SHOCKING RESULTS! – Nunchuk Shaft Review

Nunchuk Shaft Review – SHOCKING RESULTS!

(Written By: GolfSpy Matt) Ever heard of the Nunchuk shaft?  Well we’ve been hearing more and more about it over the past few months…so we thought it would be a perfect product to review.  First of all this thing just sounds like a product MyGolfSpy had to review.  Come on…it’s called the Nunchuk! And with all the claims we had heard about this thing since the PGA Show and its early wins on the tour (which I will be honest we didn’t believe at first).  I was dying to see if this thing could actually do what it claimed.  Nothing better then finding a product like this that actually helps other golfers.

A couple things I really enjoy about writing reviews is: 1) Discovering and sharing amazing new products that actually live up to the claims they make…and 2) Bursting the bubble of companies if their product does not live up to the hype.  So, when I heard about the Nunchuk shaft by nVentix and their infomercial like claims that their shaft will make your shots fly straighter and longer, I thought this would make for a great review: either I was going to find the cure to your driving woes or I was going to get to shine a light on some phony claims made by yet another bogus golf product.  But…which would it be?  I think you might be shocked by the results!

So…How Does It Work?

So, assuming that this shaft does exactly what it says, how does it actually work?  Essentially, the tip and butt sections of the Nunchuk are very stiff and all the flex is in the middle of the shaft.  nVentix claims that this solves the problem of twisting and drooping which causes the club face to be open or closed at impact.  If you go to their website by clicking on the links in this article, you can see their high speed videos which illustrate these ideas.

How It Feels

The first thing you’ll notice about the Nunchuk: it’s heavy.  The shaft weighs 104g.  It is counter weighted, which causes a 4 swingweight jump in my test club when compared to the 60 gram stock shaft.

Also of interest, the Nunchuk only comes in one flex.  nVentix claims that because of the unique construction and technology in this shaft, this same flex is appropriate for all players.

nVentix states that the Nunchuk is a low spin shaft that will produce “True Loft” launch because of the lack of twisting and drooping.  The torque rating is 3.5.
My impressions are that the Nunchuk is heavy, it feels very substantial in your hands, but it’s not totally unwieldy.  The feel during the swing is very stable without being boardy.  nVentix describes the feel as “one piece” which is as good a term as any, in my opinion.

But…Does The Nunchuck Actually Work?

Ok, ok, so on to the meat and potatoes of this review.  I’m going to start with a whole mess of numbers, then explain the numbers, and, finally, I’ll discuss my “real world” results.  But trust me you will DEFINITELY want to read the rest of this review! There are some shocking results.  For the driver test, I put the Nunchuk up against three other premium shafts on a Vector launch monitor.  I hit 10 “good” shots with each, changing frequently so that fatigue was not an issue, not did I get grooved with one shaft to the detriment of fairness.  Results of poor shots were discarded.

DRIVER DATA

*If there is one number, it is the average.  The distance category shows the shortest, average, and longest shots.  The dispersion category shows the ball furthest left, the average, and then the furthest ball right

• Nunchuck: Ball speed: 152   Distance: 234-254-279   Launch Angle: 9.4   Backspin: 2380   Side spin: 159 draw    Dispersion: 10L – 1L – 8R
• Shaft A: Ball speed: 151   Distance: 243-258-273   Launch Angle: 10.9   Backspin: 3300   Side spin: 912   Dispersion: 26R-39R-46R
• Shaft B: Ball speed: 154   Distance: 232-259-273   Launch Angle: 10.1   Backspin: 2652   Side spin: 13   Dispersion: 17L – 1L – 33R
• Shaft C: Ball speed: 150   Distance 238-250-267   Launch Angle: 10.4   Backspin: 3508   Side spin: 852   Dispersion: 15R – 37R – 52R

ANALYSIS

With the other shafts, the first ten swings were right, right, and more right: big pushes that curved off the planet.  Then I popped the Nunchuk in and hit two or three balls right down the center.  I thought perhaps my swing was just starting to sync up, but when I switched to another shaft, the rights reappeared.  If I hadn’t set up the machine myself, I would have thought someone was playing a joke on me: the Nunchuk truly was much straighter!

Besides the straightness, you can see that the Nunchuk was definitely in the conversation as far as ball speed (#2) and was the lowest launching and lowest spinning shaft.  I also hit my longest shot with the Nunchuk.

3-WOOD DATA

*Same process and data presentation as driver.  The Nunchuk was only tested against one other shaft due to lack of availability of comparable quality shafts.

• Nunchuk: Ball speed: 145   Distance: 235-244-255   Launch Angle: 11.9   Backspin: 3416   Side spin: 300   Dispersion: 21L – 18R – 38R
• Shaft D: Ball Speed: 144   Distance: 224-246-259   Launch Angle: 13.2   Backspin: 3672   Side spin: 600   Dispersion: 15L – 33R – 51R

ANALYSIS

The Nunchuk showed again that it is a low launching, low spinning shaft the produces minimal side spin.  The average distance that the Nunchuk produced was a bit shorter than the other test shaft, but the consistency was much better.  Similarly, the Nunchuk seemed to keep my bad swings in check a bit more than the other test shaft did with regard to dispersion.

REAL WORLD RESULTS

On the launch monitor, the results are pretty clear: the Nunchuk lives up to the hype! But does it carry over into the real world?  The real world results are based on my work on the driving range.  I pared the testing down to the Nunchuk, one driver shaft, and one 3W shaft and hit dozens of range balls on multiple different occasions, again, switching frequently from shaft to shaft.

With the driver, my results were consistent with what I saw on the launch monitor, though the difference between the Nunchuk and the other test shafts was not as stark.  The Nunchuk seems to make bad swings into playable ones and the in-between swings into better then average golf shots. The biggest difference was the reduction in side spin or curvature on the golf ball.  A push was still a push, but they didn’t seem to turn into push-slices that fell off the planet.

In the 3W, the Nunchuk actually outdid its launch monitor performance! For me, I hit the ball much more consistently with regard to distance, accuracy, and trajectory with the Nunchuk. Similar to what I saw with the driver, the Nunchuk kept the ball from curving too much.  The ball did occasionally start right, but rarely sliced right.  The only curvature I tended to see was a small 5-10 yard draw.  The trajectory was fairly low, but the overall distance was equal to or longer than the other test shaft.

VALUE

Always the toughest section for me.  The Nunchuk sells for $259.95 through the nVentix website.  It can be used as a driver, fairway, or hybrid shaft.  Obviously, this puts the Nunchuk in the upper tier of golf shafts, price wise. I can say that this shaft does deliver what is advertised: straighter shots on a low trajectory. If you’re looking for those things and not averse to spending a good chunk of money on a shaft, then you should definitely check out the Nunchuk.

CONCLUSION

Perhaps the best endorsement that I can give the Nunchuk is that it’s now currently in my 3W, and this is the first time in over a year I’ve even carried a 3W.  The improvement in consistency has been tremendous.

Beyond that, the numbers speak for themselves: the Nunchuk does produce straighter golf shots.  Will it turn bad swings into good ones?  Absolutely not.  Will it help to keep those slightly below average tee shots in play? Yes, it absolutley will!

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