When buying from Japan?

[Sunster]

When you order clubs/shafts from Japan, should you order up a flex or stay the same flex?

[Shambles]

If you're going to the other side of the world for a product and spend all that money, I think it's better to give the whole package a fair try. It's not all that difficult to change the shafts if you truly do not like them and a lot more accurate to do the change at home where you can oversee the changes you order.



Shambles

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Standard flexes here are softer than US/EU. For example, Dynamic Gold shafts tend to be s200. If you buy new, you can usually get X100 easily as a free option, but S300 may take time (I've been told that some makers don't really stock S300).
So I would go with what Shambles said. Buy as is, try it, and make any changes later, as it may be difficult to get the shafts you want over here.

What clubs are you looking to buy? Drivers? Fairway woods? Irons? Wedges? New or secondhand?

[jmvargas]

i have had many jdm drivers and they all play softer than marked vs usdm shafts...

i particularly like that they all had high quality shafts marked "made in japan" and from memory have had factory installed mitsubishi rayon, fujikura rombax, ust mamiya shafts on them plus those made specifically for s-yard and tourstage/bridgestone..

unless you can reshaft them with shafts of the same or better quality i wouldn't recommend the reshafting route..

all of the drivers i had an original purchase price of at least $750 ....

[Sunster]

I'm considering a set of Srixon irons with the Nippon 980 shafts. Normally play regular flex (driver as is 90) so just want to know if I'm better off in this situation getting their stiff shafts.

[niscur24]

This is the logic I'll be using when I get over there next week. Just going to buy with whatever shaft comes in the clubs and try them once I get back. This would be for irons and wedges as I can fit up to a 4 iron in my bag. If I find any woods I want I will be hitting up 100yen shops or something else to pick up a small saw to cut the heads off. First time I went I brought back an ignite dfi driver, which is still one of the baddest Nikes ever made, that came with a limp noodle shaft so I attempted to snap that B and the results were not as pretty. So this time I'll cut them.

I know for a fact that pretty much none of the wood shafts will work for me. I like heavy 85g+ XStiff drivers and 95+ S-XStiff Fairway's and all the clubs I'm interested in won't have these styles of shafts in them stock...

[Kingcat990]

The Srixons with Nippon 980 in S flex play weak. Currently changing them out in mine.

[Sunster]

[quote name='Kingcat990' timestamp='1436386014' post='11911846']
The Srixons with Nippon 980 in S flex play weak. Currently changing them out in mine.
[/quote]
By that do you mean they play like a regular flex because this is what I'm trying to find out

[matthewsiv]

As far as woods and hybrids go you need to go one flex stiffer

[Soloman1]

Do you mean NS pro 950? I don't know of any NS Pro 980 shaft.

The S flex of the NS Pro 950 weighs 98 grams, versus 130 grams for a DG S300. The Nippon shafts have a higher trajectory, so they're not necessarily a weaker flex. The performance is just different. They will be easier for some people to hit because of the lighter weight.

[Kingcat990]

Yah they play like an R. The 980's are similar to 950's, they just have a little extra weight in the grip end. Its a Japan thing. I called Nippon about it.

[nja]

Is the Regular for us not the SR in Japan? I do have my Fairway woods with the SR and I don't see this flex in any other models than in the Japanese ones

[jmvargas]

i think the R for jdm equipment is closer to the S for usdm...

[Shambles]

[quote name='jmvargas' timestamp='1436454868' post='11916648']
i think the R for jdm equipment is closer to the S for usdm...
[/quote]

I'm rather uncertain about that. On the whole I would consider JDM shafts soft to flex, but not all that much. To me the difference in flex isn't worth talking about as more than a rather unimportant mention. Shaft weight, on the other hand, lately has a greater effect on me. I have been leaning towards a bit more heft in the search for a bit more stability. I have not yet had the time to give it a try but I recently picked up a Honma with a 65 gram shaft to see if that might prove the direction I need to look for greater swing comfort with my woods. Heft might matter a bit more than I gave it credit for.



Shambles

[jmvargas]

note that JDM equipment SOLD in asia is geared towards us asians and the standards are smaller grips and softer/lighter shafts vs USDM stuff...

...am not sure about JDM stuff exported to the US...

if i were an average american--ie--taller and stronger than the average asian--i would only buy JDM equipment off the shelf in asia considering this difference....and vice-versa.

PS:i ALWAYS regrip USDM clubs i buy with undersized grips as the standard ones are too big for my asia-sized hands..

[Jordan Speeth]

I recently ordered a set of Bridgestone Tour B irons from a Japanese vendor and the S300s were a special order, though not an upcharge, which was nice. I was told that all DG shafts are pre-sorted for weight and flex for the Japanese market. It's just that they have decided that the S200 is a good "broad market" shaft like the S300 is here and is much more common, sort of their go-to "stock" shaft. The nice part, if the DG range works for you, is that you can buy your clubs there at quite a nice price from many of the JDM lines. My Tour B X-CB's were much cheaper than the best price I could get here. In the case of the Bridgestones, I'm pretty sure that there's no distinction between the US and JDM models. They all come from Endo and are all finished in the same place judging by the beautifully detailed finish work on them. I'm not sure on the assembly though. The USDM irons may be assembled here in the US.