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This is just a reminder to everyone that the window for pre ordering the new and Limited Edition Ryoma Special Tuning Hi COR heads closes this Sunday at midnight EST. We have to submit our official pre order list to Ryoma on Monday here in Japan (which is still Sunday in the West). Ryoma has already told us that the drivers will most likely sell out before launch and the first batch of new Ryoma Fairway woods (which are also part of the order window) will also be sold out on launch.

While Ryoma will continue to produce the fairway woods though customers will have to wait for the second batch if they do not pre order, the drivers are a one time deal and once sold out there will be no more. So contact us if you would like to book... time is running out!

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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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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The new Srixon Z-TX Driver just arrived.  It features a pretty cool weighting system called "Quick Tune".  It comes with a pouch, weights, and a wrench.  The head itself is 460cc's, there is also a Tour model Z-TX that is 430cc's.  The head features a 8AL-2V Titanium cast body while the face is made of what's called by Srixon Super TIX 51Af Forged Titanium.

It features a larger sweet spot with a newly redesigned face.  By changing the wall thickness making the center, upper and lower area's thinner against thicker diagonal portions.  Tour players in japan are using both the 460 and 430cc models It's based purely on preference, some like to work the ball and look down at a more compact appearance while others prefer a larger look as well as more heel and toe forgiveness which inspires confidence.

In Japan it comes with your choice of the Miyazaki Kusala Blue 72 or Silver 61. The 460 is available in 8.5, 9.5, and 10.5 lofts at a stock length of 45.25" while the 430cc model is only available with the Kusala Blue 72 and 8.5 or 9.5 lofts at 45" total length.

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Here at TSG we've been fans of JBEAM Drivers for a couple of years now.  Made in Japan the emphasis of the brand is in creating high quality metal woods. The first time we took notice was when Crazy Golf decided to partner with JBEAM to create 2009/2010's longest driver in Japan (for faster swing speeds) It was a combo head + shaft named the CRZ-435 head combined with the TJ-46 Crazy shaft.  It won 96 -103 mph  and 105 - 120 mph.

The lead designer and owner Sakata Kazuhiro has produced designs for top name OEM's in the past and serviced JPGA touring pro's for over 20 years. He wanted to emphasize on quality first and foremost before so he decided to create his own label JBEAM.

The JBEAM 445 HG driver is designed to perform for the low to mid handicapper. Jbeam really doesn't make high handicap drivers their main focus is on providing optimal spin rates combined with a very hot and great feeling face.  It's black IP finish extends around the club making it gorgeous and sleek, If you desire a particular head weight let us know, as you can see JBEAM can adjust head weighting and bias at their HQ in Tokyo, Japan.

The new JBEAM 445 HG features a 2 piece design the body is produced of 6A-4V+ Ti while the face is made of the DAT55G,  Same material companies like Kamui use to produce their driver faces.  It's available in 9.5 to 12* accurate lofts,  JBEAM can hand pick face angles from square to +2* closed . This driver is USGA conforming.  Keep an eye out in the TSG ProShop for the latest JBEAM drivers including the new 445HG as shown in this post.

I'm personally a big fan of their products, the driver TSG tested before this was the JBEAM 425-Tour in 10*. It had a low piercing trajectory and lots of forward kick run.  TSG club tester Tatsuro Oshimoto ended up having to have this club in his bag.  Combined with the Muziik 787 Speeder by Fujikura all he could do was hit it straight all day and everyday.

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Fourteen DT111 Driver
We've  got the scoop prior to Fourteen's official announcement.  The New Fourteen Golf DT-111 Driver!  Specifics on the drivers exact technology and build have not been confirmed so I'm going to go out on the skinny branches to give my best guestimate based on what Fourteen does best along with what they have produced in the past.  I would assume Fourteen is implementing it's popular VL titanium cup face with a 15-3-3-3 Ti body material +KS100 parts to produce a 4 piece composite structure titanium head.  In the past most Fourteen drivers were released in 9* and 10.5* and it's my best guess that they will continue that tradition.

Compared to the ST-110 it appears the exaggerated scoop has been reduced in size and the back edge of the crown features a more pronounced drop than the previous design.  Looks like the same theory in general except the new DT111's approach seems a lot more straight forward if the goal is to lower the center of gravity.  Expect an MOI above 4100 and and a nice low center of gravity.  No specific's yet on the club head volume so I can only estimate it should be in the 435cc range.  Again another company that may be opting out of the full sized 460cc head design.

Next week we will have some initial testing impressions at the Tokyo Golf Fair and I will be updating this post to reflect any differences against my speculation.

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Crazy CRZ-460 Driver Review

Design: The new CRZ-460 is what I would consider a proven design  built using the finest quality materials.  It uses a monocoque body and the theory behind monocque design is it's one piece construction maximizes energy transfer to the ball more efficently than multi piece designs.  In the auto industry its used to maintain structural integrity and the word itself is french meaning "single shell".

The face is made of DAT55 which is arguably the hottest material used in golf club faces period.  Japanese made DAT55 is especially expensive and is often not used for golf clubs due to price.  The famous Crazy 435 long driver also utilized the same Japan made DAT55G in its face construction as well.  It provides a sponge like slingshot effect translating into increased distance.  The Kamui Works custom drivers are also produced with that face and that's #2 in the Rating Gate reviews.

Distance: "Stupid Long" Tatsuro Oshimoto our TSG Club Tester would have gotten along much better with a stiffer shaft, As one who plays to a plus handicap and has a 110+ mph swing speed he is used to lower trajectory X flex shafts.  The demo club was setup for me and that's why I requested the Longest Yard 01 NEW (Hot Black) version in 6.9 flex.

The CRZ 460 head is a high velocity low spin design, Like the 435 model its known for its distance.  The 460 is designed to have a medium trajectory and fit a wider array of players.

What most people don't realize is how active the Crazy Shaft's play, The tip throws the club head forward without shaft deformation.  It's a sub 60 gram shaft for aggressive swingers.  The CRZ 460 is very hot off it's face and coupled with the NEW LY-01 shaft it was producing medium high shots. It was amazing how we could not hook it easily it wanted to fly straight.

Forgiveness: Good Forgiveness it's deeper faced and suites the player who misses high and low more than left to right on the face.  For those familiar with the Epon 460ZR, this club is all that and a bag of chips.   To the right you see the face profile looking forward, It's got lots of real estate to land your ball on.

Lot's of the drivers forgiveness attributes come from it's anti deformation design and active tip. It quickly regains its original shape bringing the club head back to where you intended.   It's face that is made of DAT55 are available from Daido Specialty Steel, of Nagoya-City, Japan It's exactly what you want your driver made from.

All in all it's a very forgiving driver, from it's big volume,  large impact area and  monocoque produced by A.F.D body

Feel: Feels soft when always, especially when hit on the screws.   It features an almost  spongy feeling to it.  It's got a unique sound of it's own that again reminds me of the old Epon 460zr in Performance & Feel.

In the video review you saw the CRZ-460 up against the Bridgestone J38 driver which has a huge difference in feel and sound.  That's the "muted thwack" and almost dead at times.   That's a fantastic feel for sure andwhile some players do actually prefer that,  In recent years its usually only found on smaller headed advanced level  or Pro Limited models.

Overall: Combined with the LY-01 Hot shaft the  ball flight was a tad high,  It's distance is the same or a hair longer than my personal AF-102 driver with FireExpress yet dispersion was much tighter and it was more forgiving.  The CRZ-460 is a well balanced design offering forgiveness, feel, distance and style  and when it's coupled with what in my opinion are the best shafts available, your only need is to find the right shaft for you.  It's available in 9.5, 10, 10.5, 11.0, 11.5, 12.0 lofts! with your choice of any of Crazy's custom installed by their technicians in Tokyo.

There are a ton of shaft's offered by Crazy and to make matters more difficult they are not separated by flex.  Crazy uses a completely different flex rating system.  The CRZ-460 demo club we were given was requested as an SR flex and they sent us 6.9 that spec'd out to 260cpms!  I'm not sure if they used a 7" clamp or 5"  because this morning when i went to check the cpm's my machine broke!  So my new rule of thumb w/crazy is 6.9 = SR, 7.4 = Stiff and so on.

I would normally play stiff with other shaft companies but with Crazy their weight, torque, and flex can't be applied with the same thought as them.  Its incredibly stable at any weight or torque rating and that's the thing about high modulus carbon with a very active tip.  It allows me to go softer without the ball going all over the place,  It stays tight.

So click contact us through the proshop and one of the TSG team can assist you select the proper shaft for your swing. I hope you enjoyed our short review and video.  It was a lot of fun making it and look forward to a review on the new Fourteen TC-510 very soon.

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It's the 20th of December today and temperatures hit 18C down in southern Chiba. It's hard to believe it's almost Christmas. I overdressed for a round over at Katsuura Tokyu Resort as I got a chance to test out the Quelot Royal Excellence drivers. I originally was planning a range and photo session with both the Gold and Silver models tomorrow before writing up a full review and introduction about their features and differences but after today's round, I had to post my first impressions.

There are a lot of drivers that have impressed me with their performance but I had to say "wow" after spending a day hitting the Quelots. I pulled out the Quelot Silver on the first hole and and promptly drove the ball around 240y total distance. All my playing partners said "great drive! nice shot" as I usually average just under 230y  when driving the ball well. I then took a look at the driver face and the ball mark was  towards the toe, by actually quite a bit. As you can imagine, this made me rather excited, and its been a while since an off center hit excited me. I realized it might take me a few holes to get used to the longer lengths of the  Quelot as I typically play a driver between 44.00" and 44.5" which really help me hit the sweet spot all the time. The Quelot's feature light heads as they are meant to be built longer ie between 45.50" and 46.00" in length. The longer length will definitely help gain distance as long as a player can consistently hit the sweet spot... or not? Yes I did just say I hit one off the toe that went longer than my usual drives.

I'm not going to go into too much detail as I still want to do one more range session tomorrow with them where I can hit them alternately for a bucket of balls and finish taking pictures. However I will say that while both drivers share similar dimensions and designs, there ARE more differences to them than just being Gold and Silver. One thing they do share in common is explosive impact and great forgiveness.  I was reminded of a Kamui 456 feel with dare I say crisper sound, a hotter face and more forgiveness. I should also note that I hit both Quelot's with their stock Quelot shafts which are 4 axis weave shafts made in Japan by NGS. Because the Quelot is available through TSG as a custom order it's actually available with ANY SHAFT in Japan (you can contact us now if you feel like ordering or getting a price quote or fitting).

Overall I had a great day with the Quelots. I recently hit the X-Drive 705 455, PRGR iD 435 and ONOFF XI-S (all forged by Endo by the way) which I thought were all top class drivers but the Quelot tops them thanks to its more explosive feel geared towards a player of my level and swing speed (mid 80's and just over 90mph) and it's superior forgiveness.

I'll finish testing the Quelot drivers tomorrow and post the more detailed portion of my review including who I think the target audience of the Quelot is and why the driver worked for me today. Stay tuned!

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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ONOFF has produced some very hot drivers over the years. Year in and year out they've always been known to produce drivers that are easy to hit and great for distance.  They recently announced their all new 2011 models so I asked that they send them over for me to check out.

Type D and Type S for 2011

In the past, ONOFF divided their models into a RED line and a PLUS line. The RED models were meant for the more average golfer and focused on an easy high launch and distance and forgiveness. The Plus line on the other hand had more of a focus on control and direction. Last year they began rebranding the models by also calling the Red the .XD model and the Plus the XP model. This year in their marketing they seem to have dropped the Red and Plus monikers at least in Japan. They now call the models the Type D which is the average golfer model and the Type S which is for the better player.

Sharing visual cues...

I had very limited time with both drivers as these loaners had to get back to ONOFF so I tried to spend a good day at the range with both.  As always, ONOFF drivers are very clean looking and and feature visual cues that have evolved across the models over the last few years. On first impressions, I noticed that even the Type S model (formerly Plus) seems to have gotten a shallower face than in the past (image at right), though the rest of its design is very "Plus" looking with clean looks, long hosel, and a 1 degree open face angle.

Wide Hyper Effect Face II

Like previous models, both the D and S use ONOFF's Wide Hyper Effect face though its been redesigned and given a "II" as the second generation. In order to expand high initial velocity area, the club face is divided into 6 different areas. The thickness of the center of the face is thickest and it is getting thinner to perimeter of the face. The face is thicker on the Type S matching well with faster swingers who want a softer feel at impact and the strength to repel stronger impact for higher ball speeds. The Type D has a thinner center area than the S which helps increase smash factor for slower more average swing speeds. Also carried over to both models is ONOFF's Power Sole Bridge, which adopts a power ribbed construction for the sole. This increases the rigidity of the body which lowers spin and optimizes energy transfer for distance.

ELF Titanium, Hmmmmm...

Now here is the interesting part. According to ONOFF, the Type S athlete model is made with a forged ELF Titanium face. Those who read the blog will know that this is a very common material used by Endo for Callaway and PRGR drivers made in Japan. ONOFF also notes that the Type S is made in Japan. The Type D on the other hand uses a pressed 6-4 Ti face. The body materials are also different with the Type S using more premium KS100 Ti for the ribbed body and Type D using 811Ti.  I'm pretty sure the Type S is made at Endo and the Type D most likely produced in China like past ONOFF drivers. Why they decided to do this, I still have to ask them but it sure makes the Type S far more attractive.

Type S > Average golfer?

Even though past ONOFF drivers were not made in Japan, they performed very well and were indeed some of the easiest drivers to hit and produced pretty awesome distance. Now that the Type S is made in Japan, the question is can an average golfer with an average low 90's swing speed hit the Type S? The answer is yes.  Both drivers are relatively easy to hit and the Type S is certainly playable by the average golfer as long as your bad shot is not a slice. Feel is different between the two drivers as you can imagine with the different materials. The Type S is softer feeling at impact and sound is more subtle while the Type D is more high pitched and both metallic sounding and feeling at impact.

One of the reasons the Type S has become easier to hit compared to previous generations, is it's shallower face and more shallow back head which has taken the CG further back and increased MOI. I actually preferred the Type S though specs would suggest I would be better off with the Type D. Does the manufacturing have something to do with it? Of course.  I won't try and pull anyone's leg by saying I don't care where a driver is made cause I do.  This doesn't mean that the Type D is not a good driver. It's just that the Type S is a better driver. There are other reasons that I like the Type S besides where its made and that's its softer feel,and that's its trajectory as well. The Type S has a more penetrating straight ball with low spin for good run. I've gone from a player who needed all the carry I could get to a player who now prefers a more stable mid trajectory ball that will run as long as it can. The Type S is that driver for me. As I've improved as a player I've actually gone from a player who battled a slice to one whose bad shot is now a pull thanks to swing adjustments.  The bottom line is I like the Type S looks, it's sound and feel and its trajectory and of course those are all very important factors in liking any club.

I've talked a lot about how I like the Type S but what about the Type D?  The Type D is very much like RED model drivers of the past. This D model tester I had also produces a higher ball with a draw bias. The driver itself is pretty good looking as well and features a closed face which becomes even more closed as the lofts get higher plus a weight more towards the heel giving that right to left bias. For the player who is not a fast swinger, battles a slice and needs a higher launch, the Type D is a great option and will certainly perform with a lot of ease of use and forgiveness. The Type D is still the driver for the majority of average golfers especially the higher handicapper ones who struggle with the driver.

Stable stock shaft...

ONOFF stock shafts are pretty good. They are afterall owned by Daiwa who also run premium shaft brand Roddio and are masters of carbon manufacturing thanks to their huge share of the fishing rod business in Japan. Some club makers here in Japan even go as far as saying ONOFF makes the best stock/oem shafts as they can rival aftermarket shafts. I don't know if I'd go that far, but as far a stock shaft goes, it's pretty good.  For me the ONOFF shafts have always had a good balance of feel, kick and control. Any hard hitter or super fast swinger should consider an upgrade shaft anyway and that goes for any brand but for those of us who are mortals and don't swing like the pros, the ONOFF stock shaft is a good choice.

Customization...

As always, ONOFF drivers are pretty customizable by Labospec, ONOFF Tour division. They can not only adjust face angle but also lie angle to a certain degree because ONOFF drivers typically use a proprietary hosel/socket which allows for these adjustments internally during the shaft install. Shaft options also include all Roddio shafts.

The ONOFF will be available in the pro shop this week so look for them on Tourspecgolf.com or contact us to customize one.

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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Taylormade R11 Driver

The New Taylormade R11 Driver will be showcased at the 2011 Tokyo Golf Show  and as usual you can expect GolfToImpress/TourSpecGolf to have plenty of HD Video and High Resolution Images as well as a Taylormade R11 Driver Review.  last year we revelaed the Taylormade R9 TP Forged irons along with some other Japan only tid bits.  Will it be the R11 DEEP or perhaps an R11 Max this year dedicated to the Japanese Market?

AST = Adjustable Sole Technology

The new acronym on the sole of the club is (AST) and it stands for Adjustable Sole Technology. Combine that with FCT and MWT and you got a lot of adjustments your able to make. It's pretty amazing stuff if you ask me.

R11 Ghost Driver?

Around the web people are chiming in with positive & negative opinions on the fact that Taylormades future flagship model may come standard in white.  This seems to be the flavor of the month or month(s) with Taylormade's Ghost putter series and recently Cobra's limited edition white driver.  Still no word on if Taylormade will label the new R11 "ghost", my guess is not.

Taylormade R11 TP Driver

Yup it's a safe bet there will be the R11 TP Driver not too far down the line as well.  We can figure the MSRP on the Taylormade R11 will be in the $399.00 range and with the R11TP coming in near $699.00 these are just my guesses, confirmation should be coming soon.

Were these Images Leaked too Early?

My take is that it was an intentional leak and that Taylormade knows exactly what they are doing by getting the pictures out there on the web then asking websites to take them down. It causes a stir getting websites to speculate and customers to get into a pre release frenzy.  Taylormade markets product behind the scenes like no other companies.  Will they ask GTI/TSG to remove the images while they spread like like fire on the web?  Only time will tell...

Taylormade R11 Forged Irons?

Let's keep going right?  It's not to far of a stretch to say the Taylormade will release R11 Irons with or soon after the release of the driver. R11 Fairway Woods, R11 Wedges, R11 TP Irons, R11 Bags & Hat's it's all coming!  It's also pretty safe to say the Japanese Market will be the first to announce R11 Forged Irons and R11 TP Forged Irons.

GolfToImpress will keep you guy's updated as news comes out ...

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Information has been floating around the last few weeks about Yamaha's 2011 model announcment, even though Yamaha didn't make it official until today. Fans of Yamaha seem to have figured out that Yamaha releases new club models every year at the end of November meaning club info a month leading to the release. The entire 2011 lineup has been redesigned including new fairway woods, utilities and wedges! The only models that stay the same are the 2010 average golfer models, the D-Black and D-Steel. Here's a look at the new model breakdown:

Yamaha has given us 4 new driver models, 1 of which is the limited V425 Tour Model. There are now 3 fairway wood models and one new utility.  There is again a limited V Forged Tour Model along with the standard V Forged Iron. Finally an all new V Forged wedge!

Today I'll look at the new driver models.

Yamaha has long been a leading manufacturer of clubs packed with technology and the 2011 models are no different. For the drivers, Yamaha has broken down the design and performance of the drivers based on 5 key features:

All the 2011 Yamaha models feature a new power chemically milled crown. What Yamaha has done is create a mesh style ribbed crown with varying thickness. The crown is a thicker 0.75mm towards the face which creates stability and maximum energy transfer at impact while the crown gets progressively thinner, down to 0.55mm and 0.45mm at the back of the head. The thicker front section is there to allow the face to "bend" creating that sling shot effect with low spin and optimal trajectory as the crown does not flex back. The thinner areas keep the crown lightweight and help bring the CG to an optimum location for maximum distance performance.

Yamaha has brought back the Octaface design with the new models. These premium forged faces feature even wider sweet areas than the previous models thus are dubbed OctafaceV Wide and OctafaceD Wide.  Both faces also feature all new 4 part bulge and roll designs made to improve not only distance but control as well. Yamaha touts the V models as having 13% larger sweet spots and the D models with 25% larger sweet spots.

Yamaha has all new shafts available with their 4 driver models. The great news is that the standard shaft for the limited edition 425cc Tour Model is now the Diamana ahina while the V440 Power Length driver gets an all new Graphite Design Tour AD LV series shaft as the stock shaft. The 2 D models, D445 and D460 get all new stock Yamaha Orbit shafts made to keep trajectory down and avoid ballooning. Yamaha has designed the Orbits to not only deliver the head on a proper level plane at impact but they claim the shafts and clubs can increase swing speed by up to 1.4m/s!

Yamaha is well aware that too much spin and too high a launch can kill distance especially when wind comes into play. They have long implemented an rpm concept that focuses on designing heads that create low spin for maximum carry PLUS run for the best overall distance.  They center of gravity is optimally placed depending on each driver, to properly match the drivers design and along with the chemically milled crown and Octaface produce the right amount of spin.

Yamaha believes that golf is very much about sight, feel and sound. The sound of a club can have distinct influence on a players perception of feel and even performance. Yamaha worked to fine tune the sound to what they believe also creates the best performance. The sound of the V Series resonates further back in the head for a more solid sound for the athlete golfer while the sound of the D series comes forward towards the face for a more explosive perceived sound for the average golfer.

The V425 Tour Model is a limited edition and 425cc as the name suggests. The head is compact and the head is deep and high back. It's launch is the lowest and features the most control with workability left and right. It's made for the pro player and single digit handicapper with a faster swing.  The V445 Power Length is 445cc and designed for a mid trajectory fade ball also made for the lower handicapper.

The two average golfer D models consist of the D445 Power Forward which is a mid to high trajectory straight to fade ball driver for those who battle a hook or want square face angle. The D460 Power Draw is as named and weighted for a draw with a slightly closed face and is great for the slower swinger or those battling a slice. The D models have shallower faces and heads with deeper CG points.

Most of this info is based on the announcement info provided by Yamaha, as I get more info and our demos I'll be sure to review and go into more detail about each model with our usual pictures too as well.

Tomorrow I'll post the info about the new Fairway woods and 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.