Philly Golf Guy
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Aldila. The shaft is stock in the X2Hot, but the one on the J15 is about 20 grams heavier.
Bridgestone J15F FW Woods & J15HY Hybrids Preview Thread
Aldila. The shaft is stock in the X2Hot, but the one on the J15 is about 20 grams heavier.
golf4life
Grip n rip
Of all the decisions for Bridgestone equipment leading up to #THPLegacy, this is my most undecided. I have historically struggled with 3 woods and for the last 2 years have used hybrids exclusively. Yet I've gone through a significant swing change these past 2 years and wonder how much better I can hit fairway woods than before.
Ideally, assuming I get along with the FWs I would probably go 3wood or 4wood, then 3 hybrid and possibly a 4 or 5 hybrid depending on the irons.
If I still can't hit a FW, then probably a 17* and 21* hybrid instead. Test drive will be used shortly to figure this out. Can't wait! Love the looks of these clubs.
Ideally, assuming I get along with the FWs I would probably go 3wood or 4wood, then 3 hybrid and possibly a 4 or 5 hybrid depending on the irons.
If I still can't hit a FW, then probably a 17* and 21* hybrid instead. Test drive will be used shortly to figure this out. Can't wait! Love the looks of these clubs.
OITW
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Chris, love your thoughts on the hybrids and the shaft pairings, do you have any experience with the Tour Green and if so any comparison thoughts between that and blue as it relates to the J15 head?
Philly Golf Guy
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Hey Alex my experience with the Tour Green is limited, but based on my swings with it I would say that the TB launches higher while the TG has a bit more of a piercing flight. That's just a guess though. I will say that the TB and TG are virtually identical weight wise. It's weird because 85g is heavier than any iron or wood in my bag, yet I don't notice the weight at all. To me thus far, the TB is pretty similar to the stock Fubuki, but I'm suspecting I see more distance with the TB. I need to do some LM work this week to confirm. The TG is actually an intriguing option to me, as I'd be curious to see what would happen if the flight came down just a little. Not that the high flight/soft landing is something I don't love; I'd just like to see what would happen.
Based on hitting the 4h with the 3 different shafts, I feel good in saying that the head itself has a good amount of forgiveness. Looking at it at address, it just gives me the right feeling to smack the ball.
Hope this helps and will definitely have more thoughts later in the week.
OITW
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Spent the majority of my time on the range with these today. I liked the stock pairing of the Fubuki with this's do I have that shaft in my driver and 3W. After hitting all three I would rank it number 3, was shorter on distances and I was missing mor shots left. All three of these clubs had a nice mid trajectory that matches both my Adams and Taylormade hybrids.
my favorite pairing was the graphite design tour 85g, it had the tightest dispersion and seemed to launch the furthest. It also felt the best with my swing.
The tour green was also a solid option, but the dispersion wasn't as good as the GD.
MBurnham
Active member
I loved hitting these on the range with you today. The amount of forgiveness on these is insane, you really have to put a bad swing on them to get a bad result. I liked the tour green shaft the best. I had a good piercing ball flight that I would categorize as mid launch. It was tough to tell distance on the snow covered range, but they seemed to go forever.
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Philly Golf Guy
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I was finally able to get outside to give the hybrids some more time. Like Alex, I am test driving some hybrids, but mine are the 4h, with the stock shaft, tour blue and VTS Silver. I devoted a small bucket to hitting among them. After today, I'd rank them 1. VTS 2. stock Fubuki 3. Tour blue. The VTS felt the smoothest through the swing while ball flight was mid high to a tad high, with consistent distance. Ball contact was squarely on center the majority of the time (although I don't know if you can attribute that to the shaft) but it was the case for my swing at least. So it felt the most forgiving and I saw the least amount of distance loss with it on mis hits. The stock Fubuki is very similar to the VTS, but the biggest difference between them was the Fub's ball flight was definitely higher. This is something I've seen for the majority of my time with the club. That smoothness I got from the VTS is also here and on par in terms of forgiveness, although I was getting more off center with it than the VTS during the range session. I just wasn't feeling it with the true blue today. Shots that felt and sounded solid were short and I was OTT with it a lot. Obviously that's the swing, but better results with the other two mean I like them more.
Of course the VTS is the priciest option, but I plan on getting on an LM to get some numbers for comparison sake. Depending on the weather, I would like to get them on the course one last time before I have to send them back home, so I should have more. At this point though, I am thoroughly impressed with how the 4h is performing and it certainly will be in my bag at some point in the future.
Of course the VTS is the priciest option, but I plan on getting on an LM to get some numbers for comparison sake. Depending on the weather, I would like to get them on the course one last time before I have to send them back home, so I should have more. At this point though, I am thoroughly impressed with how the 4h is performing and it certainly will be in my bag at some point in the future.
Got to hit the J15 hybrid playing sim golf w/ OITW yesterday. I think I took a swing with the Fubuki and the Graphite Design shafts. So, while not the largest sample size, I can say that I really like the look of the head. I think the two shafts were a bit heavier than I've found I like (both were in the 80g class), but I got the ball out there pretty well with them. I'd really like to give the 4h a shot.
Philly Golf Guy
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That's a good observation; the two shafts felt like they loaded differently to me as well. The VTS just has that right combination of smoothness and balance to me that make it easy to hit well. I will definitely be looking for those shafts in clubs moving forward.
OITW
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After a range session and two sim sessions I;m leaning very heavily toward the G series shaft. Feel great, and distance and dispersion seems to be the most consistent for me right now. I've been able to knock the tour green the furthest and seems to be the most forgiving on mishits, but I can just consistently hit the G series well, and there is no up charge for that shaft. Pretty good deal.
Also as a comparison in the simulator today, I was getting the G series and tour green to carry 205 (most shots were around 195 carry, but when I really stepped on them got them out there) which is better than my 19* TM Rescue, just some food for thought.
Also as a comparison in the simulator today, I was getting the G series and tour green to carry 205 (most shots were around 195 carry, but when I really stepped on them got them out there) which is better than my 19* TM Rescue, just some food for thought.
greggdrews
Active member
This guy just showed up today after a month wait...now only about another week until I can hit it.
Mine showed up today. So excited!
Well worth the wait. Nice!
I will let you know after I hit them. Lol It was!
Cjgolf25
Well-known member
Love em!
Philly Golf Guy
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I finished up my test drive of the hybrids and while the weather didn't allow me to hit these as much as I wanted, I got enough time with them (along with my two rounds with them at Bridgestone U) to come up with a few hard opinions.
- One of my favorite head shapes on a hybrid ever. It gives me the right visualization for how I want to hit the ball at impact;
- Distance wise, these were fine. I didn't see any considerable gains but was consistently where I'd expect a 4h to go. It was far enough for me to be happy.
- What really stood out to me was how consistently I hit the center of the club face and saw a great shot. In terms of percentage, I'd put it at something like 87% and that includes out on the course. That is quite high for me.
- Forgiveness on mis hits was likewise impressive. Any in to out swings would start left and fade to the right center, with about 10 yards distance loss. Some times I would push, see no distance loss, but would be about 15 yards off line. I was fine with either miss for the most part.
- In terms of shafts, my favorite was the VTS Silver. The ball flight was mid to high and dead straight. Hitting it was delightful, and I don't use that word all that often. The stock Fubuki was also enjoyable. Ball flight was higher than the VTS, but I liked it a lot and would game it with no problem. The True Blue shaft was nice, but I saw the most mis hits with it and nothing really stuck out to me compared to the others.
Hybrids, fairway woods, mid irons and long irons are the clubs I switch out the most, almost always searching for the club that will help me achieve some of those longer distances as automatically as I'm able to hit from something like 100 yards. When I'm further out, like 180, I'd love to pull out a club with the same confidence I do when I'm 100 yards out, from any lie. The J15 gave me that confidence. I find it to be a very solid offering.
- One of my favorite head shapes on a hybrid ever. It gives me the right visualization for how I want to hit the ball at impact;
- Distance wise, these were fine. I didn't see any considerable gains but was consistently where I'd expect a 4h to go. It was far enough for me to be happy.
- What really stood out to me was how consistently I hit the center of the club face and saw a great shot. In terms of percentage, I'd put it at something like 87% and that includes out on the course. That is quite high for me.
- Forgiveness on mis hits was likewise impressive. Any in to out swings would start left and fade to the right center, with about 10 yards distance loss. Some times I would push, see no distance loss, but would be about 15 yards off line. I was fine with either miss for the most part.
- In terms of shafts, my favorite was the VTS Silver. The ball flight was mid to high and dead straight. Hitting it was delightful, and I don't use that word all that often. The stock Fubuki was also enjoyable. Ball flight was higher than the VTS, but I liked it a lot and would game it with no problem. The True Blue shaft was nice, but I saw the most mis hits with it and nothing really stuck out to me compared to the others.
Hybrids, fairway woods, mid irons and long irons are the clubs I switch out the most, almost always searching for the club that will help me achieve some of those longer distances as automatically as I'm able to hit from something like 100 yards. When I'm further out, like 180, I'd love to pull out a club with the same confidence I do when I'm 100 yards out, from any lie. The J15 gave me that confidence. I find it to be a very solid offering.
greggdrews
Active member
Out at the range today with my 5w with the Aldila NV65r shaft in it and I am very very happy with it. It was easy to launch off the mat and seemed plenty forgiving on mishits that weren't extreme. I did have some awful shots with it at the end of my range session but it's still early season and it wasn't anything to do with the club. I am someone who cannot hit a FW very well at all but felt very comfortable with this club with the way it sets up to the ball. I can't say I would try the 3w but I do want to try the 4w now. When I get out on the course and find out real life distances I'll see if it's even worth trying something else. I can't see this leaving my bag anytime soon though. Just like my irons the grip will be switched out though.