Through my extensive search, detailed HERE, I really thought I’d found “the one”. Everything was looking so good for the UST Mamiya DART V 120 F4. But, there was this niggle in the back of my mind. Is it (actually) right, or is there something better. If my arm could tolerate steel then without question I’d be playing Dynamic Gold Mid 115 S300 all day long. But sadly that isn’t an option, and graphite shafts are essential.
There is so much hype over Fujikura AXIOM, but I just didn’t love it after a very short test. Not to mention it’s super expensive. Many people consider Mitsubishi MMT to be about the best graphite iron shaft around. But, I’ve extensively tried that, in both the 105 and 125 gram parts, both in the stiff flex. On a good day the 105 feel fine, but other times it feels too light and easy to “throw around”, That’s where the move to MMT 125 has come about. That solves that problem, but at times it just feels a bit much. There is MMT 105 TX, but the TX has always concerned me, that it would just be too stiff.
Well, looking at the specs, the MMT 105 TX really just seems to sit right in between the 105 and 125 that I’ve used extensively in many irons/wedge sets. So, I bit the bullet and decided to give it a try. I ordered the MMT 105 TX for the 4 iron through PW, and also decided to give the specialty MMT Scoring Wedge shafts a try, in the 105 TX as well. Those wedge specific shafts are just a touch heavier (“on spec”) and will go in to the 50º, 56º & 60º wedges. I say “on spec” because the MMT 105 TX is meant to be 113 grams, but all that shafts I recieved (across two sets now) have been more like 118 grams, which is totally fine with me.
After several outings with the shafts now, in both the Ping Blueprint S irons and Ping s159 wedges, and also the Miura MC-502 irons and Miura Forged Wedges wedges, I’ve gotten so comfortable that I’ve actually arrived at a previously unattainable destination (for iron/wedge shafts anyway), comfort. I’ve gotten to the point where the shaft just feels so good, and natural, that I’ve actually stopped thinking about it at all.
When I reflect on this, it’s actually where I’ve been at for the last eighteen months with driver and fairway shafts. The TPT Nitro 16 Hī in the driver and TPT Power 16 Hī fairway shafts have been so good that I just can’t consider what could actually be worth trying that could be as good.
On reading this the reflection I have is that standard fitting is basically flawed. Most often we hit a 7 iron with a selection of shafts and are expected to believe that if the 7 iron is good so too will the 4 iron and the pitching wedge. Well even I have fallen victim to this trap too often to admit. I would actually rather hit the 4 iron, and if that worked then I would be happier to expect that the 7 iron and pitching wedge would likely work.
Even the practice I’ve employed on occasion for my wife and I, putting a different shaft in each club is flawed in the same way, especially in the shorter clubs.
Anyway, long story short. To use a variation quote from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, when you have the right shaft it just fades into the background and leaves your conscious mind, allowing your mind to focus it’s attention elsewhere. Hopefully on what’s important, playing well and enjoying the game more.