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
Pretty solid reviews on the Mystic and Avalon on the homepage and forum too fwiw
https://www.thehackersparadise.com/forum/index.php?threads/xcaliber-xclusiv-mystic-driver-shaft-review.8917010/
https://www.thehackersparadise.com/forum/index.php?threads/xcaliber-xcluxiv-avalon-driver-shaft-review.8917868/
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Big disagree, but that’s ok. The red rings make them look busy and cheap imo.
I say that as someone with a full set of clean finished 95’s in the bag. If they’d gone with the ion, and a clean and simple crest, they’d have been perfect, the rings just aren’t going to appeal to most, particularly at the price they’re going to sell for.
My set is all black and its exactly as I want them. The black makes the Taper jump right out at you. It’s a perfect combo to my Black heads, Finished off with a dark grey grip.. I may aquire a set of decals and ‘adjust’ them so I can apply a crest and sword logo down. No rings.
So far the two people I built them for absolutely love the look. Neither of them have mentioned the rings at all, just that they love the entire look.
I have the soft stepped S flex with the retail finish that I used for testing last week. After the first swing I have never looked at the rings again and only notice them if my Im speaking about them.
If I have any say a Matte Black would be an option for purchase.
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How much did you soft step the S flex? I am not going to do it to these ones but I was thinking about doing that to my set when I build it later. I feel that I am in between flexes right now but got both some R and S flexes to see if one is better for me that the other.
I soft stepped both the 95 and the 75 one time.
I have 95 S softstepped in the PW, 9, 8.. PTM head
I have 75 S softstepped in the 7 and 6.. PTM head.
The feel wise,, greatly increased. Load and released is more pronounced. Hardly lost any control and could certainly game a whole set softstepped but I prefer the full flex of S. My SS is 105-108 depending on the size of the hotdog I ate at the turn.
I did let a big hitter smash that 8 iron on a par three that was 190. He made the front of the green. Didn’t tell him the flex and he loved it just as it was.
I am starting a demo program similar to what Hogan has. I’ll have a variety of Maltby heads and shaft flexes for people to try. Ideally the clubs would be shipped to the next person in line once time has expired.
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If putting the 7 iron together i would tip trim the shaft as if it was for a 6 iron. Then would butt trim to final length for the 7 iron.
While experimenting a few months ago and hard stepped a 5 iron twice by mistake and it was like a piece of rebar.
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Now imagine them just ion plated
An order of no stickers would be very easy to pull off during the next order from the factory. I would love to be running things.
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Currently playing Mitsubishi OTI 105 X in Wishon Sterlings and am pretty good results in the irons. I guess I’m just a tinkerer and always like interesting new tech, so the rapid taper creates that itch for me.
With 95mph iron swing speed, would the 95-S with standard tipping or an extra 1/2” be the place to start?
The 95 S has worked for every big player so far. You could certainly tip it a little extra but the first one you did I would start with an S standard trim.
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We will see if I can persuade someone to do so. Maybe the next production run it will be an option.
Some of the steel shafts sold today come with stickers not installed. So hopefully thats a route for the future on a certain percentage of shafts.
I don’t think the rings are necessary to bring attention to the shafts. Anyone playing them will certainly be answering a lot of questions so the identity of the company and the shaft… won’t be a mystery to anyone.
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Initial Thoughts: Pleasantly surprised with the performance. I didn’t see the dramatic night-and-day difference compared to the Hzrdus Smoke that I was expecting based on some of the other feedback so far. The first few swings I was losing the ball a little to the right which I chalked up to the flex of the shaft. After a few swing though I started putting better swings on the ball with better tempo, leading to high and straight ball flights. Slightly higher flight than the Hzrdus Smoke, but not ballooning on me at all. I probably hit about ~25 balls with each club to make sure I got a good feel of both. One of the things that stood out to me were the misses – with the Hzrdus I had some BIG misses left, although usually right after hitting the RT so may have been a feel issue. With the RT, I felt like the dispersion was definitely better.
The last 10 balls or so I was switching off between each club, taking time to go through my full pre-shot routine. I found the RT was slightly more accurate, with a higher ball flight overall. The Hzrdus had a lower, more penetrating ball flight that was easier to work both directions for me.
In hindsight, I feel like I was striking the ball better with the RT. I think I had one miss out of all the balls I hit. With the Hzrdus I wasn’t in the center of the face as often as I was with the RT.
Overall, I’m happy with the performance of both, and could easily game either club. I’m excited to get some more time with the RT shaft and take it out on the course later this week. I also have a 6-iron head I’m building with another RT shaft, but put on the grip today without butt-cutting the shaft (only tipped), so now have the worlds longest 6-iron I’ll be fixing that tomorrow and hope to be able to hit that as well later this week.
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Very cool results. You actually might be the first ever to have a 95g in a hybrid head. Everyone else used the 75g.
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Oh cool! My gamer Ping G25 17* has a ~70 gram shaft in it right now (I think), but I really enjoyed the feel of the 90 gram Hzrdus when getting fit for the SIM hybrid. The 95 gram RT shaft felt like a perfect matchup for an unused M6 head I had as well.
Now that I think about it, the RT shaft was surprisingly stout considering the design philosophy, at least based on what I’ve been reading. It really didn’t feel all that much less stiff than the 6.5 Hzrdus. The bigger feel difference was the swing-weight since I built the M6 (standard length) slightly longer than the SIM (-0.5" standard). I have a scale at home that I’ll measure them both to confirm though.
As for the taper itself – it didn’t feel overly noticeable at address. I was never distracted by the taper, and almost completely forgot about it while hitting.
Some good news on the driver ahaft front. A 62 g version has been produced and will be in for testing in about 14 days or so. Previous version were mid to high 70g. So we will see but excited to see if things can work out for the driver. As that’s what can drive a whole line of products.
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Now it’s time to get some more shafts to make a complete set.
Very cool feed back. It’s certainly becoming a trend to make sure to let the club load and release… then it just goes. Leaving enough flex to let the shaft work.
What direction are you going with for your set makeup?
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I was thinking on the 95g stiff maybe soft-stepped in the 8, 9, PW & then have 75g maybe soft-stepped in the 5, 6 & 7. Not sure I want to remove the shaft from the 4-iron yet.
What do you think?
That sounds like a pretty solid plan. I was very pleasantly surprised how well the S flex did when softstepped.
Leave the 4 iron where its at. In all this crazy testing I have done I have swapped around so many shafts. That includes pulling gamers apart to try something else. Leave that 4 iron alone and just enjoy the bombs. I’m obsessed with my 4 iron.
If that 7 iron is too high of a flyer for you the 85g when available would be the perfect call for that spot.
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That sounds like a good idea. Appreciate the feedback
62g RT driver shaft sounds really appealing
I cant wait… I have really enjoyed the heavier version as well as others below a 110 mph ss.. but at that weight it was would have a limited market. Hopefully this one being lighter will be as good but longer. Could be a flop though just as easily.
Butt section was 245 cpm tip is 925 cpm. Should be fun
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Missed my first hole in one with the PTM PW by a lip out.
Hit just past the flag and sucked back ever so slowly and around the cup. One of those shots that was so pure the second it left the club I knew it was perfect. That close….
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Same boat as you, never had an ace but have been close a number of times. I feel like it takes a bit of luck to get it to actually drop in those situations. Hopefully you can get one soon though!
In other news, fixed up the 6-iron with the 95S shaft so will be headed back out the range to hit a bucket shortly. Also planning on playing either tomorrow or Saturday to get some on-course testing as well.
I plugged the S in at standard tipping and they’re holding up more than fine to my higher SS
That seems to be the trend. The 95 s shaft is stout enough for the big boys.
My driver SS is 105-108 and I actually prefer the softstepped 95 s. The 75 g, being a little livelier is a coin toss. I could play either one.
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That 7I I hit was 75 stiff right? I’m used to heavier shafts and felt like I had to lay off a bit with it, which I know is the point with these, but I’m really curious what the heavier ones would be like. I kind of like the idea of going with different weights throughout the set. Could be a fun winter project…
Fwiw, I go full bore into the 75 and even though mentally it’s hard to trust, it holds up. I swing a little big fast and aggressive too.
That’s what I was thinking
The 6-iron was also really good. Contact was very solid and ball flight was penetrating for me. I’ve had a few people tell me they hit the ball overly high with the DBM, but did not see that at all yesterday.
All-in-all I’m really enjoying these shafts. I feel like I’m noticing a bigger difference in the hybrid shaft versus the 6-iron so far, but will be doing more testing over the weekend.
As mentioned previously, I’m finding the 95 S-Flex to be quite stout actually. I took a front-facing video to see if I could notice additional shaft lean compared to a normal shaft, and it really doesn’t look much different:
The 75s plays pretty close to where it should be as an S. I think the 85,, with limited testing is close to how the 95 flexs. Ill elaborate more tomorrow
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I have a 75g stiff in a TE 7i as a demo that doesn’t fly too high either. Its actually putting out great numbers compared to the other 7 irons that have stronger lofts.
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Looking forward to your thoughts! For reference, I did not cut down the shaft in the 3-hybrid at all. For the 6-iron, I tip-trimmed 1.5 inches, and butt trimmed down to 38" overall.
I’m currently testing Ping Blueprint irons in the power spec lofts (6-iron is 28.5*) versus 30* in the Maltby DBM. Shafts are DG120 X100 in the Blueprints. Ball flight was actually slightly higher in the Blueprint. Distances were similar though, and both had great ball flights. I thought I’d notice a bigger difference between the weights (+25 grams for DG120) but not really a huge difference in practice.
The Hogans have the mixed weights and the short irons are certainly stout. Not a harsh feel by any means but you know its a big boys flex. I have to work the shaft rather than letting the shaft work for me. I have the PTMs softstepped and with those I let the shaft work and I get all the wonderful feel benefits and still all the performance.
I did realize this morning the big difference in hosel length might play a small role. See picture. Other 95s shafts in PTM heads did not need to be worked as hard as the Hogans. The hosel is almost a 1/2" taller in the Hogans. You might think this may not matter but these shafts are VERY stiff in the lower section. So this possibly may be of impact. The taper plays a big role in how these shafts react also. So now its a 1/2" higher. I will be reshafting some of the Hogans and seeing what I get to test my theory.
So with all of that disclaimer… I still need some more testing but I feel pretty strongly that this is how these shafts play out in flex.
95s tipped 1 1/2" for 6 iron is an S/X flex. Big hitters seem to be very happy with that setup. @Jman is a perfect reference. Even tour speed. Yet its not something a regular S flex player can not enjoy.
95s tipped at 1" for 6i, or softstepped if you will, plays like an S flex. Maybe even an ever so slightly soft S flex. Feel greatly improves and I find I’m swinging them effortlessly to get the results i want.
I may even tinker with an in between the two tipping of 1 1/4" for 6i.
I know this is long but you should see what goes on in my head….. non stop inner discussions.
The 85s seem to play just like the 95s. I have such limited time with those as I only have 3 of them, they went straight into the Hogans. I can’t quite just softstep them as I would be without a 6i shaft but could as an experiment.
The 75s play as they should. They play true to flex. Even though they spec out exactly the same CPMs as the other two do, the lack of mass has them playing differently. In a hybrid, or my Hogan 4i they are amazing. But still hold up to a crushing the ball swing. I have gone down as far as the 7i with the 75g shaft. I find that they still work very well. A higher type of ball flight but not in a bad way at all. I don’t think I have had a balloon ball with any Rapid Taper shaft.
If you are still reading ill tell you about the flight difference of the 75g and the 85g. On a dogleg par 5 there is a tree that will block out any short drive. Its enormously wide and very tall. I dropped a few balls at 175y. (Very elevated green) and took a PTM 6i with a 75g softstepped S vs A Hogan 6i 85g S. PTM is 2° stronger. First ball with the 75g launched right over the tree and pin high. Second ball was with the Hogan and I could not clear the tree. Every ball with the PTM went right over yet I could not clear the tree with the Hogan after many tries. So the lower flight with the higher weight shafts really plays out. A difference of 8-10′ in height between those two clubs
Boy you can really burn through some shafts with testing……
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Ts-2 6 I. 1- 75 S 1- 75 R
M890 8 I. 1 75 A
TS-1 7i. 1- 95 S. 1- 75 S
PTM 6i. 1- 95 S ss 1- 95 S 1- 95 R 1- 75 S.
PTM black 7i 1- 75 S ss, 9i 1- 95 S ss.
Basically $20 to demo a single club. Includes shipping to you. Shipping back is on you. 7 days to test.
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Finally got the RT’s installed in my demo 7 irons (TS2, PTM, STi2 and M890) , 3 Hybrid iron and the Mystic 55 in the TC. I took a picture but having trouble getting it to load. The TS2, PTM and Hydrid iron had 75S and the STi2 and M890 had 95 S. Robin forgot to send me the R shafts so they are on the way. I took them to the range this afternoon for a quick test run. I think I hit the PTM the best and really liked the feel of it although I didn’t really feel the shaft release like others have. I think your theory on the flexes seems about right. Will find out more when I get the R shafts made up. Distance wise, the PTM and TS2 went the furthest. For me, I just hit the PTM more consistent than the TS2. I also hit the STi2 pretty good but it didn’t go quite as far as the other two with 95 shaft in it. The one club I couldn’t really hit at all was the 3 hybrid iron for some reason. I was disappointed in that but will keep working on it. I did love the mystic 55. It was hard to tell exact distance on the range because it was hitting into the sunset but I was hitting dead center of the club face most of the time and it was going straight. I am going out to the course for a round tomorrow and put them all into play to test them out some more.
Do you have the black PTM 95S back yet.
I missed this post. Glad to here you have them in hand and getting to know them.
Don’t give up on that 3 hybrid. I assume you have a 75g shaft in that?
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No they are still out but I can have them shipped to you later on next week.
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I got out on the course again yesterday and hit the TS2 better than the PTM so that didn’t work out like I had hoped. Obviously, it is my swing that is the issue and not the clubs. I do have a 75 S in the Hyrbrid but I didn’t take it out with me because I hit it that badly! I will give it another chance but I needed to take a break from it first. I received the 75 and 95 R shafts yesterday as well but have to get another head for one of them so it will be a week or two before I get them installed and tested.
The dealer network is gaining ground as more people are discovering this shaft.
On the driver end of things. I’ll be hitting the sub 60 g version in about 10 days. Specs looks amazing and better than hoped for. Let’s hope it shows the gains that the 75g shows in a 6 iron.
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What would you like to know? Toooooooonnnnnn of feedback in here but as I’m one of the few to play a full set, I’m happy to dive into anything specific you’re curious about!