Nippon vs. Rifle

[wolverine_man]

I just picked up a set of MacGregor PCB Tours and I looking to possibly change the shafts. I want this to be my gamer set. The clubs are actually fairly heavier, more so than my MP-14s and are installed with DGS300 like my Mizunos.

What I am looking at is possibly a Rilfe flighted 5.5 or something by Nippon such as the N.S.PRO 950GH. I do not like the Project X. My swing speed is about 86 mph with a 5 iron. Does anyone have any suggestions? I suppose I will want to go to a shaftology fitting center concerning the Nippons.

[cody west]

your swing speed is usually measured by your driver

[wolverine_man]

Okay, well I just thought you'd go by your 5 iron speed. My driver club head speed is significantly faster than my irons, as is everyone else's. Driver speed measures right around 98-100 mph. 5 iron speed right around 86 mph (118 mph ball speed).

[out_in_30]

maybe precision 6.0? i think true temper makes a rifled shaft too. 5.5 would work but maybe try 6.0 as well to see if you like it better

[microcrayfish]

In my experience Nippon shafts tend to be a little less stiff than most other manufacturers' stiff shafts. I've got Nippon shafts in my irons and while they're marked as stiff, when they're put on a frequency analyzer they fall in between what is usually stiff and regular. I've also been told this by a couple of golf pros. Might be something to consider.

[wolverine_man]

Thanks everyone. The thing is, I have been currently struggling to get the ball as high as I would like with my MP-14s, which have DGS300. Even when I hit pure shots, my 6-3 just weren't getting up there. I was pretty sure it was the DGs being too stiff. I understand a direct conversion of DGS300 to Rifle would be 5.8. Therefore, I was thinking more like a 5.5 and perhaps flighted to help get the longer irons up in the air quicker.

As far as Nippon, I understood that the 950GH is a really lightweight shaft and that a Stiff in that shaft is actually like a 5.2-5.3 in a Rifle on a frequency test. The thing with the Macs is that the club heads are very heavy. Definitely heavier than any other club I have swung. They feel good to me, but I was thinking a lighter shaft might make them really sing.

[wolverine_man]

Any opinions on the 950GH vs the 1050GH? I understand that the DGS300 weigh in around 132 grams and that even at 110 grams, the 1050GH would still be a bit lighter. I want something that will allow me to hit a tad higher and which is lighter and a tad more flexible than the DGS300. Again, they are going into some heavy forged Mac/Miura heads. My swing is fairly aggressive but I never swing out of my shoes or to the point where I lose my balance. 87 mph with a 5-iron, 100 mph with a driver.

[skates87]

im in the same problem as you, i have MacGregor pro-m (black very nice ) but they have have rifle 6.0 project x, i was thinking bout putting in TT high launch or some type of nippon, not really sure.

[shades9323]

  wolverine_man said:

Any opinions on the 950GH vs the 1050GH? I understand that the DGS300 weigh in around 132 grams and that even at 110 grams, the 1050GH would still be a bit lighter. I want something that will allow me to hit a tad higher and which is lighter and a tad more flexible than the DGS300. Again, they are going into some heavy forged Mac/Miura heads. My swing is fairly aggressive but I never swing out of my shoes or to the point where I lose my balance. 87 mph with a 5-iron, 100 mph with a driver.

My swing speeds are very similar to yours. I play the Macgregor Pro MT CM with stiff Nippon shafts. They are a very smooth shaft. They should get the ball up more than the DG's I really like the combination.

[wolverine_man]

Thanks for the input! I see you use the 1150GH. I think I want to go a little lighter than that. Have you hit the 1050GH. These miura heads with the DGS300 are heavy as hell. I would like something lighter but not to the point I guess where I feel like I am swinging a rope with rock attached to the end. I am definitely set on getting the Stiff shaft whichever way I go on the Nippons.

By the way, how's the weather up north, eh?

[shades9323]

  wolverine_man said:

Thanks for the input! I see you use the 1150GH. I think I want to go a little lighter than that. Have you hit the 1050GH. These miura heads with the DGS300 are heavy as hell. I would like something lighter but not to the point I guess where I feel like I am swinging a rope with rock attached to the end. I am definitely set on getting the Stiff shaft whichever way I go on the Nippons.

I am not that far north!!! I was U.P. there all last week though. I haven't tried the 1050's. With the 1150's my clubs are a d1 swingweight.

[wolverine_man]

ha, i was just kidding. I guess I should get the current swing weight on the irons before I go messing with them. All I know is that I hit them pretty well, they are solid at impact, they are the heaviest clubs I have swung, and they were fairly fatiguing on my elbows the next day after the practice range. I think the 5-iron head weighs around 257-260 gams, if I am not mistaken.

[LBlack14]

True Temper owns Royal Precision now. I personally can't tell much difference in the PX and the Rifles, I like them both. That said with your 5I SS I'd stick to the 5.5. The 6.0 are between a stiff and X.

[wolverine_man]

I have Rifle 5.5 in my Mizuno Grads which I am grabbing from my parents home this weekend. I will have to try those out again, though the clubheads on those will be a decent bit lighter than the Macs. I could always do a shaft swap, I guess.

[duffer888]

Do you have DG shafts in your wedges?

If so, one thing to consider, if you make the switch to the NSPro 950s will be the transition in feel from the PW to your SW. The DG shafted SW will feel substantially heavier.

I switched to wedges with NS Pro 950 Wedge shafts (now available) and the transition is much smoother.

Another solution to this is the Nippon 999, but I haven't tried them.

[wolverine_man]

Yes, I have DG in my 52, 56, and 60. Not really interested at all in changing those and I doubt I would actually even change out the MacGregor DGS300 that is currently in the PW, which I currently hit really well. I like a heavier wedge. I'm primarily interested in changing my 3-9 iron shafts.

[shades9323]

  wolverine_man said:

Yes, I have DG in my 52, 56, and 60. Not really interested at all in changing those and I doubt I would actually even change out the MacGregor DGS300 that is currently in the PW, which I currently hit really well. I like a heavier wedge. I'm primarily interested in changing my 3-9 iron shafts.

My gw and sw have the DG's in them. I like a the heavier wedges as well. I have no transition issues between my PW Nippon and the GW,SW dg.

[wolverine_man]

Okay, so I hit some cobra irons tonight at GG, because it was the only club with Nippons in stock. They had 1030GH Stiffs in them. The irons appeared to be some kind of game improvement club because it was huge but I have some observations.

1. Holy cow was that 6 iron light. Possibly a little too light but I kept thinking my Macs have very heavy club heads so I am sure the club will be heavier with such shafts installed.

2. I definitely seemed to hit the ball a bit higher but I don't think too high.

3. I was getting some crazy distances at first. I had 3 shots in a row that registered at 191, 193, and 191 yds with a 6 iron! What the hell. This is the same launch monitor I always use at GG and I last used it on Friday and it seemed very accurate at that time because I was hitting my Macs 150yds, 7 iron, 160 yds, 6 iron and so forth. However, after I got used to the shaft, I was consistently hitting it 175, which is still fairly long for a 6. Maybe due to a difference in loft in the two 6 irons - which I'm sure is correct - and that the Nippon shaft just gives me a bit more. I dunno.

4. It seemed that the harder I swung, the more flex I got, and the higher the ball went. Hard to tell on a launch monitor but it definitely didn't go any further on the harder swings; I think they were almost always shorter.

5. I'm not sure how much the 1030gh differs from the 1050gh, I guess a couple grams or maybe the 1030 is the 1050 soft stepped. I definitely don't want a lighter shaft and I would maybe even consider the 1150gh. I just don't want to go too stiff to the point where the expensive price of Nippon is not really beneficial in terms of weight savings.

Conclusion: The Nippon 1050GH in stiff may or may not be the shaft I am looking for.