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There has been a lot of hype for the new Ryoma F fairway woods. It has the reputation of its driver counterpart the Ryoma D-1 to live up  to. The D-1 Driver as everyone knows is probably one of the most forgiving drivers to ever come out of Japan. It was easily Tourspecgolf's most popular driver of 2011. So when Ryoma announced a fairway wood that would perform like the driver, people jumped at it right away. So after more than a month of testing, does the Ryoma F deserve all the attention its been getting?

As I had noted before the fairway woods looked better than I had originally expected. I was not the biggest fan of the look of the driver though its performance far out weighs its aesthetics.  The fairway wood is on the larger side at 220cc for the F2 to 140cc for the F9.  If you want to see a physical comparison, I did one earlier with the egg Spoon here. All of the D-1 F heads are spec'ed to have square face angles. Like the driver it appears to have a slightly closed face which many have said is an illusion caused but the slight onset/face forward and the way the sole sits. Even if the face is closed, its not by much and for many average golfers who will consider the Ryoma F, a tad closed may not be a bad thing. At address, the head does make the ball look small and could pass for a 350cc compact driver. For some the head may seem to big but for others, its size may inspire a can't miss image.  At first I did think the head was too large however I quickly got used to it.

The F2, F3 and F5 models all fall right below 0.83 COR and share the same all titanium monocoque (unibody) construction as Ryoma's D-1 Drivers. Ryoma is able to fit a 60g Power Booster weight on the back of all the FW models.  Not only that but they also add an additional 60g weight on the front sole called the Spin Control Unit. Considering the 13* weighs 209g, and uses 120g worth of weights, it means the 0.4mm walled body is a mere 89g in weight! Ryoma then plasma welds on their premium forged TDW face for maximum ball speeds and feel.  The F7 and f9 shorter woods have a similar design except use a maraging face and stainless steel body.

Thanks to that 60g backweight, the sweet spot of the Ryoma  fairway woods is huge. So huge that Ryoma claims there is very little difference in direction and distance on off center hits vs shots off the center of the club.  In order to counter the huge weight in the back which in a smaller fairway wood head would push the CG too far back and low, Ryoma uses that Spin Control Unit I mentioned earlier, another 60g right below the leading edge of the head. Ryoma says this weight drastically reduces spin and creates a strong and powerful trajectory that will not lose out to the wind. I certainly liked the trajectory and for me it was more of a mid ball flight.

Ryoma has designed the CG Point of their fairway woods to match the ball exactly at impact whereas on some deeper fairway woods the CG point on the face is in fact higher than the point of impact.  The face of the Ryoma's are considered shallow but not super shallow. They are shallow enough that make hitting off the deck and launching the ball rather easy. I had no problems teeing off with the Ryoma and I felt more confident doing so than with the ultra shallow egg Spoon. The egg Spoon which for me has always been the longest fairway wood, was coming short of the Ryoma by 10-15 yards on average. I also had a TRC FW and ONOFF Fairway Arms Plus as well as a Geotech GT SP and none of them could touch the Ryoma in distance. The testers I have here came with the stock Ryoma shaft. Its a good shaft but a bit on the soft side and the higher torque numbers especially in the softer flexes really do benefit the smoother swinger. I found that if I got aggressive with it, and I do have an aggressive transition and down swing, and if I released early, the soft shaft would cause me to go a bit left.  Even so, thanks to the very forgiving nature of the head, I was still out hitting the egg. It made me think if I had put my preferred Crazy Black FW80 I would gain more control and even more distance.

When it comes to sound and feel, at first the Ryoma F reminded me very much of the first generation egg Spoon with that hollow thwock. Its not nearly as loud but the pitch is similar thanks to the heads size and all Titanium construction.  It's rather solid feeling and while it did not feel hot off the face, it IS hot off the face. There were several times I did not feel like I hit it right on the screws and the ball just kept going, much further than I expected and pretty straight. Much of the results I got are thanks to Ryoma's huge forgiveness and near 0.83 COR. Considering how much smaller a fairway wood face is than a driver face makes this number quite staggering as many fairway woods on the market feature COR of around 0.70 to 0.75.

At the end of the day not everyone will like the looks of the Ryoma F. Not everyone will like its huge head size. Some people might get turned off by the sound. Others the price. But in the end you have to love the Ryoma F for what it is, and that is stupid easy to hit fairway wood that can probably rival your driver for distance AND forgiveness.

The stock shaft is a good fit for those who are smoother swingers, especially the softer flexes. The stiffer flexes do add some control thanks to lower torque and heavier weights. Many golfers will opt for an upgrade shaft and the Ryoma F is available with any shaft in Japan though more than 75% have gone out with Crazy shafts since they seem to be such good fits with Ryoma heads. If you need help with your selections as always just contact us. If you'd like to go ahead and get the stock shafted model, it can be found in the pro shop.

I took a quick video of the sound at impact. As you can hear its not terribly loud but its not that great sounding either. I also had my egg Spoon and TRC FW on hand and also an egg i+ utility so I thought I would throw that in as well.

Tario (aka gocchin) joined Tourspecgolf back in 2008 after spending over a decade in technology and business operation roles at a major Canadian financial institution. Before joining TSG and following his dream of moving to Japan, Tario and Chris (aka Tourspecgolfer) hit it off though their similar passions for Japanese culture. Chris hired Tario to manage TSG online operations, sales and marketing. While those are Tario's primary responsibilities, he has also taken up the role of blogger and custom club tester and fitter along the way. Tario's hobbies include golf (of course), gadgets and technology, cars, Japanese pop culture and idols, photography, sweets and walking the dog.

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There are a lot of new 2012 Yamaha models to cover so I'm going to start today with the V Series, especially because it features the two limited tour models which always sell out very quickly. In fact the new V Forged Tour Model has already had all standard S200 shafted sets reserved at Yamaha within a day of the new product announcement. Yamaha has however put aside a few hundred sets for custom orders which is what we are ordering now (1200 sets in total made for all of Japan).

The V Series clubs in the Inpres X line are aimed at the pro player to better golfer or athlete golfer as we call it in Japan. The clubs are designed to not only provide distance but also control/workability and stability. All Yamaha clubs are forged at Endo which in turn equals great feel and quality as well as premium designs.  The new tour iron features a milled cross face for additional feel and bite resulting in improved spin control and performance. The Tour Model iron is compact and features a thin top line, sole and minimal offset. Some have even referred to the way the Tour Model sets up as neo blade like since the back cavity is almost like a small muscle, bringing the CG higher for a more stable and stronger trajectory.

Since the Tour Model with standard S200 has pretty much been snapped up by golf shops around Japan, we have to offer them with custom shafts directly from Yamaha which is not necessarily a bad thing 950GH and 1050GH from Yamaha are no charge upgrades while Modus3 and KBS Tour are +15.00 per iron. PX is +40.00 per iron and graphite is also available in Tour AD Iron and Diamana Thump iron shafts. There is of course also the standard V Forged model which also has the milled X face but with a slightly larger head and more offset. The standard V Forged is aimed at the better player to mid capper and is not a limited model so readily available.

The new V202 Tour Model and V202 Standard Model drivers are 415cc and 445cc heads aimed at pro to better golfers looking for a strong and stable trajectory from a driver that produces premium soft feel. Both V models feature a higher and shorter CG with the 445 since it is the bigger head actually having the slightly deeper face.  All Yamaha drivers are forged from ELF Titanium and feature Yamaha's newly designed for 2012 Ultimate face, a variable thickness cup face design which provides maximum ball speeds and one of the softer feeling impacts in golf. A chemically milled variable thickness crown works to provide optimal energy transfer and the head is weight for Yamaha's R.P.M. design which creates a powerful more penetrating trajectory that out runs most other competing drivers. Penetrating trajectories with low spin is nothing new however Yamaha designed its drivers to actually launch higher at initial impact but peak out lower and hit the ground running. Meanwhile other low spin drivers launch lower but peak higher reducing carry and run compared to the Yamaha.  Both drivers are available 9 and 10* lofts with the Tour Model sporting a new Tour AD BB shaft and the V202 445cc a Tour AD LVII shaft. Upgrades of all kinds are also available including Diamana, Fubuki, Motore Speeder, Tour AD and Roddio.

All Yamaha models will be available for pre order this week in the pro shop and please keep in mind the limited nature of the tour models.

Here are the Yamaha videos for the new V Series lineups (high speed connections seriously recommended). The first video is an overlook of the lineup including its technology and comments from top pros. It is of course in Japanese but you can see and hear the clubs in action and pretty much the pros love the new line especially for the the feel.

The first pro interview is with top Yamaha pro Hiroyuki Fujita which features initial testing on the trackman from earlier this year. Fujita is not known to be a long driver but his final drive of the day reached 308y.

The final video here is top Yamaha Korean Pro Jay Choi (he plays on the Japan Tour) making comments on the new Inpres line (he plays the standard V202 445cc driver and the V Forged Tour Model irons).

Tario (aka gocchin) joined Tourspecgolf back in 2008 after spending over a decade in technology and business operation roles at a major Canadian financial institution. Before joining TSG and following his dream of moving to Japan, Tario and Chris (aka Tourspecgolfer) hit it off though their similar passions for Japanese culture. Chris hired Tario to manage TSG online operations, sales and marketing. While those are Tario's primary responsibilities, he has also taken up the role of blogger and custom club tester and fitter along the way. Tario's hobbies include golf (of course), gadgets and technology, cars, Japanese pop culture and idols, photography, sweets and walking the dog.

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We all wonder when a new model club comes out whether or not it is better than model it replaced or any older model from the same brand. Kamui Works decided to head up to Fujikura's testing field where they could use Fujikura's hitting robot to directly compare the Silver 456 to the new Ray driver.  Testing was actually done back in Fukushima on the morning of March 11th and if that date sounds familiar to you it was the day the big earthquake struck Japan. Because of the disaster, Kamui did not actually get the results from Fujikura until many months after since their Fukushima area base was closed down. For those of you who don't know Fujikura's Robot tester, it is frequently used not only for shaft testing but is also borrowed for driver testing by many different manufacturers. Click to watch a video of the Robot in action.

As we know a roboy create a consistent testing environment for clubs by pretty much maintaining constant variables though out a test. Obviously they don't relay feel or forgiveness (unless they set the robot to hit off the heel and toe) or different styles of swings but the robot is good for head to head, straight down the middle comparisons. On this day the temperature was about 23c with very little to no wind. The Silver 456 and Ray were shafted with identical shafts (they did not reveal the shaft and it is only identified as shaft B) and identical specs (10*, square face) then tested by the robot set to swing at 43m/s and 45m/s taking 5 shots at each speed with each driver. The results were measured by a Trackman and averaged for the chart below.

On the surface it seems very even between the two drivers with the Silver 456 even providing slightly more ball speeds and tad less backspin. The launch angles are close but with both swing speeds the Ray does launch higher than the 456.  They reach a very similar apex (max height) which means that the Ray probably has a more boring trajectory since it launches higher but they reach the same apex.  This also means the 456 climbs higher at a steeper angle from its initial launch which could explain the sharper angle of descent (Landing Angle) resulting in less run.  Interestingly it seems the more boring trajectory created by the Ray not only runs more but carries more as well.

The Kamui Ray's head is certainly built to be more forgiving and more distance oriented. Its shallower back head is geared to launch higher and still keep spin low compared to its high back 456 counterpart. The deeper CG also increases MOI and when I tested the Ray it certainly seemed more forgiving on miss hits towards the toe than the 456 which I used to game. One thing robots don't test is workability, the ability to move shots side to side and control trajectory. I'd say the 456 has a slight edge there but neither driver has a huge amount of bulge which opens up the ability to work the ball's direction more. All in all these are some numbers to consider and perhaps allows Kamui to show that the Ray is indeed a step up from the 456 when it comes to straight line distance. Like the 456 the Ray is built to customer specs by hand and featuring all real and exact specs. If you need help with a custom Kamui feel free to contact us anytime.

Tario (aka gocchin) joined Tourspecgolf back in 2008 after spending over a decade in technology and business operation roles at a major Canadian financial institution. Before joining TSG and following his dream of moving to Japan, Tario and Chris (aka Tourspecgolfer) hit it off though their similar passions for Japanese culture. Chris hired Tario to manage TSG online operations, sales and marketing. While those are Tario's primary responsibilities, he has also taken up the role of blogger and custom club tester and fitter along the way. Tario's hobbies include golf (of course), gadgets and technology, cars, Japanese pop culture and idols, photography, sweets and walking the dog.

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I brought the TRC Driving Spoon 13* to the range today to try it out before I go and play a round with it.  I had my Nikon D5100 with me so I thought I would film the sound of the D/S at impact for people to hear. The F-65 Stiff shaft is actually a bit stout for me and I found my shots fading right.  Trajectory even with the 13* is quite penetrating and strong.  With the right shaft this could be a great club.  Even though its a fairway wood in disguise, the sound is probably closer to a driver. Feel is pretty good and overall soft and crisp.

I also hit my new TRC UT 20* with ATTAS T2 6 Shaft. The sound is like the previous model and higher pitched than the D/S. Very good feel.

Tario (aka gocchin) joined Tourspecgolf back in 2008 after spending over a decade in technology and business operation roles at a major Canadian financial institution. Before joining TSG and following his dream of moving to Japan, Tario and Chris (aka Tourspecgolfer) hit it off though their similar passions for Japanese culture. Chris hired Tario to manage TSG online operations, sales and marketing. While those are Tario's primary responsibilities, he has also taken up the role of blogger and custom club tester and fitter along the way. Tario's hobbies include golf (of course), gadgets and technology, cars, Japanese pop culture and idols, photography, sweets and walking the dog.

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It's been a while since posting new video's.  New software new workflow but good news is  I've got the basic's down so expect more videos in coming weeks.  In today's video we have a short clip with TSG Club Tester Tatsuro Oshimoto comparing two of Akira's better player driver designs, the K109 & M209.   After hitting the smaller K109 he loved it comparing it to his JBEAM 425 Tour with it's super low spin and low trajectory.  With the JBEAM he hits slight draws all day nicely down the middle.  With the Akira Proto K109 he was hitting slight fades which he can't do with 99% of the clubs on the market.  Tatsuro and I believe it's due to the 1.5*+ open face angle.

Shortly after the K109 driver became his new all time favorite he hit the M209 which stole its short lived crown.  This one sit's dead square so he began hitting his baby draw again but the major difference is how hot it came off the face.  Now he is fixated on his dream club which is the M209 with a 1.5* open face angle and the Muzzik 787 Speeder Shaft.

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Looking for an easy to hit 180-220 yd club? Introducing the new Yonex EZONE Utility Wood.  It's body is made of SUS630 stainless steel while it's face is made of 455 maraging steel and It features a high strength carbon crown as well.  Now for the bad news it's the only club that isn't offered head only and your pretty much stuck with the NP50 carbon or the NSPRO 950FW steel.  I personally would opt for the 80-90 gram Nippon Steel but the test club Yonex sent us had the Nanopreme NP50 installed  which weighs in the 55 gram range.

I've had several nice days to put her to the test and overall rate it favorably.  It's got a higher trajectory mostly due to it's shallow face  and lower center of gravity and partially to the Nanoprpeme NP50 shaft.  I'm assuming the steel NS950FW or a heavier utility shaft would bring it down to optimal heights for me.  The key factor in my opinion is how straight it flies,  I've been testing many hybrid clubs recently and think this one scores high with it's tight dispersion.

The only fault I can find with the new Yonex Ezone Utility  is it's feel.  I'm not the biggest fan of how solid/dead the drivers felt and the same is found in this utility this is where my preference and Tatsuro's differ,  he actually appreciated it while I wish it were more lively.  My guess is it's due to the Carbon Composite crown as the ST Fairway wood felt absolutely amazing while made of the same material minus the crown.  none the less the FW was not as easy to hit as the utility so it's give and take.  Here's TSG club tester Tatsuro Oshimoto's quick take.

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About 2 years ago when we first introduced Kamui works to our readers and customers, their Silver 456  driver became quite the hit thanks to its unrivaled custom options, superb manufacturing and workmanship and of course its great feel and performance. However in recent months, Ryoma's D-1 Driver has not only taken the crown as one of the best performing drivers ever, it has also run circles around ALL other Japanese drivers when it comes to sales. Honestly when I first introduced Ryoma earlier this year, I would have never predicted it's current success and demand especially considering how high end a product it is and its comes to cost.  This goes to show that people are certainly willing to pay if a club performs which the Ryoma consistently does for most customers.

Since the release of the 456, Kamui has released a smaller 420 model which is aimed at the better player wanting a compact head. In this new year, Kamui knew, in order to compete with Ryoma - or simply make improvements for that matter, it would have to release a head that could match up with Ryoma in the ease of use and forgiveness category. The Ryoma gets its big distance gains not only from its hot face and superb design but also simply because it is very easy to hit and unbelievably forgiving, meaning even off center hits produce just as straight and long shots as those hit right in the sweet spot. Overall Ryoma players see more distance because of this.

I've been gaming the Ryoma for nearly 6 months with no desire to change to any other driver. I used to game a Kamui 456 which I loved the feel of, however I find the Ryoma easier to hit than the older 456. When Kamui Works announced the new Ray driver which I have already introduced in several blog posts, I looked foward to having one custom made for myself and to compare head to head with the Kamui.

Head Shape

(the following pictures all show the Kamui Ray on the left and the Ryoma D-1 on the right)

Firstly looking at the design of the driver head can usually tell us a lot about the drivers target audience and playing style.  Side by side, the new Kamui Works Ray has the shallower face and shallower head of the two.  This is usually the sign of a lower and deeper CG and a more forgiving head favoring misses towards the toe and heel.  The Ryoma which we all know is as forgiving as a driver gets, kind of bucks this conception by featuring a slightly deeper face and a higher back design. They both feature back weighting with the Kamui using a pair of 5g weights, one in the heel and one in the toe and the Ryoma with that monster 60g power booster weight right in the back.  So even with the higher back head, the CG is in fact lower and deeper in the Ryoma thanks to the weighting and monocoque body with the thinnest walls in golf. Loft wise the Kamui is a 10* and the Ryoma is 10.5*, both feature real lots and on measurement are pretty much right on.

Face Profile

Both drivers have very nice looking faces and very clean top lines. The Ryoma face on the right is very symmetrical and has a rounded top and bottom. The Kamui Ray is shallower and based on its shape works to minimize lower heel misses and higher toe misses. You can also see that the hosel lengths are different with the Kamui sporting a shorter hosel.  The longer hosel also shifts the CG slightly higher up in the head which the Kamui probably needs to do in order to balance its launch.  The Kamui features a nice satin top secret Titanium (they still won't tell me what it is but we will find out soon enough) vs the champagne colored forged TDW titanium face of the Ryoma.

At Addresss

What surprised me was at address both heads look rather similar shape wise. I'm hard pressed to say one is bigger looking than the other at address which is interesting considering that the Kamui is shallow back vs the higher back of the Ryoma which would have led me to believe the head is not stretched back as far as the Kamui. Face angle wise both drivers are supposed to be 0.5* closed. The Kamui looks almost square while the Ryoma does appear closed. We've discussed the Ryoma face angle in the past with some noting its almost an optical illusion with the Ryoma created by the way it sits on the ground, unevenly due to that huge hump of a weight in the back.  When swung or hovered in the ai it does not appear nearly as closed.  Kamui specs are always right on thanks to being hand built and constantly measured through the manufacturing process and if anything they are too exact, I could have probably used a bit more closed in reality since my bad shot is right.

Both drivers are nicely finished and while they are not necessarily my cup of tea when it comes to looks ie graphics, logos etc, that is very subjective and depends on the person. One thing most people can agree on is that they don't really like the zippered Ryoma head cover which features the model D-1 surrounded by what looks like some sort of molecular structure out of biology.  The Kamui head cover is a nice more classy artificial leather looking sock cover.

Performance Comparison

Now to the important part. Hitting the drivers side by side. I should note as I had in earlier Kamui Install posts that this Kamui Ray built for me features a 0.88 COR non conforming head - while all Ryoma's are only available in conforming heads. Both drivers offer quite different feel and trajectory. I should note the shaft will have some affect on the trajectory.  The Kamui was a very stable low to mid launch versus the Ryoma which launched mid to higher (with Crazy Black 46 6.2).  There is a 0.5* loft difference plus the lower launching Axiv V 5058 shaft I have in the Kamui but I could clearly see the two different ball flights. This is not to say the Kamui launched too low or the Ryoma too high. The Ryoma carries more by probably 10-15 yards (for me) due to a combination of an optimal trajectory, plus it rolls well at the end. The Kamui and its very strong trajectory hits the ground and runs... a lot. Total distance between both drivers is very comparable, both spin low and I would consider playing the Kamui on windy days to keep the ball down or on harder fairways where I can generate tons of run, but on wide open courses and those that don't produce a lot of run, I'd go with the Ryoma.

Feel is very subjective and so many factors will affect the feel of a driver, including, materials, design, shaft and even how the player swings.  The Kamui at impact is more subdued and has more of a soft thud or thwock and while the Ryoma is also soft, it has a higher crispier tink sound at impact.  Because of the Ryoma's sound, it feels hotter off the face even though the Kamui is non conforming. One thing to note about Kamui, is that they have long been a brand that have focused on designing and manufacturing clubs for the better player and athlete golfer. I've always believed that the face of the Kamui feels better at higher swing speeds as its design is thicker. Yes that can equal a softer feel but at lower swing speeds its hard to reap the benefits of the Kamui and its feel. My guess is that at 95mph or above the Kamui feel improves. The Ryoma on the other hand has been designed to create maximum ball compression off the face and you can feel it no matter what the swing speed. This is a key design of the Ryoma to increase energy transfer.  Ryoma believes that the longer hang time on the face creates more energy transfer to the ball thus faster ball speeds.

One area where the Ryoma stands above everyone else is ease of use and forgiveness. Miss hits result in very lost distance and even shots off the toe straighten themselves out. So how is the Kamui  in this respect?  Pretty good and it certainly provides more forgiveness than the former Kamui 456 and 420 models.  The sweet spot is not as large as the Ryoma, then again no driver has a sweet spot as large as the Ryoma. Kamui has done a great job to still create a new stable, workable driver with increased forgiveness. Toe miss hits are not nearly as punished as before but heel miss hits still suffer. The Ryoma wants to go very straight or draw but the Kamui seems much more workable with draw and fade available to the player, at least this was the case for me (actually seemed to naturally fade more thanks to the smaller gravity angle compared to the Ryoma).  In the end how forgiving a driver is depends very much on each individual and can take a lot of time to assess. I will be able to tell better as time goes by and I get to try the Kamui on courses I play regularly. Still if I am swinging the driver poorly, the Ryoma has the advantage. For those who always hit the sweet spot then that advantage might for some be considered a moot point.

If you are looking at these two drivers and are wondering which you should choose, here are reasons that you might consider the Ryoma (not necessarily over the Kamui but in general the Ryoma's strong points).

- superb workmanship and finish
- real specs
- can specify headweights
- stock shaft is pretty good
- know to work very well with the right Crazy shaft
- unrivaled forgiveness and ease of use
- quite possibly the hugest sweet spot in golf
- mid to deeper face
- wonderful feel
- low spin with mid to higher penetrating trajectory (but not very high)
- wants to go very straight
- huge gravity angle which helps square the face - good for anti slice
- available in 3 different models which all have equally good performance
- can be custom built with any shaft
- appeals to all level of players and all swing speeds from slower 80mph players to 135mph long drivers

Here are reasons that you might consider the Kamui Ray(not necessarily over the Ryoma but in general the Kamui's strong points).

- superb workmanship and finish - meticulously hand made
- real specs
- choice of actual specs including head weight, real loft, real lie, real face angle, crown finish, paint fill colors
- sold as head only
- available in both non conforming and conforming
- higher quality head cover
- more penetrating trajectory
- low spin
- stable and controllable/workable ball flight
- smaller gravity angle will result in less pulls and hooks
- soft feel
- more subtle sound at impact
- an improvement over previous Kamui models when it comes to forgiveness
- appeals to players who swing 90mph or higher ideally 95-100mph or higher to produce best feel
- reasonable cost for a premium hand made to spec driver

In Conclusion...

So in the end we have two very high quality drivers that can satisfy a wide variety of players. I am not going to say one is longer than the other as it really depends on each individual player.  Plus it is far to early to tell if the Kamui can live up to the legendary status the Ryoma has gained in only a few short months. The Ryoma's standard specs may fit a wide variety of players and give them the most distance and ease of use they have ever experienced however there are also players who are much more picky and need exact specs to fully benefit performance wise ie the right lie angle and the right face angle to match their swing. In the end its about finding the right driver for you and the right shaft to fit your swing. No matter what the driver is, careful research and proper fitting will allow any player to reap the rewards of great performance.  The Kamui Ray and Ryoma D-1 just make those choices all a little bit easier (or harder if you can't make up your mind!)

I brought the Kamui to the range the other day and I had my D5100 with me so I took a short clip on the sound at impact of the Kamui Ray. Disappointingly I did not bring the Ryoma that day so no video for the Ryoma sound which I'll do next time.

As always if you need recommendations or fittings for either the Ryoma or Kamui (it is available for order now) or any other club for that matter, feel free to drop us a note.

Tario (aka gocchin) joined Tourspecgolf back in 2008 after spending over a decade in technology and business operation roles at a major Canadian financial institution. Before joining TSG and following his dream of moving to Japan, Tario and Chris (aka Tourspecgolfer) hit it off though their similar passions for Japanese culture. Chris hired Tario to manage TSG online operations, sales and marketing. While those are Tario's primary responsibilities, he has also taken up the role of blogger and custom club tester and fitter along the way. Tario's hobbies include golf (of course), gadgets and technology, cars, Japanese pop culture and idols, photography, sweets and walking the dog.

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Previously we posted up Yamaha's 2011 lineup Promotional video which you can still watch here. They've released a new series of videos showcasing specific models including the D Series drivers, fairway woods and utility.  As always we have them here for your viewing pleasure.

The videos are in Japanese but they are easy to watch and get a sense of the sound and ball flight each club makes.  We'll start of here with the D Series Drivers which focus more on the average golfer looking for distance and ease of use. They comment on the trajectory being higher but still strong and the R.P.M. design leading to low spin and big run out.

And this video below features the 2011 Inpres X D FW and D UT and talks about the Fric Off Twin sole that really helps the clubs from digging.

I'll be posting up the V series reviews as well in the next few days.

Tario (aka gocchin) joined Tourspecgolf back in 2008 after spending over a decade in technology and business operation roles at a major Canadian financial institution. Before joining TSG and following his dream of moving to Japan, Tario and Chris (aka Tourspecgolfer) hit it off though their similar passions for Japanese culture. Chris hired Tario to manage TSG online operations, sales and marketing. While those are Tario's primary responsibilities, he has also taken up the role of blogger and custom club tester and fitter along the way. Tario's hobbies include golf (of course), gadgets and technology, cars, Japanese pop culture and idols, photography, sweets and walking the dog.

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In 2011 at the Japan Golf Fair Yonex Golf showed off it's new EZONE line which marks a major change of direction in the companies product line. Since acquiring their star player Ryo Ishikawa Yonex Golf has been trying to appeal to the better player with his pro edition clubs.  Back in late February at the show we didn't expect the new Yonex EZONE 380cc Driver to wow us like it did.  Popular member and forum personality Stew aka Supo67 found the 380 to be one of the best drivers of the show where he produced some of his best distance gains and very tight dispersion even against other much larger headed drivers.

Upon returning from Japan I posted our usual content covering the show and Yonex took notice and reached out to us to form a special partnership.  Here at TSG we have the unique capability to offer you the customer heads only of all models woods, irons, and wedges included. We were also given a fitting cart to do some T&E.  After a few weeks hitting these extensively we are ready to display the Yonex Ezone Driver Review.  It's my personal take on the clubs along with TSG Club Tester Tatsuro Oshimoto's comments in the Video below.

Distance: Overall all 3 models did well in carry, for me the distance was above average,  The trajectory was lower on the 380, perfect on the 420 and 450. I did get a good amount of float while the roll was average with the 420/450 and a perfect mid trajectory and lots of run with the 380.   The 380cc head + Graphite Design Tour AD DJ-6 or DJ-7 especially in the 10*  would be my ideal setup.  I have the TourStage 415 9.5* with DJ-6 to compare it to  and all was equal in distance yet the Yonex flew straighter and a bit higher. The 380cc for Tatsuro rivaled his Jbeam in distance but had a wider dispersion.  Based on our results it seems they have medium to medium spin rates which support a straight shooter in gaining distance.  We both hit the 380 longer than the 420 and 450cc models.
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Forgiveness:  The 450 is one forgiving driver, the 420 excels as well.  It feels like there is a good amount of mass or a very stable and solid structure behind the heel and toe that kept the ball on target.  While Tatsuro hit's it dead center like a machine my shots impact all parts of the face.  It's no where near Ryoma forgiving but I can safely say it's better than most on the market today.  The 380 was surprisingly easy to hit but not forgiving on mishits low.
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Feel: Usually when venturing into bigger heads things get tin like or hollow.  Tatsuro and myself both thought it felt well constructed and the sensation was stable/solid. We did not think it was soft nor hard feeling.  The sound was solid pure as well very clean sensation and it took impact well.  The 380 feels hard when hit poorly while the 420/450 takes bad shots very well.
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Trajectory/Dispersion: We had the full line of Rexis shaft's and both the graphite design Tour AD DJ-6 and DJ-7's in stiff flex at our disposal. I'm not usually a high ball hitter and would normally go with a 10*.  My gamer Ryoma is 9.5*  The Yonex 380 9* provided me with a similar trajectory to my Ryoma.  The 380 and 420 in 10* was near perfect as well.  I would go with 9* on the 450 head and 10* with the 380/420.  The Tour AD shaft is designed for a high ball flight.  It was a good match with the 380 head but I would need a lower trajectory shaft with the bigger heads.
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Design: Easy A+ to yonex on the design, they managed to build 3 driver that all feel playeresque.  The 380 is has the best shape of any driver I have ever seen.  They all have nice deep faces and a sensation of substance behind it.  I love the fact that the CG is center of the club face as well.  The 420/450 both feature 8AL-1V cast Titanium bodies while the 380 is 6AL-4V.  All three models have SP700HM rolled Ti faces and a high strength carbon crown.  If you look at the face pics you can see where the body material ends and the SP700 kicks in.
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 EMAIL

What makes the Ryoma D-1 so damn good?  I must admit I hopped aboard this bandwagon a bit late, I sat on the sidelines and watched while others posted what looked to be unbelievable distance gains matched with complete face forgiveness.  Was this hype? Could it be the infamous honeymoon period we know happens when you buy a new club?  It was my turn to find out...

In a nut shell what makes this driver such a monster is it's 60 gram power booster weight in the back.  Usually you see 10-15 grams in a driver, you heard me right 60g!  It pulls the center of gravity so far back low and deep in the head that it increases energy transfer to significant levels for the ultimate slingshot effect.

On top of that Ryoma utilizes something called "DSI" it stands for Deep Strong Impact and it's basically a one piece unibody produced of forged titanium.  It's a construction features a body that is only 0.35mm thick which is about half the thickness of current drivers on the market.  Some brand's get their crowns that thin but not the entire head.

To keep stability and structural integrity Ryoma has stabalized the inner frame. If your the technical type and need charts with specific information and diagrams please "click here" to view this listing.

All this technology creates a mid launch low spin driver.  It's Ryoma's opinion that mid launch with low spin creates the best angle of descent and the most run... plus in most cases the most stability and control.

On average people are gaining 10-15 yards, some even 20-30 yards and not in a sloppy whippy carry bomber kinda way but rather a controlled  intentional and piercing trajectory that's very accurate.  Sound to good to be true?  Right tell me about it, that's why I had to review it for myself...

Distance: I swing around 100 mph+ with a higher ball flight than most and that's why I opted for the 9.5 V-Spec.  I've hit what could be the longest drives of my life with this setup.  Ryoma 9.5 V-Spec w/Muzzik BangVoo Preium S-260 cpm I usually average about 240ish now I have been in the 260+ range.  It's what keeps me a float when playing with longer hitters. Longest driver I have ever hit.

Forgiveness: I'm totally gonna sound like a Ryoma fanboy now but it's forgiveness was phenomenal!  My mishits are usually near the heel, it really didnt make much of a difference where as with other drivers that would create a big fade or slice this one sailed straight with a tiny fade at the end.  Distance loss was minimal and I gotta attribute that to the 60g power booster it spreads that weight through the club head making the CG so deep and far back that it projects mass behind the entire face and impact zone. Most forgiving driver I have ever hit.

Feel: It's got a firm forged feel to it, I would definitely rank it in my top 5 best feeling drivers of all time.  I'm sure it's not the best I've hit but it's pretty darn outstanding.  I tend to gravitate to clubs like the Epon 460ZR, Kamui, and Crazy CRZ 460 when it comes to feel and I would put the Ryoma in that level of perfection at impact.  Listen to the sound in the video review coming up.

Trajectory/Dispersion: This is where it shines, I can hit most 9.5's high by teeing the ball up but with the Ryoma V-Spec it was medium all day.  I did get the ocassionally higher flight resulting in distance lost when hitting into the wind but with all variables like wind gone it was simply the perfect medium trajectory.  The ball dispersion was nice and tight and much of that I can attribute to the Muziik shaft as I do know the stock Ryoma shaft flew high and wild for me.  Very straight and very accurate was my result with a forward kick and lots of roll.  I repeat lot's of roll with this one when combined with the proper model shaft.  I'm always looking for a driver that provides the right trajectory on both windy and calm days.

Design: In the beginning I was honestly not a fan of its looks, but while in Japan I held a V-Spec and was surprised that the 60g power booster could not be seen from above. The black finish is highly durable, I've drop kicked this club a few times and where as other black drivers would scratch heavily this one didn't.  I keep going back to the 60g power booster and the stabilized unibody frame support within it's forged titanium head.  Something so obvious and overkill I'm surprised other golf club companies have not picked up on it.

All in all the Ryoma V-Spec has converted me, It sit's FIRMLY in my bag which is no easy feat as I have over a dozen of the hottest drivers with aftermarket shafts at my disposal.  I highly suggest this head and I highly suggest the Muziik BangVoo Premium shaft as well. It's a triple axis 70T carbon shaft that is VERY PREDICTABLE in the sub 70 gram weight range.