MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Number One Ultralite Shaft on Tour, Grafalloy® has unveiled the next generation in the high-performance ProLaunch Series of graphite shafts. The all-new ProLaunch Axis shaft series combines Grafalloy’s tour-proven Micro-Mesh Tip Design with the Smart-Ply™ Technology which debuted in Grafalloy’s highly acclaimed Axis shaft.
“We’re proud to launch our new ProLaunch Axis graphite shafts. The integration of these two unique technologies makes this series among the most sophisticated shafts available on the golf market today,” says Don Brown, product development manager for Grafalloy. “The Micro-Mesh Tip enhances stability and spin control and the Smart-Ply fiber orientation optimizes shaft reliability during the swing and through impact, maximizing energy transfer, power and tour-proven accuracy.”
Smart-Ply Technology utilizes ultra-thin layers of unidirectional graphite material in cross shaft orientations to stabilize the golf shaft, increasing the efficiency in energy transfer from the golfer to the ball and reduces off plane bending to keep the head on line for increased accuracy. Smart-Ply positions the fibers in Grafalloy Axis along six separate axes – more than twice as many as traditional shaft designs.
Brown explains Smart-Ply provides a significant improvement over other material technologies used for stabilization, such as ‘trendy’ weaves. Traditional box weaves are bulky and distort the fibers, reducing their effectiveness by up to 40 percent. Newer quadaxial weaves, while attractive and lighter weight, possess only a fraction of the stabilizing fiber volume of Smart-Ply and often utilize glass fibers, which are far softer than graphite.
While many manufacturers tout the benefits of weaves, Grafalloy Director of Composites Neal Haas adds that the Smart-Ply engineering actually generates greater benefits in high-performance shafts.
“Weaves are aesthetically attractive and provide the appearance of being high-performance, but they are actually quite ineffective when compared to Smart-Ply,” says Haas. “When first introduced, the original Axis was Grafalloy’s longest-driving shaft design and current testing shows the addition of Axis technology to the ProLaunch family provides the same performance boost.”
Now available, Grafalloy ProLaunch Axis Red and Blue provides the launch conditions the golfing world has come to expect from the ProLaunch family with the increased performance of an Axis shaft. The ProLaunch Axis Red shaft creates a boring, penetrating ball flight, while ProLaunch Axis Blue maximizes distance for players seeking higher launch angles. The sub-60 gram Blue series will be available in Regular, Senior, Stiff and Extra-Stiff flexes while the 63-gram Red while be available in R-X flexes. MSRP $150.
Grafalloy is a leading manufacturer of state-of-the-art carbon fiber wood and iron shafts. For more information on Grafalloy Inc. or Grafalloy products, visit www.grafalloy.com.
The leading manufacturer of golf shafts in the world, True Temper Sports is consistently the number one shaft on all professional tours globally. The company markets a complete line of shafts under the True Temper®, Grafalloy® and Project X® shaft brands, and sells these brands in more than 30 countries throughout the world. True Temper Sports is proudly represented by more than 900 individuals in ten facilities located in the United States, Europe, Japan, China and Australia. For more information, visit www.truetemper.com
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