S300 vs X100

[AP76]

Who has tested or gamed both shafts and what would you say are the pros and cons of both? Currently playing S300 but wondering if X100 would tighten dispersion and make the bad shots not as bad? Cheers 👍🏼

[Hoff_19]

I just put in x100 amt white set in my irons. I had a set with s300 as my backup. My swing speed (115mph driver) way overpowered the s300 so it was a no brainer for me (8 iron would rip back 10ft every shot). but the amt definitely feels good.

 

If you're in between go amt. More flex where you want it in the long irons and more stable in the short irons. 

[phizzy30]

I had both back in the day when DG was pretty much the only choice as far as steel shafts were concerned.  S300 were fine when I first started using them at 12 or 13.  By the time I got to college, I was swinging harder so I made the switch to the X100.  The X100 will launch a bit lower and probably spin less.  It won't have as much kick as the S300 either.  It could tighten up dispersion, but for me it wasn't noticeable.

[hwwong]

Read somewhere that s300 is a completely different bend profile as the x100...is that true?

[Nessism]

No, not totally different.  DG S profile is a little more tip stiff though which is contrary to what some might think.

 

Regarding tightening dispersion with a stiffer shaft, that's a fallacy.  Dispersion is a swing problem, not a shaft problem.  The only slight exception is if the shaft is drastically too soft for the loading.  A bigger issue affecting dispersion is if the shaft doesn't provide the proper amount of feedback for the player, in which case the player may put a bad swing on the ball.  Can't blame the shaft for that though.  That's a poor fitting issue.

[rollen]

I’ve played both. Initially changing from S300 to X100. The x100 did lower trajectory  slightly and tighten dispersion, again just slightly. Possibly due to a better fit. It also seemed that the trajectory was more consistent. I have also played X100 soft stepped once and twice.  Currently playing  X100 SS 1x. I’m not sure what it is, but the X100 always felt livelier than the S300. Never liked the feel of the S300. Best thing to do is get an extra head that matches your set and shaft it with an X100 and see how it performs.   

[Myherobobhope]

I did a fitting and generated too much spin with the x100s vs the s300s (weird but true)... then I was talking to Jason at sub70 and he told me I should try the s400... 

 

it’s probably my favorite shaft. I’ve got similar chs numbers and was swinging a 7 iron 97 mph... the s400 is plenty stout.

[Scottishducati]

I’ve played both over my golf career. Played D1 golf with S300 and moved into X100 when I gained some speed. I had a lot of testing with both and really enjoy both. X100 were more consistent at my high end but had more feel with the S300’s. Performance wise I fit into both profiles and could game either right now. My pros and cons are my feels and can be completely different from someone else - driver swing speed 110 average  
 

S300

Pros: Feel is amazing for me - great kick and effortless speed - was good on my days I wasn’t feeling 100% on my game - trajectory control is amazing for hitting it high or low 

 

Cons: if I really got on one I felt the shaft load a bit too much - second guessed myself if it was the shaft or my swing when I missed shots to the left - not really a whole lot negatives with this shaft (completely underrated for good players and higher swing speeds) - can be more draw bias 

 

X100

Pros: one of the best overall shafts I’ve played - plenty of feel, very consistent load, great trajectory control - very controlled and allows you to hit it low or high if you have the speed - the Goldilocks of control and feel  

 

Cons: you need a bit of speed to feel like you’re not working too hard - long irons can come out lower if your sluggish - can be more fade bias 

[Cwebb]

21 hours ago, hwwong said:

Read somewhere that s300 is a completely different bend profile as the x100...is that true?

 

No, that is a myth.  The R300 DG is a different profile

[Cwebb]

19 hours ago, Myherobobhope said:

I did a fitting and generated too much spin with the x100s vs the s300s (weird but true)... then I was talking to Jason at sub70 and he told me I should try the s400... 

 

it’s probably my favorite shaft. I’ve got similar chs numbers and was swinging a 7 iron 97 mph... the s400 is plenty stout.

 

It couldn't have been just the shaft that made the difference, since an S400 is just an 'S' flex DG that happened to come off the manufacturing line at about 2g heavier

[LowAndLeft32]

I play s300/s400 shafts. I tried the 120 Dg x100 shaft in a 7 iron despite my fitter telling me I don’t have the swing speed. I hit the x100 better and further. Not sure why. But my swing coach and fitter said I was crazy for playing the x100 shaft. So I stuck with the s300s. I sometimes regret but giving the x100 more of a try. For reference Driver SS is 105ish. 

[NRJyzr]

13 hours ago, LowAndLeft32 said:

I play s300/s400 shafts. I tried the 120 Dg x100 shaft in a 7 iron despite my fitter telling me I don’t have the swing speed. I hit the x100 better and further. Not sure why. But my swing coach and fitter said I was crazy for playing the x100 shaft. So I stuck with the s300s. I sometimes regret but giving the x100 more of a try. For reference Driver SS is 105ish. 

 

Proper shaft fit isn't about swingspeed or distance, but instead about each person's shaft load.  There are short hitting seniors out there who find improvement playing Xstiff shafts, because their swings are short, choppy, with hard transitions (one example).  Or, longer hitters who do quite well with softer than expected shafts, because their swings do not load the shaft as much.

 

It's great fun.  🙂

 

Personally, I find myself still using Xstiff in my driver and 3w in spite of no longer having the speed (based on my distance loss) to justify it, for those who use distance/speed as a flex guide.  

 

If it works for you, it works.  🙂

 

[TonyDAnnunzio]

Bringing up a few months old thread...

 

20 or so years ago I played DG x100's in TA 845's...  I don't recall the "feel" of the shaft but do recall that I consistently hit the ball solid with that head/shaft combination.  I then purchased a brand new set of PING ISI's with "x-stiff" shafts as suggested by the fitter.  I never quite felt that I hit the ball as consistently solid with the PING x-stiff shafts so I reshafted with the original Rifle 6.5 because I wanted to try something different...  shortly after I got out of golf only playing in the occasional office tournament scramble.  Last fall I got back into playing on a consistent basis and believing my swing speed had decreased due to age despite not having it measured I reshafted my ISI's with DG S300 soft stepped 1x...  

 

After reshafting the ISI's with the soft stepped GD S300's I would say that the shafts felt relatively the same but I did strike the ball more consistently with the S300.

 

A couple of months ago I purchased a set of mint i210's with C-Taper Lite stiff shafts with an additional 1/2" length.  I hit these "okay" but found I was about a club shorter compared to the ISI's and had trouble finding the center of the clubface.  Long story short I did not get along with the C-Taper Lite shafts.  I did the experiment by wrapping some lead tape around the C-Taper Lite shafts and used masking tape on the grip to simulate a 1/2" shorter club as suggested by Stuart_G and skraly .  Almost instantly I was hitting the i210's better and longer at the range.

 

I did a fair amount of research on "S300 vs X100" and decided to go with the DG X100 soft stepped 1x at standard length...  I was expecting it to have a "boardy" feel to the shafts but I used to prefer a heavy stiff feeling shaft.  Today I got out to play for the first time since putting the DG X100's in the i210's and the result was amazing...  the feel of the DG X100 was the exact opposite of what I expected.  I can feel the DG X100's load about mid-way in the downswing and the feeling is very smooth if that makes sense...  not at all what I would have expected with a DG X100.  There is, from my initial impression, more feel with the X100 vs the S300...  I have been on a launch monitor since last fall and my 7 iron swing speed is consistently 87-89 mph.

 

Anyway, I just thought I would share my impression for anyone else on the fence about between a S300 and X100...