Aldila or Fujikura shafts?

Any comments on them? Thanks!

Simon, I would suggest you wait a little longer before entering the great shaft debate. You are a comparitive newcomer to golf and at this stage, unlikely to have the ability to make judgement.

Thanks so if they are the same flex I should have not to worry much between them, right? Or do they have different value (monetary perhaps)? Reason I'm asking is because some of the drivers I'm looking at now have either Fujikura or Aldila shafts, so I'm wondering if the difference will affect the price as well?

Simon, Simon, Simon.

You need to retain some of what you read, young son.

Letters are merely graphics when applied to shafts. An indicator, an idea of flex, a ball park figure, an approximation... see where I'm going? (And have been going for a while?)

I know plenty of people who like both Fuji and Aldila (I'm an AccuFLEX and Aggressive man, myself). But the Fujis and Aldila's that you buy stock in an OEM driver is not the same shaft you buy from a component retailer and have installed aftermarket. Both Fujis and Aldilas are quality shafts in the aftermarket - I have no idea how they perform as OEM shafts.

I know when it comes to profiling, if a shaft was pulled from an OEM, it's marked as such, as they differ in flex from their OEM counterparts (some by 1/2 flex, some by a full flex).

So the moral of the story is demo, demo, demo.

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For the record, I'm a club doctor, not a swing doctor.

Heh heh ok ok you got me there

I did demo a few clubs. Results were so varied, I don't even know where to begin. The stiff shafts felt better, the cheaper clubs felt better

I did put up another post but nobody responded. It was regarding the Ben Hogan C-S3 driver. It came with its own customized Aldila shaft. It was the first driver I demo'ed and actually the best of the lot. It was a 9.5* though.

I also tried the Nickent Genex 3DX. I think the stock shaft was Pro Flite or something like that. Then the guy passed me one with the Fujikura stiff shaft, and it definitely felt better. (Straighter and more in control, but I guess distance would suffer). That was also about USD93 more expensive than the one with the Pro Flite (stock) shaft!

So after all that demo'ing, I came to no conclusion But I'm tempted to go ahead with the Ben Hogan because it just felt so right the first time I tried it (compared to 2 days later when I tried so many other branded drivers). But it's a 420cc though, and I had initially set my mind to get a 460cc driver.

So at the end of the day, no conclusion... (Think I know what you're going to say though, demo demo demo some more?! )

IMO, Accuracy >>> Distance.

I'd rather be able to attack pins, rather than spray the ball all over, but be long doing it. I'd take the driver that gave you the most acceptable dispersion.

Yep hitting fairways is a an advantage as well as having the ball going towards the pin instead of sideways.

A 420 head should be fine. I think the new TaylorMade driver with the adjusted weights and all that is only 425. I would go with the one that you liked the best.

As for the shaft brands Aldila and Fujikura a lot of pros play those brands. They make high end shafts, but like lowpost says they are not the same shafts. On the other hand I doubt they are Junk that you would find in a WallMart shelf and should not hold your golf game back. If they feel right to you at this stage I would not worry to much about that just make sure the flex is not way to stiff or way to flexible and worry about getting your swing so you can repeat it.

Does the place you Demo have a golf Pro to help ? Or are you just hitting Balls into a net? Any feed back as to swing speed and distance?

Bob

Simon , this is my 10 cents worth ...

In an club fitted an OEM shaft, whether its a Fuji or a Aldila, you can't go wrong. They are both high quality shafts. What you have to be more careful of, rather than the manufacturer is the weight, flext and kick point. Don't start comparing shafts in different clubs because the shafts are so different.

To get the best club-shaft combo, I suggest you settle on the head you like the most. Say, you go for the S-3, which is a great club BTW, demo the S-3 with 2 or 3 shafts in different flexes and kickpoints. Then once you have narrowed it down have it customed for you to tweak it until it's just right.

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Thanks guys you have all been very helpful! I'm surprised though, the Nickent Genex 3DX with the Fujikura shaft is almost 1.5 times more expensive than the one with the Aldila shaft! I think one is the American model and the other is the Japanese model, but why the huge price difference? :O

I really like the Ben Hogan C-S3, and even though it is only 420cc and not the 460cc which I initially wanted to get, I think I will likely go for it as I've tried quite a few of the branded ones but this one still felt the best. But silly goose me forgot whether it was a stiff or regular shaft that I tried that night, and also it was a 9.5deg and I'm pretty sure I'll do better with a 10.5deg. So I need to go back down to the club and get all the combinations of the C-S3 and try them all out before I decide.

The only other driver which felt pretty good was the Cleveland Launcher Ti460. I might give that a shot too.

BTW if I may ask, I saw some pretty good prices on ebay, are these safe bets? (They're like 30% cheaper than the stores here locally even after paying USD50 for shipping!) :

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-BEN-HOGAN-GO...QQcmdZViewItem

Pretty much the two things I wouldn't do if buying from eBay:

I'd never, ever, buy a club from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, or Singapore (and if it looks too good to be true, it is). eBay is a dumping ground for clubs that have been branded like OEMs, but made of vastly inferior materials and machining.

I'd check eBay seller history. If they've never sold clubs before, I probably wouldn't bid, either.

Other than that, eBay's a good place to get clubs for relatively cheap.

Well they have almost 42,000 feedbacks, and they seem pretty professional. However they never used the word genuine in their post, so can I be sure?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...item=723213577

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to do so here, but here are their details. If anyone has dealt with them before, would appreciate some kind of feedback so at least I can be sure I'm not making a mistake here?

GolfEtail
22 Pleasant View Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
http://www.golfetail.com/


Thanks!

An American company that takes Paypal. Seems good to me - bid away, and pay with PayPal. If the deal goes south, you can get your cash back via Paypal.

Thanks for taking the time to verify that for me Lowpost!

I'm trying the club out again this weekend, managed to book a lesson slot with my coach and want to see if I should get the 9.5deg or 10.5deg

I've tried quite a few drivers lately, including the latest TaylorMade R7 524 and the Callaway X drivers... This one still seems to feel the best :P

BTW I'm from Singapore. Didn't know they have a lot of fake clubs here :O

Hi Simon,

If you find OEM clubs for a 'steal of a price' in any local market, RUN AWAY SCREAMING. (Plus, you might want to drop a dime to the OEM in question - they'll love ya for it).

Make sure your coach actually measures your launch angle and swing speed before recommending a loft for you. If he's just eyeballing it, it's just a guess. It may be a very, very good guess, but it's still just that - a guess.

Heh.. The shop that is actually selling this driver at an offer is Pan West. I'm not sure if it's around in the US, but it's quite a well-known store in Singapore and is known to carry the best of clubs That said, I am not sure why the Ben Hogan is selling for such a good price, but I guess it's not a very well known "brand" to start off with huh? But the more I play with it, the more I like it. I guess the customised Aldila NV-70 shaft that it comes with plays a huge factor as well

My coach says I am launching high enough with the 9.5*, no need to get the 10.5*. But the 9.5* is sold out!

Another thing, the club is being sold here at the discounted price of USD151. I've seen it being sold (bidded) in ebay (brand new) for around USD90. That's quite a huge difference! Do you guys in the States always get such good prices for such clubs, that by the time they reach the shores of Singapore and into the shops, the prices would already have more than doubled?? :O