MEMBER REVIEWS: Nippon Modus Tour 115 Iron Shafts! See What Members Are Saying!

[knudson81]

 

Nippon and GolfWRX are very excited to bring you some member reviews on Nippon's brand new Modus Tour 115 iron shafts! We have four members putting the shafts through their paces an reporting back here with how they are performing. Please feel free to ask the testers any questions you might have on the shafts! The testers are...

 

@bonescu

@DREWZER300

@buckrogers71

@jgallant415

 

About Nippon Modus³ 115

The Tour 115 was born on the 10th anniversary of N.S.PRO Modus³. It is the culmination of feedback from top tour players and was created as a new standard to meet the needs of athletic golfers.

 With a straightforward shaft structure that follows the performance of the Tour 105 and Tour 125, Tour 115 promotes a mid-trajectory and spin to meet the multi-dimensional needs of top tour players with controlled trajectories from the “Tour Spin” design. 

In addition to the performance of the shaft with world-class design technologies, the weight of Tour 115 is set to match the standards of recent years to freely shape the needs of athletes. 

 

https://nipponshaft.com/product/steel_modus_115.php

 

We also want to give a big THANK YOU to @Nippon Shaft for putting on this testing event!

[DREWZER300]

Happy to be selected for this test as I have used the Modus 105 in the past and loved the feel.   I will be installing these in my set of PING i210 this weekend.   After that I will do some testing on course over the next few weeks as well as getting some numbers off a launch monitor to compare to the base numbers of the Dynamic Gold 120x that I was fit into.

 

Thanks again to @GolfWRX_Official and @Nippon Shaft for the chance to participate in this test.

 

 

[bonescu]

Happy to be included as well.  Dealing with a little foot injury now which will give me time to get the shafts installed and start sharing my journey with them.  thanks to @GolfWRX and @Nippon Shaftfor putting this together.

 

Cheers!

DV 

[Puttersaurus Rex]

Congratulations to the winners!  I love my 115s, and hope others find positive results.

[getair23]

Looking forward to reading the reviews here.  I have tried the 105, 120, 125, and 130's.  My son plays the 105's in his ZX5's, and I like them better than I thought.  125's worked really well for me, but the 120's played like they were from a different planet.

 

Enjoy the new shafts!

[KhiloD]

I just picked up a set of 115x which are going in at the beginning of July. Currently gaming 105s but swing speed is up and hoping these aid in my tempo and make it feel like I don't have to take such a big cut to keep the face square on the lighter/softer shafts.

 

Supposed to be similar profiles just increased weight, so excited to try them out!

[SilenceX]

Not a part of the giveaway but figured I’d throw my sentiments in here as well. Demo’d a set with Mizuno 225’s and they were really nice but availability was just too far out for me so I went in a different direction this time around.
 

I’ve played Modus 105’s in the past before switching to KBS simply because of what OEM was stock at the time. The 115’s reminded me almost of a “middle ground” between a KBS C taper and C taper lite. For being heavier than a Modus 105 it still has the same softer load and faster kick that I felt like I lost with the Modus 120 as I have a more moderate transition. 
 

And with KBS, I love the load and kick point of the C Taper lites but I’d prefer a bit more weight. But if I step up to the C taper it feels more like the 120’s - too rigid. All that to say, nicely done Nippon, I’ll definitely be buying them in my next set if they’re the non-up charge and actually semi-available. 

[Mp14forlife]

Kinda glad I wasn't selected cause I just shafted up some modus 130's and couldn't be happier with them. Great feel and they just want to go high, far and not too spinny. 

[buckrogers71]

I shafted up my Srixons with them this weekend and I hope to get to the range this week, scramble thursday and a couple rounds coming up. I had the 105s but found they were too light, then to the 125s they were too heavy late in the round, so I am hoping the 115 are the goldilocks and are "just right" 

[jgallant415]

On 6/20/2022 at 1:42 PM, buckrogers71 said:

I shafted up my Srixons with them this weekend and I hope to get to the range this week, scramble thursday and a couple rounds coming up. I had the 105s but found they were too light, then to the 125s they were too heavy late in the round, so I am hoping the 115 are the goldilocks and are "just right" 

I’m in the same camp as you - went with the 105s in my ZX5 irons because the 125s were just a bit too much but I hope the 115s can be that perfect middle ground. Got some baseline numbers on the launch monitor with the 105s last night and shafts are being swapped out as we speak, so should have a lot more to say in the next few days.

[DREWZER300]

Got these installed finally.  Last week or so has been hectic as my daughter fell off a scooter and broke her arm.  Lots of doctors visits and what not so haven't had time to hit the range yet.  However I will be getting out this weekend for a round.   I will post some photos and initial thoughts afterwards.  

 

 

 

[jas904]

I’ve been looking forward to hearing some reviews. Unfortunately there aren’t any. 

[DREWZER300]

Quick Status Update:

 

I got to play my first round with the Modus 115X this past weekend.   No range time or anything just straight to the first tee.   

 

Hole 1 is a 310 yard par 4 with lots of trouble off both sides of the fairway and the green protected by lots of tall grass.  Considering it was my first swing in about 10 days I decided to take a 3 iron, choke down, and just punch it out in the fairway.   Took a few practice swings to try and get a good feel for how the shaft was going to load.  I had already made sure swing weight matched what I usually play.   I then stepped up to the ball and proceeded to hit one of the most satisfying low cut stingers I can remember hitting in recent past.   Right in the center of the fairway setting myself up nicely for a wedge into the green.   90 yards to the pin,  placed it 10 feet left, pin high,  and then lipped out my birdie.   

 

The rest of the front nine was pretty ordinary.   Very tight course with tree trouble pretty much on every hole.    Ended up 3 over with a couple misses on short putts.  

 

Then came the back nine...

 

Proceeded to hit 8 straight greens with no more than 15 feet for birdie,  and unfortunately only made one.  Coming of a sting of 7 straight pars with 5 birdie putts either burning the edge or the dreaded center cut but 2 inches short I came to the number 17 tee.    145 yard par 3, uphill,  wind coming right to left and against us.   Normally would be a solid 9 iron for me, but due to the wind I pulled an 8.  Set the ball back in my stance to try and keep it lower.   Took a three quarter swing to make sure it cut threw the wind, and when I looked up I seen this perfect little cut holding against the wind tracking right at the pin.   One hop, and then CLANG!  Ball hits the pin and settles 6 inches from the hole.   After a bad tee shot on 18 in ended with a bogey for a final of 3 over par.   

 

These shafts are exactly as described.   If you played the 105 and like the profile and feel the 115 will be a slightly heavier version of them.   For someone like me who has above average swing speed it definitely is an improvement.   I like the mid launch and mid spin as I typically have a very low ball flight.    I had no issues holding firm greens with these during the round.   The longest club I hit into a green was a 6 iron from 190 on a long par 4.  Ball stopped about 5 feet from the pitch mark.   

 

I am excited to get back out on the course with these again later this week.   I am also still trying to get some time on a monitor to get some numbers to compare to the numbers I got during my fitting with the Dynamic Gold 120x.

 

Side note;  I had a set of wedges that had the Modus 125 Wedge shafts installed.   I pulled the and installed them in my current set to match them up with the Modus 115X.   They compliment each other very well.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 28, 2022 by DREWZER300

[DREWZER300]

17 minutes ago, jas904 said:

I’ve been looking forward to hearing some reviews. Unfortunately there aren’t any. 

 

Keep in mind we just got the shafts 2 weeks ago.  I was able to assemble my set myself but some will likely have to take theirs to a local shop to have them built.    

[halfsumo]

I play 120x and 125s in wedges. i tried the 115x in some mizuno heads at the store. Feel heavier and stiffer to me than my 120's even though I believe they are both around the same weight in the x flex. I do like that. At times the 120's can feel a bit light when I am on the range. Never noticed it on course, though. With heavier and stiffer feel, I think I can feel where the club is a bit better, but then if too heavy and stiff i tend to thin it and I was thinning it with the 115x.

[buckrogers71]

On 6/28/2022 at 10:30 AM, jas904 said:

I’ve been looking forward to hearing some reviews. Unfortunately there aren’t any. 

I wanted to post my review but my father's untimely passing put a damper on the install and review...

 

That being said, I installed them Father's Day weekend (not in honor of my pops (he wouldnt understand modus 115, PX 5.5, or X30000000...lol) rather as a distraction.)

 

Got em in and I'd love to say they looked super sexy, but hey, they're irons. I will say the Heirko ferrules from Amazon are on point as I didnt have to turn them. So aces right there. I play to a 9 handicap (usually a 5 or 6) and i am struggling with all the clubs in the bag right now

 

Let me lead with my review is based ONLY on feel and self interpretation, I have never used Trackman or anything else. The shafts installed were in a Srixon Z585, P-GW, recently bent 4* flat.

 

My distances are:

5 Iron (180-190)

6 iron (170-180)

7 iron (160-170)

8 iron (150-160) 

9 Iron (140-150)

PW (130-140)

GW (120-130)

54 and 58 are KBS 610s

 

I've played the 105s (could never feel the head and as a feel player thats bad.) I installed 125s, and while I could feel the head all the time, at the end of the round I couldnt feel my arms or back.

 

Feel: Sweet jeezus!!! As I have gotten older, I realize that anything hard, hurts and when you have a hard time finding the club face, its worse. These are feel great and mishits arent turrible. They have the same Nippon feel, smooth. Short game a ton of feel, not mushy not hard

 

Dispersion: Crappy shots are 5-10 yds shorter, but in the same ballpark.   

 

Ball flight: a nice ascending flight that kinda flattens out and drops. As a low ball hitter, it has a nice high piercing ball flight that drops in nicely. 8-GW fly high and stop rather quickly.

 

I have hit some of my best long irons with these. I am looking forward to getting to the range and playing a little more and getting a sense of what these guys can do.

 

Hope this review has helped and look forward to adding more to it. If there are any questions, please ask. 

Thanks

[DREWZER300]

12 hours ago, buckrogers71 said:

I wanted to post my review but my father's untimely passing put a damper on the install and review...

 

That being said, I installed them Father's Day weekend (not in honor of my pops (he wouldnt understand modus 115, PX 5.5, or X30000000...lol) rather as a distraction.)

 

Got em in and I'd love to say they looked super sexy, but hey, they're irons. I will say the Heirko ferrules from Amazon are on point as I didnt have to turn them. So aces right there. I play to a 9 handicap (usually a 5 or 6) and i am struggling with all the clubs in the bag right now

 

Let me lead with my review is based ONLY on feel and self interpretation, I have never used Trackman or anything else. The shafts installed were in a Srixon Z585, P-GW, recently bent 4* flat.

 

My distances are:

5 Iron (180-190)

6 iron (170-180)

7 iron (160-170)

8 iron (150-160) 

9 Iron (140-150)

PW (130-140)

GW (120-130)

54 and 58 are KBS 610s

 

I've played the 105s (could never feel the head and as a feel player thats bad.) I installed 125s, and while I could feel the head all the time, at the end of the round I couldnt feel my arms or back.

 

Feel: Sweet jeezus!!! As I have gotten older, I realize that anything hard, hurts and when you have a hard time finding the club face, its worse. These are feel great and mishits arent turrible. They have the same Nippon feel, smooth. Short game a ton of feel, not mushy not hard

 

Dispersion: Crappy shots are 5-10 yds shorter, but in the same ballpark.   

 

Ball flight: a nice ascending flight that kinda flattens out and drops. As a low ball hitter, it has a nice high piercing ball flight that drops in nicely. 8-GW fly high and stop rather quickly.

 

I have hit some of my best long irons with these. I am looking forward to getting to the range and playing a little more and getting a sense of what these guys can do.

 

Hope this review has helped and look forward to adding more to it. If there are any questions, please ask. 

Thanks

 

Sorry for your loss

 

 

[buckrogers71]

42 minutes ago, DREWZER300 said:

 

Sorry for your loss

 

 

Thanks Drew! Just wanted to let the one poster know, things happen. 

 

Definitely feel like these may be my "goldilocks" and being "just right"

[DREWZER300]

2 hours ago, buckrogers71 said:

Thanks Drew! Just wanted to let the one poster know, things happen. 

 

Definitely feel like these may be my "goldilocks" and being "just right"

 

I will say in my one round with them so far I have absolutely no complaints.   Anxious to get back out this weekend and give them another run.

[jas904]

4 hours ago, buckrogers71 said:

Thanks Drew! Just wanted to let the one poster know, things happen. 

 

Definitely feel like these may be my "goldilocks" and being "just right"

Indeed, sorry for your loss. I understand life happens, golf always isn’t a priority, and not everyone plays 4 days a week. 

[jgallant415]

Shaft swap unfortunately got held up a bit, so just got an opportunity to hit them for the first time last night. Weather permitting, playing twice this weekend and will have some on course feedback to provide....

 

A little context about me and my game... I'm 37 and in nothing resembling good shape, but I have above average swing speed (108-110 with a driver, 6i in the low-90s) and iron play is a relative strength of my game. I like to play a cut, which works out well until my massive pull-hook miss comes out. The 115S are replacing 105S in Srixon ZX5 irons - head weights were adjusted to keep everything at D1. My last two iron shafts have been on the lightweight side ($-Taper Lite prior to the Modus 105) and I have been looking for a mid-weight replacement but haven't found one that works for me. I tested the Modus 125 when I was fit for the ZX5s, but it was a touch heavy for me and I ultimately went with the 105s as a little wider left-to-right dispersion was more than offset by better launch and spin numbers and a few more yards of carry distance.

 

I took baseline numbers with the 105S using a GC Quad for 5i, 7i, and 9i with target green set to 9.0/medium (20 swings total with each only removing any extreme outliers) and will compare to the 115S over the next few days... I only had about 20 minutes last night, so I mostly hit wedges and 9 irons. First batch of data is below. The numbers speak for themselves, but I was surprised how much tighter of a dispersion I got with the 115S compared to the 105S. I'll chalk up the slightly higher launch and spin numbers to one less pull hook in the 115S swings and slightly less extreme hooks on the 2 I hit, but I was expecting to see both numbers down a tick with the heavier shaft and it did not appear to be on better swings. No real change in swing speed or ball speed. 

 

From a feel perspective, these really do seem to hit that perfect middle ground between the 105 and the 125. Could just be the honeymoon phase, but it does feel like I can control these a little better and initial numbers at least suggest I'm delivering the club face more consistently. Feedback on mishits was essentially the same as with the 105S. 

 

 

[jgallant415]

Played 27 this weekend, first time getting them outside. Even happier with the on course results than with the first bit of launch monitor data - can only remember one really bad iron shot over the two days. Was terrible off the tee both days though, so had plenty of mid-irons into greens where I would normally be hitting 8i/9i and lots of 8i/9i when I’d usually be hitting a wedge - not great for scoring, but good for testing.

 

Backing up the launch monitor data, shot trajectory was similar to what I’d get with the 105S and I saw no difference in rollout. Was able to hit the same consistent cut outdoors with a bit tighter dispersion - had a couple instances where I thought I lost a ball right only to hang on and catch the edge of the green. 
 

One thing I didn’t appreciate testing inside but noticed on the course since I had to hit a couple out of the trees is that it was that it seemed a bit easier to flight the ball down vs. the 105S.

 

Both days were fairly hot and I was walking, but didn’t notice any issues with late round fatigue and the slightly heavier weight. The shafts play heavier than the 105S, but don’t actually feel heavier, if that makes sense?

 

Still want to do the mid and long iron testing on the launch monitor and get a few more rounds under my belt before making a final call, but looking pretty likely I will stick with these (105S coming to your local BST page soon).

[KhiloD]

On 6/17/2022 at 9:10 AM, KhiloD said:

I just picked up a set of 115x which are going in at the beginning of July. Currently gaming 105s but swing speed is up and hoping these aid in my tempo and make it feel like I don't have to take such a big cut to keep the face square on the lighter/softer shafts.

 

Supposed to be similar profiles just increased weight, so excited to try them out!

So far struggling with this change. Little dissapointed as I expected them to be similiar to the 105 but maybe it's the going from stiff to x-stiff that is throwing me off. Feel like I'm getting no snap and my miss has now become a weak fade. 

 

7 iron swing speed 93-94 so was thinking the change would be good to find that consistency and the speeds were more than enough to warrant going to X since I have no issues in Woods/hybrid with some of the stiffer choices on the market.

 

Have a match tonight so we'll see if trying to be a little more deliberate in my delivery will help work out the kinks.

[bonescu]

Sorry for delay.  As I shared with Brian, I was battling a foot injury at the time the shafts landed, was originally thought to be minor and a week to 10 days.  Turned out worse than expected and i was finally able to start swinging with some normalcy 5 weeks later, IE last week.  I would say i am about 85-90% right now.  

 

Some background - 53 years old, played college golf and my index hovers now in the 2-2.5 range.  Always was very high speed, now I am down to around 110-112 with driver when healthy.  Ball striking was always my strength, streaky putter and pour wedge game from within 50 yards held me back at times.  

 

I have data from testing that I keep from comparison purposes. I switched this year to the PXG Gen 4 P irons, wanted something a little more forgiving but still player ish…. They might be too forgiving and not enough player but more to follow on that.

 

They irons came with the True Temper Elevate stock shaft.  I played a couple rounds with a set a friend has, those were the shafts so I went with that.  Overall they are not bad, just limiting.  They are good for high full shots, not so great for less than full.  I had a set of Project X LZ from prior PXG that I put in and then the 115.  So this section will compare those 3 in the PXG Gen 4 head.  The LZ was tested pre-injury so that data is from late spring/early summer.

 

FEEL - To me, this is always hard to articulate.  I think feel is very subjective and player specific.  But, my feels are as follows.   The Elevate has a loose feeling at times.  I experience shots that up shoot and over spin into the wind and also have some over hooks with them.  These are the two main shots that really peaked my interest in the contest.  Not awful by any means and I played a number of quality rounds with this shaft, but felt like over time those misses would be too costly.  LZ - I had some success with this shaft in I210 set years ago and put it into the Gen 4.  Didn’t have as many loose shots, when compared to the TT Elevate.  Feel was solid, nothing that jumped off the page good or bad.  As many people say, this is an overall solid shaft and can probably fit for many people.  In 2019 I had some arm issues and put Nippon into my irons at that time. In a short time the arm pain went away, so they are always on my short list.  This is going to sound cliche’ but just typical Nippon feel.  Smooth but stable, crisp feeling shaft.  There might be an element of bias in that this manufacturer technology helped me through an injury but from a feel perspective Nippon was #1 for me.

 

PERFORMANCE - I think it important to start this section with the disclaimer, to me the Gen 4 P head is a really forgiving head.  I say that because forgiving also leads to some rockets for me and I think that impacts the shaft performance.  All 3 had the occasional 15-20 yard zipper and that never happens when I pull the wrong club and shot ends up in middle of the green.  Always long and dead leading to bogey or worse.  Data for 45* PW 36* 8 iron and 31* 6 iron.

 

 Distance wise all 3 are very close when average is taken over a larger sample section of shots.  Not a major surprise.  

PW - the elevate average 2 yards more than the LZ/Nippon.  They were basically identical in length.  The Elevate had the longest, but also the shortest shots.  Miss hits tends to spin up for me with the elevate.  

8 - iron - as the clubs got longer the distance became similar between the 3.  Nippon was actually 1 yard longer than. Elevate which was 2 yards longer than LZ for 8 iron.  Basically human strike element in my eyes.

6 iron - Elevate and Nippon were same,LZ 1 yard behind them.  At 6 iron length I had to throw out more outliers with the Elevate.  that will be discussed in dispersion comments.

Summary - I have always had consistent iron play, so little variance in distance  did not surprise me.  The elevate in every category had the longest and shortest shots, driving factor for me to make a switch in my iron set up.

 

Trajectory and Spin - I like to combine these elements.  The next two areas the Nippon and LZ start to separate for me, from the elevate.

The pattern was consistent- The Nippon had the highest peak height, and spin was actually 90 RPM higher than Elevate on average.  LZ was the lowest on height and spin.  LZ spin was around 130 lower than Nippon close to elevate.   Elevate peak height was basically in line with Nippon, but spin was not as consistent.  The Nippon not only spun the most for me, but the spin consistency was the best.  The spin differential numbers were small across the 3, so when I say spun the most it would be better stated as best on course playable spin.  LZ was also very consistent, just a lower less spinning flight which when paired with this head created some gapping issues.

 

Dispersion- This is where both the Nippon and LZ separated from the Elevate.  The front to back dispersion with the Evelvate was not good.  Far too many short and long shots.  The short shots were not all a result of a poor strike, that is the issue.  Some just spin up on shots that i was trying to flight or hit less than full.  Add in the occasional rocket and F/B was tough on the course.  The front to back dispersion was nearly identical in terms of variance between the Nippon and LZ.  Theme continues they really did perform similar in many areas.  Side to side dispersion again Elevate was clearly 3rd out of the 3.  Nippon and LZ line up very nicely again, slight edge to the LZ but the difference could been all human strike element.  I think lower height and less spin on LZ provided slightly better side to side, but not enough to say it gained over Nippon. Both managed the misses better and also the good shots better than Elevate.  

 

At this stage I can say this.  If I played 50 rounds of golf with the Nippon or LZ I don’t think I would see any noticeable performance or scoring difference related to iron play.  They both performed well for me and improved the areas I was looking for.  A more consistent shot pattern on the course was the goal.  I could play either, but would probably lean Nippon over LZ based on the feel and fact that they helped element the arm pain for me.  I would not expect to feel any less or more fatigue from either shaft.  

 

With that being said, the Elevate are back in the Gen 4 and they are headed to BST.  I have realized I am not at the point that I need that level or “help” or game improvement yet, and it causes some problems on the course.  I would not say bad things about the set up, just not right for me at this stage.  A couple of slower guys I play with have a ton of success with that combo.

 

I am going to join the ZX7 crew and see how they perform.  Will put the 115, Modus 120 and likely S Taper S 120 through the paces in that head over the next 3-4 weeks and see what wins out.  By then hope to be at 100% health wise also.

 

Thanks to GolwWRX and Nippon for the opportunity and hope this helps.

 

DV 

 

 

[SBH9458]

On 7/26/2022 at 5:22 PM, bonescu said:

Sorry for delay.  As I shared with Brian, I was battling a foot injury at the time the shafts landed, was originally thought to be minor and a week to 10 days.  Turned out worse than expected and i was finally able to start swinging with some normalcy 5 weeks later, IE last week.  I would say i am about 85-90% right now.  

 

Some background - 53 years old, played college golf and my index hovers now in the 2-2.5 range.  Always was very high speed, now I am down to around 110-112 with driver when healthy.  Ball striking was always my strength, streaky putter and pour wedge game from within 50 yards held me back at times.  

 

I have data from testing that I keep from comparison purposes. I switched this year to the PXG Gen 4 P irons, wanted something a little more forgiving but still player ish…. They might be too forgiving and not enough player but more to follow on that.

 

They irons came with the True Temper Elevate stock shaft.  I played a couple rounds with a set a friend has, those were the shafts so I went with that.  Overall they are not bad, just limiting.  They are good for high full shots, not so great for less than full.  I had a set of Project X LZ from prior PXG that I put in and then the 115.  So this section will compare those 3 in the PXG Gen 4 head.  The LZ was tested pre-injury so that data is from late spring/early summer.

 

FEEL - To me, this is always hard to articulate.  I think feel is very subjective and player specific.  But, my feels are as follows.   The Elevate has a loose feeling at times.  I experience shots that up shoot and over spin into the wind and also have some over hooks with them.  These are the two main shots that really peaked my interest in the contest.  Not awful by any means and I played a number of quality rounds with this shaft, but felt like over time those misses would be too costly.  LZ - I had some success with this shaft in I210 set years ago and put it into the Gen 4.  Didn’t have as many loose shots, when compared to the TT Elevate.  Feel was solid, nothing that jumped off the page good or bad.  As many people say, this is an overall solid shaft and can probably fit for many people.  In 2019 I had some arm issues and put Nippon into my irons at that time. In a short time the arm pain went away, so they are always on my short list.  This is going to sound cliche’ but just typical Nippon feel.  Smooth but stable, crisp feeling shaft.  There might be an element of bias in that this manufacturer technology helped me through an injury but from a feel perspective Nippon was #1 for me.

 

PERFORMANCE - I think it important to start this section with the disclaimer, to me the Gen 4 P head is a really forgiving head.  I say that because forgiving also leads to some rockets for me and I think that impacts the shaft performance.  All 3 had the occasional 15-20 yard zipper and that never happens when I pull the wrong club and shot ends up in middle of the green.  Always long and dead leading to bogey or worse.  Data for 45* PW 36* 8 iron and 31* 6 iron.

 

 Distance wise all 3 are very close when average is taken over a larger sample section of shots.  Not a major surprise.  

PW - the elevate average 2 yards more than the LZ/Nippon.  They were basically identical in length.  The Elevate had the longest, but also the shortest shots.  Miss hits tends to spin up for me with the elevate.  

8 - iron - as the clubs got longer the distance became similar between the 3.  Nippon was actually 1 yard longer than. Elevate which was 2 yards longer than LZ for 8 iron.  Basically human strike element in my eyes.

6 iron - Elevate and Nippon were same,LZ 1 yard behind them.  At 6 iron length I had to throw out more outliers with the Elevate.  that will be discussed in dispersion comments.

Summary - I have always had consistent iron play, so little variance in distance  did not surprise me.  The elevate in every category had the longest and shortest shots, driving factor for me to make a switch in my iron set up.

 

Trajectory and Spin - I like to combine these elements.  The next two areas the Nippon and LZ start to separate for me, from the elevate.

The pattern was consistent- The Nippon had the highest peak height, and spin was actually 90 RPM higher than Elevate on average.  LZ was the lowest on height and spin.  LZ spin was around 130 lower than Nippon close to elevate.   Elevate peak height was basically in line with Nippon, but spin was not as consistent.  The Nippon not only spun the most for me, but the spin consistency was the best.  The spin differential numbers were small across the 3, so when I say spun the most it would be better stated as best on course playable spin.  LZ was also very consistent, just a lower less spinning flight which when paired with this head created some gapping issues.

 

Dispersion- This is where both the Nippon and LZ separated from the Elevate.  The front to back dispersion with the Evelvate was not good.  Far too many short and long shots.  The short shots were not all a result of a poor strike, that is the issue.  Some just spin up on shots that i was trying to flight or hit less than full.  Add in the occasional rocket and F/B was tough on the course.  The front to back dispersion was nearly identical in terms of variance between the Nippon and LZ.  Theme continues they really did perform similar in many areas.  Side to side dispersion again Elevate was clearly 3rd out of the 3.  Nippon and LZ line up very nicely again, slight edge to the LZ but the difference could been all human strike element.  I think lower height and less spin on LZ provided slightly better side to side, but not enough to say it gained over Nippon. Both managed the misses better and also the good shots better than Elevate.  

 

At this stage I can say this.  If I played 50 rounds of golf with the Nippon or LZ I don’t think I would see any noticeable performance or scoring difference related to iron play.  They both performed well for me and improved the areas I was looking for.  A more consistent shot pattern on the course was the goal.  I could play either, but would probably lean Nippon over LZ based on the feel and fact that they helped element the arm pain for me.  I would not expect to feel any less or more fatigue from either shaft.  

 

With that being said, the Elevate are back in the Gen 4 and they are headed to BST.  I have realized I am not at the point that I need that level or “help” or game improvement yet, and it causes some problems on the course.  I would not say bad things about the set up, just not right for me at this stage.  A couple of slower guys I play with have a ton of success with that combo.

 

I am going to join the ZX7 crew and see how they perform.  Will put the 115, Modus 120 and likely S Taper S 120 through the paces in that head over the next 3-4 weeks and see what wins out.  By then hope to be at 100% health wise also.

 

Thanks to GolwWRX and Nippon for the opportunity and hope this helps.

 

DV 

 

 

Great review OP… heal up and hit them well!  Let us know progression with the 115X and your new iron heads of choice.  

[KhiloD]

On 7/15/2022 at 8:50 AM, KhiloD said:

So far struggling with this change. Little dissapointed as I expected them to be similiar to the 105 but maybe it's the going from stiff to x-stiff that is throwing me off. Feel like I'm getting no snap and my miss has now become a weak fade. 

 

7 iron swing speed 93-94 so was thinking the change would be good to find that consistency and the speeds were more than enough to warrant going to X since I have no issues in Woods/hybrid with some of the stiffer choices on the market.

 

Have a match tonight so we'll see if trying to be a little more deliberate in my delivery will help work out the kinks.

Might as well update even though not part of this I did switch from 105S to the 115X.

 

I was delivering a little too much off my back foot, not staying down and through with the weight change had my timing a little off. Fixed that and these have been a fantastic change from the 105S. Swing speed has dropped 1-2 mph, I think just based on the lighter shafts being easier to swing but dispersion has tightened up and become extremely predictable.

 

I don't see these coming out of the bag any time soon. Feel now I can push in to the single digits to end the season with the swing being figured out and these shafts now aiding in my consistency rather than being a detriment like they felt early on.

[CMZ24]

Old thread but I currently play Modus 120 Stiff in HMB’s but I’m about to buy a set of 225’s that have Modus 115 Stiff in them. 

How do you think I’ll find the change from the 120s to 115s?

sometimes the 120s feel a bit too light for me and not stiff enough. I can get really fast in my transition with them and can hook some of my shots. I absolutely love the feel of them tho. 
Will I notice the subtitle extra weight of them and will they feel a tad stiffer than the 120s? That’s what I’m hoping for. I know everything is subjective but curious what others opinions may be on this. 

[jgallant415]

I definitely didn’t notice the extra few grams of weight compared to the 120. To me, the 120 felt a shade stiffer, but YMMV. 120 was also a bit lower launch/spin. 

[buckrogers71]

On 2/28/2023 at 8:32 AM, Kingmax said:

How do these compare to 125x? Would love a tad more spin and height, maybe a little lighter would be nice too. Any launch monitor comparisons?

 

While I didnt have the X's i did have the stiff in the 125s and I noticed maybe a touch higher flight, not a ton but a touch. I honestly think that these could be the best iron shafts I've played to date. I will say that with the 115s I had some "gas" in the tank toward the end of the round and I didnt feel like I was crippled the next day. Sorry for no launch monitor comparisons

[wolverine_man]

People still liking these shafts? I hit an MP 223 PW with a Modus 115 Stiff and it felt pretty good with decent numbers. I was actually testing these shafts to put into some wedges, soft stepped. I am probably more likely to be in the 115 Reg category for the irons, though. 79-80 mph 7-iron club speed/106-109 ball with my current Recoil iron shafts.