Equipment
Matrix Velox shafts optimize speed through curvature
Matrix’s new line of Velox shafts are designed to help golfers maximize clubhead speed, regardless of what type of driver setup they play.
In the past, better golfers gravitated toward drivers built to shorter lengths, which offered them more control and consistency than longer clubs. But the creation of larger, more forgiving club heads has led to the use of longer clubs by many golfers, as the wider arc that longer clubs create during the swing can help them generate additional club head speed and thus more distance.
Wider swing arcs have another possible benefit as well. They can help golfers improve their swing path, because wider arcs increase the chance that a golfer will swing the club on an in-to-out path, as well as with an upward angle of attack; a key ingredient to maximizing distance off the tee.
One of the problems with longer-length drivers, however, is that their extended length moves the balance point of the club closer to the club head. That issue is exacerbated by the fact that today’s adjustable driver heads are heavier than past models, tipping the balance point even farther toward the head. The movement of the balance point toward the head is called an increased “swing weight,” which makes the club feel heavier to a golfer.
For golfers who wish to take advantage of longer-length drivers but want to maintain a traditional swing weight, Matrix designed the Velox Sp shafts. The Sp shafts are counterbalanced, which means they have more weight in the butt section of the shaft to balance out the extra length, extra head weight, or both.
The Velox shafts, which also come in a non-counterbalanced St model, were created with much more than proper weight distribution in mind, however.
Tom DeShiell, director of research and development at Matrix Shafts, said his team designed the Velox shafts to help golfers maximize the amount of energy they could transfer into the ball. They did so with deformation of energy (DE) analysis, a study of the curvature of a shaft during the swing and how it affects energy transfer.
“We wanted to optimize that curvature for golfers with different swing speeds,” DeShiell said.
Instead of the traditional R, S and X flexes, the Velox Sp and St shafts are categorized with numbers that relate to a golfer’s swing speed: 85, 95, 105 and 115. The 85 model will work best for golfers with a swing speed around 85 mph, the 95 will work best for golfers with a swing speed around 95 mph, and so on.
“Every different player has a different response to a shaft,” DeShiell said. “So, that’s where we tried to just concentrate on their swing speed.”
According to DeShiell, all golf shafts have a decrease in stiffness from the butt section to the tip section. But the rate at which that stiffness changes has to vary for golfers to get the most energy transfer from a shaft. For that reason, the Velox shafts for golfers with slower swing speeds have a rate of stiffness that decreases more rapidly, while the models for golfers with faster swing speeds decrease in stiffness more slowly.
The Velox shafts are currently being tested on the PGA Tour, and will be available at retail on Nov. 1. The Sp shafts (offered in weights of 50, 60, 70 and 80 grams) will retail for $275, while the St shafts (offered in weights of 60, 70 and 80 grams) will sell for $375.
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- Webb Simpson what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 6 X
3-wood: Titleist TS2 (15 degrees, B2 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Blue 70 TX
5-wood: Titleist 913 Fd (18 degrees)
Shaft: UST Mamiya VTS Proforce 8 TX
Hybrids: Titleist TSR2 (24 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD D1 Hybrid 105 X
Irons: Titleist T150 (5, 6), Titleist 680 (7-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (46-10F, 54-14F, 60-04L)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (46), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Check out more in-hand photos of Webb Simpson’s clubs here.
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- Keegan Bradley’s WITB accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. >14 clubs pictured. Obviously, Bradley will reduce that number to 14 for competition. Check out more photos from the tournament here.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: Aldila Rogue White 130 MSI 70 TX
Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW (19 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 80 TX
Irons: Srixon ZX5 Mk II (3-5) Srixon ZX7 Mk II (6-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore (52-10 Mid, 58-6 Low)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy WristLock
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4
Ball: Srixon Z-Star Diamond
Check out more in-hand photos of Bradley’s clubs here.
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At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a set of Mizuno 245 irons.
From the seller: (@JB_007): “1. Mizuno Pro 245 – $1000 –> 950/obo
- Purchased brand new – they have 36 holes on them, with probably 10 premium range balls. Great set of irons, I just am looking to go another way right now.
- 5-PW –> stock L/L/L
- Project X LS 6.5
- Stock MCC Mizuno Grips.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: Mizuno 245 irons
This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules
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Stan
Jan 6, 2015 at 9:31 pm
Does anyone have any know what the rated swing speed for volex t49 is?
My swing speed for a driver is 88, will the volex 49 match up for me?
hoganman1
Apr 28, 2014 at 6:48 pm
I didn’t see any info about the Matrix Velox T 49. I know it weighs about 50 grams, but is it a high launch shaft? I’ve been using the Aldila NVS 55R. How does the T 49 compare with the NVS?
Joe Golfer
Oct 14, 2013 at 1:22 am
The swing speed idea sounds like a good one.
Every company has a different idea of what an R flex is or an S flex is, and torque also plays a factor in how stiff a shaft feels.
One company’s S flex actually feels like an S flex, while another company’s S flex may feel more like an R flex.
That said, I agree with most of those who posted: $275 is too much to pay for a golf shaft. Even if the company has to pay for R&D, employee salaries, healthcare for employees, advertising, etc…, it is still way too expensive. It wasn’t that long ago that shafts cost way way less than that, and companies still had the same expenses as they do now. It just caters to those who think they have to have the very best, latest and greatest thing, and those people who equate cost with quality of fit to their game.
Don jan
Oct 10, 2013 at 2:24 pm
Graphite shafts only cost 5.00 / 8.00 to produce per shaft, yes it’s a rip, thank you
Anser
Oct 10, 2013 at 2:43 pm
Don,
Do you know per shaft cost?
Do you have any idea how things like R&D, advertising, shipping, health insurance, and countless many other things all go into the cost?
Xreb
Oct 11, 2013 at 2:56 pm
Are you saying these costs don’t apply to a high end electronic item which ends up costing up costing than a Matrix TP6HD ? Surely you are not going to say the chip manufacturing technology involves less R&D !!
Hacked90
Oct 14, 2013 at 3:37 pm
The difference is volume; and therefore, the economies of scale of the business. These shafts might sell in the thousands, whereas iPads, and many “chips” for high end electronic items sell in the multi-millions. $100k in R&D may be $10 per shaft or the equivalent of $100MM in R&D for an iPad.
Xreb
Oct 19, 2013 at 12:07 pm
A well thought out response and you pretty much summed it up, which only goes to prove the case that there isn’t the dollar value worth of technology in these shafts that manufacturers claim there is. The price is simply a reflection of the low volume of sales.
TJ
Oct 14, 2013 at 1:25 pm
I work for a manufacture in a different field and its not the raw material that makes the product cost a lot of money. R&D is a huge expense at least it is in my field as well as the expenses of running a profitable business.
Don jan
Oct 10, 2013 at 2:23 pm
Graphite shafts only cost 5.00 / 8.00 to produce per shaft, yes a
Andy
Oct 10, 2013 at 2:34 am
Cause an iPad is so much harder to fit into a club head?
Xreb
Oct 10, 2013 at 8:28 am
Good one !
J
Oct 9, 2013 at 9:07 pm
Overpriced.
Xreb
Oct 10, 2013 at 1:46 am
So is every shaft on the market. I would like someone to explain how any of these premium shafts cost more than an ipad ?
Mark
Oct 9, 2013 at 3:29 pm
couldn’t a golfer just put in a tour lock weight in the butt to achieve a very similar result?
Bama68
Oct 9, 2013 at 11:57 am
What will the total raw shaft length be for these shafts.
Big_5_Hole
Oct 9, 2013 at 11:02 am
“Instead of the traditional R, S and X flexes, the Velox Sp and St shafts are categorized with numbers that relate to a golfer’s swing speed: 85, 95, 105 and 155.:
Is 155 supposed to read 115 or 125? Or is that last one made of re-bar and only for use as a chin-up bar?
Zak Kozuchowski
Oct 9, 2013 at 11:56 am
Thanks for the catch. It has been corrected to say 115. And you’re right. If it were 155, it would be one heck of a chin-up bar.
– Zak