Review: Aldila VooDoo Custom Shaft
Don Fisher
Posted 2009-11-04
The Aldila VooDoo shaft is one of the top shafts being played on the PGA Tour. At least a third of the members of the Ryder Cup playing for the US were using it, including Boo Weekley, making the VooDoo the most popular driver shaft at the 2008 Ryder Cup match. That’s a pretty good indicator that the new VooDoo is a top tour quality shaft. And this is exactly why I wanted to try one for myself and see what all the fuss was about. I went with the 75 gram version of the VooDoo for two reasons. First is that when I was fit for a driver 2 years ago, and tested on a ShaftLab system. 75 grams was the recommendation I was given. Second is that the 75 gram shaft has a lower torque rating, of 3.2*, which is one thing I look for in any wood shaft I’m thinking of trying out. It’s been my experience that the lower the torque the less twisting I get of the club head and the straighter my ball flight. And while a lot of the new drivers being sold today come with much lighter shafts, it has been my experience that I hit a 75 gram shaft driver much more consistently, and every bit as far. I know that you probably have been told that the lighter 50 and 55 grams shafts that have become standard in drivers will allow you to swing the club faster; this is not true in my case. I’ve been testing my swing speed for the past 3 or 4 years with a Swing Speed/Tempo Timer from Sports Sensors, and I haven’t seen any increase in swing speed with the lighter shafts. In fact, it’s just the opposite if anything. My swing with my driver averages 105 to 108 MPH when I’m swinging well. When I’ve tested my swing speed with some of these light 55 gram shaft drivers, I just don’t see an increase. But I do see a loss of control. Fact is all of those lighter shafts have a higher torque rating. Some as high as 4 degrees in these super light shafts. For me, that’s just too much shaft twisting for good control and accuracy.
The VooDoo is a mid bend point design, meaning it will give you a mid level ball flight if you do your part, and have the correct loft in your driver. As some of you may know, the higher the bend point, the lower the ball flight will be. Depending on YOUR launch angle, bend point can be a good way to help decide what shaft might be correct for you. If you launch the ball too low, try a shaft with a lower bend point. If you launch the ball too high, go with a higher bend point shaft. And make sure you get tested on a good Launch Monitor to measure your launch angle. Don’t just look at your ball flight. Fact is most amateur golfers have NO IDEA what a good launch angle looks like. If you ever watch a tour pro in person, you will be quite surprised by how HIGH the pros hit their drivers. I know I was the first time I went to a tour event. Get tested and KNOW the facts.
For my test of the Aldila VooDoo shaft, I choose to install it in a Cobra Speed LD driver that I picked up just for this purpose. I found a good used 10.5* Cobra LD at the Golfsmith Pre-owned site and was able to get it for $109. I picked the Cobra LD due to some demo testing I had done the year before. For me, the Speed LD was easy to hit, very long, and easy to work left or right. The only fault I had with the LD was the factory installed NV55 shaft. For me it was just too light for good consistent control I figured a new 75 gram shaft would be the ticket. And as it turned out, I was correct.
I did a spine test on the shaft before I did anything else with it. Being a Stiff shaft, I wanted to install this Voodoo with the BNP down the target line. This would make the shaft play a little softer than if I had the Spine down the target line, and this is my preferred shaft alignment for a Stiff flex shaft. I then did a FLO alignment on the VooDoo to fine tune the spine alignment findings. It has been my experience that every shaft can benefit from both spine and FLO alignment testing. It allows me to install every shaft so that I get the most out of what the shaft company puts into it.
After the FLO alignment was complete, I did a dry fitting of the new shaft in the head to check for Swing Weight. I like my drivers to have a swing weight was D4 to D 6 for best performance. This is a personnel choice, and will vary from golfer to golfer. By dry fitting the shaft first, I’m able to get my D4 to D6 swing weight I’m looking for. I just cut the shaft a ½ inch longer than I want it to be, and do the swing weight testing, then butt trim the shaft as needed to get the swing weight I want. By doing it this way, I almost always end up with a total club length right around 45 to 45-1/2 inches. As long as I hit this range, I’m happy with it. I’m not set on one club length for my drivers. Hitting dozens of drivers over the years has shown me very little if any reason to worry about a ½ inch in club length with a driver. Testing has shown that I don’t gain or loss anything going up and down that small amount. Accuracy and distance is the same, so I like to get the swing weight right and not worry about the rest.
After dry fitting and testing for swing weight, it was time to assemble the shaft in the Cobra head. Then came the hard part, WAITING for the epoxy to cure before I could install a grip and head to the driving range for the final and most important test of all, HITTING GOLF BALLS.
As I expected, my first swing with the new Aldila VooDoo/ Cobra LD combo was pretty much what I was looking for. The 75 gram shaft gave the driver a nice solid feel, sometime I like in a driver. The real test would be when I hit that first golf ball down range. After warming up with my irons to get loose, I teed up that first ball and made a nice easy relaxed swing. I was rewarded with a long high ball flight that was as close to perfect as I could ask for. Swing speed was 109 MPH, just a little over my average on a good day. So much for losing club head speed with the heavier 75 gram shaft I installed. Over the course of an extra large bucket of range balls, the new VooDoo shaft lived up to my expectation very nicely. Ball flight was right where I like it. Launch angle was good, not too high nor too low. Distance was excellent, just like I know it would be.
The next test would be out on the golf course for a round of golf. As much as a good range session is helpful in evaluating a club, it’s how it PLAYS on the course that really matters. And the Cobra Aldila VooDoo didn’t let me down a bit. It was on hole 9 that I came to love the new driver combo. I hit the longest drive of my life on number 9. Missed the fairway a little left, and the ball found the short rough. Using my GPS, I was able to measure the drive at 332 yards, the longest I’ve ever measured on a course with my GPS. And while I don’t hit every ball that far with this driver, I’ve had my share of really long drives with it. Enough to make the Cobra/VooDoo driver the one that is in my bag for now.
After that 332 yard drive, I’ve been working on a few swing changes at the range. Trying to find that magic swing that would allow me to hit 330 yard drives every time. Still looking for the secret, but I did find ONE thing that was working last time out. I measure my swing speed just about every time I go to the range, and this time was no different. What was different was reaching a new all time high for swing speed. As I stated, my average swing is 105 to 108 on a good day. You can imagine my delight when the radar unit read 127 MPH. What really made me happy was I COULD BOTH SEE AND FEEL the driver FLYING down the target line as the driver came into the ball. It was amazing how it felt and looked. And a few swings later I broke my record for the second time that day. My new personnel record is now 131 MPH. Now I just have to figure out HOW I did it, and work on repeating it a whole lot more often. All this with a 75 gram shaft driver. What was really GREAT, was that this S flex shaft was up to the job of handling those two swings that were well over what a Stiff shaft should be able to handle. The VooDoo shaft didn’t mind it one bit. It was every bit as solid as with my normal 105-108 MPH swing. I think that says a lot about just how good a shaft the VooDoo is.
And did I mention that the VooDoo shaft is bright red and looks great with the black head of the driver. It not only plays extremely well, it looks as good as it plays. I’m not one to care that much about the color of the shaft, but it doesn’t hurt my feelings when a shaft looks as good as this one.
So if you are looking for a beautiful looking shaft to install in your driver and want both distance and control, give an Aldila 75 gram VooDoo shaft a swing. I can see why so many of the 2008 Ryder Cup players were using this shaft. It’s pretty much all anyone could ask for in a driver shaft. I’ve never hit the ball longer, and I’m hitting it as straight as I ever have hit a driver. Be sure to DEMO a VooDoo powered driver the next time you are thinking of buying a new driver. Or you could just install a new shaft in your current driver. I know a lot of you might be thinking that $300 is just too much to pay for a shaft. And I can’t argue with that too much. But when you look at the price of some of the better drivers being sold today, $300 isn’t all that bad. You could easily spend $400 or even $500 on a new driver, and get a club that doesn’t perform any better than the one you have. That’s because those new drivers don’t have a shaft that comes close to the 75 gram Aldila VooDoo. I think most good golfers know by now that the shaft is at least half of what makes a good golf club. Truth is, at the price of new drivers, you might just find a NEW ALDILA VOODOO is exactly what you need, for less money than that new driver you have been looking at. .
Details:
Aldila VooDoo 75 gram Stiff flex driver shaft. Retail price is $300
Torque rating of 3.2* Weight , 75 grams, recommended swing speed is 95 to110 MPH
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