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ONOFF never fails to have one of the classiest setups at the Japan Golf Fair and this year was no different. It's never one of the largest exhibits nor does it feature fancy video screens and commercials or even show girls. However its definitely one of the most functional and stylish setups which is very much reflective of the company they are and the clubs they sell. Onoff along with GIII and Roddio has long been the golf wings of Daiwa Seiko Inc, which in the last couple of years has changed their name to Globeride. Globeride signifies a change to a more global outlook for all its group of companies and that very much includes ONOFF which is one of the few smaller yet mainstream Japanese brands with operations in both the US and Japan.

This years booth showcased ONOFF's new 2011 drivers, new ONOFF Forged Iron, new S-Forged with conforming grooves as well as a few clubs out of top ONOFF Pro Shingo Katayama's bag. We also saw the new GIII lines including their new premium and executive line the GIII Signature which sure looked very classy.  I already love both the ONOFF Forged iron and the new drivers especially the XI-S model. The irons like all previous forged ONOFF irons are ultra soft and made for the better player yet possess a lot of forgiveness thanks to tungsten in the sole and the feel is very much enhanced by its pyramid shaped cavity design. The XI-S is the square faced athlete model and while an athlete model again it sports a lot of forgiveness in its design including Gravity Control weighting which brings the CG back and deeper for easy launch and lower spin. The XI-S unlike some of the ONOFF Black models of the past also features a slightly more shallow back design. Best of all it feels wonderful thanks to a Wide Hyper Effect face made from forged ELF Titanium.

I think this is going to be a great year for ONOFF. They are a company that believes in quality over quantity and they do not flood the market with tons and tons of new models but instead concentrate on making a lineup of great looking and performing models worthy of a customers yen. This year they have a very well rounded lineup from drivers, to woods, to irons to wedges.  And to top it all off, all clubs are available through their Labo Spec department with Roddio and other upgrade shafts as well.

Chris of course put together one of his awesome videos showcasing ONOFF. Please watch it here.

Here also are some pictures of ONOFF from the 2011 Japan Golf Fair! Please click on the album to view!

ONOFF at the Japan Golf Fair 2011

55 Photos

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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Roddio Shaft Co. Just recently announced a new release coming December 1st to Japan. It's the second generation model of the popular Japanese Roddio Shaft, the new S series & M series shafts are designed to fit different player types. Lets have a look at who and what type of golfer they fit...

The S model Roddio shaft are specifically designed for the stronger player who plays their driver at 45" or less. Recently in Japan playing drivers at a longer length coupled with a specific design for shafts to be built at over 45.5 - 47" is a popular trend. The S Series is not of that philosophy it caters to the traditional length player. Versus the M series the S version has a stiffer tip to elicit strong play and promote tight dispersion and stability. It features a lower torque rating as well as Adaptive head speed by shaft flex + weight.

The New M model Roddio shaft was designed for golfers who enjoy playing a driver longer than 45 inches. They produced this shaft to work very well with smooth to average tempo's seeking ultimate distance in their drives. The shaft also puts more emphasis on helping the golfer square up the club head at the proper time, it also aids in suppressing unwanted back and side spin to help the player keep the results consistent. The torque is a bit higher than the S and the tip section while still stiff for today's high MOI drivers isn't as stiff as the S-Series.

Below we have the EI chart and the the various models laid out with full specs to better help you decide which fits your style of play and swing best, if you still don't know which shaft to consider feel free to Email a TSG fitting representative.

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Repeat after me... I am a Golf Club Ho

Golf gear enthusiast is a nice way of saying "Golf Club Ho". A golf gear enthusiast is someone who loves golf gear so much they cannot overcome their need to change gear and try new products on a regular basis. I am one of those enthusiasts who has a hard time keeping to one set bag. Moving to Japan and testing and researching golf gear and the Japanese golf market made it even worse for me as I suddenly had access to all the best clubs in the world pretty much anytime I wanted.

Never ending revolving door but...

I've decided that if I could game a club longer than 2 months I would write a so called "Long Term Review" on it because two months for me is quite a feat. The last two months has been golf 3-4 times a week including course play and range practice. Through all this time, I've gone through 6 different drivers, 4 different wedge models, 4 different putters and 5 different Fairway woods.

ONOFF Iron with Roddio I-6

The only club that has been consistently in the bag through this time has been ONOFF Irons shafted with Roddio Pentacross I-6 graphite. (Though the PRGR Egg Spoon will soon hit 2 months but I already reviewed that earlier as it blew me away.) Only one other set of irons has stayed this long in my bag, the Epon AF-701 with Tour AD-65 Graphite lasted over a YEAR in my bag as nothing could knock it out.  I switched the Epon for the sake of switching and they were replaced by the PRGR GN502 irons which really could have lasted a long time in my bag if the ONOFF irons custom built by ONOFF hadn't suddely materialized in front of me.

Roddio Love them or hate them..

Roddio shafts have a love hate following. It seems for some people they either perform great or are a disaster. I had luck with a W5BA shaft in the past and had always wanted to play Roddio graphite especially being a big fan of carbon iron shafts so I took the chance to bag these irons.

I have not regretted my choice since. The ONOFF irons are a wonderful design and iron. The ONOFF iron features a MS225 Stainless steel body matched with a high maraging steel L Cup face. Maraging steel is strong and can be made very thin and in recent years have become a very popular choice of face for performance oriented irons because of feel and high ball speeds. The ONOFF iron is no exception as it has the pop off the face like the PRGR iron matched with the forgiveness and feel of the AF-701.

The Tungsten sole creates a very low center of gravity and the ball just launches into the air making this a very easy to hit iron for those who have problems getting the ball up. I personally love the feel. I do not sense any difference when it comes to soft feel between the ONOFF and AF-701 with Forged body and asroll face. Actually to be honest, even with a pocket style cavity the ONOFF doesn't have much of a click on impact which is something some players have noted about the Epon. Closing your eyes and puring a shot with the ONOFF could be mistaken for hitting a forged iron.

Just the right match...

Of course the shaft has a huge impact on feel and I can say I was pleasantly surprised with the Roddio. It may very well be one of the best irons shafts I have tried. (Fujikura is about to launch the Motore Speeder iron series shaft which also looks to be a challenger). The I-6 features Roddio's Pentacross weave and is very very stable. The shaft is more stout than Tour AD, Bassara, Axiv and Mach Line in a similar weight. The great thing about the Roddio is because they are installed by a certified Roddio installer they can be made to virtually any flex or feel. In the past I have seen may people complain that Roddio's are soft and in most cases it was because of improper installation.  Roddio's need to be tipped to meet proper flex and CPM, if done incorrectly, feel and performance is completely compromised. I'd have to say that ONOFF installed these Roddio shafts to have the accuracy of steel. They feel as stout if not more than my 850GH Steel but kick harder and launch further just like graphite should. It could very well be that because both irons and head are made by Daiwa Golf who owns both ONOFF and Roddio that these heads and shafts were meant to be a match.

As easy as they get for a mid sized cavity back...

Another reason why I am enjoying these irons is they are simply easy to hit. They are a mid sized iron and do have some offset but are in no way a game improvement iron yet provide game improvement like performance. The sole is very neutral which can suit a variety of swing types but has a blunted leading edge that helps prevent digging. This is very well suited for the softer courses in Japan and I have definitely noticed it on lush courses. Anyone wanting forgiveness can play these irons. From a high handicapper wanting to invest in a good set of irons while improving their game to mid and even low handicappers that want an awesome blend of performance, feel and forgiveness in a very good looking all around package. For now the ONOFF iron will stay in the bag as the iron of choice. They will go with me to Nouvelle Golf Club here in Oami tomorrow for another 18 enjoyable holes.

Even though the ONOFF are technically a 2008 model iron they are definitely up to date with technology and performance and on par with any 2009 model from any other brand. I expect a new 2010 model ONOFF iron to come out later this year following their 2 year trend of model releases.  For those still wanting the ONOFF iron it is available through TSG custom built by the ONOFF Tour Van with Roddio I-6, I-8 and I-10 graphite shafts. And for those athlete golfers who want to be like Shingo Katayama, the ONOFF Plus Forged are also available with custom Roddio shaft from the tour van. Just contact us for more details.

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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Even pros switching brands have some sort of adjustment period as they get accustomed to their new gear. Back in the spring it was big news that Shingo Katayama had moved from Nike to ONOFF, DWD and Asics. It was easy for him to get used to his new golf wear and shoes but the clubs have taken longer. Katayama played the Masters with his new ONOFF 46D driver and Roddio Tri-Cross Prototype Driver Shaft but he still had his Nike OS irons with Graphite Design Black Prototype graphite in the bag. He's played with these irons for the first few months of the season while practicing with ONOFF Plus Forged irons on the side. It looks like he is finally ready to make the change over.

Katayama's bag has been seen sporting the new ONOFF Plus Forged with "SHINGO" engraved in the sole. Katayama has always been very big on forgiveness as I noted in my previous posts about all the forgiving gear he has carried. The ONOFF Plus Forged has always been considered a forgiving player's cavity, and while small and compact, not that difficult to hit. Katayama's focus, as is with any golfer, was finding the right setup with the ONOFF Plus.  The new irons are shafted with Roddio Prototype Graphite iron shafts based on the Roddio I-10. The Roddio I Series Iron shafts feature the Pentacross carbon weave in the butt section of the shafts which make the shafts perform like steel but feel like graphite.

Playing the 105g I-10 Model is said to be equivalent to playing a steel shaft up to 120g in weight. Torque is higher in this graphite shaft at 2.3-2.4* but what this translates into is feel which many people prefer over steel shafts with lack of feel.

I took a picture of the butt end of the I-6 shafts I have in my irons and you can clearly see the carbon weave (picture below). The I-6 is a 62-64g shaft said to be a replacement for up to 85g weight steel shafts. Personally these feel very stout, as stiff as 850GH and even 950GH Steel from Nippon. I thought they would be hard to load but not at all. They load, kick well but are accurate like steel. I made the move to I-6 shafts based on Katayama's comments in several publications of wanting an iron shaft with the perfect package. He believed the Roddio are it and so far I am inclined to believe him as these out perform my old Axiv, Tour AD and Mach Line shafts.

Lets hope that Katayama can perform well in the latter part of the season hear in Japan with his new irons and shafts. Anyone else who wants to join me on the Roddio bandwagon can find their iron shafts here!

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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Tourspecgolf - Golf to Impress is proud to announce the availabilty of tour drivers from ONOFF Golf's Pro Division. These drivers are built to spec by ONOFF's top tour craftsmen from the Pro Division tour support team.  We received a brand new driver today from them, an ONOFF Red with 1* open face, Roddio's new Tricross W-5EX shaft built to 46.5" at D6 with a weight of 310g and finished 254CPM!

As many of you may know, Shingo Katayama plays this exact same driver and shaft (his is prototype Tri-cross with a stiffer CPM) with very similar specs overall. So now fans of ONOFF can purchase these custom built drivers through TSG with any Roddio shaft, custom lengths and face angles and built to flex.  Katayama chose this driver because it is very forgiving. The retail model is actually considered the average golfer model with a closed face but you can get the more forgiving version off the tour with an open face now. The athlete model ONOFF Plus driver is also available as well as ONOFF Plus Forged irons.

One of the things that impressed me right off the bat was how stout this club felt in my hands even though it was using a mid torque lightweight 58g shaft and at 46.5". Installing Roddio's are not easy and if done incorrectly the feel and performance can be ruined. Get one from ONOFF Pro Division and you're guaranteed a hand picked head and perfect install with Roddio!

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.