Lots of data are now coming in for the 2009 season when it comes to sales and trends in Japan’s golf market. Today I’m going to talk about shaft trends from 2009. Overall in general, we saw the trend move away from high launch max carry type of shafts to shafts that produce a lower more penetrating launch and a focus on control and stability with the main goal being keeping the ball in the middle of the fairway. As manufacturers strive to meet the needs of consumers in the most demanding market in the world, technology and designs are ever changing. The bottom line though is results and the sales data for shafts can give a good idea of what is working for golfers who reshaft.

2009 Trends…

Using data received from 18 various club making shops around Japan, we can get an idea of some of the popular sales trends. The data comes from smaller independent club makers as well as large golf chain stores and Tourspecgolf.com’s online shaft sales. Of course every shop or club maker has their favorites but the popular brands seem to always stick out. Sales data only includes wood shafts not shafts for irons.

Last years data saw a very popular Graphite Design Tour AD MD Series dominate the charts which was reflective of GD’s market dominance in Japan both on the Japanese Tours and in the consumer market. With only the EV Series released this year, we see a bit of a decline in GD’s presence on the 2009 charts as a number of new up and comers begin to not only appear but take a large chunk of GD’s market share.

The Mainstays…

Japan’s big three, Mitsubishi Rayon, Graphite Design and Fujikura each released at least one premium shaft as a flagship product for 2009. Mitsubishi released the lightweight Bassara Griffin, Graphite Design the Tour AD EV Series, and Fujikura the Motore Speeder line. (the Diamana kai’li and Rombax F were released in fall of 2008 though they could be considered key 2009 models as well).

Bassara Griffin…

Mitsubishi’s Bassara Griffin bucks the trends of lightweight shafts lacking stability and a penetrating launch with the G Series very much a stable light weight shaft with a low-mid launch and low spin.  Pretty much no 40 and 50 gram range shafts can boast the control and launch that the the Griffin provides and this is reflected in the chart as the Griffin makes it on the top 3 for 6/18 shops which actually bests the Diamana kai’li which made it on 5/18 shops.

Tour AD EV 6…

Graphite Design’s main release for 2008 the Tour AD MD Series made it to the top 3 on every shop we had data for (only 10 shops were used in 2008).  This year’s Tour AD EV series, which features a stiffer butt for control but still with a higher launch and low spin made it on the lists of 7/18 shops which is still a very repsectable showing. Interestingly the MD Series which was easily the top shaft of 2008 has pretty much dropped off the charts. Initial reviews of the 2010 Tour AD DI-6 series have been very positive so GD looks to bounce back to dominant form in 2010.

Motore Speeder…

The biggest disappointment might be Fujikura’s Motore Speeder which only made it on 2/18 lists. The Motore Speeder was made to be a very forgiving distance shaft with good kick and control but consumer seemed to have shunned it for its softer overall feel and profile.  I am currently using this shaft in my Kamui driver and while it definitely excels distance wise, it could be overpowered by aggressive swingers.  Fujikura seems to have realized this by releasing a newer apparently more stout version, the Motore Speeder VCX.1 series.   Overall Fujikura shafts made it on 8/18 lists buoyed by the ever popular classic Rombax alphabet shafts V X Z and F. One shop, Golf Messe in Tokyo has the Rombax Bangvoo as its number one seller which surprised me considering its a 1000.00 shaft (Japan is supposed to be in a recession but it never shows when it comes to golf).

The new contenders…

So what stood out? I’d have to say the presence of smaller lesser known brands like Crazy, FSP and Quadra, while not a surprise, is definitely a fresh look. These smaller brands focus on high performance shafts with not only top quality designs but also top quality grade carbon. Crazy and Quadra both use 80t carbon in their top model shafts. So how does carbon grading work? Shafts are created with carbon fibers weaved together, and these fibers are measured by their modulus of elasticity in tension.  Typical golf shafts are around 24t or 30t, the measurement of tensile strength. These grade shafts are more flexible and because of this the shaft is slow to regain its original shape on the downswing creating inconsistent  impact where a player must rely heavily on timing due to the flexibility of the shaft.  As the tensile strength increases the carbon weaves are more dense, more rigid and return more quickly to their original shape.

The flex and rebound of the shaft becomes more predictable equaling more consistent shots and much tighter dispersion.  The higher tensile ratings ratings in golf shafts are also related to the higher grades containing more glass and metal particles which are more rigid and lower grades containing more flexible rubber particles.

Control AND Distance key…

Crazy’s Black 80 and Quadra’s Fire Express both use 80t and Crazy’s Black 50 uses 50t carbon while the Crazy Longest yard is a hybrid shaft using both 50t and 40t grade carbon all higher than typical graphite shafts. Higher grade carbon also equals higher pricing with many of these models being priced from 500.00 to 800.00 USD. With the data in the charts though, it appears that Japanese golfers are ready to spend on getting the right shaft for their clubs no matter what the cost. And getting the right shaft isn’t easy, many times it can turn out to be an expensive experiment as we all know. For those players though who want to maximize performance and truly match their swing getting the right shaft can make even an average driver head perform great while the wrong shaft can make a great driver head perform average or worse. It is also true that many average golfers can get along just fine with stock shafts and cannot tell the difference between a 500.00 shaft or 100.00 shaft. But for those willing to spend the options are there.

One other thing that stands out about companies like Crazy, Quadra and FSP is that their shafts pretty much put to rest the myth that Japanese shafts play soft. Crazy Black and Longest Yard as well as Quadra and FSP models all play with finished CPM’s generally higher  (10-15cpm more) than the mainstream brands we know.  Crazy especially focuses on the harder and faster swinger and have developed a cult following in Japan for those looking for max distance AND control among the fastest swingers (Many Crazy models are available up to XXX flex). Crazy’s Longest Yard shafts are mainstays on the Drakon circuit (Drakon stands for long driving contest) and their reputation for distance without losing control has filtered down to the average consumer as shown in the data above.

Looking ahead to 2010…

So what does this mean moving forward into 2010? In previous years, Japanese golfers were surveyed for the reasons why they wanted to reshaft and 65% had answered “to gain more distance”. I believe the numbers have shifted more towards a combintion of “gaining more distance AND control”. Afterall, 275 yards in the center of the fairway is better than 290 yards in the woods. It is very possible many of these smaller shaft manufacturers will continue to take market share from the big dogs, forcing companies like Graphite Design, Fujikura and Mitsubishi Rayon to design and manufacture even better shafts to compete. More competition is a good thing for the conusmer and while more awesome shafts mean harder decision making and fitting it is better than no selection of shafts at all.

Here at TSG we’ve seen our share of sales for Crazy and Quadra but the main brands still dominate probably due to a lack of recognition for the other brands. We always want to offer the best so we plan on adding to Crazy and Quarda’s offerings in our pro shop. I’m about to test the  Crazy Longest Yard in my driver to see what all the fuss is about and will be adding it to the pro shop soon for those of you who have always want to try something new. As always getting the right shaft is not easy and I’m always here to help. You are welcome to send an email to me though our contact form (product recommendations and info) with as much info about your swing and the clubs and shafts you use now so that I can give you some recommendations.