Well I got sent some samples of the M80 Iron Shafts which are an 85 gram shaft. Previously these were only exclusive to the Asian market, but True Temper have now released them globablly.

These are a fair bit different to TT's other ultra light weight shafts. The TX-90, Dynamic Gold Super Lite and TX-90 all come in around 98-104 grams but are designed for people who have an average wrist release (tho the TX-Tour you need a lateish wrist release).

Until the M80 came out the only real shafts for people with early wrist releases (hit from the top) were graphite shafts. A typically graphite iron shaft runs in about 75-85 grams depending on the shaft (some are more and some are less). So you can see we are really now getting down to the graphite shaft weight but with the consistency of steel.

I put the M80 (reg flex) into a Nak NX-5 8 iron (had limited lenghts to work with ). For me not playing golf a whole lot anymore and starting to break my wrists early it was a dam fine feeling shaft. The TX-90 is also a great shaft but you need to be able to hold your wrists a little longer. The M80 is rather soft aswell, anyone with a normal swing speed will be playing a stiff flex or just under.

These shafts tho will really benefit ladies, seniors, early wrist releases or people who have elbow/shoulder/back problems. They do launch the ball high, but again, if you are breaking your wrists early then you need this.

Its also great to see True Temper starting to offer up shafts they used to keep for certain areas and tour players. Lately I've been doing a lot of work with the Tour Concept shaft which has been used on tour for 2 years but only in the last year has been released to club makers. This is another fantastic design from TT. They are also introducing a new Stepless shaft in November called the Black Gold. This shaft will offer heavier longer iron shafts and lighter shorter iron shafts which will try and give a constant static weight in the irons. I'm not sure I agree with this theory yet as with MOI you tend to be adding weight not removing it from the shorter clubs, but only time will tell


Hope this helps