Hi there!
This is Victor, from Madrid, Spain.

I have been around for a while now but never had the intention of buying anything just because i did not have enough money.

Of course I love japanese stuff. I have a set of callaways x-tour with nippon 750 regular shafts, a set of srixon I-506 with nippon 950 reg steel and beres fairways.

Now that I have some earnings I was wondering if you fellows would buy an expensive driver (Tourstage XD, Viq, Epon...) without testing it.

You can all imagine there is no way I can lay my hands on one of those beauties here to demo and it can be difficult even to find a launch monitor to measure my swing.

It was around 90 mph a couple of years ago but I can tell you that I have improved a lot since then.
My tempo, in my teacher´s words is "agressive" but I don´t really think I am that fast.
I am hitting now a Nike Sq 10.5 with the regular stock shaft and have been hitting 260-280 yards all summer (it has been my best club), hitting sometimes 300 yards into the wind.
I am 15 handicap.

Would you buy?
If so, how would you choose the shaft?
Thanks a lot

I did, and it has turned out quite well. I've done enough reading and following boards to find out who I can trust, and which boards are full of BS'ers. I've found that this board in general, and Chris in particular, are sources of relatively unbiased, frank information about various products. I ended up and took the plunge on the Mizuno MP UX 2 hybrids, and that turned out very well. I then screwed up my courage and forked over money for a G Field driver with an Axiv shaft. That one worked very well, too. When I finally got my Epon 460, I was able to get a very good price for the G Field on e-bay, so it wasn't a costly experiment. The Epon 460 with the Axiv is fantastic, and utilizing my reading, plus TourspecGirl's shaft fitting expertise, I have been able to get a head/shaft combination that gives me a great balance of distance, accuracy, and forgiveness. You do have to be realistic about one's abilities, distances hit, swingspeed, and tempo to get reasonably accurate advice. Good luck.

I'm about to buy an Epon w/ Axiv V-spec without having seen it..........and GFt.......TB1000.......etc etc....pls help me.......

You won't regret it. :tsg_smilie_cool:

No, no, no... I would never do that :tsg_smilie_whistle: That's crazy talk.

I think Dorkman is right. You can usually read enough from others with similar launch numbers who are looking for similar ball flight characteristics to make - at the very least - a highly informed decision. I'm also amazed at how willing folks at TSG are to answer detailed questions.

You also need to do some homework on your own. Do you need a high-launch shaft or mid? What about spin? You looking to reduce spin, create spin, etc? To borrow from a clothing store here in the States "An Educated Consumer Is TSG's Best Customer"

We will have a demo program coming in 2007 for sure! We must get together with a credit agency to do it properly and safe on our side first.

Many people buy clubs from TSG that they have no chance to hit, most of them are happy but the ones who are not are usually because the shaft or specs dont suite their needs and need to follow some steps like shaft and spec changes. It is those people who buy it stock and review it are playing with fire. Its hard to review somthing properly that isnt custom built to your needs by the clubmakers at TSG or your local favorite.

I have always heard that is crazy buying any golf club without testing it, so i figure that the driver is no exception, more to the contrary, as mis**ts and failed shots are punished with this club more than with any other...
Is just the excitement of having the opportunity of buying the very best...

I will try to find a launch monitor around here and do some measurings to my swing but, I do not know if I am going to find any so all I can tell you about my swing right know is : aprox. speed (92 mph) with fast tempo (or so my teacher says)
My misses are straight right or a hook, although I hit the center of the club face 8 out of 10 times...

I hit the ball pretty high with all my clubs so I guess I need a mid launch shaft and also that I need to reduce spin cause the ball falls very quick. I do not think I lack distance though it is just all carry.

My attack angle is steep. I tend to hit the ball on the upper part of the driver´s face, but no skymarking. I think my swing is to wristy.

I hope this information help you provide some advice.

ALL feedback will be appreciated.
Thank´s a million




Thank´s Chris (you are Chris, right?. Excuse me but I have only been around for a while...)
Do you think we could work something out with the poor information that I have about my swing?

Thanks again
BELA

I've had great success buying on this site without trying. Of course I spent time with a good local clubfitter to learn what my swing is all about and what kind of loft, flex, etc works best for me. My GFT driver is a fairway hitting machine thanks to that information and the information I picked up here. As long as you do your part, I can highly recommend buying without trying. It's easy if you learn about you and your swing first.

As everyone else has said, it all comes down to knowing your swing. Knowing your swing, and I'm mean honestly knowing your swing goes a long way. Read as much as you can and as many opinions as you can and yes, then $700 or more is well worth it.

If you don't do those two things, then you'll only wind up disappointed in my opinion.