Zelos - NS Pro Steel Shafts

Many golf experts consider the golf shaft the engine of the club. If you were to walk in and buy any golf clubs from the shelves without understanding your swing and other details of your own swing speed, etc. it is no wonder you may be struggling with your shots. There is also no uniform specification for what constitute a regular shaft. Furthermore, the American and Japanese or Asian specification for 'Regular or Stiff' are different. Moreover, you have to contend with "stock" shafts mass produced just to fit the club heads to be sold. Even if quality has improved over the years, these shafts could never compare with 'after-market' shafts that are manufactured and sold separately as shafts for the individual. It is the same as your hi-fi whether  your set is generic or are you a purist? It is also similar to eating at an army camp's mass or at a higher end restaurant where the food is individually prepared and cooked.

I used to play with 'regular' graphite shafts but due to my swing speed at the higher end of regular and the lower end of stiff, I often found myself at the mercy of club. So I decided to go out from the comfort zone and switched to steel shafted clubs for my irons. Even steel shaft has its flexes in Regular, Stiff and Extra-Stiff. Pros play easily from 105g to 125g steel shaft for their irons. Nippon's NS Pro brought us down to the first 95g in 1999. The world's first sub-100g steel shaft. Of course NS Pro later introduced lower weighted shaft like 85g. There are differences in that heavy shafts like this has the heft that I could feel in my hands such that I do not need to lift it up too quickly or over swing. Steel shaft being more rigid  in its flex would get you straighter shots but there will be some distance loss up to 5-10m and your shot trajectory shall be lower. Feel in steel shaft is always better. In fact, stiff graphite shaft feels dead.

Then shaft manufacturers and the various brands were on a roll introducing what they said are new graphite that plays and feels like steel shafts for example UST Mamiya's Recoil. NS Pro responded with their "Zelos", the Zelos 7 that became the world's lightest steel shaft at just over 70g (75g) that promises to give you the distance of graphite and a higher trajectory to boot without sacrificing the feel of steel and steel shaft-like dispersion and crisp-like impact feel. It may be lighter but the balance is good such that even if you are playing heavy shafts and switching to these, the transition need not be a fearful one. Then NSK Bearings' NS Pro up the stakes and along came the Zelos '8' that weighs in at 85g. I reckoned that changing from my NS Pro 950 at 95g to Zelos 7 at 75g has too much of a drastic change of 20g and so I opted to experiment with the Zelos 8 steel shaft at 85g which is at least only a 10 g difference. The new alloys and annealing process created strengths in steel shafts with exceptional torque that never existed in the past. Zelos is named after the ancient Greek God of zeal and emulation. 

Don't start naming your babies Zelos. Always remember that steel shafts are more stable than graphite but the heft makes it harder to generate club head speed. You should have an ideal 7-iron swing speed of between of 75-85 mph to play steel shafts including the Zelos 8. (Note: Driver and irons swing speed are different). a 5 iron swing speed is only 84% of a driver swing speed, so if a pro's driver swing speed is at 112 mph then his 5 iron would be 94 mph and the 7 iron would be 80% of driver.

Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to Zelos the Greek God of Rivalry, made from Nippon's cutting edge steel material known as NZNS60. A fool and his money is soon parted. You know that I used to say that when I go to a driving range it is usually to try new clubs or my swing has gone terribly bad. Well, this was a situation for both and yet I did not. The golf course as usual is also my range. 

As my swing has gone awry it was initially difficult to tell if these shafts were working as it should and were they any different as the NS Pro 950 but after putting them through the paces over time and as the swing got better, now I know better. The characteristics of the NS Pro 950 besides being a wee bit heavier at 95g tended to have a lower flight and when comparing to graphite shafts achieve lesser distance - for most it could be an estimated 5-10 yards shorter. Here you could see the Zelos 8 fitted to my TaylorMade RSi 1.

The Zelos 8 is supposed to have a higher flight trajectory and go further. Whereas other steel shafts may result in a lower flight and shorter distance of 5-10 yards, the Zelos is supposed to go higher and further with almost no distance loss and the performance distance of graphite without loss of feel.

Over time, my initial apprehension and uncertainty that resulted in hesitation in picking the the right club for each shot and distance and the niggling fear has completely gone away. As the results rang in after each game, I realised that I was hitting my Zelos steel shafted irons at almost similar distance compared to graphite. The flight trajectory too was pleasing - it was higher without ever ballooning. This is amazing!   

This has given rise to new problems. How will I perform with those NS Pro 950? When I have a new set of irons should I fit them with the Zelos too? Most Asian specs steel shafts are usually NS Pro 950 and Ping uses their own AWT. I have to conclude which is better and most suitable for me. I thought the Callaway Apex are lovely. Callaway is also set to release very interesting irons called Callaway Steelhead XR which is better than their all time favourite the X-14 from where it evolved. Ping's latest offering the Ping G irons are also reportedly awesome. The heavier NS Pro 950 was good for me as I do not have any tendency or temptation to swing faster. They are both very good and I have to go a little further to establish whether which is definitely the best and most suitable for my swing. I wonder. You should check these out too.

Golf as in life, play as it lies.