Fujikura Ventus and Motore X Driver Shafts

The Ventus shafts from Fujikura can already be called one of the best driver shafts ever. This is mainly due to the unique profile of the Ventus shafts. Basically you can say that the Ventus shafts hardly bend in the tip and butt area and are very stiff. However, the middle part of the shaft is much softer. How hard the tip area is can be seen in the EI profile:

But let's make things easier at this point: The Fujikura Ventus shafts are available in three colours: red, blue and black. Red is the much softer version that is designed for a high launch and more spin. The Ventus Black on the other hand is stiff and designed for low launch and low spin. The Ventus Blue is accordingly located in the middle.

Especially next to the unique bending profile is also the so-called Velocore technology. With this technology it is possible to increase the MOI. In short, this means that the clubface twists less at the moment of impact. The decisive factor for this is the "Pitch 70 Ton" carbon fiber in the tip instead of the usual T1100g, which is normally used. This construction is much harder and decisive for the advantages of the VeloCore technology. This makes the Fujikura Ventus comparable to the Mitsubishi Tensei which also has a much harder tip.

By the way, this VeloCore technology is only available in the original stock and not in Made for or OEM shafts.

Our experiences with the Fujikura Ventus in practice

Fujikura offers a broad selection with the Ventus series and starts with 58g in the Ventus Red 5 up to 85g in the Ventus Black 8, the latter is really just an option for extremely high clubhead speeds. But the Ventus shaft is also perfectly suited for these. With the Ventus series we can therefore serve a wide range of players. Like our test player who swings the driver with 104mph clubhead speed.

For him, both the Ventus Blue and Black are suitable. But also the new Fujikura Motore F1 which we would like to take a closer look at in the following. The Fujikura Motore X has a completely different profile than the Ventus. They are not so hard in the tip section, but harder in the middle and a bit softer in the grip area. The F1 and F3 Motores can also cover a wide range, but not with quite as many variants as the Ventus series. The bending profiles are different to the Ventus, so it is an individual question which one you prefer.

Ventus Blue 6X vs. Black 6X vs. Black 6S vs. Motors F1 6S

Let's take a look at the driver test:

It's amazing how different the results are. Even within the Ventus range the differences are very clear. You should never make the mistake of choosing one of the shafts lightly.

If you would ask the player without any data at the end with which shaft he had the best feeling he would choose the Ventus Blue 6X. The values are not yet optimal but the player not only had the best feel but also the most constant result. The dispersion was minimal, the timing was right and the length was 260m, the maximum compared to the other shafts.

The Black 6X shows one thing very clearly: The launch is much lower with the Black. Our player had big problems with this shaft, both in control and launch. 9.6° is simply not enough, even though we only changed from Blue to Black. The high smash factor doesn't hide the fact that the launch was too flat to actually achieve better distances. With the spin of only 2217rpm this would be possible.

The Ventus Black 6S was very similar to the Blue 6X. The launch was identical, but the spin was higher. This shows impressively how big the difference between S and X can be.

The F1 6S Motore did not fit into the picture because it simply produced too high a launch and too much spin. Here you can clearly see that this is a completely different shaft which is comparable in terms of flex and weight, but produces a completely different result for this individual player.

Our conclusion

Fujikura Ventus is a shaft series that serves a wide range of players and there are good reasons why it became so successful so quickly. You have to be careful with "Made For" shafts. Even larger manufacturers have now adopted Ventus shafts. However, these are not the originals but Made For shafts that only look like the originals. But they differ significantly and do not have the VeloCore technology.

For our player the difference was clearly visible between Blue and Black and also between S and X. It turned out that the fine-tuning is very important and you should choose the right shaft with care. The difference in our player between Blue 6X and Black 6X was 18m carry and much more control. You should be aware that the Black version is not black for nothing - it is actually designed for players with high club head speed.