Bridgestone J40 Fairway Woods and Hybrids

Great video Howzat and great pics Ddec! I love the looks of the J40 line and I gotta say the VTS shafts look awesome in that head. Looking forward to hearing how they work out for ya.

Nice video Howzat and great pics Dean! Looking forwards to hearing your thoughts on the new clubs.

I copied Dean on the club selection except for the 4-wood shaft and then he went ahead and took better pix than I did but here are are a few more:

As is the typical Tuesday for me. Lesson was scheduled and the rain came down hard. I've had a lesson scheduled for the last 5 Tuesdays and all 5 have been canceled, 4 due to rain. Oh well. That means I did not get to shoot my video on the range or take any swings with these. Tomorrow will be that day.

ddec said:

As is the typical Tuesday for me. Lesson was scheduled and the rain came down hard. I've had a lesson scheduled for the last 5 Tuesdays and all 5 have been canceled, 4 due to rain. Oh well. That means I did not get to shoot my video on the range or take any swings with these. Tomorrow will be that day.

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Great pics deano and Im sure your day will come soon.

Howzat, love the shaft choices and Im pretty stoked to not only hear your feedback but give that 4w a swing. Love the T2 shaft.

Nice video Howzat and good looking sticks there ddec! We all have an amazing looking staff bag filled with some outstanding equipment. I know, I am lucky enough to have been chosen to receive it also.

The fairway woods are very long distance wise for me. I can easily hit off the fairway if I don't try to kill it. When I take a nice swing, the ball just blasts off the clubs. The sound is amazing with the 3w & 5w. My old TM Burner 2.0 5w wasn't as easy to get in the air as the J40 5w. Distance wise the TM would get me 210-215ish. I find my self getting up to hole 15 on my home course which is a 90* dog leg left at 225 out. With the TM I would grab a 3w but over the past few time I've played there I've grabbed the J40 5w and have gotten there every time. It's the lower ball flight and more roll out for me is what is doing it. I get the same results with the 3w. Except instead of 225-235 with the TM with a hard swing. The J40 3w gets me 240 with an easy swing which is more comfortable for me. I've actually hit this in the 250 range a couple times but that could have been wind aided. The ball just explodes more off these clubs! I feel the same way about the Fairways as I do about the driver. They will be hard to replace.

The hybrids are the BOMB! They just cut through the rough and have an awesome sound doing it. Again, the ball just explodes off the faces. I swing them like an iron and it works out well for me. Again my TM 4 hybrid isn't as long distance wise. It has the same * of loft as the J40 3h so it's surprising. I would have thought that the same * would give you the same distance and trajectory but I was totally wrong. Goes to show how little about equipment I actually know. the TM4 was my 200 club and the J40 3h is my 205-210 club. The 4h is what I am comparing to the Yonex 5h because they have the same * of lofts again. I hit the Yonex in the 180 range but the J40 has gotten me 190-195ish if I catch it just right! I get an iron like ball flight with both of the J40 hybrids. A tree in the way and I'm 190 or 205ish out, no problem I'm going over. lol Both J40 hybrids cut through the grass like a John Deere Zero turn with a 27 horse Kohler engine with an 25000 rpm blade speed! The shafts I chose again are the same as the driver, PX 5.5. I am really glad I got these shafts and am really looking forward to having them in the J40 DPC's!!! My confidence above the ball is sky high right now. And it all has to do with the Bridgestone clubs! Sure I have my mishits with all the clubs but I have a lot more great shots with them. Definitely more consistant than my old sticks! Thanks Bridgestone for helping me improve my game!

BTW... Biglee kept saying that these sounded amazing cutting through the grass and hitting the ball. After every shot with them he would say how good they sound.

Erik nice pics and video. I can't wait to throw some swings on these tomorrow.

Well the sun is out today and I don't have to work late so it looks like I will get some time with my 4 wood and hybrids tonight. Looking forward to adding some feedback on these.

loving the look of those b-stone hybrids guys...
also, that 4 wood looks ready/aim/fire/awesome!

tnolan said:

loving the look of those b-stone hybrids guys...
also, that 4 wood looks ready/aim/fire/awesome!

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I'm hoping that's how it works.

great writeup BF, I always thought you hit your 3W and 5W solid from the deck, glad to hear not only are you hitting the new clusb well, but even father, thats awesome!

big fan of the J40 hybrid that I tried at the outing, was right there with the Ping I20 for sure

Took these out on the course last night for the first time.

4 wood - I won't lie I struggled with it yesterday which surprised me. I've seen some good consistency with my previous few 3 woods so I didn't expect there to be any issues with this. However after trying to hit it off of a few tees and from the fairway I did not have any kind of consistency. I actually don't think I hit it solid once last night. Was catching it thin so I was getting short distance with at times a big ole slice. I'm not worried about it since it was my first time with it. Will spend some time on the range and course over the next few days to try and get it reigned in.

3 hybrid - of the 2 I hit the 3 hybrid better and more last night. I think the 3 hybrid gives me some sneaky good distance. My previous 3 hybrid was 19 degrees so I probably got a few more yards out of it, but comparing it to my last 21 degree hybrid I thought this one stacked up really nicely. Found it easy to hit off the fairway and rough. Tried it off the tee twice with good results both times, the first shot was a near perfect placement for the hole and the second had a little fade that found the rough but the distance was still good. I think the VTS Silver shaft that is installed helped get the ball up nicely. The ball seemed to get up in the air and just carry where as my previous 3 hybrid was more of a mid flat liner.

4 hybrid - didn't hit this one more than a few times yesterday and 2 of which were thin. The one that I did hit well showed similar yardage to my previous hybrid(2011 Mashie 23). Same shaft that's in the 3 hybrid and similar ball flight on the well hit one. As for the look of the hybrids I really like that Bridgestone rolled the face over towards the top of the crown. You look down at it and to me it gives the appearance of more loft which just gives confidence that the ball will get up in the air.

So after 1 date with these it was up and down. Really looking forward to putting in the time to get well acquainted with these because I think they will be some serious weapons in the bag.

Good stuff ddec. I agree the bit of silver on the crown of the hybrids looks great and helps frame the ball more like an iron which I like. Work and weather have kept me off the course but I will be out there with these the first chance I get.

Played a round yesterday and am loving this 3 hybrid. I hit 4 tee shots with it..all in the fairway. and I hit it on one par 5. It got a little right on me and I was right of the green. I dont think its a bomber of a hybrid but I sure am consistent with it. Ball flight is perfect, not too high and not too low where the ball runs for days.

I am struggling pretty badly with my strong 3 wood. EVERYTHING I hit with it goes right. I have tried and tried to get that sucker to go straight. I know its my swing...I just need A LOT more time with this club.

Good luck straightening it out, One-T. I had the fairway wood rights for a couple weeks for some reason too.

Hawk said:

Good luck straightening it out, One-T. I had the fairway wood rights for a couple weeks for some reason too.

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Thanks buddy. I need to try choking down on it, its almost the same length as my driver. If that works, I will cut her down.

One-T said:

Thanks buddy. I need to try choking down on it, its almost the same length as my driver. If that works, I will cut her down.

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yeah I struggled with the fairway wood yesterday too. Need to spend some QT with it.

Just finished a "get to know" you range session w/ the J40's and I am grinning from ear to ear.

Hybrids: I have been playing the Mashies for about a year now and, other than fighting the occasional hook if I got to quick with my tempo, I have been very happy. The J40 has a larger head but the silver area on the crown and then the dark paint help to make it feel smaller than it is. It was easy to line up felt good going through the turf. I was hitting everything very straight which for me us usually the goal. The first one I hit I got out on the toe and was punished for distance but I was surprised at how straight it went. The interesting thing for me today was the shaft. The more aggressive I was the higher the ball flight got and the more distance I gained. With the mashie I always felt like I couldn't stomp on it for fear of the hook but no such issue with the VTS shaft. The shaft feels heavier and stouter. Need to get these out on the course this weekend but the honeymoon is in full force.

J40 4-wood: When I found out I was being sponsored by Bridgestone for the Morgan Cup, I went out and picked up a J40 3-wood for a few reasons. First to help me select a shaft and second because the best club I have ever owned is my previous 3-wood which is a Cleveland Launcher FL and I wanted to see how it compared because I knew Bridgestone did not offer anything at 15*. I even put the Miyazaki from my Cleveland into the J40 head. The J40 3-wood has been a bomber for me off the tee but I have never been able to find and comfort level with it from the deck. I was extremely happy to see that going to the J40 4-wood seems to have fixed the issues I was seeing. I lost some distance from the J40 3-wood but gained a ton of accuracy. Much like the hybrids almost everything was straight with a few fades thrown in for good measure. No trouble off the tee as it looks and feels the same as the J40 3-wood as they share the same head size. Big shout out to the B-fit team as they help get the right shaft in there for my game as well. The Attas shaft is giving me a beautiful mid to mid/high trajectory but the accuracy of this thing was the big story for me today.

Congrats Howzat, glad you are loving them!

I'm late with some feedback but I had a lot of notes from my round sunday and subsequent range sessions since .

3+:
I could not find a good swing with this on Sunday. I kept picking my head up and hitting off the toe. Once I managed to stay down I cracked this one. On Sunday (after I figured it out) and every range day since, I've seen quite a difference with the 3 and 4w. This club is a bit longer and the shaft is a bit more stout. Its in a good spot forgiveness wise and definitely is better for me off the tee.
What a unique sound and the audible tone on a good hit vs mishit is very distinctive. I managed to put a few out in the 240+ range and its very easy to control.

4w and 5w:
I group these together because I hit them primarily off the deck. I've found when I tee these up, if its not perfect tee height the shot is more difficult. I prefer off the deck. When at first I saw a more mid flight I'm seeing a little bit higher and straight. No more tailing off to the right. They're just lasers and the sound is addicting. I don't have an ego about things but its nice when people watch you kill a club then ask questions about it after.

Now I did want these mainly as something off the deck but I'm finding off the tee their so easy to control that I'm gonna rethink my strategya little. Ill place more a distance game with them. Also I have no fear of a par 5 in 2.

3h:
I was concerned at first about a gap from going 5i to 3h but its not a concern anymore. This is a near perfect 200 club for me and a fairway finder off the tee. Mid ballflight that lands pretty soft. Forgiveness up and down the face is great for my swing. When I hit the toe I'm punished a bit.

It doesn't have that feel/sound I'm used to with my other hybrids but I'm liking it. Its a bit thicker and it feels/sounds a bit more muted. Getting used to it right now.

One of the most consistent hybrids I've hit and I'm going to consider a 4h down the road.

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Played from the whites today so I didn't get too many chances to hit the 4-wood or hybrids.

Only hit the 4-wood a couple times off the tee. I think I was hitting down too much on it today but the results were still fairly good. About 215 - 220 carry and very straight. Ball flight was high but not overly so. I think the head size is perfect. I instills a ton of confidence from the tee.

Hit the 3 hybrid a handfull of times. Again almost too aggressive hitting down on the ball today in some wet conditions. Caught it a little fat and bit high on the face. Again ball flight was very straight but I lost 20-30 yards dur to the poor swing I put on the ball.

Here's a quick video on my Bridgestone Woods that I recorded the other night on the course. Warning, it gets shaky a few times so deal with it.

Got out for a quick 9 holes this morning before all of the father's day festivities went down. It was my 2nd round with all 3 of these new clubs in the bag. For the most part my game was not sharp this morning, but the one bright spot was the J40 hybrids.

#12 middle of the faiway 200 yards to the middle of the green, lasered 210 to the pin. Took out the 3 hybrid and put a nice swing on it. The ball got up in the air nicely and was on a pretty high ball flight without any ballooning. Shot hit in the front half of the green and rolled up to give me about a 20 foot putt for birdie.

#16 In the left rough after punching out of the trees because of a poor tee shot. The lie was not good at all, it was a mix of high rough and some spotty hardpan. Lasered the pin at 176 and decided to hit the 4 hybrid, just because I wanted to. Well out of that lie I produced my shot of the day. The ball hit 10 feet in front of the pin and rolled just past it leaving me a 4 footer to save a par. I would hope that from a better lie I will so more distance than that from this club, but for the situation it was just was the caddy wanted.

#18 Once again after punching out of the trees I was left with a 175 to the middle of the green, severe uphill which the pin lasered @ 209 w/slope. Took out the 3 hybrid and manage to carry it all the way to the front half of the green. Once again a nice high ballflight that just seemed to carry.

All 3 of those shots impressed me because usually from that yardage I don't hit the green many times, but today with 3 hybrid shots I was 3 for 3 in hitting the green. I would say the 3 hybrid ballflight is higher than my Adams A7 3 hybrid(which is 2 degrees stronger). I also thought the ballflight was a touch higher than my mashie 4 hybrid, though that's probably splitting hairs on that one.

I did not hit the 4 wood from the turf today, but did twice from the tee. The first one I cut across and the 2nd one I hit a pop up pull in to the trees. My tee game was a mess today to it's hard to really give any good feedback on it based on today's round.

Oh and by the way, these headcovers are wicked looking aren't they?

ddec said:

Got out for a quick 9 holes this morning before all of the father's day festivities went down. It was my 2nd round with all 3 of these new clubs in the bag. For the most part my game was not sharp this morning, but the one bright spot was the J40 hybrids.

#12 middle of the faiway 200 yards to the middle of the green, lasered 210 to the pin. Took out the 3 hybrid and put a nice swing on it. The ball got up in the air nicely and was on a pretty high ball flight without any ballooning. Shot hit in the front half of the green and rolled up to give me about a 20 foot putt for birdie.

#16 In the left rough after punching out of the trees because of a poor tee shot. The lie was not good at all, it was a mix of high rough and some spotty hardpan. Lasered the pin at 176 and decided to hit the 4 hybrid, just because I wanted to. Well out of that lie I produced my shot of the day. The ball hit 10 feet in front of the pin and rolled just past it leaving me a 4 footer to save a par. I would hope that from a better lie I will so more distance than that from this club, but for the situation it was just was the caddy wanted.

#18 Once again after punching out of the trees I was left with a 175 to the middle of the green, severe uphill which the pin lasered @ 209 w/slope. Took out the 3 hybrid and manage to carry it all the way to the front half of the green. Once again a nice high ballflight that just seemed to carry.

All 3 of those shots impressed me because usually from that yardage I don't hit the green many times, but today with 3 hybrid shots I was 3 for 3 in hitting the green. I would say the 3 hybrid ballflight is higher than my Adams A7 3 hybrid(which is 2 degrees stronger). I also thought the ballflight was a touch higher than my mashie 4 hybrid, though that's probably splitting hairs on that one.

I did not hit the 4 wood from the turf today, but did twice from the tee. The first one I cut across and the 2nd one I hit a pop up pull in to the trees. My tee game was a mess today to it's hard to really give any good feedback on it based on today's round.

Oh and by the way, these headcovers are wicked looking aren't they?

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Great to hear you're having success with this hybrids. What shot shape are you seeing with them?

Yoccos said:

Great to hear you're having success with this hybrids. What shot shape are you seeing with them?

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To be honest they were pretty straight. Still have some limited time in with them but that will change this week. The ball flight from the hybrid and the VTS silver though has really impressed me to this point.