Fairway Shafts

[fixyurdivot]

Of the couple fairway wood shafts I was able to test at my fitting (they did not have the G400 head adapter so I tested with the TSi2), the Diamana Thump put up the best numbers.  My current 3w and 5w shaft is the Alta CB. I think the other we tried was a Drago but I have no data for it. FW woods were the last thing we fitted and, not being able to test with my G400's, really didn't drill down too much (spent a lot of time/swings on irons).

I haven't yet started down this part of the upgrade and was hoping some of our forum shaft experts might be able to suggest a couple of other make/models that might have similar profiles and a bit more budget friendly.  Oddly, I play a R flex on the 5w and S-flex in the 3w.  After the fitting, I purchased a used Alta CB 3w shaft in R-flex and range tested it a couple of times with my SC200 LM... numbers were worse and flight alley not as tight.  This leaves me in a quandary as to what flex to consider on other shafts .  My SS with my 3w is 85+ mph, spin rate 3754 rpm, and average apex 78 feet. The numbers are "off the deck".  

Ultimately, I'm looking for added distance - aren't most of us? Maybe the answer is both shaft and head, but I really love how easy the G400 is to hit off razor thin fairways to moderate rough. 

Now that I have a shaft puller and adapter pull kit, finding a used shaft and changing to the PING adapter is an option. 

 

 

 

[RickyBobby_PR]

If you like the Alta CB or the Deago then you can consider the riptide CB, hzrdus yellow including smoke version or the rdx blue, hzrdus smoke green, evenflow black and tensei orange. These should keep you in the easy to get and be at a reasonable price. 
 

Aldila rogue silver. Ust elements chrome+ and also the helium. Are some other that come to mind.

[fixyurdivot]

9 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

If you like the Alta CB or the Deago then you can consider the riptide CB, hzrdus yellow including smoke version or the rdx blue, hzrdus smoke green, evenflow black and tensei orange. These should keep you in the easy to get and be at a reasonable price. 
 

Aldila rogue silver. Ust elements chrome+ and also the helium. Are some other that come to mind.

Thanks for the recommendations.  I do see lots of those listed.

The fitter moved me off the Alta CB in my driver and into the KBS TD 55 Cat 2 I'm now playing.  He mentioned something about PING heads being a bit on the heavy side and why PING designers make the CB shafts a stock option (perhaps I misheard?). My numbers with the KBS are much better - both distance and flight alley.  These are not real cheap either but was wondering about their FW shaft option?  I'm also seeing what I'm guessing are the previous generation to the Thump - Diamana Limited and wondered about those. What are your thoughts regarding the R vs. S flex?  Might moving away from a CB design make a R flex a better match to my SS?

[RickyBobby_PR]

58 minutes ago, fixyurdivot said:

Thanks for the recommendations.  I do see lots of those listed.

The fitter moved me off the Alta CB in my driver and into the KBS TD 55 Cat 2 I'm now playing.  He mentioned something about PING heads being a bit on the heavy side and why PING designers make the CB shafts a stock option (perhaps I misheard?). My numbers with the KBS are much better - both distance and flight alley.  These are not real cheap either but was wondering about their FW shaft option?  I'm also seeing what I'm guessing are the previous generation to the Thump - Diamana Limited and wondered about those. What are your thoughts regarding the R vs. S flex?  Might moving away from a CB design make a R flex a better match to my SS?

That is correct on ping heads and their shaft selections. Along with the Alta Cb the ping tour is a a cb shaft also. You could try the ping tour shaft in fw.

I don’t have any experience with the kbs shaft for iirc it’s a low/mid design and the thump is mid/high which is also what the drago shaft is. I’m not a fan of those terms because they really don’t tell you the shaft design aka EI profile so to say X shaft plays like Y shaft is hard unless one has played both. 
 

Going older version of thump or maybe the Diamana blueboard or kali is an option. Along with the helium from ust if you can find it cheap the Lin-q purple shaft.

 

[tony@CIC]

3 hours ago, fixyurdivot said:

Of the couple fairway wood shafts I was able to test at my fitting (they did not have the G400 head adapter so I tested with the TSi2), the Diamana Thump put up the best numbers.  My current 3w and 5w shaft is the Alta CB. I think the other we tried was a Drago but I have no data for it. FW woods were the last thing we fitted and, not being able to test with my G400's, really didn't drill down too much (spent a lot of time/swings on irons).

I haven't yet started down this part of the upgrade and was hoping some of our forum shaft experts might be able to suggest a couple of other make/models that might have similar profiles and a bit more budget friendly.  Oddly, I play a R flex on the 5w and S-flex in the 3w.  After the fitting, I purchased a used Alta CB 3w shaft in R-flex and range tested it a couple of times with my SC200 LM... numbers were worse and flight alley not as tight.  This leaves me in a quandary as to what flex to consider on other shafts .  My SS with my 3w is 85+ mph, spin rate 3754 rpm, and average apex 78 feet. The numbers are "off the deck".  

Ultimately, I'm looking for added distance - aren't most of us? Maybe the answer is both shaft and head, but I really love how easy the G400 is to hit off razor thin fairways to moderate rough. 

Now that I have a shaft puller and adapter pull kit, finding a used shaft and changing to the PING adapter is an option. 

 

 

 

Did you try the Tensi CK Blue which is a no charge upgrade from the Alta on the 410 (and assume 425's)? I have the 70g in my hybrids and love them and was thinking of switching out the Helium in my 5 wood for one.  

[fixyurdivot]

3 hours ago, tony@CIC said:

Did you try the Tensi CK Blue which is a no charge upgrade from the Alta on the 410 (and assume 425's)? I have the 70g in my hybrids and love them and was thinking of switching out the Helium in my 5 wood for one.  

Hi Tony.  No, as I mentioned, we finally arrived at the rest of the bag (FW's) at the end of the session and he and the build bench could not find the adapter for my G400's.  He grabbed the TSi 3w head to use with the various shafts and I think we only tried two; the Diamana Thump and Drago.  I guess one of my challenges with this part of the bag upgrade is whether just changing the shaft on my G400 is the bigger part of getting more distance or whether I should also be changing to another 3w?  The TSi2 and Diamana was yielding about +8 yards and similar dispersion... but TS quote was $549 .

I feel really confident striking the G400's and figure I'd just start with a shaft upgrade; starting with the 3w.  Many folks refer to shafts as being the bigger part of the equation... dunno if that's really the case.

Other than the basic terminology, I just don't have a good understanding of the various mfg./model shaft profiles.  I'm pretty much smack in the middle of the bell-curve as it pertains to SS and ball flight with FW's; so it stands to reason that many of the OEM stock and upgrade options would work since they target the meat of the bell-curve with non-exotic offerings.

 

 

[RickyBobby_PR]

27 minutes ago, fixyurdivot said:

I guess one of my challenges with this part of the bag upgrade is whether just changing the shaft on my G400 is the bigger part of getting more distance or whether I should also be changing to another 3w?  The TSi2 and Diamana was yielding about +8 yards and similar dispersion... but TS quote was $549 .

I feel really confident striking the G400's and figure I'd just start with a shaft upgrade; starting with the 3w.  Many folks refer to shafts as being the bigger part of the equation... dunno if that's really the case.

The shaft is used to fine tune the ball flight. Getting the right head that gets the ball into the right launch window is the key part then the shaft is used to find the best numbers and that fits your feel. For slower swing speed players a higher lifted head usually gets them better distance and ball flight because it’s easier to launch over a lower lifter fw.

The question is why are you trying to find more distance in the 3w? Granted we all want to hit the ball further but what is the reason you are trying to get more out of it?

[fixyurdivot]

1 minute ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

The shaft is used to fine tune the ball flight. Getting the right head that gets the ball into the right launch window is the key part then the shaft is used to find the best numbers and that fits your feel. For slower swing speed players a higher lifted head usually gets them better distance and ball flight because it’s easier to launch over a lower lifter fw.

The question is why are you trying to find more distance in the 3w? Granted we all want to hit the ball further but what is the reason you are trying to get more out of it?

I'm finding myself having to coin both my drive and 3w to have a chance at reaching a handful of shorter par 5's, in two shots, at the courses I play.  My driver carry distance seems a little better than average for my age/handicap but, while I love how easy the G400 is to hit off the deck, feel like its average carry is short (185-190).  I'd love to get another 10 yards and more attempts for Big Birds on those par 5's and reach in regulation the longer, uphill, and/or into the breeze par 4's.

According to most of the various sites that track amateur player average distances, my numbers for SS and carry thru the bag are just a whisker better than average for my age/handicap - except the 3w and to a lesser extent the 5w are on the short side.  Maybe the G400 is designed more for ease of launch off the deck than distance?  I definitely don't want to trade how consistently I hit them for the distance gain... but aren't we all guaranteed to find both amongst the myriad of offerings? 

What do you mean by higher lifted vs. lower lifted and which does the G400 fit?  I previously gamed a warbird 3w and while I could hit it off the tee really well, it was nowhere near as easy as the G400 of first cut.  I stumbled into getting the G400's after a Canadian playing partner had me use his G30 3w and 5w a couple years ago... told him to keep an eye on his bag .

[ejgaudette]

12 minutes ago, fixyurdivot said:

I'm finding myself having to coin both my drive and 3w to have a chance at reaching a handful of shorter par 5's, in two shots, at the courses I play.  My driver carry distance seems a little better than average for my age/handicap but, while I love how easy the G400 is to hit off the deck, feel like its average carry is short (185-190).  I'd love to get another 10 yards and more attempts for Big Birds on those par 5's and reach in regulation the longer, uphill, and/or into the breeze par 4's.

According to most of the various sites that track amateur player average distances, my numbers for SS and carry thru the bag are just a whisker better than average for my age/handicap - except the 3w and to a lesser extent the 5w are on the short side.  Maybe the G400 is designed more for ease of launch off the deck than distance?  I definitely don't want to trade how consistently I hit them for the distance gain... but aren't we all guaranteed to find both amongst the myriad of offerings? 

What do you mean by higher lifted vs. lower lifted and which does the G400 fit?  I previously gamed a warbird 3w and while I could hit it off the tee really well, it was nowhere near as easy as the G400 of first cut.  I stumbled into getting the G400's after a Canadian playing partner had me use his G30 3w and 5w a couple years ago... told him to keep an eye on his bag .

I don't think your wrong on this about the G400, they tend to be a bit on the spinny side if I remember correctly. I know in an early post you mentioned your spin was around 3700 with the 3W, that is a bit higher than optimal generally speaking. Worth trying something like a SIM2 or Epic Speed fairway and see if that knocks off a few RPMs or a PING LST head, which should get that carry up a bit more and as others have mentioned will have a much bigger impact than the shaft change.

[fixyurdivot]

7 minutes ago, ejgaudette said:

I don't think your wrong on this about the G400, they tend to be a bit on the spinny side if I remember correctly. I know in an early post you mentioned your spin was around 3700 with the 3W, that is a bit higher than optimal generally speaking. Worth trying something like a SIM2 or Epic Speed fairway and see if that knocks off a few RPMs or a PING LST head, which should get that carry up a bit more and as others have mentioned will have a much bigger impact than the shaft change.

After having purchased both the 3w and 5w, I noted they offered a "Stretch" version as well (but only 13* nominal loft).  So I'm getting the sense you think it more a consider different heads than shafts path to gaining distance?  Looking at the most recent MGS Most Wanted 3w, the Srixon and SIM2 took top distance spots.  My challenge is not being able to conveniently test various combinations out.  I may need to delay this until we get to AZ .  Appreciate the insights .

[RickyBobby_PR]

28 minutes ago, fixyurdivot said:

I'm finding myself having to coin both my drive and 3w to have a chance at reaching a handful of shorter par 5's, in two shots, at the courses I play.  My driver carry distance seems a little better than average for my age/handicap but, while I love how easy the G400 is to hit off the deck, feel like its average carry is short (185-190).  I'd love to get another 10 yards and more attempts for Big Birds on those par 5's and reach in regulation the longer, uphill, and/or into the breeze par 4's.

According to most of the various sites that track amateur player average distances, my numbers for SS and carry thru the bag are just a whisker better than average for my age/handicap - except the 3w and to a lesser extent the 5w are on the short side.  Maybe the G400 is designed more for ease of launch off the deck than distance?  I definitely don't want to trade how consistently I hit them for the distance gain... but aren't we all guaranteed to find both amongst the myriad of offerings? 

What do you mean by higher lifted vs. lower lifted and which does the G400 fit?  I previously gamed a warbird 3w and while I could hit it off the tee really well, it was nowhere near as easy as the G400 of first cut.  I stumbled into getting the G400's after a Canadian playing partner had me use his G30 3w and 5w a couple years ago... told him to keep an eye on his bag .

You could move up a tee box if the goal is to hit more par 5s in 2. Even if you got 10 yards more par 5s in 2 aren’t going to be that easier to hit. If you were coming up just short on all of them then yeah maybe finding more distance would be the way to go. Not saying you shouldn’t go find it but just trying to see if that juice is worth the squeeze.  It would help a lot more if you had the launch monitor numbers from the tsi2 and your g400 to see where the +8 yards were coming from.

Ping tends to be on the higher end of spin numbers but even so my numbers with the g400 and 410 lines in driver and fw weren’t much different from other brands.

Lifted should have been lofted but Apple auto correct doesn like the lofted. What I’m getting at there is slower swing speeds can get the ball in the air better and with better launch numbers using a 5w vice a 3w. A compromise usually is playing a 4w or a high lofted 3w which is what I prefer. I enter go with 16.5 wood or the TM 3hl. When I carry a 3w it’s predominately a tee option.

[fixyurdivot]

2 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

You could move up a tee box if the goal is to hit more par 5s in 2. Even if you got 10 yards more par 5s in 2 aren’t going to be that easier to hit. If you were coming up just short on all of them then yeah maybe finding more distance would be the way to go. Not saying you shouldn’t go find it but just trying to see if that juice is worth the squeeze.  It would help a lot more if you had the launch monitor numbers from the tsi2 and your g400 to see where the +8 yards were coming from.

Ping tends to be on the higher end of spin numbers but even so my numbers with the g400 and 410 lines in driver and fw weren’t much different from other brands.

Lifted should have been lofted but Apple auto correct doesn like the lofted. What I’m getting at there is slower swing speeds can get the ball in the air better and with better launch numbers using a 5w vice a 3w. A compromise usually is playing a 4w or a high lofted 3w which is what I prefer. I enter go with 16.5 wood or the TM 3hl. When I carry a 3w it’s predominately a tee option.

OMG, senior tees... I couldn't live with myself .  That makes sense. I thought you might be referring to the head/profile design; squatty flatter vs. more driver like? My 5w carry is 175-180+ and more in line with the averages I see.  That has the Alta CB 65 R but I don't have any LM numbers for that... just ran out of time and gas.

[RickyBobby_PR]

30 minutes ago, fixyurdivot said:

OMG, senior tees... I couldn't live with myself .  That makes sense. I thought you might be referring to the head/profile design; squatty flatter vs. more driver like? My 5w carry is 175-180+ and more in line with the averages I see.  That has the Alta CB 65 R but I don't have any LM numbers for that... just ran out of time and gas.

I mess your current setup with the 3 and 5w aren’t bad fits not sure a shaft is going to get you the extra distance. Without any numbers it would be hard to say if you have a bad fit or not

[HDTVMAN]

Love Diamana shafts, as well as most Mitsubishi, which are on all my woods.