Qi10 - Driver Shaft Testing

[vanderputts]

As I work on my terrible swing this year, I'm on a quest to find the best shaft for what works for me today. This is the dumbest, smart idea I've had in golf (and no question probably other places) in a long time.

 

I'm an engineer by trade and tend to over do things if you can't already tell. I've been fitted many times and this isn't intended to be a replacement for that. In my past fittings for driver which have helped albeit with mixed long term results; you're limited for time, what your swing is doing that moment, and available shaft selection. It might just be me, but if I am the biggest variable including my 'unorthodox at best' or ' in desperate need of fixing a few things' swing tendencies are to be judged, then it might not always lead to consistent outcomes. Last year I was spec'd into the Fujikura Ventus 6-X Black for a pick your favorite driver head, two or three times for all good reasons however it never worked for me on the course which I believe was due to how warm I was in the bay versus actual play. In my opinion, it was too much shaft and led to inconsistent results but the smarter minds will likely know better. Round enjoyment off the tee box? Next to zero. Second, we've all had those golden clubs that just feel right and create confidence. That used to be my driver and is really what this is all about. Its been absent for me on the tee box for far too long which has definitely hurt my scoring - my Fairways hit, blow up holes, even GIR, etc. all show it. Although there are a million new shafts to choose from, the latest and greatest does not always mean a perfect fit so I'm trying to find what works for me, including some classic rock in the mix with some golden oldies. The winner of this will be based on merit and, of course, data.

 

Keep in mind, this is all in support of fitting but with a much broader, more insane sample size for me personally. I highly suggest everyone gets fitted, especially for the most important clubs in your bag and not rely on specs or online reviews or youtube alone. Do your whole bag if it makes sense to you. A putter fitting by itself could save your game and countless precious strokes. As an example, I thought I was SBST and it turns out from a recent putter fitting that I have a strong arc making the face balanced putter I have been playing for years and was consistently missing left was exactly the wrong equipment for me. My mind was blown. Use data, of course! A good fitter can seriously help you and your game. Only you can decide on that investment yourself -  there are amazing fitters out there but the bottomline is that having good data will give you peace of mind, confidence, and hopefully more consistent results which is really the key. For me personally, I've obviously decided that this is worth the extensive effort and if it helps anyone else out? Great. It may or may not in the long run but at least one of us is going to have a lot of fun along the way.

 

To start, I've spent many late nights reading reviews browsing here and there and cycling through tech specs everywhere along with calling in a bunch of favors from friends to borrow whatever advice and shafts they have around. I want the data to support why something works well for today and may hopefully help again in the future. Moore's law. Might sound a bit odd but overall, I don't see the downside. I suck at driving now and have an immediate, long-lasting need to improve. To that effect, I have acquired a pile of shafts and will be going through the lot to fit my Qi10.

 

Why Qi10? For testing purposes and for better or worse, I've committed to the Qi10 Black Out 10.5* Head.

I've played a ton of drivers and was honestly fit into this multiple times - it fits my eye. I've tried just about everything available on multiple occasions and in the case of working with what you've got including my terrible swing, might as well go with what you're confident in and many seem to agree is a solid option. Scientific? Maybe. Confident? Sure. If nothing else it'll help keep this project consistent as that's the head I'm going to use for all purposes.

For future consideration I have a 9* LS spare head. Totally different dynamics despite the same model line) but will be using the 10.5* exclusively, set to standard loft on every shaft for consistency. All data and measurements you'll see from here forward will be based on that 10.5* head. I'm also trying to keep the same grips between shafts - standard 360 or similar with one tape wrap as best I can. Static club and shaft data points provided by my Pro-Touch swing weight scale which has been really accurate.

 

Driver Shaft testing:

1. Realize you suck and need help. Ask people that know much more than you.
2. Start fixing your swing piece by piece with said help and focus on nailing the basics.
3. Decide to both fix your swing and focus on every aspect of your game including Driver because you're idiot and obsessed with the long ball. Blame the shaft for your swing instead of committing to lessons and write a big GolfWRX post about it.
4. Acquire a bunch of shafts - Get yours hands on a bunch of stuff - both tried and true old performers along with new highly rated options. All drivers are mostly 45-46" playing length, a few shorties here and there.
5. Measure before - Using a Pro-touch digital swing weight scale, measure everything and provide all shaft and club data points - based on the Qi10 Black Out 10.5* Head.
6. Hit each shaft over multiple sessions - Your swing may still suck, but it just might improve along the way. Hit at least 10 balls with each shaft per session to record data/distribution/feel/etc.
7. Good < Great - No compromises. If the shaft works, it works. Record stuff.
8. Revisit & Retest- Realize you adjusted some variables, namely head weight which may throw things off for heavier shafts. Bring em back in as wild cards with the right settings.
9. Succeed and fail fast by thinning the herd quickly. Less is more in this case. Many are not going to magically hit the ball better tomorrow, especially with your swing.
10. Final Test - Narrow down the best 3 or 4 then head back to a proper launch monitor (outdoors) to get real measurements. Commit.

 

My swing, if not hopeful, specs:

110-115 mph Swing Speed. In and out typical. Over the top but working on it. High fades. Occasional slices. Everything goes right, some more than others. The usual.

 

**Note: Is this ridiculous? Yes. Is it necessary? Depends.

By no means am I championing anyone else to do this exhaustive, time intensive, overly obsessive level approach. This is a better than college level effort but by no means intended to be entirely useful for everyone or particularly anyone else other than myself. If you're high-tempo, over the top, ex-baseball, constant fades/never draws/slicier than a NY Pizza average like me than maybe this will give you something.

Bottomline is that my swing sucks but its mine alone. Its getting better but its not going to be the same as yours so its a sample size of 1 and based on today. Your mileage may and will vary, but here we go.

 

The Herd so far (alphabetical):

 

Fujikura

• Fujikura Ventus Blue TR 6-X (45")
• Fujikura Ventus Blue TR 6-X (46")
• Fujikura Ventus Black Velocore 6-X (46")

 

Graffaloy

• ProLaunch Blue 60G Stiff

 

Graphite Design

• Tour AD TP-6 Stiff
• Tour AD TP-6 Extra Stiff
• Tour AD DI-6 Extra Stiff
• Tour AD DJ-6 Stiff
• Tour AD IZ-6 Stiff
• Tour AD IZ-6 Extra Stiff

 

LA Golf

• DJ Mid-55g-4 (46")
• DJ Mid-65g-4 (46")
• OZIK Black Tie 60S (46")
• Trono 65S (46")
• Trono 65X (46")

 

Mitsubishi

• Mitsubishi Fubuki 60g Stiff
• Mitsubishi Fubuki 60g Extra Stiff
• Stock Qi10 - Diamana T+ 60 Stiff
• Stock Qi10 -  Tensei AV Orange X

 

Project X

• HZRDUS Black 6.0 60g Stiff
• HZRDUS Black 6.5 60g Stiff
• HZRDUS Black 6.5 70g Stiff
• HZRDUS Green 6.0 60g Stiff
• HZRDUS Green 6.5 60g Stiff
• HZRDUS Green 6.5 70g Stiff

 

Etc.

1. If you think I'm an idiot for doing this - I agree. Its non-sense and wouldn't recommend this to anyone.
2. If you have tips/pointers/etc, please share them. All feedback is welcomed and I could definitely use it.
3. If there are any shafts I'm missing that you think would be useful, past or present, please let me know.
4. If anyone wants to buy the shafts as I shelve them, happy to sell on to a happy home.
5. If anyone wants to support the effort and ship me a temporary loaner shaft, I'd highly appreciate the help!

 

We're going deep down the rabbit hole. 

 

Let the games begin.

 

 

Edited May 6 by vndrsmth

[vanderputts]

May 5th Session Log: 

 

 

*Added a 12 gram weight (in place of 8 gram weight) to the head based on my digital scale to promote more draw and achieve a D4-5 swing weight.

 

For those interested, the back weight in the Qi10 measures at 18g!

 

I realize this will cause some shafts to be excessively heavy but is intended to put weight where it matters for my own swing. I will revisit those shafts that fail the first few rounds during another session once I have more data and will target head setups that provide D5 SW for consistency as some of the shafts we're already at D5 at stock / without the added +7g head weight. 

 

Driver Shaft testing:

Warm - Hit 10 balls with each shaft with my new Qi10 head.

 

I have always hit a high fade and with driver I have two misses: If shaft too stiff, snap lefts. If my swing fails me, I leave it way open leading to high slices. Working on shallowing now has limited all left action but my sequence at the top is still out of spec. I need to shorten my backswing but its closer to on plane than ever before. I'll settle for a shaft that fits today and keeps me in play with a 13* launch and my usual consistent fade.

 

Today's Notes: Its seriously shocking how different all of these feel.

 

Fantastic:

• LA Golf Black Tie Ozik 60g Extra Stiff 45". Most consistent, in the window, great release and feel.
• OLD 2014 Mitsubishi Fubuki 60g Extra Stiff 45" I had lying around. This was my old gamer and didn't think it would work but here we go.

On the Bubble:

• Graphite Design Tour AD DI-6 Extra Stiff - Best dispersion but super low ball flight.
• Graphite Design Tour AD TP-6 Stiff - 2nd best feel of the day. Looking for an X-Stiff now.

Out Entirely - On the Shelf for good

• Graphite Design Tour AD DJ-6 Stiff - Way too heavy. Worst of the day. 
• Ventus Blue TR 6X - Inconsistent. Misses everywhere. Felt the worst of the day.
• LA Golf DJ Mid-55g-4 - Miss hard left.
• LA Golf DJ Mid-65g-4 - Miss even harder left.

 

For the shafts that didn't work out, I'll be revisiting these without the added weight again later to see if there's an optimum spec.

 

Graph from Range Session below: 9 shafts tested, 14+ to go.

 

Note: Graph below shows stock weights for each shaft as measured with the stock Qi10 10.5* Black Out head before I changed the weight.

With the added 12g weight I replaced in the head today (removing 8g weight so +4g), each of these measurements below would be +1.2-1.7 SW heavier depending on the shaft. This is not linear based on the individual shaft specs.

Length overall is stock as I have them between 45-46" playing length with each shaft fitted with similar, if not exactly the same standard 360 grip (50g) on my digital scale thats pretty accurate.

 

Example:

Black Tie (The #1 performer today) increased to D5.1 from D3.9 with the added head weight (+4g). Will revisit that during another session once I have more data and target head setups that provide D5 for consistency as some of the shafts we're already at D5 without the added weight. 

 

Edited May 7 by vndrsmth

[OspreyCI]

Great thread @vndrsmth. Will be following this for sure. AD TP-6 is an amazing. Keep us informed . 

[hammergolf]

Please don’t take offense to the following. This is a prime example of paralysis by analysis….. WAY too many variables, and  way too much data. Golf clubs aren’t magic wands that make bad swings good shots. They can only be as consistent as the manner in which they are swung. My recommendation would be the try the Wilson AI or Mizuno DNA tools to match a shaft characteristic to your swing. From there take all the time you’re spending on research and find out what is causing the inconsistency with your driver. In the words of Crash Davis in Major League, “Don’t think, it can only hurt the ball club”

[PatScan]

This is my kind of stuff. Have been noodling on doing the same and will follow this with great interest. Best of luck on The Search.

[vanderputts]

Been smashing balls all week, another data dump coming soon as well as a few new shafts to add to the list.

Played Newcastle yesterday with the Ozik Black Tie 60X - China Creek was in great shape and empty so we decided to play through and got another 18 in on Coal Creek. Had both courses to ourselves with no one in front or behind - couldn't believe it but the early Seattle summer is coming so that probably won't ever happen again.

 

Only missed 3 fairways per 18 with only a few misses, by far my best day driving the ball in a long time and went 83 - 84 with zero 3 putts all day. Best rounds of the season so far and I never play these courses well. 2 iron was the hero as it was super windy - I think I ended up hitting it of the tee box 3-4 times per round and shot par on nearly all of the Par 5s thanks to it from the fairway. Even thin shots were rolling. The new Taylormade MG4s are also insane and so easy to hit/control. I haven't changed my wedges in years from my old Vokeys but damn these are good.

 

I'd like to think this is from consistent practice, confidence, and all of the testing but time will tell.

 

Just got back from the range and surprisingly was hitting the LAGP Trono 65X even better at 45.5" versus the LAGP Ozik Black Tie at 46". Will be gaming the Trono tomorrow and report back.

 

 

[belh22]

The qi10 10.5 is the core model or the ls? 

[JohnnyHangs]

Gotta get the VF into rotation. Would be a crime not to test it out, especially if you like the feel of weight towards the club head 

[buckeye2782]

Playing length is one of the most important factors after weight and flex, and of course driver head characteristics. I recommend most people should be playing a 44.5-45 in driver.  probably toward the shorter side.  

 

If you are wanting to turn it over more for draw, but want to play the core head, you may need a 9.0 so you aren't lofting down and opening the face too much.  I have found the core hard to turn over.  The LS and Core are two different heads.  The LS launches pretty low, but the Core I find easy to launch.  

 

Lastly, a shaft not on your list but I think could be the winner... Diamana D+ Limited TX.  

Edited May 11 by buckeye2782

[vanderputts]

On 5/10/2024 at 10:03 AM, belh22 said:

The qi10 10.5 is the core model or the ls? 

 

For this test, I'm starting with the Qi10 in 10.5*. The Max isn't to my eye. 

 

I also have a 9* Qi10 LS head that we'll wait to add into the mix once I narrow the field.

 

On 5/10/2024 at 10:22 AM, JohnnyHangs said:

Gotta get the VF into rotation. Would be a crime not to test it out, especially if you like the feel of weight towards the club head 

 

VF 6X is on the way along with a few others.

[vanderputts]

1 hour ago, buckeye2782 said:

Playing length is one of the most important factors after weight and flex, and of course driver head characteristics. I recommend most people should be playing a 44.5-45 in driver.  probably toward the shorter side.  

 

If you are wanting to turn it over more for draw, but want to play the core head, you may need a 9.0 so you aren't lofting down and opening the face too much.  I have found the core hard to turn over.  The LS and Core are two different heads.  The LS launches pretty low, but the Core I find easy to launch.  

 

Lastly, a shaft not on your list but I think could be the winner... Diamana D+ Limited TX.  

 

I agree - I actually like the 44.5-45.5" feel but getting the swingweight right requires a bit of work. So far, hitting D.4-D.5 feels the best and gets the most consistent dispersion. I'm measuring before hand with a gram meter on the weights then measuring on the digital swing weight scale so I know what to swap to at the range. Its a bit of a production to change the weights for each shaft but its seriously producing more consistent results.

 

I have a 9* Qi10 LS head that we'll add into the test once I have narrowed the field a bit - say the final 3-5 shafts.

[vanderputts]

I'll upload the current sheet soon.

 

Current Top 3:

• LAGP Trono 65X
• LAGP Black Tie 60X
• Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 65x

 

Incoming Shafts:

 

LAGP:

• Trono 65X
• Trono 60S
• White Tie 60X
• White Tie 70S
• Red Tie 60x
• TP 60X
• Tour AXS 60X
• Reign Silver 60X

 

Graphite Design

• Tour AD VF-6X
• Tour AD TP-6X

Edited May 12 by vndrsmth

[belh22]

Hard to beat the tp 

[JohnnyHangs]

12 hours ago, vndrsmth said:

 

I agree - I actually like the 44.5-45.5" feel but getting the swingweight right requires a bit of work. So far, hitting D.4-D.5 feels the best and gets the most consistent dispersion. I'm measuring before hand with a gram meter on the weights then measuring on the digital swing weight scale so I know what to swap to at the range. Its a bit of a production to change the weights for each shaft but its seriously producing more consistent results.

 

I have a 9* Qi10 LS head that we'll add into the test once I have narrowed the field a bit - say the final 3-5 shafts.

I've hit both, I play 44.75 in a QI10 core. Had both a 9* and 10.5* made with hotmelt and some lead tape. 10.5 won out, but Im only 3-3.5 up on it most of the time.

 

I think the head is extremely easy to turn either way, and beyond friendly on mishits, but I think turning it over is more of a shaft thing regardless.  

[vanderputts]

On 5/6/2024 at 8:44 PM, hammergolf said:

Please don’t take offense to the following. This is a prime example of paralysis by analysis….. WAY too many variables, and  way too much data. Golf clubs aren’t magic wands that make bad swings good shots. They can only be as consistent as the manner in which they are swung. My recommendation would be the try the Wilson AI or Mizuno DNA tools to match a shaft characteristic to your swing. From there take all the time you’re spending on research and find out what is causing the inconsistency with your driver. In the words of Crash Davis in Major League, “Don’t think, it can only hurt the ball club”

 

No offense taken. My swing needs work but its not complete shambles. There's a specific feel I'm looking for which the data supports - I've done multiple fittings and used the tools available but would still rather venture down the rabbit hole as 'good enough' isn't really something I ever subscribe to. I've got the time and the energy

[vanderputts]

9 hours ago, JohnnyHangs said:

I've hit both, I play 44.75 in a QI10 core. Had both a 9* and 10.5* made with hotmelt and some lead tape. 10.5 won out, but Im only 3-3.5 up on it most of the time.

 

I think the head is extremely easy to turn either way, and beyond friendly on mishits, but I think turning it over is more of a shaft thing regardless.  

 

Next time I head out I'm going to try and test various lengths - albeit different shafts I'll start testing out strike points on the face and see if that makes any difference on the shafts - yes more data. I did play a Cobra at 44.5" at one time a few years ago, lost about 10 yards but it was dead straight for me although really light in the head - I think it was at D1 or D2. Heck of a driver though

 

Need to update the sheet - shot an 88 yesterday from the tips at Sahalee yesterday (North/South). Making progress. 

[JohnnyHangs]

1 minute ago, vndrsmth said:

 

Next time I head out I'm going to try and test various lengths - albeit different shafts I'll start testing out strike points on the face and see if that makes any difference on the shafts - yes more data. I did play a Cobra at 44.5" at one time a few years ago, lost about 10 yards but it was dead straight for me although really light in the head - I think it was at D1 or D2. Heck of a driver though

 

Need to update the sheet - shot an 88 yesterday from the tips at Sahalee yesterday (North/South). Making progress. 

 

Everyone is different, I lost zero distance by going shorter from 45+, but because I found the center substantially more with more consistent spin windows. Did you lose 10 yards going shorter when comparing an ideal simulator strike/number, or did you lose 10 yards on average? 

 

Good to test them outdoors, simulator bombers don't always translate in my experience 

 

 

[vanderputts]

51 minutes ago, JohnnyHangs said:

 

Everyone is different, I lost zero distance by going shorter from 45+, but because I found the center substantially more with more consistent spin windows. Did you lose 10 yards going shorter when comparing an ideal simulator strike/number, or did you lose 10 yards on average? 

 

Good to test them outdoors, simulator bombers don't always translate in my experience 

 

 

 

At the time I lost 10 yards on the course but hit far more fairways - it was a great club for me. This was long before I ever knew what launch numbers even were - fittings consisted of strike plates and most places didn't even have a good LM.

 

I've been playing 45-45.5" ever since but am totally open to shorter if it works. All of my clubs last season were at standard length but inconsistent results = it was me. The closest comparison at the moment is my Mini Driver which is one of the best clubs in my bag at 42.75" but I am testing 43-43.25" right now as its really consistent.

 

My AoA on irons is around -4, about flat to negative on fairway woods, and +3 on a good day with Driver or +1 on a bad day. Thats before this effort so will hit the Trackman soon once I've thinned the herd a bit. 

Edited May 13 by vndrsmth

[vanderputts]

Well, I'm a little surprised right now.

 

So far I've tested about 30 shafts with 10x more on the way and there's now a pretty clear front runner that’s a bit of a surprise. Currently one of the cheapest, oldest options is running the table right now. Its light, its long, its straight. 

 

Many of the options so far would have fallen into the "good enough" category for any fitting based on the table below but that's not really what this effort is all about. In comparison, I was fitted twice into Ventus Black 6-X, this yields more accuracy, more consistency, and better yardage.

 

I came across an old review on GolfWRX last week and thought I'd give it a whirl for $50. Am glad I did.

 

Matrix RUL 60x

44” Shaft - Playing 45” - Untipped

D2.9 SW with 6g in Qi10 Head

 

The loading and kick bring me back to my junior days using a Cobra 440SZ with the Graphite Design YS-1 (Stiff/Mid-Kick). It feels so familiar and is exactly what I've been looking for. Light but stiff and straight. After two range sessions, its yielded my fastest ball speeds ever, highest consistency, and closest dispersion. My fade is still present but no nearly as much on it. Lightning in a bright gold shaft giving the new tech a bit of a show.

 

Pretty remarkable for a 10-12 year old shaft from a company that no longer exists. (yes I know LAGP but damn, this shaft is beautiful.)

 

Current rankings:

1. Matrix Ozik RUL 60X - 44" Untipped
2. LAGP Trono 65X - 44" Untipped
3. LAGP White Tie 70S - 43.75" Tipped 1"
4. LAGP Black Tie 60X - 44.5" Untipped
5. Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 65X - 44" Untipped
6. GD Tour AD IZ-6X - 44.25"
7. LAGP Tour AXS Red 60X - 43.6"
8. Ventus Black 6X - 44"
9. Ventus TR Blue 6X - 43.5"
10. Mitsubishi Fubuki 60X - 44"

 

Data Collection

I don't have much time so I need to use what I can get. This has all been done at the outdoor TopTracer range at Interbay, Seattle, WA and by my Garmin R10. If you've seen a dude there recently with a pile of shafts at night, it might have been me. Its been fun answering a lot of questions and letting others try a few out along the way.

 

I've been using the R10 as backup supporting data as I don't really trust the overcompensated TopTracer LMs and both options don't always agree with range balls. At least the location, balls, etc are consistent to limit any other variables. Between the TT & R10 - together they seem to provide what I need for this initial run before hopping into the Trackman bay.

 

Next round of shafts running through soon - The whippings will continue until morale improves:

 

Incoming:

 

Tour AD

• TP-6X (Stiff didn't work out, great shaft though)
• VF-6X

Matrix

• RUL 60x Blue (Should just be a different color)
• RUL 70x Gold (Why not?)
• Red Tie 60x4

LAGP

• Ozik Red Tie 60x
• Ozik Red Tie 70x
• Ozik White Tie 60x
• Ozik TP 70s
• A-Series
• Bryson

Aldila

• RIP-X 60X
• RPI-X 70X

 

Edited Thursday at 10:58 PM by vndrsmth
Removed reference to another site

[vanderputts]

Made some time tonight to blow off some steam after a few boxes arrived. 

 

Finished testing these:

 

Matrix

• Red Tie MFS 60x4
• White Tie MFS 60x4

LAGP

• Ozik Red Tie 70x
• Trono 75X
• A-Series
• Bryson

Aldila

• RPI-X 70X

 

Results were mostly on the extremes with 2 of these making the top 10. 

1. LAGP Trono 75X with 6g in Head (D3.8)- Might have been the tightest dispersion of any shaft so far. It is one of the heaviest shafts in the lineup (72g bare, 128.9 assembled with grip/adapter) so smoother swings required. Tied for 2nd.
2. Matrix Ozik White Tie MFS 60x4 with 8g in Head (D2.2) - Closest feeling to the RUL60 but not quite as consistent.

 

On the other end of the spectrum- Pretty much all of the others were no gos and some of the worst of the bunch. Just couldn't time them, felt off, or broad dispersion. To make sure it wasn't just me, I switched between and the RUL 60 still stands on its own and is the one to beat.

 

Only 5 left remaining:

 

Tour AD

• TP-6X - Stiff version didn't work out but felt great otherwise
• VF-6X - If the GOAT plays it, its worth a shot

Matrix

• RUL 60x Blue - Might be the same results as the current leader just a different color)
• RUL 70x Gold - Let's find out

Aldila

• RIP-X 60X - I've never played Adila but some of ya'll love em

 

Edited Friday at 06:30 AM by vndrsmth

[vanderputts]

Was lucky enough to be able to get on the Trackman today.

 

Goal was to get through my bag but unfortunately didn't have enough gas in the tank after hitting over 150+ balls for the 3rd consecutive day to make it to my Driver shafts. Next time.

 

TrackMan Speeds (Club/Ball/Launch Angle):

The swing speeds on the data sheet are super juiced/over-compensated due to TopTracer so it was nice to get some real numbers:

Driver: 110/156/10

Mini Driver: 107/150/9

5W: 105/147/9

Hy: 100/132/13

7-Iron: 95/125/20 (Might need to think about my shaft selection, high ballin)

 

Stock Gapping (Avg. Carry/Distance):

Driver: 250/270

Mini Driver (Tee): 240/250

Mini Driver (Deck/FW): 230/240

5W: 220/230

4Hy: 210/220

7-Iron: 175/180

 

Fairway Wood Testing

The Qi10 Tour Woods stock shaft is a made for TM Ventus whatever. Its not great. I've been going through some of the driver shafts that obviously didn't work and refitting/tipping them as fairway woods. 

 

For my 18* Qi10, looking to game this as more of a long 4 wood playing at about 42.5-43".

 

Testers

• LAGP Trono 65S (Winner)
• LAGP TP 60S
• LAGP Reign 60X
• LAGP Red Tie 70X
• Graphite Design TP-6S
• Ventus TR Blue 6-X
• Ventus TR Red 6-X
• Aldila RIP-X 70X
• HZRDUS 6.0 Green
• HZRDUS 6.5 Black

 

 

Mini Driver Testing

The Mini Driver has been a serious gamer for me and wanted to see if any improvements could be made.  The MD head weight comes in around 209g I believe so you need to either use something stout to get the most out of it or a counterbalanced shaft. Was playing the HZRDUS 6.5 Green last year but thought I'd add the above into the rotation to see if I could keep the same penetrating ball flight but with tighter dispersion. Club was borderline automatic in this configuration but surprisingly I found that the new shaft performs even better and more consistently. 

 

Testers

• Tested the same shafts above
• LAGP Black Tie 60S (Winner)

 

 

Hybrid Testing

The new Qi10 Tour Hybrid comes with a Mitsubishi stiff shaft (75) thats also not great. I've held on to a few Hybrid shafts and needed the Trackman to help decide between the two.

 

Launch numbers were nearly identical however dispersion was slightly tighter with the Ventus. Getting the swing weight right for both clubs was a challenge as the Qi10 Hybrid ships head heavy. Needed to bring the head weight down using a 2g weight instead of 6g.

 

Testers

• Ventus 8-X (Winner)
• Graphite Design Tour AD IZ-95S
• Graphite Design Tour AD IZ-85S

 

 

 

Edited yesterday at 01:32 AM by vanderputts

[phizzy30]

On 5/11/2024 at 6:09 PM, vanderputts said:

 

For this test, I'm starting with the Qi10 in 10.5*. The Max isn't to my eye. 

 

I also have a 9* Qi10 LS head that we'll wait to add into the mix once I narrow the field.

 

 

VF 6X is on the way along with a few others.

Qi10 core or LS with VF is a killer combo.  I have the VF and if I didn't pick up the AI Smoke TD for a good deal, I would've gotten a Qi10 LS in 10.5* or core in 9*. 

[vanderputts]

2 hours ago, phizzy30 said:

Qi10 core or LS with VF is a killer combo.  I have the VF and if I didn't pick up the AI Smoke TD for a good deal, I would've gotten a Qi10 LS in 10.5* or core in 9*. 

 

The VF6x and TP6x should be here this weekend - can't wait to try it. I've had GD shafts in my bag at one point or another for a long time - its pretty surprising to me now how much variance there really is in their lineup. For my money and swing at the moment, the TP and IZ series really stand out.

 

Once I get through the last few, then I'll start testing the Core vs LS heads. The current Core setup is working well at the moment with the right shafts and weights but we'll see what the final result is. 

 

My back hurts.