Golf technology has come a long way in just a decade. Each year more companies are pushing the limits of every club in the bag to make the game easier for the average golfer and one category more than any other has been driven by technology to all new heights. That is the graphite shaft category. Each year shaft companies are coming out with technology that is geared towards finding the perfect shaft for each golfer and UST has been one of the mainstays in that area for years.
In early 2009, Mamiya OP announced that they were merging together their subsidiary United Sports Technologies (UST) with their own division to form UST Mamiya. UST has been extremely popular over the last few years with models such as Proforce, Accra, and Axiv. The higher end market will be the focus of the new venture by combining the Japanese design and manufacturing with the US tour players to create the ultimate shafts. The birth of the ATTAS shaft stands out from this venture and we are glad to be testing it out.
From The Company
For the player seeking a mid to high launch, penetrating down range ball flight.
Precise carbon fiber orientation uses proprietary computer software that allowed engineers to precisely position high modulus prepreg throughout the three critical sections – butt, mid, and tip – to achieve superior performance and feel. AXIV material positioned in the butt section reduces ovaling for better stability and solid feel in the hands.Constant taper design offers players a precise feel of more energy transfer to the ball for instant player feedback with greater distance. Low resin content increases number of ultra-thin carbon fibers within the prepreg plies to improve feel and allow the shaft to maintain its shape and recover more consistently for tighter shot dispersion. Tighter tolerances ensure product consistency during manufacturing process. UST Mamiya has a reputation for producing some of the most consistent performing shafts in golf.
Specs for Availability
Below are a couple of images that will give you a detailed description of what UST Mamiya has coming with the ATTAS.
Click on Each Image for a Hi-Res Photo
Appearance
Let’s face it, we will not spend a whole lot of time in this description because well, it looks like a shaft. The butt end is done in a charcoal that has a carbon fiber pattern to it that fades to white in the middle of the shaft. In the middle of the white section there is the orange ATTAS logo as well as the model number and technical specs. From there, the color fades to an orange like copper color that at first was not a fan favorite, but once it is attached to a driver head, looks very good.
Technical Specs for Testing
We received 2 shafts from the company for proper testing, a stiff and a regular and both were right around the 67g mark.
We used a Taylormade R9 driver head for easy switching out of shafts during testing.
Both shafts were compared to the stock shaft found in the Taylormade R9 which is Fujikura Motore.
Range Testing
We will leave the spin rates and launch monitor testing for other places on this shaft as we wanted to find out what the average golfer could do with the ATTAS in their driver. THP did some unique testing for this one as we found 7 golfers at our local club that were playing the Taylormade R9 Driver with the stock shaft in it. We gathered them up to our driving range that had been marked with a tape down the middle as well as someone on the opposite end to measure distance. Each golfer was given 20 of the same golf balls (Nike Crush) and they were instructed to alternate shots with their stock shaft and that of the ATTAS. The ATTAS beat out the Motore on both distance and accuracy by 5 out of the 7 golfers based on the averages of each of their shots.
The distance difference was not that large. On average, the golfers were seeing about 3.8 yards more distance with the UST Mamiya ATTAS than that of the Motore. The accuracy saw around the same improvement as the distance as the average accuracy for those tee shots with the ATTAS was 3.1 yards closer to the middle line. But while all of that sounds terrific, the one thing that stood out for all 7 golfers that got a chance to try out the shaft was the feel. All 7 golfers that tried out this shaft raved about the feel and almost all of them had a hard time putting into words what they meant, however 1 word kept coming up over and over again and that was “Smooth”. The golfers involved with this testing all felt as though the ATTAS shaft was smoother than that of the stock shaft and because of that they felt like they had better control of their swing.
Feel is something that cannot be measured and for many, is very hard to put into words, so when you hear that all 7 golfers had the same word to describe the shaft when talking about feel, you know something must be different. I was able to personally test this shaft for a few rounds and numerous range sessions, and when all is said and done, I have the same exact thoughts as the testers. The shaft is SMOOTH. I felt as though my swing was more balanced and that my confidence was way up based purely on the feel. One thing to note is that I experienced almost double the distance gain compared to the testers. With the ATTAS on my driver I was seeing an improved of almost 7 yards of distance and this shaft is not really a shaft geared towards extreme distance. However my swing overall felt so good as I started my downswing that I was experiencing confidence on the tee very different from the past. Over the course of the testing I found myself trying to pick up other shafts that I have enjoyed in the past, but none really compared to that of the ATTAS.
While THP saw trending in our small sampling of testers during this review, we strongly urge that every golfer get fitted for the correct shaft for their swing. However when you do that, make sure that the ATTAS is in the lineup to see if you find the same results that we experienced here.
Overall
UST Mamiya seems to have something truly different on their hands with the ATTAS. A shaft that performs extremely well for quite a few different types of players is not something that we see everyday and when it happens, it is a pleasant surprise. If you are looking for “smooth”, this could definitely be the shaft for you. I am not sure we have found one that felt any better during the course of our testing. For more information on this or any other UST Mamiya product, check out their website at www.ustmamiya.com.
Till Next Time
Josh B.
