The Shaft That Could Replace Ventus?

I've used Aventus Black Driver Shaft for the last six years. There is nothing that I have tested, no shaft, driver head combo, that has outperformed this, that has made me want to take this out of the golf bag. In 2026, though, there's a shaft that has been slowly gaining steam on tour for being stable, for being long, and for feeling incredible. It's the UST Mamiya Link Power Core. So I've got one right here, and I want to test it head-to-head. In my current setup, against Aventus Black, to see if there's some validity to the hype around this shaft, or see if Aventus Black is still king for me. So why does this test even matter? Because you watching, and me, and every golfer on the planet, we all know this is, dare I say, the best shaft in golf. This is standard. This is the most used driver shaft on tour. It won every major last year. It's the most popular shaft in the game. If someone's going into a fitting, they're hoping they walk out with Aventus, because if you are looking for a premium, upcharge, aftermarket shaft, you're probably hoping you land in this, whether it's Velocor, Velocor Plus, TR, not, Blue Red, whatever. Aventus is the top of the mountain. But this Link Power Core from UST Mamiya is starting to show up more on tour. Guys that are great drivers of the golf ball are starting to test this and keep it in play. And that makes it worth testing, not because tour players are using it, but because if it's actually a better shaft, I think more people need to know about it. So that's what we're gonna do. We're gonna test this on the launch monitor, pit them head to head, and then I'm gonna take this out for 18 holes and see if I can trust it, enjoy it, and if it can perform as good as this has for me for the last six years. So let's look at the numbers. So I started with Ventus Black in my Optum LS in the A3 setting, which is one degree flat, one degree down in loft, so it's down to an eight degree head. I freaking love it. I use Velocor, regular Velocor, and the TaylorMade drivers for about four years, but the last two years with Cobra, I've used Velocor Plus. I've really, really enjoyed it. DS Adapt and that FutureFit 33 sleeve was great last year, and I can really dial in where I'm striking it. 10 shots. I only redid one if I totally wiped it, because we don't want a total mishit, but it wasn't like 10 well-struck shots. It was just 10 decent swings, no glaring whiffs. So I look at these 10, the numbers are pretty much perfect. This driver is so dialed for me, especially out on the golf course. I trust the crap out of it. It's hard for me to hit it left. I can tee it low and maybe knock it down in the wind, but if I look at those numbers, 2,400 spin on average, and only one that got over 3,000 on a total total whiff. 12 degrees of launch, 170 miles of ball speed. I swing a little bit slower in here at 116, 295 in the air. If I'm out on the golf course, I look at things that are 290 to 295, thinking I can carry them. This did exactly that. Peak height's awesome, and the dispersion circle, if we look at it, there's kind of one lower to the left and two that got a little bit heely and spinny, but they weren't total whiffs. Those 10 shots that I got out of this are exactly what I would want out on the golf course. It is a tough standard that Ventus, for me as a golfer, sets for any other shaft. I've used US Team Mamiya stuff. I've tested US Team Mamiya stuff in certain drivers, and I've enjoyed it, but I just don't come back to it. This, when I first got it as part of a 4th of July, 250th anniversary giveaway we did, I took it out to the range, and I posted a short of me dialing it in thanks to FutureFit 33, because that's one of the things that Cobra, I think, has untapped with this sleeve, because you may use Ventus Black in your drivers. I use them for TaylorMade, but when I get a Cobra driver, they might not match up well. The same shaft might be great for you, but if you change driver heads year to year, it might not, but with FutureFit 33, I was able to really tune it, to really get it launching, spinning, and messing with lie angle to striking it off the center. I tried this in the A3 setting, didn't work, so I put it back to just completely neutral, not quite. Then I look at the sleeve, and I could tell where I was hitting it, looking at the launch, looking at the spin. I landed on the F4 setting. I think it was my third, maybe fourth setting, and F4 is down 0.7, 0.7, so 7.6 degrees head, and a neutral lie angle. Out there, the eight shots I hit, very, very impressive. So to bring that in here, and look at these numbers, and one thing I noticed when I did that dialing in, it felt stable, didn't have that active kick that I don't like in a shaft. I like doing almost like iron shafts, if you will. It felt so stable, and these 10, again, same thing. Maybe I'm wrong.