Fujikura Atmos Tour Spec vs Mitsubishi Tensei

[MND]

Hi fellow forum members, 

You will quickly see that the context of this review is not a usual one and hopefully I will try to not make it too boring. It's also my first review so all comments on the way it was written are as appreciated than about its content. 

Recently, my brother and I discovered, thanks to the very good Garmin R10 golf radar, that the shafts we were both using were not adapted to our swing speeds. We were still using regular shafts on our drivers whereas having a swing speed higher than 105. So my brother decided to buy 2 drivers with the same head (Mizuno ST200) but different shafts to do some comparison. He found them in almost perfect shape equipped with a Mitsubishi Diamana 60 stiff for the first one and a Fujikura Atmos tour spec black 6x (extra stiff) for the second one. The result was without any doubt in favor of the Fujikura. When holding it, even before swinging it, the sensation was really different and so were also the results when hitting the ball. So he decided to keep this one but instead of reselling the other one he proposed to give it to me. As it was still better than my previous old driver, I accepted with pleasure 

Then I had the chance to participate to a fitting where we tested some drivers to compare them with the Mizuno. Of course, brand new drivers like the Callaway AI smoke or the TaylorMade Qi10 were more forgiving but the results were also telling me that the shaft might be something that could be easily enhanced without spending too much money on a new driver. The guy from the fitting proposed to provide me with a Mitsubishi Tensei 65 stiff, one inch shorter than usual, to see if it could increase my regularity. So I started testing it on practice and on the course but was not fully convinced. The feeling I had with the Atmos was still in my mind and finally I decided to buy one so that I could do the comparison myself. I decided to go for the stiff version instead of the x-stiff as my average speed is really around 105 (f not less) and rarely above 110.

Here are the 2 shafts that I have been testing for around a month now:

About their specs:

THE PROS DEMAND OPTIONS

 The ATMOS Tour Spec line is geared towards the performance golfer looking to keep the ball flighted down with low spin. Continuing with our iconic “Tour Spec white” paint, ATMOS is a true tour flighted line of shafts with a simple color coding – red as the higher launching, blue as mid launch, black as the lowest launch – similarities include keeping the handle flexes the same for feel, but adjusting mid and tip sections for launch and spin to achieve your desired ball flight. Atmos Tour Spec is the culmination of key learnings from more than two decades of tour-driven products. The development of Atmos Tour Spec was an extensive process by which critical player feedback and fitting needs were at the forefront.

The one I tested: Black 6s

• length: 46
• weight: 65g
• tip flex: 87
• butt flex: 80
• butt dia: 0.605
• torque: 3.4

 
TENSEI™ AV Series Blue

TENSEI is all about continual technological innovation and AV Series Blue is an important evolution to our TENSEI AV RAW Blue line. Using the same structure as the super-popular AV RAW Blue, AV Series Blue adds our Xlink Tech Resin System into the equation. The incorporation of Xlink Tech Resin System allows the shaft's carbon fiber volume to drastically increase to improve feel all while increasing the overall strength of the shaft. It still uses our Aluminum Vapor in the handle to create outstanding stability.

Key Features Include:

• Xlink Tech Resin System to drastically improve feel and increase strength
• Aluminum Vapor in handle for stability
• Consistent mid launch, mid spin performance

The one I tested: 65 flex-s

• Length: 45
• GMS: 68
• TIP OD: 0.335
• Butt OD: 0.598
• Torque: 3.9

Design

Let's start by the obvious. It's not something that really matters when hitting the ball and it's also something very personal, but always interesting to look at the design choice. Mitsubishi has chosen a black design that is very conventional but always kind of classy and will be appreciated by most us. On Fujikura side however, they have made a very different choice with this white based design. For me it's almost a "girly" design but I must say it is pretty nice and at the end, I have little for it because of its originality.

Static feel

As I was saying in introduction, one thing that hit me when testing the Atmos the first time (remember it was the x-stiff version), was the feeling when having it in hands. Even before swinging it, we could really feel a difference compared to the other shafts but as those ones were a regular one and a stiff but lighter (a Mitsubishi Diamana), I was wondering if it was coming from the quality of the shaft or from its flex. Now I can say that there was probably another element to take into consideration, the torque. With the stiff version of the Atmos, I still have this feeling compared to the Tensei but it's less obvious. As both are stiff with same weight, I now think that this feeling is coming from the torque of the Atmos which make it more rigid. Seems logical as it is described as a low launch and the x-stiff version is having an even more lower torque which would explain that this feeling was even more noticeable. This is really how I interpret it and would appreciate much some insights from you guys that are more expert than me on such topic  At the end, feeling is also very personal and that was what I liked the first time I tested the Atmos and it has been confirmed when comparing those 2 shafts. Somehow, it makes me really confident when in front of the ball.

Dynamic feel

On this one I will make it shorter because it's less obvious to me, probably because I'm so concentrated in hitting the ball that I don't really remember the feeling I had during the swing. Nevertheless, when hitting the Atmos, I think I feel it bending less than the Mitsubishi. It makes me more confident in having the head coming back with the ball correctly centered in the face. Also, the equilibrium of the Atmos seems a little better than on the Tensei and during the back swing, I feel it better in the space. The only thing that might be in favor of the Tensei, is the absorption of the choc when hitting the ball, in particular when hitting it bad. The wrist are taking more choc with the Atmos as it is more rigid and it can become painful quicker than with the Tensei. However, I also have an old injury that makes hitting several balls in a row painful, so still difficult to say if it's really due to the rigidity of the shaft...

Statistics (spin, max height, ball speed...)

For statistics, I can only rely on my Garmin R10 to get numbers. I could put them here but it would not give much more info, let's just say that with the Garmin app, it's possible to export all statistics of recorded practice sessions in csv format. I then merge everything and compute average or standard deviation depending on what I wanted to look at. In total I recorded almost 100 shots with the Atmos and around 50 with the Tensei on 5 sessions (2 at the practice range and 3 at home in a net). I'm of course planning to continue but the numbers are pretty consistent so I doubt that there will be any change on the result.

Talking about the results, they were interesting even if not as expected. First, on almost all statistics that I looked at (club speed, ball speed, launch angle, back spin, side spin, max height, carry and total distance), the average numbers (or standard deviation for side spin and lateral deviation) were almost exactly the same. Having a shorter shaft did affect slightly the club speed (less than 2mph with 100.9 for the Atmos and 99 for the Tensei) but less the ball speed as the smash factor was slightly better. By the way, I was surprised to see such law values as it has been some time now that I have been looking at those numbers and was pretty confident in an average of 105. I am wondering if I did not do some changes in my swing while doing this study or if I was just being too optimistic (as many of us).

The total deviation was slightly more on the Tensei (2m more) but at the end, the carry was almost the same so I cannot say that there is a real difference between them on speed or distance. What was more interesting were the numbers for back spin, side spin and max height. Based on the description of those 2 shafts, I was expecting to have higher values with the Tensei (mid launch/mid spin) but it was the Atmos (low launch/low spin) that gave me the maximum average back spin and standard deviation side spin. About maximum height, the average values were almost exactly the same with slightly more than 24 meters for both (around 80 feet).

Conclusion

I wasn't expecting to see a big difference, of course, but still, I was surprised by those results. It might be because the differences are really into the details and that my swing is not enough consistent to highlight them. If I would have had to choose between them just based on statistics, I would have concluded that neither one of them was really performing better than the other one and with a price difference of more than 100$, I would have probably chosen the Tensei. But still, there is a really big difference in terms of feeling that makes me more confident with the Atmos so to me, there is no doubt on which one I am going to choose and use on the course. I have another small fitting already planned to confirm the numbers on a trackman with a fitting expert and he might be able to provide some interesting insights. I'll tell you the results in a future update of this posts (if some of you are interested of course ).

Thanks for reading this review, that was the first (and hopefully not the last) that I made. As already said, all comments are welcomed so I can do something better the next time. Have a nice day (golfing) day

PS. I have added Some screenshots of the Garmin app for those who might be interested (if wondering, distances are in meters)

 

[JY56]

I had the Mitsubishi Tensei Blue 65S in one of my Mizuno drivers (ST200) and found it too soft for my liking.  Switched to Atmos Tour Spec Black in 6S and found it to be so much more stable, with better dispersion for my  SS of around 100.  Went to a few fittings recently and found stable feeling shafts from Callaway, in Denali Black, Taylormade in Tensei Black and Ping in Tour Black.  Seems the Blue profile shafts are a little softer, maybe for higher launch but feel less stable for me.  Of course, it depends on the individual and smoother swings would perhaps prefer the Blue.  That's why there are so many options for shafts and why it helps narrow the decision by getting fitted.

Edited May 27 by JY56

[MND]

Really interesting feedback, thanks. Looks like we share the same preferences