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We've been lucky enough to watch Crazy Shafts grow from a virtually unknown cult type brand to premium high performance brand in a few very short years. The great thing is Crazy is still growing its brand and product lines. Last year saw more and more golfers around Japan exposed to Crazy as the premier high modulus carbon shaft brand.  Crazy's media presence has grown significantly in the last 365 days. I read every golf publication in Japan and 2 years ago, there was rarely even a mention of Crazy as at that time, it targeted a much narrower audience with far less products.  The shafts were already pretty good but not everyone had the power and swing speed of long drive competitors which is where the shafts really shone.  Fast forward to 2010 and Crazy began to offer more shafts suiting a wider range of golfers and media outlets and shops and golfers around Japan began to take notice.

Marketing and media aside, at the end of the day its performance that counts. It can be difficult to measure shaft performance as every player is different, and every player needs their "own" shaft, so pitting up Crazy models against other brands models is difficult to say the least. So up to this point its been very hard to make shaft comparisons. Crazy shafts are not for everyone. Price wise they are probably one of the most expensive brands. Though keeping in mind that experimenting and changing shafts all the time, no matter what the brand is also a very expensive undertaking. Its all about finding the right shaft. So I was very excited when I was able to come across some data from International Sports Marketing Ltd's Japanese wing which compiled reviews of different equipment here in Japan from amateur and recreational golfers like you and I. Rather than say this shaft is better than that shaft, the reviews are based on individual satisfaction with a specific shaft model (kind of the way they do satisfaction surveys with cars).  This is not the be all end all of shaft rankings as it still is very unscientific and with no controls. Its just the feedback of golfers and how happy they are with their purchase pf a specific shaft. While this won't tell us how good a shaft necessarily is or even who the shaft might fit, it does give us an idea of the shafts ability to perform especially when someone has put down a large sum of money for shaft.

So as you probably guessed, Crazy must have done quite well in this shaft rankings. The rankings are always changing as reviews keep coming in but the current number one ranked satisfaction shaft model is the Crazy Black 46 shaft.  Number two surprised me as it is the Bangvoo Premium. You have to hand it to Japanese golfers to see a $725 and $1050 retail shaft ranked 1 and 2.  Number 3 is Miyazaki's Kusala Blue followed by Fujikura's Motore Speeder VC.1 line, UST Mamiya Axiv Core Red, Diamana Blueboard, Crazy Black 50,  Fubuki Alpha, UST Mamiya ATTAS T2, Bangvoo 787, Crazy TJ-46 Noir, Tour AD MD and Diamana's ahina.  This is pretty good recognition for Crazy putting it up there with all the big mainstream brands. One surprise for me was the lack of high reviews for Graphite Design and it could be just the sampling of reviews (just under 500 shaft reviews were used so far).

A big part of Crazy's growth has been getting out there and letting people try their shafts. As I noted earlier in a post, Crazy has launched their Tour Van/bus which not only supports top pros and amateurs at tournaments but also during non competition days, allow for recreational golfers all around Japan to test their shafts.  The Tour bus is currently in the middle of a 75 stop tour holding testing and fitting events all across Japan. If you stop in Japan on vacation or are here already, we can help set you up with a session.

At these fitting events and also recently at their Crazy Factory stores, they have been keeping track of different players and their club settings/whats in the bag. Its fun to see what kind of Crazy shafts others are playing. This week we've got a top female amateur's bag to show. Rumi Yoshiba is still in high school but she led all golfers at the end of last month at LPGA Japan's Q-school/pro test 2nd stage. Rumi uses Crazy shafts in all her woods as well as the Crazy 435 Driver. Her bag is as follows:

Driver: Crazy 435 10.5* Crazy Black 46 6.2 Flex (R) 45.5" 305g  D2
3 Wood: Yamaha Inpres X 15* Crazy FW-01 Evolution 6.9 Flex (SR) 43" 315g D1
5 Wood: Yamaha Inpres X 18* Crazy FW-01 Evolution 6.9 Flex (SR) 42.25" 323g D1
Utility: Yamaha Inpres X 22* Crazy FW-80 6.9 Flex (SR)
Irons: Yamaha Inpres X V Forged 750GH Regular
Wedges: Yamaha Inpres X Wedge 950Gh Regular
Putter: White Hot XG #7

More and more female golfers especially top amateurs have been spotted playing Crazy shafts thanks to their lighter weight but premium control and distance. We hope to see Rumi continue her success and make it to the Japan Tour!

So Crazy continues to grow and hopefully we can help you find the right Crazy shaft for your swing.! You can check out all Crazy's products in our shop and email us anytime if you need fitting help!

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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Give me your longest driver...

I get tons of emails every day asking for recommendations on clubs from the Japanese market. As I mentioned in previous posts, one of the questions I frequently get is, "What's the longest driver you guys have?" And as I have always answered, there is no such thing as the longest club but rather the best club matching each individual's skill level and swing type.  Finding the right club with the right specs is a difficult task but for a mid to higher handicapper, hitting the sweet spot consistently can be even more difficult.

Let's face it, it doesn't matter how great a driver is if you can't catch the ball on the sweet spot of the club. If matched with the right club head design and loft as well as the right shaft, hitting the sweet spot consistently on your driver with a good inside to out swing path will produce all the distance you need with nice straight drives. One great example that mid handicappers and average golfers like myself can look up to is the players on the Japanese ladies tour. Lets face it, modest golfers like myself will never hit the 110mph + that most pro men players are capable of so we can find very good comparisons on the ladies tour where the average swing speed is 40m/s or 90mph.

Even Modest swing speed can equal long distance:

Here are a few JLPGA pros and their average driving distance:

Fukushima Ayako 275.9 yards
Yuko Mitsuka 272.6 yards
Tamie Durdin 267.5 yards
Sakura Yokomine 259.6 yards
Jeon Mi Jung 257.8 yards
Eun A Lim 257.4 yards
Shinobu Moromizato 254.4 yards
Chie Arimura 252.0 yards
Yukari Baba 248.3 yards
Miho Koga 245.0 yards
Erina Hara 242.0 yards
Maiko Wakabayashi 242.0 yards
Rui Kitada 239.5 yards

Amateur Man vs Pro Lady...

PRGR's Science Fit center took a closer look at these numbers by pitting a mid handicapper average  male golfer with a 90mph swing against a Erina Hara a PRGR pro on the lady's tour. And these are what the numbers showed:

According to the Science Eye analysis, the amateur being tested showed the typical weaknesses of an amateur with an outside to in swing path and a steep angle of attack causing high back spin and high launch with a down blow on the ball. Meanwhile Erina's inside to out path and catching the ball on the upswing in the center of the club created optimal launch and backspin.

Exceptional performance...

On the ladies tour there are really two exceptional anomalies when it comes to driving the ball, Rui Kitada, Srixon Pro and Chie Arimura, Tourstage Pro. These two ultra smooth swinging girls have very technically sound swings and perfect gear to match. Their ability to hit the sweet spot dead on is superb and result in some of the best distance per club head speed ratios on the tour. Rui barely averages 82mph but her driving average on tour is 239.5 yards!! Chie swings right around 90mph and averages 252.0 yards!

Take a look here at Rui's swing. Rui is small and by no means bulky or stocky. Just sound mechanics.

Take a look at Chie's swing. As you can see has a great low center of gravity and serious muscles in her lower body. She doesn't even take her back swing to parallel but is able to generate lots of speed through the impact zone as she hits the fade on this dogleg right.

So buying what you may think is the longest driver on the market is only part of the equation to longer drives. Choosing the right driver and shaft specs and being able to hitthe driver properly and consistently as well will affect the end result even more. We at TSG are always glad to help you with your driver and shaft choices if you let us know more about your swing and game but its up to you get out there and practice driving that ball straight!

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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The newly approved Groove Change rule by the PGA Tour has been getting a lot of press, a lot of ink, and a lot of controversy as of late.  Many people are thinking it is a terrible idea, while many others believe it's a great plan and will put a very high price on actually hitting the fairway.  No matter what you actually think of the rule, the plain fact is that it passed, and it's going to be a reality starting January 1, 2010.

But What About Us?

Knowing this, all of us that aren't lucky enough to play golf for a living, get paid to play the most unique, challenging and fun courses in the world, or sponsored by one of the biggest manufacturers of golf equipment in the country might be left wondering exactly how this will affect the rest of us.  The good news is, we have some answers.  As you know, the groove change rule was put into effect in an attempt to limit just how sharp and deep the grooves on clubs with over 25-degrees of loft can be.  Sending them back to the previously accepted "V-Shaped" groove dimensions will put a serious damper on just how much spin you can generate, and how much you'll be able to bring the ball back and stop it on a green.  For the pro's, that's maybe not THAT big of a deal, but for us?

Finally...Simple Answers For Us

The great news is, we don't have a whole lot to worry about.  We started to put an end to the confusion with our last post, but it wasn't aimed directly at all of us amateur and casual golfers out there.  That said, golf.com put out a way to answer our questions.  So, without further ado:

"If you're an amateur who wants more backspin, you realize the grooves you play determine the third factor in your backspin equation and the stopping distances you achieve on greens. In this regard the USGA has been lenient. The rule gives amateurs (who don't play in Major/USGA events) a choice of which grooves to play until at least 2024. If you want to maximize your short-game backspin, you can legally play with box or U-groove wedges (manufactured prior to 1/1/10) until 2024, or maybe forever. On the other hand, if you play with any wedge manufactured after 1/1/10 (like the pros will be doing), it must have grooves with spin performance at or below V-groove levels. This will limit you to mediocre spin performance. The USGA leaves this groove choice up to you."

Make Sense?

Got it?  Good!  Now go play!