Following the Prolaunch Platinum shafts with the underlying Smart-Ply technology originally seen with the Axis shaft , Grafalloy have taken this technology and added them to new Tour Concept versions of the Prolaunch Red and Prolaunch Blue.

Also released at the same time are new versions of the C-Note hybrid shaft, including a new lighter version to replace the C-Lite. Grafalloy shafts have been a stalwart of the major tours for some time now, with the Prolaunch series of shafts being amongst the most commonly used. The  Micro-Mesh^TM technology used in these shafts is Grafalloys solution to balancing tip stability and torque to reduce club head lag while retaining feel. The addition of Smart-Ply^TM should now give these shafts even greater cross sectional stability.

Increasing cross sectional stability is seen as a way to increase energy transfer at impact with the result being greater distance and improved shot dispersion. Shafts with poor cross sectional stability undergo ovalling which causes energy loss and an inconsistent point of impact with loss of accuracy. Anti-ovalling technologies are of particular interest to shaft manufacturers and are commonly seen in current shafts, examples of these being Triax from Fujikura (basis of the RE*AX and ROMBAX shafts) and S-CORE Technology™ from Aldila (seen in the new VooDoo shaft).

Smart-Ply cross section

Smart-Ply^TM consists of overlaying single direction fibres orientated in 6 specific directions (-45, -30, 0 ,30, 45, and 90 degrees to the shaft ), each orientation contributing differently to feel and performance. Grafalloy state that using this technology they can produce shafts that are over 50% more cross sectionally stable when compared to shafts like the Mitsubishi WhiteBoard or the Aldila SVS Proto.

The Prolaunch range consists of the Blue, Platinum and Red. The shafts are designed to have similar characteristics but with the Blue with high launch, the Platinum giving a Mid-High launch and the Red giving a Low initial launch angle.

Technical Specs

New Hybrid Shafts

The new version of the C-Note is the same as the old one but it has a new paint scheme that is slightly more reserved than the original – the C-Note name was a reference to not only the weight but also the money like graphics and the legend ‘In Grafalloy We Trust’. The lighter  version replaces the C-Lite and has the same new paint scheme.

These shafts are made of a proprietary Tri-Material Torque Control that produces very low torque shafts for faster swingers looking for a low and penetrating ball flight.

All these shafts will be the subjects of Bag Chatter testing so look for some reviews in the forth coming weeks.