ben
18th May 2006, 10:37 AM
Hi Guys,
I've been working with the True Temper Black Gold's a bit recently and I thought I would post some info on how I see them, given they are probably the most interesting shaft thats been launched in a long time.
A bit of back ground on TT and frequency matching. Over the years True Temper have never frequency matched, they have sent out their shafts as matched in weight. Generally speaking when you weight match a set of shafts frequency will follow. This has been the main difference between Rifle and TT, Rifle shafts are ment to be frequency matched, but they are not weight sorted.
The Black Gold is interesting because it is both weight matched and frequency matched. Thats not the most interesting bit tho, they are a ascending weight shaft, meaning the 3 iron shaft is heavier than the PW shaft (this is not new to parallel tip, but it is newer to taper tip).
Personally the ascending weight doesn't mean a lot to me, it actually sits wrong in my mind because the more weight you add to a club, the harder its going to be too swing because it will have a higher MOI. I would personally like to have seen the 3 iron shaft lighter and the shorter iron shafts heavier (like the old Tri-Gold), but again this also causes problems because head weights get heavier.
Anyway enough of the techno stuff, finally the market has both a weight matched and a frequency matched shaft which is also in a stepless design. The theory behind a stepless design shaft (and all shafts start out as stepless and then are put through a stepping machine), is that it will remove some of the vibration at impact. One theory tho that goes against stepless shafts is that its harder to maintain correct wall thicknesses throughout the shaft.
Ok, so what are my thoughts on the performance of the shaft? Well if you like the Tour Concept but didn't like the high ball flight, then you are going to love the Black Gold. The Black Gold is as smooth (if not smoother) than the Tour Concept. The ball flight is lower (almost lower than a Dynamic Gold).
The finish on the Black Gold takes a little getting used to, but once you wear into it it is very nice. In terms of flex, they play pretty much spot on but feel softer because they are so smooth.
Note of warning, these shafts are very strong in the butt section of the shaft, they are not for the average user, you need to be a little later in the release to really get the benefit from the shaft.
I've been working with the True Temper Black Gold's a bit recently and I thought I would post some info on how I see them, given they are probably the most interesting shaft thats been launched in a long time.
A bit of back ground on TT and frequency matching. Over the years True Temper have never frequency matched, they have sent out their shafts as matched in weight. Generally speaking when you weight match a set of shafts frequency will follow. This has been the main difference between Rifle and TT, Rifle shafts are ment to be frequency matched, but they are not weight sorted.
The Black Gold is interesting because it is both weight matched and frequency matched. Thats not the most interesting bit tho, they are a ascending weight shaft, meaning the 3 iron shaft is heavier than the PW shaft (this is not new to parallel tip, but it is newer to taper tip).
Personally the ascending weight doesn't mean a lot to me, it actually sits wrong in my mind because the more weight you add to a club, the harder its going to be too swing because it will have a higher MOI. I would personally like to have seen the 3 iron shaft lighter and the shorter iron shafts heavier (like the old Tri-Gold), but again this also causes problems because head weights get heavier.
Anyway enough of the techno stuff, finally the market has both a weight matched and a frequency matched shaft which is also in a stepless design. The theory behind a stepless design shaft (and all shafts start out as stepless and then are put through a stepping machine), is that it will remove some of the vibration at impact. One theory tho that goes against stepless shafts is that its harder to maintain correct wall thicknesses throughout the shaft.
Ok, so what are my thoughts on the performance of the shaft? Well if you like the Tour Concept but didn't like the high ball flight, then you are going to love the Black Gold. The Black Gold is as smooth (if not smoother) than the Tour Concept. The ball flight is lower (almost lower than a Dynamic Gold).
The finish on the Black Gold takes a little getting used to, but once you wear into it it is very nice. In terms of flex, they play pretty much spot on but feel softer because they are so smooth.
Note of warning, these shafts are very strong in the butt section of the shaft, they are not for the average user, you need to be a little later in the release to really get the benefit from the shaft.