Equipment
Snedeker switches to a 45-gram driver shaft
Brandt Snedeker doesn’t change equipment often, but when he does decide to switch he’s not scared to play something unconventional.
Snedeker already plays one of the lightest iron shafts on the PGA Tour, AeroTech’s SteelFiber i95, which weigh 95 grams. This week, he’s using one of the lightest driver shafts on the PGA Tour, a UST Mamiya ProForce VTS 4X shaft that weighs 45 grams (Click here to see the other clubs in Snedeker’s bag).
According to Danny Le, marketing manager for UST, Snedeker first used the shaft in Rounds 3 and 4 of the Deutsche Bank Championship. He was looking for a shaft in the 55-gram range to put in his TaylorMade SLDR, but he gained a little extra ball speed and consistency with the 45-gram model.
Most PGA Tour players opt for shafts that are made with low torque, which means they have a high resistance to twisting as a golfer unloads the club in the downswing. Many equipment experts believe the resistance to twisting can provide increased accuracy off the tee, especially for golfers with quick transitions. But Snedeker’s shaft has more than 5 degrees of torque, which is on the high-end of the range for Tour players.
Graham DeLaet’s 65-gram UST Mamiya ProForce VTS shaft has 5 degrees of torque, slightly less than Snedeker’s driver shaft.
And Snedeker isn’t the only golfer on Tour who has seen improved accuracy from a high-torque shaft. Graham DeLaet, who is No. 1 on the PGA Tour in Total Driving (a combination of driving distance and accuracy), uses the highest-torque model of UST’s ProForce VTS 6X driver shaft.
The point? Just because low-torque shafts are touted as the best shafts for high swing-speed golfers doesn’t mean they always are. Go get fit and see what shaft is right for you.
[button color=”black” link=”http://www.golfwrx.com/76769/brandt-snedeker-witb/”]Brandt Snedeker WITB[/button]
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Gear junkies have been waiting patiently for Callaway to release new wedges. We may have gotten a sneak peek at what’s coming after seeing something new in Chris Kirk’s bag at the 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge. Spotted were a few different wedges, but the Callaway Opus caught our eye.
The term opus can mean, “any artistic work, especially one on a large scale. With iconic wedge designer Roger Cleveland now working with Terra Forza golf, could this have been his last creation for Callaway?
We don’t have any official word from Callaway on these wedges, but the main focal point seems to be the extra mass in the center of the club. This added material could be used to adjust the center of gravity on the wedge in order for it to launch and spin a specific way. It can also be used to enhance the feel and sound of the club with more material behind the impact location.
The shaping of the head looks to be a little more on the rounded side compared to the current Jaws Raw wedges. The topline on the wedge looks to be fairly thin and the leading edge is pretty straight with just a little bit of a radius to it. The color looks to be an antique brown and it will be interesting to see if that is a plating on the club or some kind of oilcan finish that will wear away and rust.
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge
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Give me a Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond driver but make it Max. Callaway engineers have taken the tour staple triple diamond head and boosted its size from 450 to 460cc’s. “By doing that we’ve created a more forgiving head while still keeping the same great shape that’s beloved on tour,” said Callaway’s advanced R&D manager Nick Yontz. The driver offers more spin than Triple Diamond standard — and thus more workability and forgiveness.
In contrast to the standard Triple Diamond, which features 14 and two-gram weights. The Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Max is equipped with 10-gram and four-gram interchangeable weights, which contributes to greater overall stability. According to Callaway, the driver plays more neutral than the neutral-to-fade-bias Triple Diamond.
Comparison of the Triple Diamond and Triple Diamond Max faces.
Discussing testing on tour, Nick Yontz, advanced R&D manager, said:
“We first brought this head out for Tour testing in November last year. Players would step up and we had it matched up to their gamer driver specs. They would swing, and we saw consistently good ball flights – very stable. It was the word ‘stable’ that continued to be used by players.”
“They would continue to split the fairway and what that caused them to do was to start swinging faster. They had this excitement that, ‘This thing doesn’t go offline. I can keep swinging harder and harder and it maintains that straight flight’”
“We were seeing players. that would have small gains in ball speed from just the driver head alone, but then the swing speed would increase the more and more swings they made. By the end of it, they really saw meaningful gains in ball speed and distance.”
As a refresher on the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke driver family — which now includes Paradym Ai Smoke Max, Paradym Ai Smoke Max D, Paradym Smoke Max Fast, Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond, and Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Max — check out our launch piece.
Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Max: Pricing, specs, availability
Price: $599.99
Loft options: 9, 10.5 degrees
Stock shaft: Project X Denali Blue
At retail: June 7
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GolfWRX is live this week at Colonial Country Club for the Charles Schwab Challenge.
Custom Camerons and some “super” new grips from SuperStroke are filling our galleries early in the week as well as WITBs — including the always interesting “Cashmere Keith” Mitchell.
Check out links to our photos below, which we’ll continue to update throughout the week.
And while you’re making your way through our photos, be sure to check out last year’s incredible gallery of prototype and personal Ben Hogan golf clubs.
General Albums
WITB Albums
- Keith Mitchell – WITB – 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge
- Rafa Campos – WITB – 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge
- R Squared – WITB – 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge
- Martin Laird – WITB – 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge
- Paul Haley – WITB – 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge
- Tyler Duncan – WITB – 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge
Pullout Albums
- Eric Cole’s newest custom Cameron putter – 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge
- New Super Stroke Marvel comic themed grips – 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge
- Ben Taylor’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge
- Tyler Duncan’s Axis 1 putter – 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge
- Cameron putters – 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge
- Chris Kirk’s new Callaway Opus wedges – 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge
See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.
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Josh
Sep 26, 2013 at 9:39 am
Love this play by sneds!!!! I have the cobra long tom with grafalloy blackbird shaft, originally comes in 48″. I have it tipped and then cut down to be 45″ so the orginal 50g shaft is now down around 45g. It feels so stable and have tons of control over it. Never thought a light weight shaft could perform this way but I am now a believer.
Eric
Sep 19, 2013 at 3:13 am
I believe it is a UST Tour SPX Black shaft.
BenDover
Sep 16, 2013 at 12:27 pm
More evidence that torque is overrated.
bill
Sep 16, 2013 at 8:35 pm
R1 black cut to 44.5 with stock 55g X, and lovin’ life off the tee. I added a dab of lead tap around the neck just above the ferrule to recover some feel, and I’m off and runnin’. The days of 72s, 45 and umpteen 1/4 length shafts are OVER!!
Peyton
Sep 16, 2013 at 9:28 am
Oh wow
John
Sep 12, 2013 at 10:12 pm
Callaway (I believe?) did a test with different torque shafts and found no difference in accuracy or spin/launch between high torque and low torque. They said it just alters the feel of the shaft, which translates into slightly different swings/deliveries with golfers, and ultimately different launch conditions.
George P.
Sep 12, 2013 at 7:57 pm
I’m going to have to try the 45gram UST Mamiya VTS. Sounds awesome!
naflack
Sep 12, 2013 at 7:51 pm
Good to see that if these shafts can handle those guys they can also handle me…
Cannon
Sep 16, 2013 at 10:29 pm
Not like these guys swing any faster than guys on this forum. They just have the consistamcy and complete game that most don’t come close to.
John
Sep 25, 2013 at 11:38 am
These guys do not swing faster than a lot of people on this forum. However, these guys do generate much more club head speed and swing speed than MOST of the guys on this forum. That is the reason many of these professional players use a low torque shaft because of the speed they are generating. Someone can swing as hard as they can and only generate 85 swing speed. Its not about how hard you swing, it is about how much swing speed you generate, which has a lot to do with the lower body.