Diamana Driver Shaft Alternatives

[JGH65]

Recently, I went for a driver fitting.   It was a great experience and the difference was massive compared to my current driver (20-30 yards of added carry, much higher ball speed, total distance, tight dispersion, etc.) The shaft I was fitted for is the Diamana DF Series 60g, trimmed -.75. Unfortunately, the shaft itself is $400, which would’ve put me at almost $900 for a driver. Simply put, that’s unrealistic for me right now.

I was wondering if there are any driver shafts that have a similar profile/characteristics at a more reasonable price point. I know looking for something “similar” to what I was fitted for can get a little tricky and isn’t the best idea, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

Any input would be much appreciated.

 

[Adam C]

Golf shafts are golf shafts. They have no mystical qualities that cause the ball to do anything other than what your swing provides. Golf shaft specs can influence your sequencing and timing which can effect your speed and contact. And to a limited extent they can influence your launch height/spin and ability to close the face.

Because of this, you can find any number of shafts that will perform exactly the same as any other shaft. Simplest start would be to look at slightly older Diamana White board shafts. Most important is match up the weight. You can get those shafts for around $100 and get the same results with them.

[Adam C]

Realize you might not know what white board refers to so.

You can get a Diamana D plus on Golfworks brand new for $129. Of course you can try Ebay but need to be a bit more cautious about where you buy it.

[JGH65]

  On 1/15/2020 at 3:15 PM, Adam C said:

Golf shafts are golf shafts. They have no mystical qualities that cause the ball to do anything other than what your swing provides. Golf shaft specs can influence your sequencing and timing which can effect your speed and contact. And to a limited extent they can influence your launch height/spin and ability to close the face.

Because of this, you can find any number of shafts that will perform exactly the same as any other shaft. Simplest start would be to look at slightly older Diamana White board shafts. Most important is match up the weight. You can get those shafts for around $100 and get the same results with them.

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I appreciate that answer. I left out the fact the actual driver head that I was fitted for was likely the main reason for the improvement (my current driver is about 8 years old), not so much the particular shaft necessarily.

I’ll start where you recommended. Thanks again for the input.

[dsc123]

I had a similar experience.  I was fit into a Cobra F9 with a $400 Diamana RF Series 50g.  I looked up the shaft noted the weight, torque, kickpoint, etc., then looked up the shafts available from Cobra and picked the one with the most similar characteristics.  I just got the club yesterday, so I can't tell you if it worked, but that's one idea for you.

[JGH65]

  On 1/15/2020 at 3:38 PM, dsc123 said:

I had a similar experience.  I was fit into a Cobra F9 with a $400 Diamana RF Series 50g.  I looked up the shaft noted the weight, torque, kickpoint, etc., then looked up the shafts available from Cobra and picked the one with the most similar characteristics.  I just got the club yesterday, so I can't tell you if it worked, but that's one idea for you.

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That’s a solid idea, I’d definitely like to hear your thoughts once you give it a try.

[ChetlovesMer]

  On 1/15/2020 at 12:56 PM, JGH65 said:

Recently, I went for a driver fitting.   It was a great experience and the difference was massive compared to my current driver (20-30 yards of added carry, much higher ball speed, total distance, tight dispersion, etc.) The shaft I was fitted for is the Diamana DF Series 60g, trimmed -.75. Unfortunately, the shaft itself is $400, which would’ve put me at almost $900 for a driver. Simply put, that’s unrealistic for me right now.

I was wondering if there are any driver shafts that have a similar profile/characteristics at a more reasonable price point. I know looking for something “similar” to what I was fitted for can get a little tricky and isn’t the best idea, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

Any input would be much appreciated.

 

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Your situation kind of irritates me.

So, you are going to buy a $500 driver and their isn't a single stock shaft that is close to the Diamana DF 60???? WTF??????

Here are the things that annoy me about your experience.

1 - The Diamana DF 60 can be bought by you or me for from GolfWorks for $359. You mean to tell me an authorized fitter gets a worse price than you and I do???? Why is it a $400 adder????

2 - How come you don't get to subtract off the cost of the stock shaft they AREN'T putting in the club? The HZRDUS yellow is a stock shaft and costs $100. Why isn't your added $259??? not $400??

3 - You probably had to pay $120 for the fitting. No credit given for that? 

4 - The fitter I go to (and now the ONLY fitter I go to) always gives me 2 options. "If you want a stock shaft, this is your best option - If you want an exotic shaft this is your best option." Then he shows me the actual data to back it up. Last time I got fit, the stock (HZRDUS smoke) shaft actually out performed the exotic in terms of dispersion and the average distance was within 2 yards of each other. -- More fitters need to do this. 

Your situation is EXACTLY why more golfers don't get custom fit. Even if you end up with a great driver, many times you've STILL been ripped off. How would you like to pay $900 for a driver and then have your buddy out-drive you with a 2 year old driver he bought off the rack for 1/5 the price??

Okay, my rant is over.

Here's the specs on your Diamana DF 60. 

I'm positive you can find a Low/Mid trajectory (That just means High/Mid kickpoint) driver of a similar weight and flex. You may even find one with lower Torq. For the price you are paying for this thing, the 60's torque numbers are pretty underwhelming in my opinion. Look into the UST Mamiya's Elements line. There's probably something that would exactly fit your needs with better torque numbers and a whole lot less expensive. Project X HZRDUS makes a slew of shafts that may also fit your needs and many of them are offered as no-up-charge options for a bunch of drivers. 

Good luck. Let us know what you decide. 

Edited January 15, 2020 by ChetlovesMer

[JxQx]

Try looking to see if you can find a used version of the shaft. That should bring the price down a bit. 

Also you could talk to the fitter and see if there are any other shafts that they would recommend that are closer to your price range

It’s also worth noting that there are not industry standards in regards to shafts. Meaning that not all x-stiff shafts (or any other stiffness) are the same stiffness from brand to brand.

[JGH65]

  On 1/15/2020 at 5:10 PM, ChetlovesMer said:

Your situation kind of irritates me.

So, you are going to buy a $500 driver and their isn't a single stock shaft that is close to the Diamana DF 60???? WTF??????

Here are the things that annoy me about your experience.

1 - The Diamana DF 60 can be bought by you or me for from GolfWorks for $359. You mean to tell me an authorized fitter gets a worse price than you and I do???? Why is it a $400 adder????

2 - How come you don't get to subtract off the cost of the stock shaft they AREN'T putting in the club? The HZRDUS yellow is a stock shaft and costs $100. Why isn't your added $259??? not $400??

3 - You probably had to pay $120 for the fitting. No credit given for that? 

4 - The fitter I go to (and now the ONLY fitter I go to) always gives me 2 options. "If you want a stock shaft, this is your best option - If you want an exotic shaft this is your best option." Then he shows me the actual data to back it up. Last time I got fit, the stock (HZRDUS smoke) shaft actually out performed the exotic in terms of dispersion and the average distance was within 2 yards of each other. -- More fitters need to do this. 

Your situation is EXACTLY why more golfers don't get custom fit. Even if you end up with a great driver, many times you've STILL been ripped off. How would you like to pay $900 for a driver and then have your buddy out-drive you with a 2 year old drive he bought off the rack for 1/5 the price??

Okay, my rant is over.

Here's the specs on your Diamana DF 60. 

I'm positive you can find a Low/Mid trajectory (That just means High/Mid kickpoint) driver of a similar weight and flex. You may even find one with lower Torq. For the price you are paying for this thing, the 60's torque numbers are pretty underwhelming in my opinion. Look into the UST Mamiya's Elements line. There's probably something that would exactly fit your needs with better torque numbers and a whole lot less expensive. Project X HZRDUS makes a slew of shafts that may also fit your needs and many of them are offered as no-up-charge options for a bunch of drivers. 

Good luck. Let us know what you decide. 

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I completely agree, and thank you for providing the specs. One concern I have is getting the right flex on a completely different shaft because I know how much it can vary regardless of what flex the label says it is.

 Regardless, I’m definitely going to research the shaft lines you mentioned and see if I can find something that fits the same profile. If I end up pulling the trigger on something I will be sure to give an update.

  On 1/15/2020 at 5:25 PM, JxQx said:

Try looking to see if you can find a used version of the shaft. That should bring the price down a bit. 

Also you could talk to the fitter and see if there are any other shafts that they would recommend that are closer to your price range

It’s also worth noting that there are not industry standards in regards to shafts. Meaning that not all x-stiff shafts (or any other stiffness) are the same stiffness from brand to brand.

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That could be worth a shot as well. The flex differences are also another concern I have with going for something completely different.

[Adam C]

Just keep it simple. If you like the white board feel, go with another white board shaft. If you are looking for something that is carried stock by the OEM, just find something in the low 60s gram weight, non-counterbalanced, and with a low launching profile (ie a stiffer mid section). Disregard torque, it is of little to no value worrying about that number.

If you are concerned about how the flex will feel I would again stay in the Diamana family and just go back a couple model years to find the price point you want.

[ChetlovesMer]

  On 1/15/2020 at 6:10 PM, Adam C said:

Just keep it simple. If you like the white board feel, go with another white board shaft. If you are looking for something that is carried stock by the OEM, just find something in the low 60s gram weight, non-counterbalanced, and with a low launching profile (ie a stiffer mid section). Disregard torque, it is of little to no value worrying about that number.

If you are concerned about how the flex will feel I would again stay in the Diamana family and just go back a couple model years to find the price point you want.

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Good Points, Adam. 

I agree with you that worrying about torque is silly as it there's very little you can do about it (aside from cut the tip off the shaft to lower the number). My point about torque is that for $400 I would expect to see a torque number below 3.3 ideally even sub 3.

As a general rule the more you pay for a shaft the less twisting the shaft generally does. I like the torque number because everyone is pretty much measuring it the same way. (Not always, but usually) I use the torque number to envision the consistency of the shaft, as well as the quality, and then by extension the value you get when purchasing said shaft. When I see a torque number close to 4, I would have expected that to be a 100 to 200 dollar shaft, not a 400 dollar shaft. It is my opinion that this particular Diamana shaft is over priced. 

To illustrate my last remark a UST Mamiya Elements Chrome 60 shaft in Stiff flex is nearly identical in weight to the Diamana DF. The kick-point and flex are super similar (identical results from this tester.) The torque rating on the UST Chrome is only 3.4, much better than the Diamana DF's 3.8. But the UST Mamiya Elements Chrome can be had for 50 bucks. (Granted it's a 2018 shaft, but even when it came out it was under 100) That's really good value, IMO. 

Again, this is just one man's opinion. But Diamana has made much better shafts than the one the OP is considering. This one just feels way over-priced. Again, one man's opinion. 

[Adam C]

  On 1/15/2020 at 6:54 PM, ChetlovesMer said:

Good Points, Adam. 

I agree with you that worrying about torque is silly as it there's very little you can do about it (aside from cut the tip off the shaft to lower the number). My point about torque is that for $400 I would expect to see a torque number below 3.3 ideally even sub 3.

As a general rule the more you pay for a shaft the less twisting the shaft generally does. I like the torque number because everyone is pretty much measuring it the same way. (Not always, but usually) I use the torque number to envision the consistency of the shaft, as well as the quality, and then by extension the value you get when purchasing said shaft. When I see a torque number close to 4, I would have expected that to be a 100 to 200 dollar shaft, not a 400 dollar shaft. It is my opinion that this particular Diamana shaft is over priced. 

To illustrate my last remark a UST Mamiya Elements Chrome 60 shaft in Stiff flex is nearly identical in weight to the Diamana DF. The kick-point and flex are super similar (identical results from this tester.) The torque rating on the UST Chrome is only 3.4, much better than the Diamana DF's 3.8. But the UST Mamiya Elements Chrome can be had for 50 bucks. (Granted it's a 2018 shaft, but even when it came out it was under 100) That's really good value, IMO. 

Again, this is just one man's opinion. But Diamana has made much better shafts than the one the OP is considering. This one just feels way over-priced. Again, one man's opinion. 

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I wouldn't even worry about torque numbers as a comparison. If you look at torque measurement on current graphite shafts versus 5 or 10 years ago, they are all much higher. I don't know that they ever made much difference other than making a shaft feel sharp and rigid but with current manufacturing and materials, those numbers don't need to be in the sub 3s pretty much ever. 

I always tell people to pick the shafts based first on weight (by far most important), 2nd balance, 3rd is a tie between radial consistency (this is how I measure the quality of a shaft, difference of hard to soft side stiffness), and bend profile, then color, price, and torque bringing up the rear.

[ChetlovesMer]

  On 1/15/2020 at 7:15 PM, Adam C said:

I wouldn't even worry about torque numbers as a comparison. If you look at torque measurement on current graphite shafts versus 5 or 10 years ago, they are all much higher. I don't know that they ever made much difference other than making a shaft feel sharp and rigid but with current manufacturing and materials, those numbers don't need to be in the sub 3s pretty much ever. 

I always tell people to pick the shafts based first on weight (by far most important), 2nd balance, 3rd is a tie between radial consistency (this is how I measure the quality of a shaft, difference of hard to soft side stiffness), and bend profile, then color, price, and torque bringing up the rear.

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Interesting take. 

[JGH65]

I did a bunch of research using everybody's suggestions (thanks again for all the good responses). It looks like the easiest option will be to get either an Even Flow Shaft, HZRDUS shaft or PING's stock low spin low launch shaft. I'm basing that on total cost and how easy it is to get one that already has the PING adapter.

[leftybutnotPM]

  On 1/16/2020 at 2:07 AM, JGH65 said:

I did a bunch of research using everybody's suggestions (thanks again for all the good responses). It looks like the easiest option will be to get either an Even Flow Shaft, HZRDUS shaft or PING's stock low spin low launch shaft. I'm basing that on total cost and how easy it is to get one that already has the PING adapter.

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You stated that it was probably the driver head that made the difference, not the shaft, but are now going on about shafts again.

Why didn't you identify the driver you were testing your potential new one against? 30 yards of extra carry would seem an extreme and highly unlikely result.

If it is true, it simply means that your old driver was ridiculously ill-fitting - probably a shaft that is much too stiff for you and any driver with even an approximately appropriate shaft would give you the extra distance.

You haven't even mentioned what driver you hit - though I assume it's some sort of Ping. I think you are getting overly caught up in numbers and readings that have nothing to do with the improvement you claim to have seen.

You start by saying you want a very specific shaft and are quoted outrageous and extortionate prices for it, then you say it was probably the head not the shaft, now you are specifying shafts. Which is it?

People are giving detailed responses and you keep changing your position.

 

Edited January 16, 2020 by leftybutnotPM

[JGH65]

  On 1/16/2020 at 3:28 AM, leftybutnotPM said:

You stated that it was probably the driver head that made the difference, not the shaft, but are now going on about shafts again.

Why didn't you identify the driver you were testing your potential new one against? 30 yards of extra carry would seem an extreme and highly unlikely result.

If it is true, it simply means that your old driver was ridiculously ill-fitting - probably a shaft that is much too stiff for you and any driver with even an approximately appropriate shaft would give you the extra distance.

You haven't even mentioned what driver you hit - though I assume it's some sort of Ping. I think you are getting overly caught up in numbers and readings that have nothing to do with the improvement you claim to have seen.

You start by saying you want a very specific shaft and are quoted outrageous and extortionate prices for it, then you say it was probably the head not the shaft, now you are specifying shafts. Which is it?

People are giving detailed responses and you keep changing your position.

 

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I’m sorry if I’m doing a bad job at explaining myself. I definitely do think that the G410 head was a major reason for the improvement. However, I hit that same head with multiple shafts, the DF being the one that performed noticeably better than the others. But since I can’t afford the combination that I was fit for, I was just looking for suggestions for something that would be similar because I have very limited knowledge of shafts.

 

[JGH65]

  On 1/16/2020 at 3:28 AM, leftybutnotPM said:

Why didn't you identify the driver you were testing your potential new one against? 30 yards of extra carry would seem an extreme and highly unlikely result.

If it is true, it simply means that your old driver was ridiculously ill-fitting - probably a shaft that is much too stiff for you

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And to address this, my current driver is the 913 D3 9.5* with the Aldila RIP Phenom 70 S flex. The fitter said I needed a more “stable” shaft to help with my left miss, I personally don’t think my original shaft is too stiff, but I don’t know much, which is why I asked in the first place.

[boogielicious]

  On 1/16/2020 at 12:15 PM, JGH65 said:

And to address this, my current driver is the 913 D3 9.5* with the Aldila RIP Phenom 70 S flex. The fitter said I needed a more “stable” shaft to help with my left miss, I personally don’t think my original shaft is too stiff, but I don’t know much, which is why I asked in the first place.

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I’ve played that Aldila shaft. It was not too stiff for me and my SS was 92 - 94 at the time.