Graphite Designs G Series Shaft - REVIEW

[Matt Saternus]

Graphite Designs G Series Shaft Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

 

They make shafts that cost less than $300? Reading my reviews the last few months you wouldn't know it, but there are, in point of fact, shafts that retail for less than the average car payment. The G Series by Graphite Designs is one of them. Graphite Designs claims that the G Series incorporates some of the same technologies found in its best shafts, so will it perform? Read on, spies…

 

 

 

 

Notes, Feel, Price, and Miscellaneous

 

The G Series that I tested was the 70 gram stiff model (you're shocked, I know). This shaft (the G70) is billed as a mid-low launching shaft with medium spin. The lighter versions are designed to keep the spin moderate, but launch higher.

 

In my opinion, the G70 is one of the looser feeling shafts that I've tested. It is the opposite of boardy. With this feel, I would think that this shaft is best suited to very smooth swings.

 

The looks of the G Series are pretty middle of the road. The shaft has a deep candy-red color, and the graphics are pretty standard: company and model name, flex and weight. Nothing to write home over, but still quite attractive in an understated way.

 

The G Series retails for about $170. It is available in weights from 40-70 grams, and every flex from Lite (Senior) to X-Stiff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Performance

 

Since it's freezing here in Chicago, the Performance section only includes launch monitor testing for this review. For the launch monitor testing, I put the G Series up against my Matrix RUL, both in an R9 460 9.5 head. I hit 10 “good” shots with each shaft, changing frequently so that fatigue was not an issue, nor did I get grooved with one shaft to the detriment of fairness. I went through this process three times and averaged the two sets of data. I did the testing of the G Series at the same time as the testing of the AD-DJ and AD-DI, so all three sets of data can be compared.

 

For anyone interested in the swing that produces these numbers: my clubhead speed is usually between 100MPH and 110MPH, my biggest problem is getting quick/out of sync from the top, and my miss tends to be a block right.

 

 

DATA

 

*Each metric shows low, average, and high. For dispersion and sidespin, L represents left or hook spin, R represents right or slice spin.

 

RUL: Ball speed: 152 Distance: 267-291-327 Launch Angle: 10.3-12.5-15

 

Backspin: 1851-2651-3026 Sidespin: 100 Dispersion: 10L-5L-10R

 

G Series: Ball speed: 145 Distance: 250-273-302 Launch Angle: 11.3-14.5-16.3

 

Backspin: 1456-2642-3708 Sidespin: 700 Dispersion: 35L-15R-40R

 

 

ANALYSIS

 

You probably don't need to be a club fitting expert to see that I did not get along too well with the G70. It may have been related to doing the testing alongside the AD DJ and AD DI (shafts that are much much stiffer feeling), but I never felt like I got in sync with the G70. This is what accounts for the highs and lows being so far apart. If you can ignore the extremes, the averages actually came out looking pretty decent (with the exception of ball speed).

 

My inclination is to believe that the G Series is simply meant for someone with a much smoother swing than I have. I'd love to have one of those smooth, flowing swings, but I simply don't.

 

I gave the shaft to a couple other people to try, and they seemed to enjoy it. In fact, one of my co-workers, who has much more club head speed but a much smoother tempo put up some really fine numbers with the G70. This leads me to believe that it's not a bad shaft at all. This was simply a case of a man and a club that weren't meant to be together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Value

 

I feel like all I ever write in the value section is, “This could be a good value if it fits you.” In light of this, I'm moving Price into an earlier section and doing away with Value altogether.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

 

The most obvious conclusion here is that the G70 wasn't a great fit for me. Beyond that, I think I can confidently say that the G series is built for smoother swingers. Those players should expect to see mid-to-high launch with moderate spin.

 

 

 

 

VISIT WEBSITE: http://www.gdintl.com/

 

FOLLOW ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/.../GraphiteDesign

 

FOLLOW ON FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook...90355904?v=wall

[JBones]

Nice review. I was looking into picking one of these up to try out...now not so much.