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Miyazaki Shaft Review - THP Demo Day - Kusala & C. Kua Full Lines

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JB

JB

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THP Experiences
While at the 2012 THP Golf Outing & Demo Day, equipment was available from almost every club manufacturer around. A big part of the Ultimate Weekend of Golf is to be able to try things out both at the demo day as well as take them to the course for the weekend and see how they work for you.

Miyazaki was kind enough to send over their full line of shafts for people to test out. Here are the products that were on the range as part of the THP Demo Day.

Kusala Black
Kusala Indigo
Kusala Blue
Kusala Silver
Kusala White
C. Kua

Looking forward to all the great feedback from everybody that got a chance to test these out.
 
I was lucky enough to find time to hit the launch monitor during the Demo Day and JB helped me understand my numbers and how to improve my drives through shaft changes. We found success raising my launch angle and my spin rate. So when it was time to do some shaft testing, I headed right to the Kusala White and Silver. I personally like the aesthetics of the Silver better, but the White launched the ball higher for me. I loved the White and probably hit about 30 balls with it versus 10-12 with the Silver. The dispersion of both seemed to be similar, but the White definitely had more carry.

I took the White and compared it head to head with a different shaft JB recommended to me during the fitting (Project X Pro Series). The numbers were very close, but I eventually signed out the PX shaft for the Saturday play. That shaft seems to be very expensive and the numbers were so close, I would be happy gaming the White anyday.

I prefer heavier shafts so I stayed away from the C Kua series. I did hit a few CG Blacks w. C Kuas and man are they light.
 
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This was fun for me, I absolutley love Miyazaki shafts and wanted to see which one I would think would do the trick for me. I had been fit into last years blue model so I wanted to see if that would hold true to this year. I did not get on the launch monitor with these as I was making sure everyone got fit by JB. But, I did do my own little shaft testing with the Kusala series. I picked 3 different shafts, black, indigo, and blue. all 3 shafts were impressive. I play a 9.5 head so the black turned out to be too low for me. I thought about getting into a higher launching head with the black and it may be the perfect fit. I saw very similar results with the indigo. And of course the blue won me over. Again, I may just be comfortable with the blue and thats what won me, but...I sure do think I need to try a black or indigo with a higher loft club. There is a chance I could be lethal. :)
 
I hit a few Miyazakis in different clubs over the weekend, including the ones in my current driver and fairway woods.

CG Black irons with Miyazaki C Kua iron shafts:

These shafts do two things incredibly well. The first is raising ball flight. On the range especially these were among the highest iron shots I hit all day. Very soft landing shots. It was very easy to get wrapped up in just how nice those high shots looked. The other thing the shafts did was provide an extremely soft feel that I'd never really experienced in an iron before. Even taking big gouges on fat shots doesn't produce harshness and I have to attribute that to the graphite.

The one thing that didn't work for me was that I had a tendency to push them right. No sidespin. Just a high push that I wasn't seeing with other iron shafts. They may not be the best match for me, but I think they could be very nice for some peope.

Miyazaki Kusala White

I tried this in the Classic driver. Mainly out of the desire to compare this shaft to the C Kua I already have in the bag. Both are high launching shafts, but they are so different. The problem is I just can't describe it that well. They felt different, with my preference being the C Kua. It seemed to have more pop at the end for me if that makes sense. Ball flight was actually pretty similar, though I'd say I hit the ball a little higher with the Kua. This shaft looks so good.
 
I didn't do a shaft fitting, but I was able to hit the Classic with different Miyazaki shafts in them. I think I really enjoyed the flight of the Blue shaft with a Classic 10.5 head. It had a nice gradual flight that seemed to go forever. I felt like this was a great combo for me.
 
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GrantD said:
I didn't do a shaft fitting, but I was able to hit the Classic with different Miyazaki shafts in them. I think I really enjoyed the flight of the Blue shaft with a Classic 10.5 head. It had a nice gradual flight that seemed to go forever. I felt like this was a great combo for me.
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Holy cow, we had that combo?
 
JB said:
Holy cow, we had that combo?
Click to expand...

I thought it was there. I might have miss read the shaft. My notes are a bit tough to read.

Edit- It was Arydolphin that had that combo.
 
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Kusala Black 61 regular flex

I got to hit this shaft in the Cleveland Black Tour driver and came away thoroughly impressed. It is promoted as a shaft with penetrating trajectory and a very stable feel and that is exactly what I saw. This combo made for an ideal setup for me and I would definitely be interested in this shaft down the road if properly fit into it.

Kusala White (not sure of weight & flex)

I tried to hit this in 2 different drivers I believe and I could not get the flight down to my liking. It is promoted as a shaft to increase trajectory and that is exactly what I saw.

C. Kua iron shaft

I tried this shaft in the Cleveland Black irons and liked what I was seeing. It was giving me a pretty high launch which is ideal in terms of approach shots into greens. Not sure how it would hold up into a direct wind but the swings I took with it felt pretty stable.

Overall: I really like the Miyazaki line of shafts. They have so many different offerings it can be hard to grasp but from my limited exposure they match very well with what they are promoted to do so in that sense it does help a golfer narrow down what they should potentially be trying.

Big thanks to Miyazaki for sending so many options for us to test with!
 
I had the good fortune to spend some time with JB on the launch monitor trying out a bunch of different shafts.

Unfortunately, he was swapping them out so fast that I really couldn't keep track of what they were.

When all was said and done, we had settled on the Kusala Indigo.

JB said the shaft flex 5555 indicated that the flex remained constant throughout the length of the shaft. I currently game the Ping G-15 9* with a Serrano stiff in it. I can absolutely crush that club. Problem is, it is so whippy that my timing has to be spot on. As a result, my shot dispersion and results vary greatly. This is my best and my worst club.

I think we used the SuperTri head on the launch monitor. Initially, it felt like I was swinging a baseball bat compared to my old set up. It seemed like there was zero flex in the shaft and I had to put a lot of effort into getting the club around and through the ball. When all was said and done, JB decided that the numbers put out by the shaft / head were optimal for me.

I decided to check out the shaft for the weekend rounds and put it in a 10.5* R11S head.

I woke up Saturday morning and could not rotate my back at all (no idea why)! I think I was lucky to take a 1/3 back swing. As a result, I wound up leaving the club in the bag all day.

Sunday was a different story. I first tried it out on the #1 hole on the North (?) course. It was the one that teed off right outside the clubhouse patio with the water running along the right side of the fairway. My first swing with this club hitting a premium ball was unbelievable. The ball took off like a rocket. The launch angle was a little lower than I would like but a lot of that could have to do with my swing and the weighting of the R11S head.

Anyways, I was playing with BMW, iDrops and StillMyShot that round. We spotted their balls and split up so everyone could hit (ready golf). While they are hitting, I start looking for my ball. According to the direction and ball flight, it should have been dead square in the middle of the fairway about 100 yards out. I look, and look and look. Nothing. Ok, maybe I didn't actually hit it that far. I start backtracking. Still nothing. Ok, half my shots have right to left motion on them. Maybe it rolled left off the fairway into the trees. Nope. By this time my partner iDrops is out helping me look for it. We are both totally confused as to how I could have possibly lost a ball hit down the middle of the fairway. Finally I think, ok, just for grins, let's head up to the green to see if there is any chance I got a good bounce or something...

Sure enough, there's my ball. It had rolled into a small valley where the elevated green started. We couldn't see it until we got close because of the slight change in elevation. Holy Smokes! I must have been 30 yards from the middle of the green and the pin.

After that, I was instantly sold on the shaft. So sold that I dropped off my driver at GG at lunch Monday to have it put in. I just picked it up at lunch today and hit about 30 balls on their fitting monitor (not the demo bay). The launch seems a little low. That may have just been the extremely low rubber tees they have or it may be my 9*. I will be taking it out to the range / course this evening for a better review. Either way, this thing feels so right. Not whippy like my last shaft. If the ball flight still comes out low with my preferred tee height, I may drop it in a 10.5* G15 head to see how that works.
 
mcook77 said:
Kusala Black 61 regular flex

I got to hit this shaft in the Cleveland Black Tour driver and came away thoroughly impressed. It is promoted as a shaft with penetrating trajectory and a very stable feel and that is exactly what I saw. This combo made for an ideal setup for me and I would definitely be interested in this shaft down the road if properly fit into it.

Kusala White (not sure of weight & flex)

I tried to hit this in 2 different drivers I believe and I could not get the flight down to my liking. It is promoted as a shaft to increase trajectory and that is exactly what I saw.

C. Kua iron shaft

I tried this shaft in the Cleveland Black irons and liked what I was seeing. It was giving me a pretty high launch which is ideal in terms of approach shots into greens. Not sure how it would hold up into a direct wind but the swings I took with it felt pretty stable.

Overall: I really like the Miyazaki line of shafts. They have so many different offerings it can be hard to grasp but from my limited exposure they match very well with what they are promoted to do so in that sense it does help a golfer narrow down what they should potentially be trying.

Big thanks to Miyazaki for sending so many options for us to test with!
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Cookie - I didnt hit the iron shafts, but what did you think about the weight of them compared to your normal iron shafts? I have the heavy PX 5.5s and was wondering if the lighter shaft would help with tempo consistency or not.
 
That's fantastic TrueFX. Nothing better than going to an Outing and coming home and putting something in the bag immediately. I'm a big fan of the Indigo Series myself. Congrats on your purchase.
 
Kusala White: I had the chance to hit this in one of the Cleveland Classic drivers as well. Wonderful feel, completely loved the high flight I was getting. The wind however was coming from left to right so while I was enjoying hitting a nice high flight, I'm not sure what the results would have been straight on into the wind. Side wind and down wind though, the ball just launched.

C.Kua shaft - Heard a lot of people liking this shaft, but it was too whippy for me. No biggie, I was just overpowering it. On swings where I slowed down tempo and such, it was giving me a nice high ball flight. I'd imagine for people who like really lightweight shafts and have a slower transition, they'd like this one a lot.
 
My time with JB on the launch monitor was shortly after the lunch break and the 100 yd contest. After a brief discussion on my current setup, Adams Fast 10 and stock Whasbi shaft, he plugged a shaft in for a base number and I think to his surprise I only needed a stiff. I explained that I basicly can over power my current shaft if I transition to fast and that I have taught myself to slow the transition down to allow the shaft to work and keep up. In reality puts my swing at about 85% but doesn't allow me to go after one. If I go after it, its a high right fade every time. I can't remember the base line shaft but it felt very close to my current set up. After a couple with the Attas T3, JB threw the Kusala Black 61s with a 3566 (i think, actual numbers at home) flex code in the R9 SuperTri test head. I refer to it as a reverse flex shaft. Meaning its very soft under the hands but uber stiff at the tip. One swing was very close to my normal swing, but it left on a great angle, 14.6, 3200 rpm, 157 ball speed, 257 carry. JB had a big grin, and said you can go after it with all you got if you want, it can take it. So I tee'ed up another and went about 95%, 14.4, 3200, 159, 261...what a ball flight, it had the boring, gets up and levels out and rides... So I said one more..and went after one even harder..probably harder than I have went after a ball in a year since I got my Adams. The numbers flashed, 14.2, 3100, 161, 268. What a feeling that shaft responded with. I could really feel it load up under my hands and felt the tip stay very stable and quite through the hitting zone. Felt the complete oppsite of my current setup which I can feel load the tip and then flip at the hitting zone and stay very quite under my hands. JB then stated that with the Fast 10 head, which I love, that I could see about a reduction of 300 rpm at launch. And then it hit me that combo with the ball speed my Adams produces, about 3-5 mph faster, could be deadly long and very accurate as the dispersion was silly tight.

I didn't get to hit any of the other Kusala line, but I did hit a couple of drivers that had C.Kua in them. Maybe a touch light for me and ball flight was certainly up. Felt like they had lower kick points. More for someone with a shallower plane in or less clubhead and ball speed.

This was my first experience with the Kusala line and I was very very impressed with them. That shaft will probably find its way into my Adams before the summer is over.
 
ddxu said:
Cookie - I didnt hit the iron shafts, but what did you think about the weight of them compared to your normal iron shafts? I have the heavy PX 5.5s and was wondering if the lighter shaft would help with tempo consistency or not.
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Good question Dan and will try to answer based on memory. I did notice they were lighter than both the KBS Tour's and PX 5.5's but not in a way that I was turned off from them. I will be honest and tell you that I am not a big "feel" guy. My liking of clubs is typically based on shot results and not if I can feel where the head is or not in order to make corrections during the swing. Subconsciously I suppose we do that naturally but it is not something that I naturally think of during the swing.

Since I just beat around answering your question, I would have to say that I did not notice a difference in feel during the swing like I did just based on picking the club up. With that said, I had no issues getting too quick with these given the lighter weight. Hope that helps some.
 
That does help Cookie, thanks man. I just go off shot results too, not good enough to be a fell type person.

Playdough said:
My time with JB on the launch monitor was shortly after the lunch break and the 100 yd contest. After a brief discussion on my current setup, Adams Fast 10 and stock Whasbi shaft, he plugged a shaft in for a base number and I think to his surprise I only needed a stiff. I explained that I basicly can over power my current shaft if I transition to fast and that I have taught myself to slow the transition down to allow the shaft to work and keep up. In reality puts my swing at about 85% but doesn't allow me to go after one. If I go after it, its a high right fade every time. I can't remember the base line shaft but it felt very close to my current set up. After a couple with the Attas T3, JB threw the Kusala Black 61s with a 3566 (i think, actual numbers at home) flex code in the R9 SuperTri test head. I refer to it as a reverse flex shaft. Meaning its very soft under the hands but uber stiff at the tip. One swing was very close to my normal swing, but it left on a great angle, 14.6, 3200 rpm, 157 ball speed, 257 carry. JB had a big grin, and said you can go after it with all you got if you want, it can take it. So I tee'ed up another and went about 95%, 14.4, 3200, 159, 261...what a ball flight, it had the boring, gets up and levels out and rides... So I said one more..and went after one even harder..probably harder than I have went after a ball in a year since I got my Adams. The numbers flashed, 14.2, 3100, 161, 268. What a feeling that shaft responded with. I could really feel it load up under my hands and felt the tip stay very stable and quite through the hitting zone. Felt the complete oppsite of my current setup which I can feel load the tip and then flip at the hitting zone and stay very quite under my hands. JB then stated that with the Fast 10 head, which I love, that I could see about a reduction of 300 rpm at launch. And then it hit me that combo with the ball speed my Adams produces, about 3-5 mph faster, could be deadly long and very accurate as the dispersion was silly tight.

I didn't get to hit any of the other Kusala line, but I did hit a couple of drivers that had C.Kua in them. Maybe a touch light for me and ball flight was certainly up. Felt like they had lower kick points. More for someone with a shallower plane in or less clubhead and ball speed.

This was my first experience with the Kusala line and I was very very impressed with them. That shaft will probably find its way into my Adams before the summer is over.
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Nice write up Keyg, when are you buying the black? MWard fears you with the Black.
 
ddxu said:
Nice write up Keyg, when are you buying the black? MWard fears you with the Black.
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lol I fear no one, but I do cringe at the thought of the Kusala Black in X flex. Tried that pre-demo day in a Cleveland Classic and that was just too stout for me. It had a penetrating ball flight for sure, but I'd be hitting stingers with it. Glad to hear the Black in the correct flex is getting some love though. I just ran out of time to hit it.
 
JB said:
Holy cow, we had that combo?
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GrantD hit my Morgan Cup driver on Saturday afternoon, which is the 10.5 290 head with Kusala Blue 61 shaft.

This is my big regret of the Demo Day, I never got on the launch monitor or got to hit the different Miyazaki shafts. So while I can't add to this thread, I'd encourage everyone to keep up the good feedback!
 
ddxu said:
That does help Cookie, thanks man. I just go off shot results too, not good enough to be a fell type person.



Nice write up Keyg, when are you buying the black? MWard fears you with the Black.
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Probably when I can find a deal on it. I got to let the wallet recover some from this weekend. But if I come across one on a deal, I might have to shake the money tree a little.

MWard only fears me using his driver, when I hit a screamer off the heal 15 yards past him.
 
arydolphin said:
GrantD hit my Morgan Cup driver on Saturday afternoon, which is the 10.5 290 head with Kusala Blue 61 shaft.

This is my big regret of the Demo Day, I never got on the launch monitor or got to hit the different Miyazaki shafts. So while I can't add to this thread, I'd encourage everyone to keep up the good feedback!
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That was it. I swore I looked down on a Classic that had a Blue in it. Thanks Ary for reminding me where it was. Man demo day was overwhelming at times.
 
GrantD said:
Man demo day was overwhelming at times.
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It might have been easier if you spread it out over the whole day as it was intended.
 
I have never hit any of these shafts before. I will take a look at these the next time I'm in the market for a driver.
 
Got on the monitor with the Cleveland Classic 290/10.5 and the Kusala White. Hit about 5 balls with great flight but not the spin numbers I need, they were really low. JB swapped out the White for the Blue and bam, spin numbers went up to just under 3000 which is just about perfect along with a great ball flight. Its kind of short and to the point but the Kusala Blue is perfect for my game, I dont know how any other shaft could give me better results for me where my game is now. Its the perfect combo, Kusala Blue and the Cleveland Classic.
 
I didn't get the chance to hit as many shafts as I would have had demo day lasted the full 3 days, I did get a chance to hit the Kusala White 61s(I think it was 61), Cleveland black 72s, and C kua 59s (maybe?). My short experiment with the C Kua in the Classic head told me what I've seen time after time, we just do not get along.

I hit the Kusala White in the 9.5 Classic 290 head. The feel of the shaft was just awesome. You could really feel the thing release, its hard to explain. Unfortunately I was hitting high high shots with it. The ball was playing a nice tight fade, which I liked, but I was certainly losing distance with the ball flight. I would really be interested in trying this shaft in a 72x.

I hit the Kusala Black in the 9 R11S. It was awful sweet. The shaft had a very smooth feel that really kicked at the end. The ball flight was dang near perfect, playing perfectly straight to a slight fade. I was getting plenty of height but it was that nice gradual rise that really cuts through the wind nicely. I wish I had been able to get some numbers with this combo but unfortunately the LM couldn't pick up white heads, so it goes. I doubt I could get this shaft airborne in the x flex, but I would really like to spend some more time with the 72s.
 
Those close to me know how I feel about the Miyazaki line of shafts. I'm gaming the Black in my R9 and have swung the white in three heads over the past year; J40, Classic and Razr.

The White has been top on my list for some time so I was excited when I saw the Cleveland Classic setup with the White at demo day. I grabbed it, setup left and proceeded to hit pull cuts. This is what I was playing last time I hit it.
I then tried to hit a few draws and was greeted with low pulls. The head felt like it was racing I front of the shaft. It felt like it was whipping through instead of turning over.
I stepped back and took a few waggled and the shaft felt whippy, this is something I didn't recall in my earlier session with the shaft. I was a bit disappointed in the results only because I thought the shaft was for me. It has a little too much flex for my taste but I will say the trajectory was the same with each of the pull fades I hit. The shafts are consistent and help with one's dispersion. I feel that these shafts will make you a better driver of the ball.
 
This is a great thread guys I am completely new to golf shafts and reading this information really gave me a better mindset on a different type of shaft and a lot of information I did not know


Sent from my iPhone
 
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