Need new hybrid shaft

[Howard_Jones]

Just like we use 1W for driver and 3W etc, irons use the hashtag #, and hybrids the H, so H1 is the lowest lofted Hybrids with about 14* to 15*, H2 is 17*-18* and H3 is 21*, but its really head weight we talk about, just like it is for all the others since loft always vary from OEM to OEM, and loft dont matter for tip trim, while head weight does. H1 or #1 is the same as head weight and thats 227 to 229 average, and then 7 grams plus for each club shorter.

i dont have BP specs for PX hybrid on this computer, but if i recall right, its just like PX steel, so expect BP to be 0.5 inch against the tip side or 21.5" from the tip and up.(not CW weighted)

If you try that option for shaft, please tell us how it works, that shaft was 175 USD retail when it was launched to the marked, so its no junk rod, but the top of the line model from True Temper.

[Kwheat]

My vote: pro white if you wanna spend money. Aldila rogue silver if you wanna experiment for cheap. Ebay has them for like 30 bucks.

[Z1ggy16]

I see, thanks for the info. Yeah I'm definitely going to buy it... I'll probably have it glued up and hitting balls in a week or two... I'll let you know. Worst case, I have me old Aldila Tour Blue that at least I know I like the feel of... Maybe isn't best results for me but the TZ6 is both bad feel and not best results, too.

[Z1ggy16]

Also is there a difference between the blue pxh shaft and the black one?

Edit: Also... after looking at the EI charts on MCA's site... What about a Pro Orange 90TX ssx1 or ssx2? Stiffest tip, but then softer mid and handle than pro white... seems more inline with modus 120 than pro white or blue.

[Z1ggy16]

So I bought the subscription to the golfshaftreview website to see more Ei profiles... Oddly enough my Smoke black is shaped nothing like modus 120 or S400. Still having trouble finding a shape similar for hybrid but I did notice Ventus Blue and Evo Speeder II, III and IV are all shaped similar to modus. Doesn't help me much right now... but I could try to move back to a 5w if I really can't find a shaft that'll work in my M1 hybrid.

[Valtiel]

Yeah I didn't really want to mention it and muddy the waters, but the S300/400 is extremely similar to most "Blue" profiles, specifically the AD-DI. Its interesting actually that the X100/S300/R300 seem to line up pretty well with White/Blue/Red MRC profiles overall. The Tour Blue you mention is also a very butt stiff shaft, so it might be worth re-evaluating your initial criteria.

[Z1ggy16]

Haha yeah... It's okay. I try not to "box myself in" when it comes to shafts. If something feels right and produces nice results... who cares what's what. It always kind of makes me wonder if and how profile really matters. If I can get fit into a profile that looks totally different in driver than it does in iron or wedge... is that because I'm swinging very differently or is my body/brain able to make small adjustments that I'm not aware of to make something work? It's interesting to me.

Here's DG:

Here's Modus 120:

Here's Hzrdus Smoke:

Thump H:

KBS Proto:

[Howard_Jones]

When we go from driver, via hybrids to Irons, "the same profile" changes....more tip stiffness as head weight goes up.

Here is PX BLUE Tour Issue Woods...( i play it in my 7W)

Here is how PX Blue Tour Issue Hybrids looks like....tip stiffness goes up. (more head weight) and the progression looks steeper since its shorter than the wood

As Iron who is the shortest and with highest head weight, the matching PX steel shafts looks like this, again a progression in the tip

So, we want find the matching Hybrid or Iron vs Driver with a EI profile that looks identical on the paper.....length and head weight is part of it all. That means we can only look at this lines comparing Woods to woods, Hybrids to Hybrids and Irons to irons, then we have a "apple to apple" compare.

[Z1ggy16]

@Howard Jones Interesting. But could I still look for "trends" in the shape, such as how the slope from butt to mid is, and tip to mid? Like, the drop off in stiffness of modus 120 from tip to mid is quite fast, and then the change from mid back up to butt is fast but then quickly goes quite flat. Even if the actual CPMs will be much higher on modus, wouldn't I still want to try to be in shafts that have a stiffer tip section, then get softer toward the mid ? S300/400 would seem to follow a similar shape.
But yeah I think I'm going to try the PX Blue Hybrid shaft, it's only like $20, can't hurt. If that's meh, then I may just pony up for Thump 90. I hit it last year quite a bit during a fitting and was seeing pretty good numbers. But me being me... I tried to cheap out and find something "comparable" for less money. 2020 is the year I am truly willing to spend what's needed and settle my bag for the foreseeable future.

[Howard_Jones]

Sure, but pay attention to the fact that Woods has a Beam of 40" (Beam is shaft length outside of the clamp), while hybrids have a Beam of 38 as the max, and irons 32-36, so make sure you look at the same "picture". To do this "right" we also have to consider tip and butt trim since we never play the shaft at its full length, so the butt section is important. For each inch we cut off the butt, we can delete 1 inch of the right side of that picture (using the gauge at the bottom). Thats why some shafts drops more than others in flex when we butt cut and go shorter. RIFLE FCM is a shaft like that. Measured butt FCM rating moves by 7 for each inch both ways, so a set FCM 6.0 would play to 6.7 if we go 1 inch above standard, and to only 5.3 if we go 1 inch below standard. Its visible on the EI profile where we can see that the mid section and the progression it has goes all the way to the end of the shaft, so when we "delete" inch by inch from the butt, the same line no longer goes as high up as it did.

This is how the EI profile for RIFLE FCM looks like. Mid to butt is a almost strait line, so shafts with a butt section like this goes stronger when we go longer. Shafts where we can see the line turns, more or less "stay in flex" (on the chart), while both PX steel and PX hybrids might feel softer butt side when we go above standard play length, and stiffer when we go shorter than std. So, what we see as uncut shaft is one thing, but its the tip and butt trimmed shaft like we will play it thats of interest.

 

[Poolparty]

I like the look of the Thump too but it like it cuz it looks like a DI knock off. For you, Zig, I think you need to find a Titleist fitting cart. They make a smoke hybrid shaft and I think you'll like the EF white too, and any Titleist cart will have both. EI profiles are great but if you have the option feeling a shaft you have to do it.

[Z1ggy16]

@Howard Jones Yes you bring up a very good point. I did notice the beam length you refer to being different among wood shafts, hybrids and irons but I didn't consider the fact I'll be butt trimming and in some cases tip trimming.
K so I'm buying the proj x blue hybrid shaft in a minute and hopefully that will get here end of next week. I'll keep my eye out for any other cheaper alternatives that were mentioned (have a few favorite'd on eBay) and I'll post some info back here once I've made some hits. Unfortunately I won't have access to Trackman, so I won't have as much club head and ball data... we'll mainly only be seeing ball speed numbers, spin, launch and dispersion.

Thanks so much everybody, as usual.

[Z1ggy16]

I have Monday and Tuesday off... I may go hit up PGATSS or Golf Galaxy.

[Z1ggy16]

Ok so I got the PX hybrid shaft on a few balls today at the range and tomorrow I will game it (not sure how many times I'll hit it... at least 2-3 times though because the course calls for a few 220-230 yard shots). The feel is okay, I don't hate it and I don't love it. Only took about 8 swings with it and got okay results. It feels pretty linear and a bit different than TZ6. This feels like a constant stiffness through out with no real sensation of loading/unloading whereas TZ6 has an obviously really stiff handle and a little bit of a kick which to me feels a bit closer to the head.

Both SW'ed at D3, so I didn't have to mess with head weight at all.

Overall... I'm starting to think maybe the M1 head isn't for me. I've changed my swing a bit since I first started playing 4 years ago and I present a lotttt less loft at impact. I just can't hit this thing high enough to be useful off the deck. Tee shots are money... it's medium to low flight, low spin. If I really pipe one, I've gotten this thing out to 250 before in the summer months (carry) from the box. That's really not the point of thing club though it needs to be my "go for it" club into par 5's and this isn't the flight I really want.

I'll reserve judgement until I at least play 3x with it though as these garbage low spin low speed range balls aren't a good measure of a club build. I've got a round tomorrow and then I'm heading to FL next weekend, should be playing 2, if not 3 times.

[Z1ggy16]

Played yesterday I think I hit it twice. Didn't love it, didn't hate it. Unless I end up really getting used to it, I'll probably be putting a TM adapter on my old Tour Blue next week and be using that in Florida next weekend.

[cw1209]

Kuro Kage Black hybrid or Aldila Rogue Black hybrid. Both good, both can be had for cheap.

[Albatross85]

It sounds like you and I have similar preferences, see my signature!

A total hidden gem is the AD IZ hybrid shaft, soft handle and gives a great kick thru the shot but not in a way that you feel like you've overpowered it. Aldila VS proto is also a great option and i got along good with the HZRDUS 105x tour only shaft as well. I tend to migrate towards softer butts and stiff tip sections.

[Poolparty]

How would you feel about a S400 player w a 3 hybrid with a length a 40-40.25 (raw 39-39.5) and head weight of 237-239 playing the PX Blue in 6 vs 6.5 straight in -- no tipping? I like the sound of a 97 gram shaft but would worry about too much stiffness overall.

[Howard_Jones]

6.0 sounds fine if we talk PX Hybrid Graphite (the Blue),

 

[Poolparty]

Yes the PX hybrid. I swung the one I bought from Ziggy the other day. It's a great shaft no doubt. First they're basically free, have a low spin - mid soft profile, and good weight and torque specs. To me the bend profile reminded me of a Hzrdus Yellow (wood) but with more feel and a more lively Motore TS hybrid.

[calfan36]

How do you read these, and what suits what type of swing? Thanks

[Howard_Jones]

if you dont understand it after reading this tread from the start, im not able to explain it to you, and my way of fitting shafts dont work the way you seems to think it does where a certain EI profile fits a certain swing. since FEEL of flex is a trigger for how the player will swing that club, that means the players swing CHANGE depending on what profile he swing (he cant use his own swing no matter what, thats not how it works).That means we can never take the dynamic test with trial and error on walk over by using a chart. Personal preference for feel is the key so this EI profiles dont come in play before the player has tested one shaft, so when we have his feedback for how that feels and what should be "improved", we can use them to find the next shaft to test, nothing else.

[Z1ggy16]

Wanted to report back, that I think I've found "the one". First time hitting my Tensei Pro White 90TX in the 818h1 23* today on GCHawk -

This shaft feels incredible. Extremely tip stable but still has some feel under my hands so I don't feel like I need to yank/pull/swing out of my shoes to make it work for me. Going to actually try to find a 70TX for my 5w and probably end up getting rid of the Pro Blue.