 useable shots per club before sipping them out to Nippon so the bad shots from bad swings were really bad and the good swings were good. I do plan on addressing this in the review and I am toying around with the idea of using the 5 best shots from each club after testing the Zelos and comparing them to the 5 best of the Modus since that's realistically close to amount of shots used for Modus data. 

Dropping the 50 grams was not as big a deal as I thought it would be as they are very well balanced at a D1 swing weight. It was definitely noticed but the head didn't feel whippy or out of control at all so I got over it very quickly. I would say don't concern yourself so much with weight because if the shaft is balanced throughout. 

[ejgaudette]

10 minutes ago, ZMendle10 said:

So far they are exactly what they are billed as. A high launching shaft shaft to get the ball way up in the air and through that higher launch get more distance. 

The big difference is that I didn't have a large sample size at all for my Modus 120's I had to hit all my irons in one day and was only left with about 4-8 useable shots per club before sipping them out to Nippon so the bad shots from bad swings were really bad and the good swings were good. I do plan on addressing this in the review and I am toying around with the idea of using the 5 best shots from each club after testing the Zelos and comparing them to the 5 best of the Modus since that's realistically close to amount of shots used for Modus data. 

Dropping the 50 grams was not as big a deal as I thought it would be as they are very well balanced at a D1 swing weight. It was definitely noticed but the head didn't feel whippy or out of control at all so I got over it very quickly. I would say don't concern yourself so much with weight because if the shaft is balanced throughout. 

Thats great to hear, though I wonder if that inconsistency you mention is related to the club weight. TXG videos have touched on this a bit that for many upping the weight will help control especially if you are a faster player or have an aggressive transition, but maybe it is something you can learn to manage once you practice with the new weight. 

[ZMendle10]

2 minutes ago, ejgaudette said:

Thats great to hear, though I wonder if that inconsistency you mention is related to the club weight. TXG videos have touched on this a bit that for many upping the weight will help control especially if you are a faster player or have an aggressive transition, but maybe it is something you can learn to manage once you practice with the new weight. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that I struggle with alignment of my shots and you would think that having a line in the center of a big screen would help this but in fact it does the opposite with me and makes me tend to pull a lot of my shots which is why I on paper it will say 40ft left of the target but in reality I just setup poorly and hit a straight shot on that line.

[ZMendle10]

To everyone pointing out the std deviation of the offline shots I rechecked my math and was calling the wrong function in excel. The updated std deviation is shown below and the original post will be edited as well.

[ejgaudette]

18 minutes ago, ZMendle10 said:

Another thing to keep in mind is that I struggle with alignment of my shots and you would think that having a line in the center of a big screen would help this but in fact it does the opposite with me and makes me tend to pull a lot of my shots which is why I on paper it will say 40ft left of the target but in reality I just setup poorly and hit a straight shot on that line.

Good point to note, I can do that too. Maybe this is where the head data if available from trackman would be helpful should help answer about delivery consistency regardless of aim, not sure how much it has though. Used Quad more than Trackman

[ZMendle10]

1 minute ago, ejgaudette said:

Good point to note, I can do that too. Maybe this is where the head data if available from trackman would be helpful should help answer about delivery consistency regardless of aim, not sure how much it has though. Used Quad more than Trackman

Trackman has plenty of clubhead data as well so I am still figuring out which pieces of data to include as of now but I still want to keep it basic so that way even someone who doesn't have access or to the same equipment or even understand all of the data points can fully comprehend the review and what is being discussed.

Some people like getting technical and others don't so I am trying to keep both types in mind and I most likely will post all of the data as well as my testing process as an attachment for those who will really want to get into it.

[ChitownM2]

Interesting results here. I might have to give these a try at some point....I was planning to go to Nippon's shaftology center which is located by me as I read that they do free shaft fittings.  

[Kenny B]

Interesting.  I have been playing Zelos 8 regulars in my Bridgestone irons for over 3 years.  I will be following your results closely.  

[TENBUCK]

2 hours ago, ChitownM2 said:

Interesting results here. I might have to give these a try at some point....I was planning to go to Nippon's shaftology center which is located by me as I read that they do free shaft fittings.  

I am the tester for the Zelos 6 shaft. The guy from Green Grass Clubfitting on Roosevelt Rd. did mine and I assume it's the Nippon shaftology center. The person I worked with who did my shaft replacement was Mark, great guy and very knowledgeable. He replaced my steelfiber shafts in my Callaway CF16 irons and put in the Zelos 6...did a great job in keeping the replacements in one piece and sending them back.

[TENBUCK]

I Had my CF16 steelfiber shafts replaced with the Zelos 6 shaft. The steelfiber i70 shafts fit my swing better because I like a higher ball flight and the other steelfiber shafts didn't give me the height that I wanted. I had Recoils in before the steelfibers, and they were OK, but I wanted a little more firmness in the tip without going stiffer in flex.

My SS is in the low 80's (82-83). So I thought that the Zelos 6 would be a perfect choice to test. Unfortunately, we are having a cold freeze setting in so my time to play is limited for a week or so. I will be checking in with my thoughts on the performance of these shafts. Doing a quick swing just to get the feeling, I'm thinking that these will be right in my wheelhouse. I will also be lending my clubs to a few of my buddies who have a higher SS than I do to see how they feel about the shafts. Those who have a SS close to mine, stay tuned for my takes on the Zelos 6 shaft, it will be interesting. I will be posting when weather permits for a few months and will be taking these with me when I play in Florida during March.

 

I would like to thank Nippon and My Golf Spy(MGS) for giving me the opportunity to test these shafts out.

[fozcycle]

So I have a question......if you don't like the Zelos shafts can you send your clubs back and get your old shafts put back in?

[IDontGiveAchuck]

19 minutes ago, fozcycle said:

So I have a question......if you don't like the Zelos shafts can you send your clubs back and get your old shafts put back in?

My shafts were returned to me.  So if I don't like them, yes I can have my old shafts re-installed.

[TENBUCK]

Well I couldn't wait any longer. Yes it was cold (44*) but the sun was shinning bright and the fairways were dormant and bare in a few spots, but I really didn't care. 

Played a quick 9 holes with my buddies, I told them I was testing out some new shafts and gave them a brief rundown on them. 

I came from steelfiber shafts 70i, and liked how they felt. My first few shots with the new shafts installed in place f my steelfiber, were not very good. I was a new feel and a very light feel, something I wasn't used too. I will say that towards the end of the round I was getting used to the feel and lightness of the shafts. I was slowing down my swing to match the shafts but in reality I didn't have too. So the final three holes, I swung like I had my steelfiber shafts in and these things didn't miss a beat. They are a high launching shaft but they are also very stable. My SS in in the low 80's, but I didn't have any slice issues with the shafts like you would with flexible graphite shafts. These shafts love to be swung hard and direct at the pin. I didn't loose any balls or hit any OB shots. 

We're going to get out Sunday for a full round, and then I'll be able to give more information. So far, they are a BIG surprise. They feel good, you don't have slow your swing down to get these to work, and they're accurate. We'll see what Sunday brings.