We’ve been lucky enough to watch Crazy Shafts grow from a virtually unknown cult type brand to premium high performance brand in a few very short years. The great thing is Crazy is still growing its brand and product lines. Last year saw more and more golfers around Japan exposed to Crazy as the premier high modulus carbon shaft brand. Crazy’s media presence has grown significantly in the last 365 days. I read every golf publication in Japan and 2 years ago, there was rarely even a mention of Crazy as at that time, it targeted a much narrower audience with far less products. The shafts were already pretty good but not everyone had the power and swing speed of long drive competitors which is where the shafts really shone. Fast forward to 2010 and Crazy began to offer more shafts suiting a wider range of golfers and media outlets and shops and golfers around Japan began to take notice.
Marketing and media aside, at the end of the day its performance that counts. It can be difficult to measure shaft performance as every player is different, and every player needs their “own” shaft, so pitting up Crazy models against other brands models is difficult to say the least. So up to this point its been very hard to make shaft comparisons. Crazy shafts are not for everyone. Price wise they are probably one of the most expensive brands. Though keeping in mind that experimenting and changing shafts all the time, no matter what the brand is also a very expensive undertaking. Its all about finding the right shaft. So I was very excited when I was able to come across some data from International Sports Marketing Ltd’s Japanese wing which compiled reviews of different equipment here in Japan from amateur and recreational golfers like you and I. Rather than say this shaft is better than that shaft, the reviews are based on individual satisfaction with a specific shaft model (kind of the way they do satisfaction surveys with cars). This is not the be all end all of shaft rankings as it still is very unscientific and with no controls. Its just the feedback of golfers and how happy they are with their purchase pf a specific shaft. While this won’t tell us how good a shaft necessarily is or even who the shaft might fit, it does give us an idea of the shafts ability to perform especially when someone has put down a large sum of money for shaft.
So as you probably guessed, Crazy must have done quite well in this shaft rankings. The rankings are always changing as reviews keep coming in but the current number one ranked satisfaction shaft model is the Crazy Black 46 shaft. Number two surprised me as it is the Bangvoo Premium. You have to hand it to Japanese golfers to see a $725 and $1050 retail shaft ranked 1 and 2. Number 3 is Miyazaki’s Kusala Blue followed by Fujikura’s Motore Speeder VC.1 line, UST Mamiya Axiv Core Red, Diamana Blueboard, Crazy Black 50, Fubuki Alpha, UST Mamiya ATTAS T2, Bangvoo 787, Crazy TJ-46 Noir, Tour AD MD and Diamana’s ahina. This is pretty good recognition for Crazy putting it up there with all the big mainstream brands. One surprise for me was the lack of high reviews for Graphite Design and it could be just the sampling of reviews (just under 500 shaft reviews were used so far).
A big part of Crazy’s growth has been getting out there and letting people try their shafts. As I noted earlier in a post, Crazy has launched their Tour Van/bus which not only supports top pros and amateurs at tournaments but also during non competition days, allow for recreational golfers all around Japan to test their shafts. The Tour bus is currently in the middle of a 75 stop tour holding testing and fitting events all across Japan. If you stop in Japan on vacation or are here already, we can help set you up with a session.
At these fitting events and also recently at their Crazy Factory stores, they have been keeping track of different players and their club settings/whats in the bag. Its fun to see what kind of Crazy shafts others are playing. This week we’ve got a top female amateur’s bag to show. Rumi Yoshiba is still in high school but she led all golfers at the end of last month at LPGA Japan’s Q-school/pro test 2nd stage. Rumi uses Crazy shafts in all her woods as well as the Crazy 435 Driver. Her bag is as follows:
Driver: Crazy 435 10.5* Crazy Black 46 6.2 Flex (R) 45.5″ 305g D2
3 Wood: Yamaha Inpres X 15* Crazy FW-01 Evolution 6.9 Flex (SR) 43″ 315g D1
5 Wood: Yamaha Inpres X 18* Crazy FW-01 Evolution 6.9 Flex (SR) 42.25″ 323g D1
Utility: Yamaha Inpres X 22* Crazy FW-80 6.9 Flex (SR)
Irons: Yamaha Inpres X V Forged 750GH Regular
Wedges: Yamaha Inpres X Wedge 950Gh Regular
Putter: White Hot XG #7
More and more female golfers especially top amateurs have been spotted playing Crazy shafts thanks to their lighter weight but premium control and distance. We hope to see Rumi continue her success and make it to the Japan Tour!
So Crazy continues to grow and hopefully we can help you find the right Crazy shaft for your swing.! You can check out all Crazy’s products in our shop and email us anytime if you need fitting help!
I wonder why quadra did not come into the picture? hmmmmmmm
Quadra is a TINY company. They have very little marketing and have nowhere near the resources of Crazy. They do make a good shaft but are not nearly as recognizable as Crazy or other brands.
Hi,
I just a beginner in golfing. Can some one assist me which brand and model is suit me as i’m asia and heigh 158cm.