Review: Project X Black shaft

[RookieBlue7]

Introduction

The True Temper/Project X Black (The Darkside of X) graphite shaft is the latest offering from the Project X brand (a True Temper subsidiary). It has a new technology for the company that they're calling TeXtreme, a revolutionary composite material that allowed the engineers to eliminate weight compared to the original PX graphite while still maintaining the low torque, low spin properties that established the ProjectX standard for graphite.

 

This shaft also utilizes Dual Torsional Control, which orients the TeXtreme fibers at 45 degrees on the outermost layers of the shaft with Super High Modulus axial plies inside to reduce dynamic shaft twist by up to 25% versus traditional designs. The result is the PX Black features an “unmatched torsional integrity and is the most stable lightweight shaft ever created.”

 

For the purposes of this review, I was sent a Project X Black 6.0. According to Project X's site, the properties of the shaft are as follows:

 

Frequency: 6.0 Weight: 58 Grams Tip: Stiff-Mid

 

Build Notes, Feel, Miscellaneous

 

I recently got a new driver head in that I've traded for. It was unshafted, and I decided what better manner to test this shaft in a head I have not tried with any other shaft before in order to eliminate any potential feelings prior to trying this shaft. That driver head? A Cleveland Classic Tour 310 in 9.5 degrees of loft. This is the 440cc head that sets up at 1 degree open according to Cleveland's site. This one, after checking it, sits at 9.9 degrees and 1.2 degrees open and weighs 198 grams. With this shaft being a shaft that's lighter than I normally use, pairing it with a head that's lighter than I normally use, in my opinion, was a good choice, as this would allow me to keep the overall weight down while staying balanced. I assembled it straight in, logo down, with no tipping (as per PX's recommendation). I spined and FLO'd the shaft and it ended up logo down with the NBP at 3:00(putting the spine, or strong plane at 6:00 to minimize shaft droop). I did have to shim this shaft into the head as this head has a .350 hosel. I then cut it at 44 7/8” and installed a Lamkin R.E.L 3gen midsize in black with 4 wraps under the right hand and one wrap running the full length of the grip.

 

Upon completing the assembly, and the epoxy drying, I gave it a waggle test at home prior to taking it anywhere to hit it. To me, at first glance and waggle, it felt great, not too whippy, but not like rebar. Had a good feel when waggled at address, and this head set up nicely to my eye. The black shaft left a nice clean look and transition to the dark brownish-burgandy Cleveland head. Everything had the look of lots of potential and comfort without actually getting to hit it.

 

Here, I'd also like to add a few notes about the shaft's appearance:

1. The graphics aren't 360 degree graphics in terms of them being noisy all around the shaft. The silver Project X logo only appears on one side of the shaft (I like this as I don't like graphics being noisy all the way around the shaft. Regardless of where they end up upon spine and FLO, I don't want them all the way around the shaft).

2. The remaining graphics on the shaft are a dark grey tribal PX graphic and they're very subtle. Fortunately for me, the silver PX logo ended up at 6:00 after spine and FLO, which resulted in a very clean look from address due to these ghost graphics.

3. The shaft also exposes the weave of the outer layer of graphite(under a clearcoat of course) from just below the end of the graphics to the tip. It resembles a snake skin, IMO, and is a nice touch as it creates a neat visual appearance to it(hopefully the below pics captures this where you can see it).

 

Performance (Feel/Visual Flight)

Hitting this club proved to be a challenge. I went to Tampa, FL on vacation to visit family and had it lined up to play golf with a friend while down there. We got there and it was raining (thanks Tropical Storm Debby). It proceeded to rain the entire time we were there (we got to take the kids to the beach for a few hours one day and it was overcast that day and eventually rained that afternoon). The friend I was supposed to play with had been sick the week before, and after finally making contact with him, it turns out he caught a case of Pneumonia while at the hospital the first time and had to return to the ER the day we got there. Needless to say, there's no way he could've played golf, and even if he'd wanted to, I'd have had to decline as I didn't want him to chance getting more sick just to play golf. After all, my sister-in-law moved to Tampa and we'll be going back.

 

Upon returning home, I have actually gotten to hit the club in two sessions. I played a round of golf, using my current driver. After that round, I took this club to the range with my current club and proceeded to run it through the ringer, hitting over 100 balls with it and 50 with my current club just to alternate it out so I was able to remove variables such as having a different swing on a different day. I'd hit 10 balls with this club and 5 with my current driver. I'll provide performance data in the next section, as I was just hitting the club with no LM to feel the club/shaft and visually see the ball flight. I can tell you that visually, the flight was great, no ballooning AT ALL, just a flat, boring trajectory that started off low and rose to it's apex and coming in with a flatter angle of descent than my current club. This resulted in a nice, long carry and then getting plenty of roll after it hit the ground. I was also hitting the ball rather straight with this shaft (depending on wind, when it picked up, it'd push it either direction on the range with range balls). Did I mishit some shots? Of course I did, around 25-30% of them to be exact. But for the most part, it was a very controllable shaft/head combo.

 

The next aspect of the shaft that I noticed during this session was the feel of the shaft. I was skeptical at first, prior to hitting the shaft as it was just a hair more loose(not much, but it felt just a hair more active in the tip) than the shaft I'd been using as well as being 15 grams lighter. What I did not anticipate was the feel of this shaft being what it was. I could really feel where the head was at, despite it being a significantly lighter static weight at it's finished length than the driver I'd been playing. The shaft was very smooth feeling, despite the lower weight. Every one of the lightweight shafts I've ever tried have felt whippy to me, but this one kept up with my swing very well, IMO. I could also feel the stored energy unload at impact and kick through the ball. It didn't feel like it was whipping through impact, but rather kicking hard and snapping through impact. I'd love to be able to upload a high speed camera's video here (and I'd love to be able to view it as well) because the solid powerful feel at impact was surprising to me for this being such a low static weight shaft. Overall, I was very impressed with the feel of this shaft, as it just seemed to fit my swing profile really well.

 

 

 

 

Data

Next, I took this to hit it to accumulate data for it for me. Here's the raw data from the Vector Pro LM/radar I used to gather the numbers (all numbers are averages)(this was the same day after going to eat lunch and driving 30 minutes to the place I gathered this data at):

 

Swingspeed: 114.7

Spin (RPM's): 2935

Launch Angle: 14.2

Distance (Carry): 278.2 yards

Ball Speed: 169.75

Smash Factor: 1.48

 

Analysis

Overall, I was very impressed with this shaft. The feel was incredible for a lightweight shaft. It also kept up very well, IMO, with my swing. The only time I felt like it couldn't keep up was when I swung out of my shoes with it, which doesn't happen on the course except after a bad hole and I can take my frustration out on the golf ball, which I'm working on not doing and controlling better. I tend to get mad after a badly played hole and usually compound it by swinging at the next tee ball at 120%. I did want to see how this shaft kept up with that swing, though, as I still haven't gotten that under control mentally yet (hey, I'm not perfect but I expect it out of myself when playing, which I know isn't possible. Wasn't it Jones that said every shot, no matter where it's from, that doesn't go in was a miss?). Regardless, I'm very impressed with this shaft overall and was pleasantly surprised with it's performance, especially being such a light weight. The feel is great, and it's about as smooth as it gets IMO. Overall, I'd gladly say that the ProjectX brand has a real winner in this dark side version of their classic.

 

Final Thoughts

In the interest of being thorough, I plan on pulling this shaft out of this head and installing it into my current driver to see how it performs with a heavier head. I, currently, have not done that, and I will amend this review once I do that. Did this shaft impress me enough to kick my current shaft out of the bag? I'm not sure yet, as I want to do more side by side comparisons over several sessions before determining that. I've played the same shaft for a season and a half, even after trying tons of others, and I'm comfortable with it and know how it'll perform for me over the long term. That doesn't mean I'm averse to swapping, it just means I want to be thorough in making the decision to swap out a driver I've grown comfortable with and have trust in.

 

Were I building a club for someone else that either struggles with distance and needs a lighter shaft to reduce static weight or for someone using a lighter weight head, I'd definitely recommend them giving this shaft a test drive (assuming it fits what they need in terms of launch characteristics and weight reduction). For those on the fence, as I was, about giving a lighter weight shaft a go but have a higher swingspeed and fear it can't keep up, don't be scared to step over to the Dark Side with ProjectX. They have a real winner on their hands with this shaft and the technology they've put into it.

[RoverRick]

Great review.

 

I have the PX 6.5 (original blue one) in my 3 wood. I recently added this club and tipped it (1 1/2") to kill the spin my 3 wood puts on the ball. I have only hit this three times and two were bad. But the third time it was perfect. The back part of our driving range is closed and we are asked not to hit ball more than 200 yards so I can not try it out like I would like.

[TomBrann]

I have just put one of these in my R11s, not only does it look fantastic with the Black shaft going down to the White head, it performs so much better than the original shaft that I had bought with it. I'm not claiming huge increases in distance, but it is consistent and allows me to put the ball where I want it.Maybe it is the aesthetics that are the biggest help, look down on the set up at address and like what you see, of course it will work. Lovely shaft and it does it's job.

[Denver]

Great review!! Thanks

[RookieBlue7]

Glad this info can be of help to others.

 

Coming up I'm gonna be reviewing the new Tour Prototype BiMatrix and a USPG shaft.

[sai-jin]

Do you think the PX 5.5 Black would be good for someone who swings with aggressive transition in around 105mph?

 

I would think that the PX5.5 = stiff while the 6.0 = S+ ?

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

Have the 6.0 black in my Ping i20 3-wood. Been very consistent and very happy with it so far.

[sai-jin]

But I heard that the 6.0 is a little stiffer feeling like the Diamana Ahina?

[whiskey golf]

Nice review RB

[BirdieSpy]

Not sure if anyone on here will get this. Know this is a few years old. Anyhow, I'm currently playing a Taylor Made R9 with an Aldila REAX 60 S Flex. The main problem I've always had with it is that it feels like it's bending at the top of my backswing, creating problems when I'm coning through. Also get a balloon-like trajectory pretty often. I recently got a Callaway Epic 5wd with an Aldila Rogue shaft in it and noticed immediately how stable it felt. Game Changer. 

 

My question: been looking on Ebay for a possible shaft replacement and came across this shaft on there for an affordable price ($25). Would that be worth throwing on this driver? Would you recommend another shaft to look for? Can't afford a new driver at this point and don't mind this driver (can get it to about 300 yards when hit right), but want another shaft.

 

Any guidance at all would be appreciated.

 

thanks. 

[RickyBobby_PR]

Not sure if anyone on here will get this. Know this is a few years old. Anyhow, I'm currently playing a Taylor Made R9 with an Aldila REAX 60 S Flex. The main problem I've always had with it is that it feels like it's bending at the top of my backswing, creating problems when I'm coning through. Also get a balloon-like trajectory pretty often. I recently got a Callaway Epic 5wd with an Aldila Rogue shaft in it and noticed immediately how stable it felt. Game Changer.

 

My question: been looking on Ebay for a possible shaft replacement and came across this shaft on there for an affordable price ($25). Would that be worth throwing on this driver? Would you recommend another shaft to look for? Can't afford a new driver at this point and don't mind this driver (can get it to about 300 yards when hit right), but want another shaft.

 

Any guidance at all would be appreciated.

 

thanks.

I don't know much about this but if you like the rogue I would try to find one of those.