SHAFT REVIEW! – UST PROFORCE VTS

By: Matt Saternus

If you’ve been following our recent series of MyGolfSpy Labs, you’ve seen us test shaft flex, weight, and torque independently.  How were we able to isolate each characteristic?  By using UST Mamiya’s line of Proforce VTS shafts.   The VTS line is unique in that it allows the golfer to pick the weight, flex, and torque that they want.  Heavy, stiff, and high torque?  No problem.  Light, soft, and low torque?  Just as easy.

Now all of those choices are great, but if the shafts don’t perform it doesn’t mean squat.  So now it’s time to take off the lab coats and see how the Proforce VTS stacks up in our Ultimate Shaft Review.

Notes, Feel, Price, and Miscellaneous

The Proforce VTS line uses color codes to indicate torque values: red for high, silver for medium, and black for low.  You can get the VTS in weights of 55, 65, 75, 85, and 95 grams.  The flexes available are A-flex (senior), regular, stiff, SX (strong), X-flex, and Tour X.  For this review, we tested the Proforce VTS in red, silver, and black in stiff and X-flex at 65 grams.

I will admit that I came into this test with a bit of a bias against the Proforce name: I never liked the feel of the old Proforce V2, and it was ugly.  The UST addressed both my concerns with the VTS.

The feel of the VTS is very dependent on the color/torque that you pick.  The red feels smoother and torque-y, even in the X-flex.  The black feels very tight and controlled in stiff or X, and the silver is somewhere in between.  Overall, the VTS is a middle-of-the-road, mid-kick type of shaft when it comes to feel.

As far as looks, I think the VTS is a legitimate head turner.  Candy red on the butt end transitions to a bright, glossy white in the middle and tip of the shaft.  The VTS logo is colored according to the torque value; I think the black is far and away the sharpest looking, which is a bonus since it’s the best fit for my swing.

UST Proforce VTS shafts can be purchased for $150.

Performance

For the Performance testing, I hit each of the shafts in a Callaway RAZR Fit 10.5 head on a FlightScope X2 launch monitor.  I hit 20 “good” shots with each shaft, changing frequently so that fatigue was not an issue, nor did I get grooved with one shaft to the detriment of fairness.

Testing was done at Golf Nation in Palatine, IL, one of the best indoor golf facilities in the country.

DATA

ANALYSIS

As expected, my best results were achieved with the low torque, VTS Black.  I have an extreme hatred of hooks, so shafts with higher torque tend to lead me to steer the ball rather than swing.  The results of that are bigger misses right and left, which you see with the VTS Red.  For other players, that higher torque feel is great.  As always: it’s all about the fit.

The spin numbers are also a bit higher than normal.  That can be “blamed” on some changes in my swing more than the shafts.  The one thing that is worth noting is that, for me, the VTS Black allowed me to aggressively release the club which led to a square/closed-to-path clubface and lower spin.

Conclusion

With more combinations of weight, flex, and torque than any other shaft line on the planet, it would be virtually impossible not to find a Proforce VTS shaft that fits your swing.  There is not another shaft line that will allow you and your fitter to find each individual characteristic that you like in a shaft.  Huge kudos to UST Mamiya for creating a line of shafts around the idea of how to best fit the golfer rather than how to best serve the company’s bottom line.

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