If there is one thing that Robin Arthur, founder of Xcaliber Shafts, has never been afraid of, it is being different. In fact, I’m not sure we have seen someone so willing to dare to be different in this segment, but that is just my take. One such example of this willingness is the impending release of a new iron shaft design which Xcaliber is calling the “Rapid Taper”.
To be frank, there is nothing like this out there, and I do mean nothing. Nor have we ever seen Robin this excited.
THP was able to get a pre-release sample in to do some work with and see just how the performance stacks up.
Quick Take
No hype, no hyperbole, no fluff…just performance. A 75g iron shaft designed to fit a breadth of swing speeds that held up and then some with a unique feel. The Rapid Taper offers shockingly consistent launch, playable spin, and a jump in ball speed that was eye opening.
The Rapid Taper Design
This one is out there.
Robin Arthur has been working on this one for several years now, a concept that he developed in his mind while thinking about the way a bull-whip works for the build up and release of energy, due in no small part to the shape of the whip and the size transition from handle to tip. The uniqueness of this design really cannot be questioned. While Xcaliber started first with their “RT Spin” release, the real work and focus has been on the iron shafts as well as a wood design. To give more credence to the unique factor at play here, Robin Arthur was just granted his patent for the design.
The Rapid Taper is a build that according to Xcaliber has 2.9° torque, a 75g weight, and is playable up to 125 MPH swing speeds. Also, within this is that they are marketing them to be an option for all different swing tempo styles and a mid-high launching design. Another point to mention, THP was able to get our hands on this one early, as such, the shaft I tested is absent the final graphics and ion finish which based on teasers we have seen, will be as unique as the shape itself.
Unique Package – Unique Performance
Speaking of that unique shape, this is absolutely wild in hand. Even though I had seen the RT Spin wedge shafts in the past, I was still surprised when looking down at this one since the longer length shows off the shape more, I can only imagine how wild the wood shafts will look. As for the testing, I chose to install this one in the new Cobra Forged Tec 4-Utility which plays at 22.5° loft. The reason for this was two-fold, seeing as I had only one shaft to work with for me it made the most sense to test the claims of launch and speed in a longer club that I typically find harder to elevate, it also allowed me to use an adapter for easy install.
Right into the meat and potatoes, I did my testing on the Foresight GC2 and that data will be included in this article. To understand what is going on there I want to first touch on the claims from Xcaliber. According to the company their internal testing of swing speeds ranging from 97 to 125 MPH yielded ball speed increases from 2.5 to 5 MPH, every single person tested saw an increase. Not to mention, increased launch with the mid-high profile while not sacrificing spin numbers.
Well, as it turns out, in my testing I fall in line with pretty much all of that. In order to try to ensure a fair comparison to the stock setup of the Forged Tec 4U, I recorded two sessions, one hitting the stock setup first, and the other flipping the order. The reason here was simple, I wanted it clear in my head that warm-up/fatigue was not a contributing factor. In the first go-round I saw a 5.5 MPH average ball speed increase, the second time was a 4.2 MPH increase. Add into these, that despite different days yielding different swings as is usually the case for us mere mortals, the speed, spin, launch, peak, and descent angles were all an improvement from the stock graphite offering.
Now, to address a couple of things, yes, there was a 10g difference in shaft weight from the stock graphite offering, and that can account for some speed differences, but in my opinion not as much of a jump as was seen. While I know most will look at the speed and be as blown away by that as I was, the fact that I saw extreme playability out of a low lofted iron consistently was what stood out most to me. Not only in terms of launch and peak, but the fact that the spin and descent angles afforded me the ability to hit it into greens during testing as opposed to keeping it a tee dominant option.
Here is the reality, there is a lot of performance intrigue here for me, and while I wish we had the opportunity to work with a full set of shafts as opposed to just one club, the return of information is pretty clear to me. Another thing I want to touch on is the feel and consistency. The bullwhip analogy has a lot of merit here because through the swing I could really feel a release through transition, but I want it clear that this did not, for me, sacrifice dispersion or accuracy. In fact, the repeatability I saw stood out more than maybe even the ball speed.
By now, if you have been around THP a while and kept up with Xcaliber, you know that they march to their own beat. Robin Arthur is downright giddy about this Rapid Taper design and rightfully so, but the issue now becomes balancing the desire to offer a higher tier product lineup while also balancing keeping it accessible to golfers. Price wise, these are an unknown as that will be dealer specific, and being entirely honest this is my biggest concern when it comes to the product. Performance is there, but now there has to be an emphasis on getting it into the hands of people without pricing themselves out before they even get started.
The Details
Availability: Summer/Fall 2020
Price: Dealer Set
Flex: L, A, R, S
Weight: 75g
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Why don’t you ask him? Or maybe you can hand deliver a few when you get a chance.
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I’d subscribe to jim54 text updates if those were a thing ?
Ha, it is a wild ride, kind of like the kiddie roller coaster that does loops…got the money game this morning on a real short but extremely tight course with water or O.B. on every hole. So far the body feels pretty good, I hope I can at least put a decent swing on and do the shafts some justice.
Directionally with the 0311T heads I am seeing very good accuracy when I just pull enough club, the 100 gr wedge shafts in regular are very, very good and again with a bit more pop in my swing I think I can make good things happen. Had a terrible lie pin high to a downhill hard right breaking pin and chipped in for one of the birdies, that was a fun shot to pull off.
Ended up having to cancel my round as I wasn’t feeling well this weekend. Going to keep these in the bag though and planning on playing at least once this weekend.
Opened to find 3 raw shafts, 95g, with the new graphics!
The new graphics are cool. Not overzealous with too much going on, but enough detail to draw your attention to it.
Also in the box were a dozen Bridgestone Tour BRX and a cool ball marker.
I’ve been wanting to try the RX for quite some time.
Looks like I have some building to do over the weekend. 1 more shaft and I will be able to have a complete iron set. I hope these 95s end my quest for the perfect shaft.
Thanks again! This was a very nice surprise.
Who sent those to you? Nice score.
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That is an awesome package and helluva surprise!
Performance wise, this is an interesting shaft for me. I’m not used to this light of a profile with my current gamers being Modus 120S, but honestly had no issue grabbing the demo with this shaft in it and swinging interchangeably with my clubs. Flight was similar if not a little higher on some shots, but the shape was pretty consistent with what I was seeing at that point with my gamers. I was seeing maybe a half club less distance, but I’m guessing that can be chalked up to the PTM heads vs. my Apex and my familiarity with my gamers. While I did see some that appeared higher than my gamers (no LM data, just the eye test), I didn’t see any more impact from the wind. It wasn’t too breezy so time will tell there, but they seemed to hold up pretty well.
Feel wise, they were… interesting. Ever since trying @golfinnut‘s demos I’ve been paying more attention to feeling the kick at the bottom of the swing. I didn’t feel it on every swing with the 8I but definitely felt it a few times. I saw the best results when I swung smooth, but feel like with time you could get some decent results if you decided to go after one.
All in all this is a fun offering. Definitely one I could see playing. I’m going to try and get some more time with the 75 before sending the demos back so I can provide a little more feedback there.
I know there is about 4 builds who were waiting on the 85g shafts to arrive.
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Just a quick question for @Popeye … the demo shafts that were sent in the beginning, were they 75g?? or 95g?? I want to say 75g because they feel on the lighter side. Reason for asking is I’m trying to figure out which way I want to go. I want to put these 3 95g shafts somewhere in the lineup …. I’m thinking towards the bottom of the bag. But the problem being is that 2 of them are in the 8 iron & wedge …. so they are cut for those slots. I have the 4-iron TMB that I can take out & put in my T300 4-iron … but
4-iron …. 75g or cut to fit 9 iron
5, 6, & 7 … new 3 shafts at 95g
8, 9, & PW …. 75g
I would rather see the lighter shafts at the top end of the bag & the heavier at the bottom. See my dilemma??
If you can go with the 95g in the low irons.
The demos that initially went out were 75g.
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Still trying to figure this out
4 iron TMB …. take out put into 4-iron T300
but the fact that I’ve already have two cut at the 8 iron & PW leaves me at an impasse.
You still recommend tip trimming 1/2" for each & then butt trimming to playing length?
On all the shafts you would tip trim .5" starting at the 4 iron. So the 6 iron would be 1.5" and so on. Finish length is butt trimmed.
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That’s what I thought.
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The wedge shafts in 100 R are stupid good, chipped in for 2 birdies and 3 pars since putting them in. I have only actually felt the kick everyone talks about twice with the 95’s I think so maybe I am just trying to play the 95’s too stiff, even though I soft stepped them twice.
But then again I have zero power right now with bad knee and that is translating to the back and everything else imo. Oddly enough I am crushing the Driver….well you know 230-240 old man crushing it.
MRI on the knee Sat, so we will see if it is what we think. I was going to have the surgery right away, but may wait until after the Copperhead round on the 30th. Not sure I will heal up fast enough to not screw that round up even more than if I play as it is now.
Oddly enough the 5 iron is the club I seem to feel it with and hit that one quite well, today after the MRI I am going to recheck the Swing weight on all the irons and use some lead tape to bring them all up to the D5 range (on my scale) and see how that feels tomorrow. Just had a thought and I have to go to DSG’s to get some more lead tape so i am going to have them put the 5 iron on their scale to compare to mine for a reference point.
Hit a few balls in the front yard and may have actually felt a difference, got a round tomorrow at a fairly long Course so I should get to try them all out.
Popeye, you out there? PM me please
Jim.. yes I am out at sea but ill get Robin to send you a 95R flex. I’m away until the 29th.
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He sent me an 85 S and 95 S at the low end of the cpm range but I am going to wait and see what the 95 reg does for me, they are close and going regular might just be the ticket.
I also put the 95 Reg. shaft in my 8 iron with standard tipping and again I can now feel the shaft which tells me these were just too stiff for me in the 95 S even Soft stepped. The knee felt pretty good today so I was swinging stronger which helped all around. 38/44 on a short but tight course so that was fun.
Popeye is sending me 5 more 95 Reg shafts for the rest of the irons so I will see if I have found what works.
Just like the 95g I found the 85g RTi S flex to be a stout S. I certainly could play it but I have to work that shaft hard. The R flex 85g was easy to load and let fly. Easy to feel that signature kick these shafts have. I got a little better efficiency out of the R flex but it leaked a little to the right, more like a baby fade. Something I think I could easily correct oncourse.
So similar to the 95g RTi I would play a flex between the two probably leaning to the S flex. Spin wise with both flexs with a 6i head were low 6000 RPM. Both had a nice flight with solid descent angles. Both were just a bit longer than the ProX with all the numbers being marginally better. Which falls in place with what I have seen with the other weights. The efficiency is just marginally better.
I look forward to tinkering with these in some hybrid heads. Now that these are out a progressive weight set is what I would build. My gamer set has 95g in the short and 75g in the long irons. I would fill in the 85g somewhere between or even jut eliminate the 75g. A lot of options can be done as these shafts have proven to be very versatile.
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I am almost ready to pull the trigger on these but I would like to chat with someone more about them. Can you give me a phone number or contact info for Robin?
Sent a pm
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But I like what I saw and warming up I was hitting some real nice high and straight balls though the bag. I hope to put them back in play on the 23rd in a Tournament but that remains to be seen with the recovery from tomorrow.
So glad the reload worked for you!!! Good luck with the surgery.
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The demo program continues to do well. I have nearly all the demos back from all across creation. Give me a shout if anyone would like to give them a try.
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These shafts may be coming to a custom fitting center near you.
Install last week on a set of BeCU Pings. Came out awesome.
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Not sure if this link will work.
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I’m pretty sure I’m going to put my own order in for a batch of these.
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Experimenting with different weighted shafts similar to AMT shafts, I’ve found I really enjoy the various weights. Wedge shafts have always been heavier. Hybrids are heavier than fairways and fairways heavier than drivers. Yet we carry all the same weight on iron shafts.
So its just an extension of already accepted practices. So I have some of my sets setup with 75g in the hybrid and long irons. 85g in the mid. 95g in the short and 100g in the wedges. This is just how the AMT setups are done but in a more orderly fashion.
In play I find the long irons very easy to swing.
Just another way to get things done. Plus it allowed me to get some serious time with all three weights in play.
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Apologies if I missed information on these, but has there been any ?
Its just a quote about the Rapid Tapers. They are available in three weights and flexs.
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those tricky little guys from X-caliber getting me all excited for nothing ….. Thinking if they are clever enough to come up with these revolutionary shafts – what might they be able to do with irons !
I made up a full set of 95 S shafts that I special ordered in Black with no rings. I wanted a matte but they sent a semi gloss black. They still looks great though.
Right off the bat the thing that always shocks me with the Rapid Tapers is how straight they fly. I really have to work to turn them over or fade them. They just wanna go where you point them.
Greens today were rock hard but these fly high and bite hard.
I need to check spin rates later this week but they REALLY seem to spin. Descent angle is pretty steep as well. I was able to pin hunt all day.
On a par 5 I had 205 left for a second shot. 4 iron hit the front of the green and stopped within 10 feet for a 4′ eagle putt.. that I made!
I went Birdie, birdie, bogey, eagle. Made two more birdies but two bogeys the rest of the way.
Can’t wait to play again.
Grips btw are a Super Stroke Traxion Tour. Grey digital camo. Nice grip and really inexpensive. View attachment 9013992View attachment 9013993View attachment 9013994
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If you have them dialed in correctly they should have a nice high launch. You should see a better descent angle as well. If they feel boardy or harsh at all you have them too stiff. They should be very smooth though the ball. As with any new setup check your ball contact with some impact tape or spray on baby powder.
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