2021 Official Review: Nippon Regio Driver Shafts

[GolfSpy MPR]

Nippon's Modus steel iron shafts have become a fixture in bags of Touring pros and everyday golfers alike. How does their well-regarded performance translate to the driver? Four of our members will be reviewing the Nippon Regio series of driver shafts to let us know:

• @03trdblack | Review
• @MrBandit | Review
• @morningteesheet | Review
• @RollingGreens | Review

[03trdblack]

The Nippon Regio Formula MB+ Shafts Review – June 21st, 2021 by 03TRDBlack

Intro

Follow me on my Instagram! @rob.c.slade  Also on Twitter @robslade.

First and foremost, I want to thank MGS yet again for the chance to review another product.  I get absolutely thrilled when I get picked for a review and I have been lucky enough to be selected to test multiple items including the Ben Hogan GS53 Driver, Tour Edge EXS Driver, Snell MTB Black golf balls and the SuperSpeed Golf program.

I’ve been a decent golfer since I started playing at age 14 (now 39) and even with a one year old toddler and COVID I’ve been playing some really good golf. My handicap has been creeping up slightly as of recently but I currently carry a handicap of 2.7.  I live in NC and do most of my playing in the hot and humid Southeast region.  I’m a HUGE equipment junkie which led me to building golf clubs as soon as I started playing and I’ve been a clubmaker for over 25 years.  My favorite club has always been the driver and it’s one of the strengths of my game.

I’m a consistent ball striker and chipper but my putting can be streaky.  My swing has a very smooth tempo and even when I feel like I’m swinging all out, it still looks very smooth and lazy like an Ernie Els or Fred Couples.  I used to hover around 100 mph with a driver but now I’ve been recording around 106 mph. I attribute this primarily to the SuperSpeed training program.

Personal Golf Stats TLDR:

• Current HCDP: 2.7

• Smooth swing tempo w/ driver swing speed currently between 102-106 mph.

• Ball flight is mid trajectory with my miss being a left pull.

• Driver CARRY distance, averages 245-255 yards.

• Accurate driver of the golf ball.

• Most par 4’s I play average 400+ yards and I usually have around 150 yards or less into the greens (usually an 8 iron for me).

 

First Impressions

To start, let’s be honest. Shafts aren’t the most exciting in terms of visual technology because beyond the paint job the manufacturer decided to go with, you really can’t see the technology in most cases. The best part of receiving the Nippon Regio Formula MB+ shaft in raw form is you could actually see some of the 7 axis and 9 axis carbon fiber that Nippon uses in the shaft when the light hits it just right. I requested the shaft completely raw so that I could install a universal All-Fit adapter to test the shaft in multiple clubheads and cut it to the length that works best across multiple driver manufacturers. 

 

The paint job on the Nippon is much different than the other major shafts that are popular on the market. The shaft is mostly a solid gloss black background with yellow/orange metallic patterns splattered around the logo.  In the sun the yellow/orange pattern really pops against the black but it doesn’t cover enough of the shaft to be distracting.  The design almost reminds me a little of the artwork that was used on the cars in the original Fast & Furious movie.

 

Remember this car….NOS!

Nippon makes some very bold claims about this shaft on their website (which has obviously been translated to English) and claims:

• Overwhelming higher ball speed

• Achieves excellent ball control by suppressing twisting

• Traditional feel, but stunning acceleration feel

• Offer the best shaft match for athletes

 

The shafts specs for the shaft I chose:

• Type 65

• Stiff

• 68.5 grams

• 2.9* torque (yep that’s correct!)

• Mid Kick

The bend profile is a classic “Blueboard” profile with a stiffer handle section followed by a softer mid section and finishing with a stiffer tip.  The profile has been my preferred bend profile and seems to work with almost every driver head I’ve tried.  It does appear that, compared to their previous version, the “MB”, Nippon softened the butt section but slightly stiffened the mid and tip sections.  This recipe should provide a slightly lower ball flight and more spin control than the previous MB.   

Nippon is also using some very high end graphite fibers including T1100G+ along the entire length of the shaft as well as 7 and 9 axis weaves.  A lot of the premium shaft companies have been using T1100 fiber, such as Graphite Design and multi axis weaves have been used a lot by both UST Mamiya and Fujikura (Speeder).  The minimum advertised price on the Nippon site is 55,000 JPY which translates into roughly $500 USD which reflects the premium materials used in the shaft.  This is a serious shaft with serious build characteristics.  I’ve known Nippon for their high end steel shafts and play the NS Pro 130 shaft in my irons and they’ve put together another high end shaft in this MB+.

I couldn’t wait to get this test started and see what driver heads would pair up best. As I’m writing this review, I’ve still only tested about half of the heads I want to try out. Some have worked out better than others but I am starting to get a feel for how the shaft plays and the way the bend profile matches up with different manufacturer’s drivers. All of my testing took place on the golf course. Due to some COVID issues and since I am trying so many driver heads with this shaft, I really am not able to line up any launch monitor testing sessions quite yet. I’m hoping to be able to provide some launch monitor numbers in the future.
 

Grading
 

Looks (8 out of 10 points) 

I love the color choices on this shaft and the paintwork and graphics are really fantastic looking, especially in the sunlight. The yellow and orange graphics just jump out at your eyes. I only deducted a few points because I felt like the overall pattern looks and feels a little too much like a tribal tattoo from the early 2000’s and feels a bit dated. I am glad that the majority of the shaft is black as it matches up to almost every club head that I tested it with. With the Titleist TSI3 and PXG 0211 heads, the black on black looked especially menacing.

Feel (9 out of 10 points)

Overall the shaft feels slightly stiffer to flex than other “stiff” shafts I’ve used and I attribute this to the lower torque rating of 2.9*.  The CPM sticker on the butt end of the shaft showed 271 which is on the higher end of the stiff spectrum and almost more into the X Stiff range. 

 

When I got the adapter installed and cut it to length, my frequency machine registered around 260 CPM overall which is generally where I like to be for a stiff shaft. 

 

The Nippon website lists the balance of the shaft at 52.3% which means the balance point is around 24” from the shaft tip. Being a 46” long blank, the balance point is located approx 1” toward the butt end from the middle of the shaft indicating a very slight counterbalance. I prefer a slight to even strong counterbalance feel and do not usually like shafts that feel heavy towards the head. 

The best way I can describe the feel of the shaft is that ball collision feels like a thick gut punch.  It's a syrupy feeling but  syrup that's been left in the refrigerator so it's nice and thick.  It reminds me a LOT of the way Graphite Design shafts feel.  

The shaft feels very tight and controlled during the swing and I can’t over power it with any amount of swing I try to put on the ball.  With the low torque level, the face of the club is exactly where your hands put it during the swing and I found I had to adjust a little bit because I was pulling shots a lot more than with other shafts I tend to use.  

 

Basic Characteristics (20 out of 20 points)

I have a hard time comparing this shaft to any current “gamer” due to the fact that I like to take out different driver combinations almost every time I play.  In fact, during this test is the longest I’ve ever used the same shaft!  I’m really enjoying it though and once I find the best head to combo with it, I play to bring it out as a regular gamer.

A few basic observations I’ve had during the test:

• Trajectory – I’ve found this shaft to have more of a low/mid trajectory in most heads I’ve tried.  I’ve actually bumped up the loft a few times to maximize the launch.

• Accuracy – Initially I suffered a bit due to pulling every drive I hit with this shaft.  I think the reason is the low torque.  Most shafts I play aren’t this tight so my hands are used to compensating for the head being slightly more open at impact.  Once I got used to that fact and could trust it, it was EASY to hit the same repeatable driver shot over and over.  There were no surprises in this shaft. 

• Distance – Maybe not the absolute longest shaft I’ve ever used but still plenty long.  It would probably benefit me to have it just slightly softer in flex to offset the super low torque.

• As a general rule for this shaft, I had my best results by bumping up the loft on my drivers by about ½* and swinging as hard as I wanted to.  Once I knew that the clubface was going to be exactly where my hands put it during the swing, it became automatic to aim where I wanted the ball to go and just swing.  

 

On-Course Performance (25 out of 30 points)

Due to the total word count of this initial review post, I’ll save most of the specific club head data for subsequent posts.  I’ll outline which clubhead I used and the distances I hit that combo as I continue to go through my inventory.  I’ve already shared some distance numbers that I’ve been tracking using Shot Scope and will update that further too. 
 

My quick hits summary of the shaft’s performance is as follows:

• Overall this shaft is incredible.  It’s expensive (if you can actually find one to purchase) but it’s worth it if the profile fits you. 

• Nippon to me was already the highest quality in terms of their steel products but now I also feel the same way about their graphite wood shafts.  Due to this review, I’m going to track down another shaft for my 3 wood.  

• Unfortunately it’s going to be impossible for almost anyone to get fit for and test this shaft.  

• I don’t necessarily subscribe to their idea that you should play the same wood shaft bend profile as you play in your irons because hitting an iron has a much different swing than a driver.  I hit down steeply on my irons but hit up with an ascending blow on my woods.   

• The driver shaft alone didn’t help me much with my overall scores since driving was already one of the strongest parts of my game.

Miscellaneous (10 out of 10 points)

There isn’t a whole lot of miscellaneous items with a driver shaft but they did send an awesome matching headcover with the shaft so I definitely give all the points here for that.

Play it or Trade it? (17 out of 20 points)

I’m playing this shaft, plain and simple.  I get super excited every time I go out to try it in a different driver head to see how it feels and performs.  So far the best combinations have been with the Titleist TSI3, Cobra Radspeed, PXG 0211 and Honma TW747 455.  I didn’t have quite the same luck with the Tour Edge EXS Pro but that could have just been an off day.  The Callaway Epic Max LS was also a decent combo but I fought too many pulls the day I tried that combo so more testing may be coming.

Conclusion

Stay tuned to my future posts in this review thread!  I have a lot more heads to test and probably a lot more to say than I want to put in just this initial review post.

 

Final Score: 89 out of 100 points)

Some of the different drivers I've tested so far with this shaft...more to come.  Please hit me up in this thread to ask any questions about how this shaft did with each club!

 

[MrBandit]

The Review 6/14/2021

[Nippon Regio Formula MB+ Shafts] – Official MGS Forum Review by [James Corujo]

Intro

 

I have been golfing for the past 17yrs, started after leaving the military and moving to San Francisco, I never expected to play golf. Everyone in my office played golf and they took me to a par 3 course in San Francisco and I remembering making par on the 4 hole (easy game, LOL) have been hook since.
Once I moved back to NYC, I began to play more and become more competitive and really get hooked on the game. Now living in Texas, my game as become more consistent as I get the play year-round vs 6 months a year when I was in NYC.
Started playing in some of the US AM Tour tournaments again, and this has help my confidence and concentration since every shot counts and cannot just waste a shot if I was just playing around with friends.

My game – Currently at 7.4 HC, up and down, struggle with concentration in the middle of the round causing silly mistakes, which escalates those numbers quickly. Hence my scores fluctuating from 77 to 87.  Chipping and putting has help keep my rounds under control, getting up and down from around the greens. Which I considered that my strength of my game.  I struggle at times with my mid irons, but I compensate with my wedge game and putting.

My driving accuracy has improved when I switch over to the PING G410 LST last year, which help keep the ball in the fairway and eliminating one side of the fairway. The downside has been total distance am still not getting what I can from my swing as I tend to cut the ball and I have a lower penetrating ball flight.

So, I recently switch over to TourEdge EXS Pro Driver 10.5 with the same shaft Mitsubishi Tensi CK Orange 60 Stiff, after reading some reviews and people raving about how straight the driver was and how much longer it was. Unfortunate I only had It for a couple of weeks and until last weekend I have not been able to swing a full speed as I was dealing with a bad back.
I have gained more distance, a little higher ball trajectory and is keeping my ball in the fairway even better than the PING G410 LST.
Hoping I will be playing from the shorter grass more often and it should help me improve my mid iron game hitting, 9, 8 7 irons into greens, instead of 6 ,5,  4 or 3Hybrids, and I don’t have to relied heavily on my chipping and putting.

Because now am more often in the short grass, this has allowed me to get to Par5 in 2 at times, still need a little bit more length to make that second shot a lot easier swing then trying to give it my all, which at times works great or am doing my scrabble around the greens as usual.
Taken aggressive swings on Par4 not worrying about is going to balloon out of control and get into the forest or the water, having that feeling that you don’t have to lay up with a hybrid or 3 wood because you are not sure where your driver may end up.

 

First Impressions

The shaft looks very nice , black and gold branding and it comes with a nice head cover



Look pretty simple and not flashy with the TourEdge Pro Driver and the CP2 Grips.

 

Nippon is already a popular iron shaft, and it is used my many players in the PGA, LPGA, and amateur tours alike.

This from my understanding is their first venture into the Driver/Fairwood platform, and their claim per their site is that this shaft model will show Higher Ball Speeds, Ball Control, Traditional Feel but with stunning acceleration.

My current shaft is a Mitsubishi Tensi CK Orange 60 Stiff, this has been my favorite shaft because of its feel and consistency, and I was able to control my driver /ball better than I have before. So, this new shaft would have to outperformed.

What am hoping to gain is higher ball speed, more control of my driver and ball and feel like I can turn on the driver without the fear of losing the ball right or left. Even thou this shaft is heavier at 68.5 (for the 65S)

I will used base numbers with my current setup and then compare with the new shaft and see if the numbers are really different.
Next is taking to the course, you really don’t know how it will performed until you are actually swinging it during a round or competition.


Here is what I have found so far after some range and course playing.

This was not my original head as it was being repaired at the time but it is in the same brand /model family.
Average club speed 100Mph, balls speed 137.9Mph, carry 224.3, total yds, 246.8 and smash factor 1.375.

 
Now doing the same testing but with the Nippon shaft as you can see the numbers increase in each category which I didn’t expect.
Average Club Speed 100Mph, Balls Speed 145Mph, Carry 240Yds, Total Yds 261.6, Smash 1.437

Now testing with my regular TourEdge EXS Pro head and the Nippon combination resulted some dramatic club head speed and increase in Ball Speed, Carry and Total yards, the only thing that went down was the smash factor, but that shows that I kept even the low ones there so the numbers would be lower. I did not notice the added weight of the shaft on my swings, if anything it felt lighter.

Average Club Speed 104Mph, Balls Speed 147Mph, Carry 245Yds, Total Yds 265.9, Smash 1.398 

 

Of course, in the range work is one thing but taking it to the course is different.

Have played about 6 rounds now with the new Nippon Shaft and TourEdge EXS Pro Combination, I notice the ball flight was a little higher than my normal flight, but I was really hitting more Fairways. Because I normally was playing a cut with my old setup, now is more of a straight to baby fade trajectory, so I had to adjust my target lines to accommodate the new directions.

I really feel I can turn of the driver and not worry about a ball ballooning right or left, the more I have play with it the more confidence am getting that the line am taking is where the ball is going.

Found myself at new approach yardages that I was not seen before, it’s a lot easier to hit GW, PW, 9, 8 Irons into greens now, making golf fun.

Previous and current Driving Accuracy.
   
 

 

Looks (8 out of 10 points) 

Describe the following:

• Coloring / Graphics – Black and Gold
• Overall color should work with any driver.

 

Feel (10 out of 10 points)

Describe how the club sounds and feels.

• Weight 68.5 for the 65S but it did not feel heavier but actually lighter. It was balance and always.
• The shaft appears to keep the load longer, which shows in the increase balls speeds.
• I was expecting it be stiffer because of the weight, but it was very sturdy feel, comfortable to swing and you feel like you can be very aggressive.

 

Basic Characteristics (19 out of 20 points)

 Compared to my current gamer:

• Trajectory – Just a little higher than before, which is perfect since am a natural low-ball hitter.
• Accuracy – This is the one area that has dramatically improve and was not expecting it.
  Went from 44% Fairways hit to 77%
• Distance – Went from average of 246.8 total yds to 265.9 total yds. That is almost 20yds again.
• Used a PRGR unit to compare and get base numbers on the following statics:
  Club Speed, Ball Speed, Carry Yds, Total Yds and Smash Factor.
  
  As I shown above on the testing between by current setup and the new one with the Nippon can notice the difference right away.
  
• Pressure – This shaft has giving me confidence to go for the tight fairways, carry bunkers and feel like am going to hit my spots consistently. Again, we are just amateurs, and we are going to miss our targets more times but it will be a lot less. 

On-Course / LM Performance (29 out of 30 points)

Played a few tournaments and regular rounds with the new Nippon / TourEdge EXS Pro combination, and it was evident to my playing partners that have commented over and over, “well there is another fairway hit” and “you have smashed that drive”. The fear of not hitting a few of those tight fairways have gone as I play more and gain more confidence. At times I found myself too close to the green or water hazard that I was not expecting to be near before or in the position to hit a wedge at times.
I feel I can still tweak my setup even more to get the most out of this combination.

 

Final Performance Comments:

• Overall, how did it perform?  This shaft performed better than advertised, numbers do not lie.
• How, if at all, did this product change your overall impression of Nippon? First I only heard of them with irons shafts, and not the first name that comes up when looking for Driver/Fairwood shafts, but it has definitely made the impression and would considered replacing my 3wood shaft with a Nippon.
• What feature would you change or eliminate from the next generation of this model? I would have the graphics on both sides
• What feature do you really like, and would most like to see continued or evolved in future models? Load, Balls Speed and accuracy.
• Did it help improve your scores? By how much? I think I gain a stroke so far, probably would be more as I continue to fine tune and play to the new yardages.

Miscellaneous (10 out of 10 points)

Talking with the rep about the shaft before they send it over, he wanted to know how I was hitting my irons and to compare that transition from wood to irons. I first I was going to get a lighter shaft because it would have been closer to my current shaft, but after talking about it and assuring me the weight would not be a factor (which was true) makes you feel they really know their product.

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

100% Play it, it’s already a keeper in my current gamer setup. No reason to go back.
As stated above the numbers do not lie and the confidence it has provide me to hit driver on every hole instead of using a 3 Wood is huge. Asking price could be steep, hoping it comes down, but if you are in the market for a new shaft, I would add this one to the list of strong candidates.
This shaft is great from mid to low HC, they should see big gains from their current setup.

 

Conclusion

Am glad I was able to use a PRGR unit to get numbers that I could compare, keeping track of your fairway hits, left or right and distance. Once you put it all together and you then play at the course where it matters you really can notice the difference and reference back to the numbers and get that AHHHHHH Moment.

Final Score: (96 out of 100 points)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 14, 2021 by MrBandit
review upload

[morningteesheet]

Nippon Regio Formula MB+ Driver Shaft – Official MGS Forum Review by Peter Seltenright

Let’s start with my game and who I am as a golfer, and let’s take it all the way back. I started really playing golf at the age of ten. I was a serious hockey player my entire life and golf was the getaway for me. I ended up playing for my prep school golf team after the hockey seasons were over and it really sparked my love for competitive golf. College ended up being a focus on hockey and school and golf fell off a bit, but my twenties and early thirties have been a golf obsession. I currently play to a 4.1 handicap under the CDGA as I live in downtown Chicago. A typical round for me is anywhere from 75 to 80 and I’m someone that makes a lot of pars with a couple bogeys mixed in. I’m the kind of guy that will play in any weather so at the moment I’m playing/practicing during temps in the 40’s. 

My strengths are mid irons and putting and my weaknesses are the driver and long irons. I tend to let some hockey body movements into the swing and it can be an overly quick swing with my shoulders spinning open, which makes my big miss with the long clubs a spinny right ball that doesn’t stop going right. 

My current driver setup is a Srixon Z565 head on an old school Aldila NV green 65X shaft and it all plays 44” (I was not fit). I never liked the full 460cc driver heads as a compact look is key for me but I get along decently well with this one. I like to see a deep driver head that doesn’t look huge back to front and I want it to sit neutral. I tend to prefer a shaft feel that I’m used to which is why I struggle to get away from the old school shafts. I’ve even tested steel driver and fairway shafts recently but they were slowing me down a bit too much. My driver swing speed is in the 110-113mph range with a fairly quick transition. After speaking with the Nippon rep, it made sense for me to test the Regio Formula MB+ in 65X. My goal with a driver isn’t necessarily massive distance, it’s more that I feel it’s stable, reliable, and something I can put on my intended line, which tend to be aggressive lines. My goal is always to have a shot at reaching a par 5 in two and I subscribe to the data that’s come out showing that being as close to the green as possible leads to lower scores even though it might seem like we’re not leaving a comfortable distance for the approach. I’m not one to play the smart shot off the tee or to aim for the middle of greens even though both would probably help my handicap!

What I’m hoping to find from this Nippon driver shaft is a comfortable feel more in line with an iron shaft and something that feels stable and not loose. I want to see a tight fade ideally and not something spinny that I can’t control. I know a lot of that is putting a good swing on it so I’ll be looking to see what happens when I do have my driver swing in check. In the past I’ve gamed Nippon NS Pro and Modus shafts and they are consistently the best feeling. I’m currently gaming irons with DGS300 shafts as those are just comfortable but I'll be back with Modus shafts very soon. I hope to feel that same smooth but reliable kick in this driver shaft as I have with the Nippon iron shafts.

My setup for the test will be the Regio Formula MB+ 65X shaft with a standard Lamkin Crossline grip. I’ve chosen to pair this with a Mizuno ST200 driver head at 10.5*. The club will play 44” and at D2. Additionally, I am building a set of Mizuno MP69 irons with Nippon Modus 125X shafts and my plan is to see how the feel transitions from driver to irons.

 

First Impressions

I was able to sneak out to the driving range today to put this thing to the test. I am not exaggerating when I say this might be the best thing that’s ever been added to my bag. It’s a joke how good this shaft is. I should clarify that it also has a new Mizuno ST200 head that I hadn’t hit before and that definitely helps but I know what I was getting out of this shaft. 

Feel: stable but smooth. I didn’t think you could have both but I was wrong. I knew exactly where the club was, it loaded beautifully, and felt perfect at impact. 

Performance: point and shoot. Only issue was trying to tell myself not to aim left for my big fade. I couldn’t believe how straight the ball was going and my fades were tight and minimal. I thought I just had a terrible issue with a driver but this has me thinking otherwise. Flight is medium, just where I like it. I was facing a ridiculous 20-30mph wind right at me and 50 degree temps on the range and usually that means a ball that spins like crazy and goes an extra mile right. Not today. Yes, the wind was knocking it down but it stayed on line and that’s all I needed to see. 

Formula MB+ feels compared to my irons with Modus 125X: This was spot on, the shaft profile and performance really seems to match. My iron game on the range came alive with the Modus 125X shafts and I'm so glad I built those to compare with the driver shaft. The transition is seamless and now that I have the Modus 125X iron shaft in my hybrid, I'm really wanting this Nippon Formula shaft in my fairway wood (not sure I can come up with the funds though ha). 

Video coverage of the first looks: https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17904134011881579/

Grading

Let’s get into my grading for this shaft. From first impression to current status, things have changed but I still feel strongly about the quality of this shaft.
 

Looks (8 out of 10 points) 

I would describe the looks as sleek. It’s overwhelmingly a shiny black shaft and not a whole lot more unless you look closely. But with my Mizuno driver head the whole setup looks sleek. I am a bit surprised that it doesn’t follow more of the Nippon Modus red color scheme. 

 

Feel (9 out of 10 points)

I won’t say this is the most smooth shaft I’ve ever hit but it’s a reliable and sturdy feel. I also wouldn’t say it’s boardy either. Somewhere in the middle with a powerful tight kick at impact. I think this plays true to flex and it’s very stable. I know this is going to produce a tighter dispersion when I swing it and it does provide confidence (as much as I can possibly have with a driver). I don’t feel like I’m going to hit a big spinny right miss when I’m swinging this, which I really like. Weight feels right on par with something in the 60 gram range and it really felt balanced.

 

Basic Characteristics (18 out of 20 points)

To get some baseline numbers, I stopped into my local Five Iron Golf and got a quick session in. After warming up and getting a feel for everything, I logged 5 swings with my new setup (Mizuno ST200 and Nippon Regio Formula MB+ 65X) and then 5 swings with my old setup (Srixon Z565 and Aldila NV Green 65X). Here's the video and the Trackman results below that.

Mizuno Nippon combo:

 

Srixon Aldila combo:

 

Video of the test: Testing Mizuno ST200 and Nippon Regio Formula MB+ Vs old driver

The data says it all, the Mizuno and Nippon combo is staying in the bag. But I didn't even need the data, I knew it from the feel. The Nippon shaft felt so sturdy and solid through the swing and just felt balanced. I was originally fighting some left pulls but I've gotten more comfortable with the idea that I don't need to aim right and guide it. I can line it up and swing it comfortably. While distance is clearly the winner with the Mizuno/Nippon, I am a little concerned with the spin as it's still a bit high. I don't mind it a bit on the high side because I do want to find fairways, but this should come down a bit and it's possible that some setting tinkering could get it there. Also, I was a bit left and right with the Nippon but at least from the look of the flight on the screen, none of them were way offline or troublesome. A little more work with the driver and that should be fine. 

Most importantly, this has done what I had hoped. I don't feel like I have the big right miss and I feel like I can really go after and release this driver with the Nippon shaft. It just feels reliable and I won't have to stand on the tee feeling like I need to guide it, I can swing more freely. I'm taking this out for 18 holes to validate it on Saturday morning so more to come.
 

On-Course / LM Performance (15 out of 30 points)

On-course performance is where things took a turn for the worse. In looking at my data, I’m hitting around 20% of fairways with this shaft and distance is average, nothing new. I cannot stress enough that this 100% all my driver swing. I have a complete mental block on the tee with driver right now and a lot has to do with being too quick and trying to do too much. I’m pulling it or hitting an occasional big right miss. When the swing falls in place, I am hitting some ideal drives with a slight fade around the 290 mark. I know the performance is there, I just need to figure out my swing. So it’s a bit unfair to show this losing points in the on-course performance but it is what it is I guess. What’s tough is that the driver is costing me good scores. I’m a great ball-striker and the only strokes I’m losing are off the missed drives, so I’m finding myself taking less than driver to hit fairways now.

Miscellaneous (10 out of 10 points)

I’m dedicating this section to Nippon as a brand. I am a huge fan of their iron shafts and the Modus 125X shafts in my irons are incredible. To now know that Nippon can produce a top tier wood shaft really changes my perception of them as sort of a one-trick pony. I now know they can deliver a complete product line and it’s a matter of time before you see these on tour. I am also very impressed in the number of options they provide for wood shafts to match each and every golfer. Everyone should be able to find a Nippon wood shaft for their game.

Play it or Trade it? (17 out of 20 points)

TRADE IT. I just don't have the confidence in a driver right now that I need and this isn't my answer. It wouldn't be right to just keep this and not use it like it should be over the next month or two. I'm open to finding the right person that wants to put this to the test (full club or shaft) so message me to see if we can make a trade. I'll also want to ensure you're the right fit for the shaft as well.

I do think that the price of this shaft is a bit steep but that’s also the case across the board with premium models in the graphite shaft world. You can tell when using this that it’s premium material and craftsmanship so it is worth a higher price point, but not sure about the $500 level it’s at. 

Conclusion

The Nippon Regio Formula MB+ 65X shaft is a premium graphite shaft option for those that enjoy the Modus line of iron shafts, particularly the 105 or 125 models. I can personally attest to this wood shaft matching the feel of my Modus 125X shafts. The look is sleek with a mostly shiny black color that matches well with a black driver head. I’ve found increases in ball speed and distance in testing and found that the feel is very stable and sturdy. I don’t have a reliable driver swing right now but once I get that figured out I know this will be a winner for me.

 

Final Score: (77 out of 100 points)

This shaft honestly deserves a better score as it lost points in on-course performance which is all on me. It’s a tremendous shaft with great feel and my numbers look on point. I’d like to see a little better price point and maybe some red graphics to match the Modus iron shafts. Otherwise Nippon has a winner with these wood shafts. Thank you to MGS for the opportunity to test this premium product, this has been a blast. I’ll continue to add some thoughts as the summer goes on and I welcome any questions from the community on the product. Let’s go launch em!

Edited June 23, 2021 by morningteesheet

[RollingGreens]

[placeholder]

[morningteesheet]

I'll get this started with some background info on who I am and how I play!

Introduction to my game:

Let’s start with my game and who I am as a golfer, and let’s take it all the way back. I started really playing golf at the age of ten. I was a serious hockey player my entire life and golf was the getaway for me. I ended up playing for my prep school golf team after the hockey seasons were over and it really sparked my love for competitive golf. College ended up being a focus on hockey and school and golf fell off a bit, but my twenties and early thirties have been a golf obsession. I currently play to a 4.4 handicap under the CDGA as I live in downtown Chicago. A typical round for me is anywhere from 75 to 80 and I’m someone that makes a lot of pars with a couple bogeys mixed in. I’m the kind of guy that will play in any weather so at the moment I’m playing/practicing during temps in the 40’s. Distances are down during this time of the season but I tend to play pretty consistent golf.

My strengths are mid irons and putting and my weaknesses are the driver and long irons. I tend to let some hockey body movements into the swing and it can be an overly quick swing with my shoulders spinning open, which makes my big miss with the long clubs a spinny right ball that doesn’t stop going right. Here’s a link to where I am right now with my swing: First video is a driver length training aid, second is an iron swing. My big focus is keeping my back to the target and my left shoulder restrained from firing too quickly. I'll post some links to my driver swing once I get this shaft set up and ready to test.

 

Current Bag Setup:

My current driver setup is a Srixon Z565 head on an old school Aldila NV green 65X shaft and it all plays 44” (I was not fit). I never liked the full 460cc driver heads as a compact look is key for me but I get along decently well with this one. I like to see a deep driver head that doesn’t look huge back to front and I want it to sit neutral. I tend to prefer a shaft feel that I’m used to which is why I struggle to get away from the old school shafts. I’ve even tested steel driver and fairway shafts recently but they were slowing me down a bit too much. My driver swing speed is in the 110-113mph range with a fairly quick transition. After speaking with the Nippon rep, it made sense for me to test the Regio Formula MB+ in 65X. My goal with a driver isn’t necessarily massive distance, it’s more that I feel it’s stable, reliable, and something I can put on my intended line, which tend to be aggressive lines. My goal is always to have a shot at reaching a par 5 in two and I subscribe to the data that’s come out showing that being as close to the green as possible leads to lower scores. I’m not one to play the smart shot off the tee or to aim for the middle of greens even though both would probably help my handicap!

What I’m hoping to find from this Nippon driver shaft is a comfortable feel more in line with an iron shaft and something that feels stable and not loose. I want to see a tight fade ideally and not something spinny that I can’t control. I know a lot of that is putting a good swing on it, so I’ll be looking to see what happens when I do have my driver swing in check. In the past I’ve gamed Nippon NS Pro and Modus shafts and they are consistently the best feeling. I’m currently gaming irons with DGS300 shafts as those are just comfortable but I very much want to be back with Modus shafts and I'm building a set of Mizuno MP69 with Modus 125x right now (softstepped 1x). I hope to feel that same smooth but reliable kick in this driver shaft as I have with the Nippon iron shafts.

 

Testing Setup:

My setup for the test will be the Regio Formula MB+ 65X shaft with a standard Lamkin Crossline grip. I’ve chosen to pair this with a Mizuno ST200 driver head at 10.5*. The club will play 44” and at D4. 

I'll also be testing the Mizuno MP69 with Modus 125x shafts alongside my Hogan Ft Worths with DG S300 to see what I like in the irons and how the transition feels from driver to the rest of the set.

[03trdblack]

Let the games begin! 

[RollingGreens]

Introduction to my game:

Hey guys I’m Drew!

I started playing golf about 2 years ago seriously. I messed around on the course over the summer in high school but never anything too serious My love at that time was the baseball diamond. Fast forward to 2 years ago, 28 years old and a  recent grad and wanted to take up a hobby to bond with my father in law. I always assumed since I was decent at baseball and good with my hands that I could figure it out. I became hooked on the game, with a background in physics and a doctorate in biomechanics it didn’t take much. I’ve been able to piece things together with my athletic abilities and overall understanding of body mechanics to put what I believe is a game where I can play with just about anyone. Last year my goal was to break 100, this year I am consistently breaking 90 . The course I play on has a slope of 141 at 6700 yards, currently my handicap is ~13.  The course I play is quite challenging in Cleveland, OH, https://www.stonewatergolf.com/course/. It’s semi-private, but the best part is it’s 5 minutes away from my house so I’m always there. A nice range, chipping and putting practice area. Plus the best part is they just got a Trackman, which I plan to use for objective measuring. 

 

My strength this year has been my driver, since changing to a heavier shaft Tensei White Raw 65s my dispersion has significantly improved. Last year I fought a 30 yard slice, @discipleofpennick can vouch for that one. Since practice and putting a lot of focus into my driver I play a slight fade if not a straight shot. It’s all about my tempo, I have a very slow loading phase, with a moderate transition. If I get quick I tend to stand up causing a high trajectory spinning shot. It doesn’t occur much but the big left miss is always lurking if I come across my body, but that is directly related to me setup being left of my target line. My style is that of a swinger. My swing speed is about 105mph and I average 250-260 carry distance. My irons have dipped a but over the last  couple weeks but are usually a strong point. My short game is coming along but typically in the past along with my driver was holding my game back. This year I also have a new set of irons, the first clubs I was ever fit for. Mizuno Jpx Hot metals with nippon modus tour 120s. I came close to getting the pros, but ultimately wish right now I would have gotten a mixed set of the pros with the regular hot metals as my game is improving relatively quickly. During the fitting process I learned I need my irons 2 deg upright, I always played off the rack clubs. Having my clubs fit for me have made a huge difference. I no longer have the toe chunks that are unexplainable

I’ll get a few videos posted on my swing this weekend!! 

Current Bag Setup:

My current driver is the TS3 9.5 with Tensei Raw AV white 65s playing at 45.5 inches.  I usually choke down playing it to about 44.5 inches.  I’m a Titleist guy when it comes down to the woods section. I respect their quality control process too much and really enjoy the classic look of the driver heads. In the future I will be upgrading to either the TSi3 or TSi2. I was previously playing the Hzrdus Smoke Black shaft which felt like a pole to me. I gave the Graphite Tour AD XC a try, it felt like a toothpick, the kick was way to pronounced for me. I decided to give the Raw White 65s a try, it’s been great low launch/low spin and heavy enough to help me with my tempo. As you can tell I like to tinker, but better yet I love the feel of my iron shafts. After speaking with the Nippon shaft Rep we decided that the Regio B+ would be the best shaft for me to try, it matched my style as a swinger and was the closest in profile to the Modus 120s. Taking a look it has a stout tip at 2.9 for the torque, which should give me a tighter dispersion, and be relatively low launch with the kick point by the grip. The one concern I do have is the weight.  When looking at the shaft weight for the stiff shaft options it is 55g or 66.5g which in my opinion sits at the far end of the lighter and heavier spectrums. While 66.5g should work for me, I think a lighter shaft in the lower 60s would fit the modus 120s profile better from a numbers standpoint. It’s unfortunate that if you go with the lower weighted shaft you lose the torque numbers 4.3 vs 2.9

I’m really hoping this shaft allows me to build consistency between my irons and driver as the profiles will be similar. I hope to see tighter dispersion that my Tensei Raw white as I would label this more of an exotic/premium shaft. Hopefully this will allow for more distance than 260 carry with a 14 deg launch angle, but I’m not sure how much more distance I can squeeze out of my swing.

 

Testing Setup:

I will be testing the Regio Formula B+ 65S shaft with Titleist TS3 9.5deg. The driver is going to play at 45”. My grip will be either the Golf Pride Grey MCC+4 or Tour Velvet 360

 

 

[GolfSpy_APH]

Good start so far! Keep up the good work and keep the photos coming. Very interested in seeing how these play for you all. What was some of the things the rep asked when you were getting spec'd out for the shafts?

[ejgaudette]

Looking forward to the reviews let's see if we can add another shaft to the club hos wish list.

[RollingGreens]

5 hours ago, Apolloshowl said:

Goof start so far! Keep up the good work and keep the photos coming. Very interested in seeing how these play for you all. What was some of the things the rep asked when you were getting spec'd out for the shafts?

The rep asked me a good bit about the current modus lineup I play in my irons (120). What kind of feel I had for the club with the irons shaft characteristics, I.e releasing the club head. Then we talked about my current setup, what shaft I was playing and my swing style. We did talk a bit about the differences of someone playing a driver shaft that didn’t match the corresponding irons. The rep was pretty adamant that the feel and what you are looking for generally lineup consistently with matching iron to driver shaft. It was nice to hear from the rep also that the shaft does not need to be spine aligned for best results

[GolfSpy_APH]

15 minutes ago, RollingGreens said:

The rep asked me a good bit about the current modus lineup I play in my irons (120). What kind of feel I had for the club with the irons shaft characteristics, I.e releasing the club head. Then we talked about my current setup, what shaft I was playing and my swing style. We did talk a bit about the differences of someone playing a driver shaft that didn’t match the corresponding irons. The rep was pretty adamant that the feel and what you are looking for generally lineup consistently with matching iron to driver shaft. It was nice to hear from the rep also that the shaft does not need to be spine aligned for best results

Thanks... That's very interesting they are relying more on feel and such. May say more about how so many love Nippon shafts in their irons. Myself included. 

Appreciate the answer and depth. I know I could look it up, but how wide is the range they have for their drivers? Did they say why one would benefit someone else over the other? 

[morningteesheet]

2 hours ago, Apolloshowl said:

Thanks... That's very interesting they are relying more on feel and such. May say more about how so many love Nippon shafts in their irons. Myself included. 

Appreciate the answer and depth. I know I could look it up, but how wide is the range they have for their drivers? Did they say why one would benefit someone else over the other? 

I'll back that up. The Nippon rep asked a lot about my use of Nippon shafts and what felt the best. I don't want to spark a heated debate on this thread but he said something that really stuck out to me, "the shaft model won't drastically alter spin and launch, the iron head does that. You want an iron shaft that feels good and loads correctly". He is much more of an expert than me but that surprised me. So the conversation did center around what shafts feel good with my swing. I'm pretty sure he mentioned that the Regio line of shafts has something like 60+ options which is why he was adamant about talking through my swing to try and find a match. He did ask about my driver carry, swing speed, and tempo to further nail down the right option. 

[GolfSpy_APH]

33 minutes ago, morningteesheet said:

I'll back that up. The Nippon rep asked a lot about my use of Nippon shafts and what felt the best. I don't want to spark a heated debate on this thread but he said something that really stuck out to me, "the shaft model won't drastically alter spin and launch, the iron head does that. You want an iron shaft that feels good and loads correctly". He is much more of an expert than me but that surprised me. So the conversation did center around what shafts feel good with my swing. I'm pretty sure he mentioned that the Regio line of shafts has something like 60+ options which is why he was adamant about talking through my swing to try and find a match. He did ask about my driver carry, swing speed, and tempo to further nail down the right option. 

Really cool, thanks for the info. My interest is getting every more intrigued by what you guys are saying. 
Last question for now, but was which head you were planning on using a big factor as well? From TXG videos I have watched they talk a lot about head weight and droop and how that can have a impact on the shaft as well as impact location. Appreciate the answers and once again looking forward to the reviews.

[morningteesheet]

Just now, Apolloshowl said:

Really cool, thanks for the info. My interest is getting every more intrigued by what you guys are saying. 
Last question for now, but was which head you were planning on using a big factor as well? From TXG videos I have watched they talk a lot about head weight and droop and how that can have a impact on the shaft as well as impact location. Appreciate the answers and once again looking forward to the reviews.

That wasn't a part of the discussion with the Nippon guy but I do think it's important to find the right swing weight during assembly when length, grip, and head are considered. I have my own scale and I'll be making sure things are balanced right when I install the Mizuno ST200 head on my MB+ 65x shaft.

[03trdblack]

9 hours ago, Apolloshowl said:

Good start so far! Keep up the good work and keep the photos coming. Very interested in seeing how these play for you all. What was some of the things the rep asked when you were getting spec'd out for the shafts?

When I spoke to  Shaftology, we had a good conversation and since I play the nippon 130 shafts in my irons, they initially wanted me to try the M+ shaft which matches the profile of the 130 irons.  I picked the 130 iron shafts due to the weight and the softer tip to add back some spin to my irons since they tend to be low spinning.  I also liked the almost counterbalanced feel of the 130 iron shafts.

Given the profile of the M+ is stiff handle, soft tip, this is almost always the profile I avoid in my driver.  It usually works pretty well in a fairway but I'm fight spin w/ the driver so I didn't want to add any more.  We decided the MB+ would be better since the "Blueboard" profile usually fits me better in the driver.

[null]

Really interested to see how the shaft matches up for those that have Modus iron shafts

[MrBandit]

Good Morning Everyone, a little bit about myself and game.

Intro to my current game:

I have been golfing for the past 17yrs, started after leaving the military and moving to San Francisco, I never expected to play golf. Everyone in my office played golf and they took me to a par 3 course in San Francisco and I remembering making par on the 4 hole (easy game, LOL) have been hook since.
Once I moved back to NYC , i began to play more and become more competitive and really get hooked on the game. Now living in Texas, my game as become more consistent as I get the play year-round vs 6 months a year when I was in NYC.
Started playing in some of the US AM Tour tournaments again, and this has help my confidence and concentration since every shot counts and cannot just waste a shot if I was just playing around with friends.

My game – Currently at 7.4 HC, up and down, struggle with concentration in the middle of the round causing silly mistakes, which escalates those numbers quickly. Hence my scores fluctuating from 77 to 87.  Chipping and putting has help keep my rounds under control, getting up and down from around the greens. Which I considered that my strength of my game.  I struggle at times with my mid irons, but I compensate with my wedge game and putting.

My driving accuracy has improved when I switch over to the PING G410 LST last year, which help keep the ball in the fairway and eliminating one side of the fairway. The downside has been total distance am still not getting what I can from my swing as I tend to cut the ball and I have a lower penetrating ball flight.

So, I recently switch over to TourEdge EXS Pro Driver 10.5 with the same shaft Mitsobushi Tensi CK Orange 60 Stiff , after reading some reviews and people raving about how straight the driver was and how much longer it was. Unfortunate I only had It for a couple of weeks and until last weekend I have not been able to swing a full speed as I was dealing with a bad back.
I have gained more distance, a little higher ball trajectory and is keeping my ball in the fairway even better than the PING G410 LST.
Hoping I will be playing from the shorter grass more often and it should help me improve my mid iron game hitting, 9, 8 7 irons into greens, instead of 6 ,5,  4 or 3Hybrids, and I don’t have to relied heavily on my chipping and putting.

Because now am more often in the short grass, this has allowed me to get to Par5 in 2 at times, still need a little bit more length to make that second shot a lot easier swing then trying to give it my all, which at times works great or am doing my scrabble around the greens as usual.
Taken aggressive swings on Par4 not worrying about is going to balloon out of control and get into the forest or the water, having that feeling that you don’t have to lay up with a hybrid or 3 wood because you are not sure where your driver may end up.

What is the Bag/Testing

My current driver is a TourEdge EXS Pro 10.5 with a Mitsobushi Tensi CK Orange 65 Stiff, 45” as I mention above, I have notice gains in my total distance and the accuracy has improve even more. My swing speeds currently is between 95-100mph and seems to work with my irons as I use AeroTech Steel fiber 125 shafts, which transition to the driver having a similar feel.

What am hoping the gain from the Nippon Regio Formula MB+ in 65 Stiff is better distance, having the same feel and control of the driver.
I will be looking at ball flight and trajectory. Using my current shaft as Base Line, I’m hoping I will notice some improvements and that is equal if not better than my current shaft.

One thing I like about my current shaft is that it feels solid, I do not get the feeling that the shaft is going twist and its pretty consistent feel as I switch from the PING G410 LST to the TourEdge EXS Pro there was no adjustment, I felt I can swing with confidence and the trajectory would be consistent with the shot am trying to play either a straight (which it wants to do more now), Baby Fade, and as it stands right now, less cut on my shots.

Which is what am expecting from the Nippon Regio Formula MB+ 65 in Stiff.

Expecting the shaft to arrived tomorrow, it was suppose to be today. I will take into the shop to get the adapter, the Golf Pride CP2 grip and keeping the same length of 45"

 

[RollingGreens]

6 hours ago, Apolloshowl said:

Thanks... That's very interesting they are relying more on feel and such. May say more about how so many love Nippon shafts in their irons. Myself included. 

Appreciate the answer and depth. I know I could look it up, but how wide is the range they have for their drivers? Did they say why one would benefit someone else over the other? 

What do you mean by wide range? The shafts real only differ by weight and torque and there are 3 options M+ B+ and MB+  Each corresponding to Nippon iron shaft models 

[03trdblack]

Hey everyone, Rob here.  Let's get into my intro and some starter info on the Nippon MB+ shaft testing!

Introduction to my game:

First and foremost, I want to thank MGS again for the chance to review another product!  I've been lucky enough to test some other items in the past and will link to them below:

Snell MTB

Superspeed

Tour Edge Exotics EXS Driver

I’ve been a mostly decent golfer since I started playing at age 14 (now 38) and currently carry a handicap of 1.7.  I live in NC and do most of my playing in the Southeast region where it’s hot a humid.  I’ve always been an equipment junkie which led me down the road to building golf clubs as soon as I started playing and I’ve been a clubmaker now for over 25 years.  My favorite club has always been the driver and is one of the strengths of my game and I LOVE getting into in depth rabbit holes of shaft bend profiles and design.

My ball striking is very consistent and pitching and chipping are solid.  Putting can be streaky and some days are better than others.  My swing has a very smooth tempo and even when I feel like I’m swinging all out, it still looks very smooth and lazy like an Ernie Els or Fred Couples.  I used to hover around 100 mph with a driver but now I’ve been recording 103+ mph and have even steadily hit 106-108 mph in my practice sessions.  I attribute this to the SuperSpeed program as well as warmer weather. 

The TLDR Personal Golf Stats:

• Current HCDP: 1.7
• Smooth swing tempo w/ driver swing speed currently between 103-106 mph.
• Driver ballflight is usually Mid/High with my miss being a pull (lately).
• My driver carry distance, on average, is NOW around 250-255 yards.
• I am usually very accurate with a driver and am not afraid to aim exactly where I want it to go.

 

Current Bag Setup:

My bag setup changes constantly (this being the club junkie effect) and my house tends to look more like a golf store than a human residence.  What I'm using right now is as follows.

Driver:  Cobra Radspeed Palm Tree Crew Edition w/ the test Nippon Regio MB+ 65 S
3 wood: Ping G425 Max w/ Tensei Raw Orange 75 S
Hybrid: Callaway Super Hybrid (20*) w/ Tensei Orange CK Pro S 
Irons:  Cobra Forged Tec 4-GW w/ Nippon Modus 130 S
Wedges:  56* Mizuno T20 & 60* Cleveland RTX4 Raw 
Putter:  Scotty Cameron Phantom X 11.5

Testing Setup:

Being a clubmaker, I requested my shaft to be sent without an adapter.  I use a universal adapter tip that I can insert into essentially any driver head on the market so my plans are to test this shaft with drivers from just about every manufacturer out there (did I mention my house looks like a golf store...).

A couple of things I noted during the build.  There is a CPM sticker on the butt of the shaft that indicated 271 CPM which normally would be super stiff for a normal "stiff" range.  For those of you that may or may not know, CPM just measures the butt frequency and doesn't give a good indication as to the overall bend profile of a shaft but I do  like to use it as a reference point when I build just to get a sense of where things fall.  

There can also be variances in the type of clamp people use, etc but when I put the shaft on my frequency machine, I got around 258 CPM at 45.25" which normally plays right around a standard "stiff" flex or around 6.0 flex.  Definitely glad it wasn't closer to 271 on my machine as that would be more X flex territory.

Nippon says that the MB+ features full-length Torayca T1100G+ NANOALLOY pre-preg alongside 7-axis and 9-axis carbon fiber materials. The T1100G+ material is also used in the Fujikura Platinum Speeder and Graphite Design Tour AD series.  When the light hits the graphite in the butt end of the shaft, you can see the multi-axis fibers which is pretty cool looking.

I'm definitely looking forward to getting out and trying the shaft in a few days.  The bend profile looks like it will fit my game perfectly.  Will continue to update along the way!

[morningteesheet]

14 hours ago, 03trdblack said:

Hey everyone, Rob here.  Let's get into my intro and some starter info on the Nippon MB+ shaft testing!

Introduction to my game:

First and foremost, I want to thank MGS again for the chance to review another product!  I've been lucky enough to test some other items in the past and will link to them below:

Snell MTB

Superspeed

Tour Edge Exotics EXS Driver

I’ve been a mostly decent golfer since I started playing at age 14 (now 38) and currently carry a handicap of 1.7.  I live in NC and do most of my playing in the Southeast region where it’s hot a humid.  I’ve always been an equipment junkie which led me down the road to building golf clubs as soon as I started playing and I’ve been a clubmaker now for over 25 years.  My favorite club has always been the driver and is one of the strengths of my game and I LOVE getting into in depth rabbit holes of shaft bend profiles and design.

My ball striking is very consistent and pitching and chipping are solid.  Putting can be streaky and some days are better than others.  My swing has a very smooth tempo and even when I feel like I’m swinging all out, it still looks very smooth and lazy like an Ernie Els or Fred Couples.  I used to hover around 100 mph with a driver but now I’ve been recording 103+ mph and have even steadily hit 106-108 mph in my practice sessions.  I attribute this to the SuperSpeed program as well as warmer weather. 

The TLDR Personal Golf Stats:

• Current HCDP: 1.7
• Smooth swing tempo w/ driver swing speed currently between 103-106 mph.
• Driver ballflight is usually Mid/High with my miss being a pull (lately).
• My driver carry distance, on average, is NOW around 250-255 yards.
• I am usually very accurate with a driver and am not afraid to aim exactly where I want it to go.

 

Current Bag Setup:

My bag setup changes constantly (this being the club junkie effect) and my house tends to look more like a golf store than a human residence.  What I'm using right now is as follows.

Driver:  Cobra Radspeed Palm Tree Crew Edition w/ the test Nippon Regio MB+ 65 S
3 wood: Ping G425 Max w/ Tensei Raw Orange 75 S
Hybrid: Callaway Super Hybrid (20*) w/ Tensei Orange CK Pro S 
Irons:  Cobra Forged Tec 4-GW w/ Nippon Modus 130 S
Wedges:  56* Mizuno T20 & 60* Cleveland RTX4 Raw 
Putter:  Scotty Cameron Phantom X 11.5

Testing Setup:

Being a clubmaker, I requested my shaft to be sent without an adapter.  I use a universal adapter tip that I can insert into essentially any driver head on the market so my plans are to test this shaft with drivers from just about every manufacturer out there (did I mention my house looks like a golf store...).

A couple of things I noted during the build.  There is a CPM sticker on the butt of the shaft that indicated 271 CPM which normally would be super stiff for a normal "stiff" range.  For those of you that may or may not know, CPM just measures the butt frequency and doesn't give a good indication as to the overall bend profile of a shaft but I do  like to use it as a reference point when I build just to get a sense of where things fall.  

There can also be variances in the type of clamp people use, etc but when I put the shaft on my frequency machine, I got around 258 CPM at 45.25" which normally plays right around a standard "stiff" flex or around 6.0 flex.  Definitely glad it wasn't closer to 271 on my machine as that would be more X flex territory.

Nippon says that the MB+ features full-length Torayca T1100G+ NANOALLOY pre-preg alongside 7-axis and 9-axis carbon fiber materials. The T1100G+ material is also used in the Fujikura Platinum Speeder and Graphite Design Tour AD series.  When the light hits the graphite in the butt end of the shaft, you can see the multi-axis fibers which is pretty cool looking.

I'm definitely looking forward to getting out and trying the shaft in a few days.  The bend profile looks like it will fit my game perfectly.  Will continue to update along the way!

Do you know the tipping/prep guidelines for this shaft? I just received mine and Nippon didn't cut it to my requested length. I don't see anything online either. Thanks!

[null]

7 minutes ago, morningteesheet said:

Do you know the tipping/prep guidelines for this shaft? I just received mine and Nippon didn't cut it to my requested length. I don't see anything online either. Thanks!

If it is going into a driver then almost all manufacturers will recommend no tipping.

[RickyBobby_PR]

3 minutes ago, jlukes said:

If it is going into a driver then almost all manufacturers will recommend no tipping.

Yup and as far as I remember only TM does any tipping by default as part of their builds.

[null]

1 minute ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Yup and as far as I remember only TM does any tipping by default as part of their builds.

That being said, TXG tips all of their driver builds by .25" regardless of shaft/head

[morningteesheet]

8 minutes ago, jlukes said:

That being said, TXG tips all of their driver builds by .25" regardless of shaft/head

Thanks! And yes, which is why I want to ensure that there's no recommended tipping by Nippon. I'm about to post a video of the raw shaft and you'll see a small tip section that I think is .25". My feeling is that should remain but I want to be sure.

My Regio Formula MB+ 65X just arrived! I thought I’d get everyone some pics and a video:

 

Edited April 29, 2021 by morningteesheet

[03trdblack]

31 minutes ago, morningteesheet said:

Do you know the tipping/prep guidelines for this shaft? I just received mine and Nippon didn't cut it to my requested length. I don't see anything online either. Thanks!

I asked that question to Shaftology as well and they said not to tip it.  Doesn't really mean that you can't but since I'm testing this, I'm going to start with a no tipping installation.

[03trdblack]

21 minutes ago, jlukes said:

That being said, TXG tips all of their driver builds by .25" regardless of shaft/head

I don't really understand the need to tip all shafts 1/4".  It literally won't make any difference in the playability, feel or stiffness of the shaft.  In most shafts, you really won't start to notice any difference until around 1" of tipping.

[null]

9 minutes ago, 03trdblack said:

I don't really understand the need to tip all shafts 1/4".  It literally won't make any difference in the playability, feel or stiffness of the shaft.  In most shafts, you really won't start to notice any difference until around 1" of tipping.

It has to do with the increase in Manufacturer head weights and managing frequency to be consistent 

[bens197]

So far so good. One things for sure, I have to say it's a great looking shaft. Reminds me a little of the Titleist Speeder in the 905 series.  I always loved that aesthetic.

 

@RollingGreensI'm looking at you and how you would compare this to your 120's.  

[MrBandit]

Well mine is out for delivery, hopefully it gets here soon so I can take it get configured and maybe..just maybe I can used this weekend..