Aldila VooDoo - Any 2019 feedback?

[BDoubleG]

Hey all,

I recently picked up a Callaway XR fairway wood (14 degree 3 deep) with an Aldila VooDoo SVS8. I love the head, but I'm finding that I might be losing out with this shaft.

I can't find any info at all on the 80g shaft (I just see some sporadic info on the SVS6 and SVS7), but i'm assuming it hassimilar specs to those two.

 

I'm looking at maybe swapping out for one of the following:

1. a Fuji Tour Spec 84 (heavy mid-launch)

2. a HZRDUS Smoke 80 (seems higher-launching for a HZRDUS shaft)

3. a UST Elements Chrome 8f4t, because it's just a great shaft

 

I know the VooDoo was well-received back in 2008, but I'm wondering how it stacks up 11 years later, and whether these newer shafts might work out better. The reason I bring these three shafts up is because I already have them, so there's no issue of "don't waste your money on another shaft".

Any thoughts would be great! Thanks

[Stuart_G]

Time doesn't make any shaft obsolete, it only provides more options to choose from.

 

Only way to find out if any of the other shafts will work better or not is to give them a try and compare the actual ball flight results. There is nothing inherent about the newer shafts that will make them perform better, but which one of all the options might be a better fit for you is something that will take a little effort on your part of figure out.

 

FWIW, whether it's the original vs-proto, the vs-voodoo, Tour Blue, Rogue Black, or the newest 2kxv blue - there are minor differences in feel but all work equally well for me because the basic profile is a good fit for me (and I still have one of each around in various clubs I'm using).

[BDoubleG]

Yeah very good point - I’ll just have to get some time with it as-is, then get an opportunity to compare. Thanks.

[markheardjr]

I agree with Stuart. Old shafts are awesome! And with my background in Aerospace/Defense i can tell you that composites do not fatigue due to time alone.

 

I was theeeee VooDoo guy around these parts many years ago. They really did make a bunch of great shafts. So many fantastic prototypes that the masses would have loved if they made them. (Like the XDV6 / Apple's Fairway) or the XPP6/XPP8 low spin bombers. I had a CHIII Proto that was like an XXVS7.

 

In general, older shafts are lower launch and spin IMO than newer shafts when compared to the same "launch/spin" categories. A 2003 Low Launch / Low Spin is so much lower than a 2019 "Low launch / Low spin" shaft. What I do think has improved is the ability for shafts to decrease spin while enabling higher launch. But only to a minor degree. Shafts cannot magically create high launch and low spin, but they can help create conditions that improve that if you are trying to make that happen with your swing. I always appreciated Aldila's (read VP of Engineering John Oldenburg's) mad scientist approach (FYI My eyes are on the new LA Golf Shafts since they picked him up as their guy when [Mitsubishi Chemical made a massive mistake in letting him go.](http://www.golfwrx.com/526616/la-golf-shafts-hires-john-oldenburg-former-aldila-head-of-engineering-to-lead-product-development/ "Mitsubishi Chemical made a massive mistake in letting him go.")) Things like MLTI, S-Core, RIP and Graphene usage were what sent them on the extreme edge and that is what I liked!

 

SVS8 us a great shaft. It may be a tad lower launch and spin than todays "mid/mid" shafts. I think it would suit someone well in a fairway wood that naturally launches mid to mid/high and is a mid-spin generator. I recently put a VS-Proto 80X in an M1 and absolutely blistered it. But it had just a touch too much spin for me but I am a high spin generating player.

[BDoubleG]

Wow, thanks so much for that feedback! I think I'll try a couple rounds out on the course with it. I was at the range over the weekend and wasn't having too much difficulty elevating, but I could see a little more height helping me out. I'll maybe throw in the fuji if I feel I need more height, but at the end of the day, if it works, I probably won't make the change.

 

Thanks again!

[jholz]

I've used a number of Aldila shafts over the years, and like others, I will vouch for their quality and performance.

 

That being said, the release of the VooDoo, Habanero, and the other shaft that they released in that line whose name escapes me at the moment, represented a real low point in their production history.

 

At the time when they were initially released, Titleist used them as a stock shaft in the 909 series drivers, and I recall hearing a lot of complaints. That driver failed mainly because of the shaft. If you could get one with a Diamana, they were awesome. With the VooDoo, they totally sucked. This was also the height of the "made-for" era of aftermarket shafts, so it's hard to say if the stock VooDoo in the 909 was legit.

 

I had an Adams hybrid with the SVS8 VooDoo in it, and I must say that shaft was the sloppiest piece of garbage that I've ever swung. Again, it may have been a "made-for" shaft.

 

In any event, I would argue that those shafts were so terrible, that Aldila has tried very hard to scrub their existence from everyone's memory.

 

YMMV, of course. If you like it and swing it well, happy days! You can get a whole bag full of em for about $15, I would imagine.