With a commitment to make the “World’s best golf shafts” Fujikura shafts have appeared in thousands of golf clubs trusted by both professionals and amateurs alike.
The company has experienced success with its Speeder and Vista shaft lines for a number of years, but our focus of attention in this article is on the highly successful Ventus shaft range.
Fujikura Ventus shafts were first launched on professional tours in September 2018, and very quickly became the go-to shaft for many high-profile professionals in their drivers and fairway woods.
The Ventus shaft range soon started to pick up many accolades.
It was the most popular shaft on the PGA Tour for the 2020/21 season accounting for 20% of driver shafts used and was credited with 13 wins in that season.
Most recently, Scotty Scheffler won the 2022 Masters Tournament with a Fujikura Ventus Black 7X; a win that ranked him no. 1 in the world.
So why is this shaft so popular?
In a lot of respects, professionals’ requirements aren’t that different to amateurs’:
- They want to hit every shot out of the centre of the club
- They want the ball to still travel far on off-centre hits
- They want to minimise shot dispersion
The Ventus shaft range appears to tackle a lot of those areas.
If the professionals trust it that much how can they be beneficial to amateurs?
With club fitting becoming a more common practice the Ventus range can offer something to everybody.
We’ll take a look at the following to help you with the available options:
- The technology used to create the Ventus shafts range
- The full Ventus shaft range
The technology used to create the Ventus shafts range
Fujikura has created what it calls VeloCore technology which is available in all of the Ventus range.
VeloCore technology utilises a variety of materials in the construction of the shaft to create maximum stability, feel and strength.
With VeloCore technology, the Ventus family of shafts focuses on tightening up shot dispersion whilst increasing ball speed on off-centre hits.
Shot dispersion relates to the distance between good shots and bad shots, plus how far left or right shots end up.
By tightening shot dispersion, the player is likely to hit more accurate shots out on the course.
With clubhead technology moving towards keeping the head stable on off-centre hits without losing ball speed the Ventus shaft range complements this by keeping ball speeds up whilst making the shaft as stable as possible on off-centre hits.
The full Ventus shaft range
There are two main lines to the Ventus range:
Both lines have different colour options (Red, Blue and Black), weighting, flex rating and launch conditions to suit the broadest spectrum of golfers from the slowest swingers to tour pros.
Ventus Blue
This line will likely cover the widest variety of golfers.
The blue line is aimed at producing mid to low-launch conditions with maximum stability to reduce twisting.
This shaft will also be a strong consideration for a golfer who struggles to find the centre of the driver consistently and would appreciate more accuracy from the tee.
The tip of the shaft (lower section of the shaft near the hosel) is ultra-stiff to promote mid to low launch rates and promote stability.
Doing the “waggle test” of a club with the Ventus Blue shaft in it the club overall won’t appear “whippy” in the golfer’s hands.
Ventus Blue is available in a variety of weights from 50 grams to 80 grams.
The lighter-weighted shafts are available in flexes R2 to stiff whilst the heavier weights are available in stiff through extra stiff.
Ventus Black
This is the shaft that is aimed at the fastest-swinging golfers.
The Ventus Black range offers golfers who ideally create more than 105 mph clubhead speed with a low launch and low spinning option.
The danger with producing a lot of clubhead speed is creating too much spin which will rob the player of optimum launch and spin rates.
To counter this, the Ventus Black is extremely stiff in the butt and tip ends of the shaft but with a bit more give in the middle section of the shaft.
This configuration is better suited to the faster swing speeds where missing the middle of the club face can lead to very errant shots.
With the Ventus Black the minimum shaft weight available is 60 grams with 80 grams being the heaviest option.
The Ventus Black only comes in stiff and extra-stiff options.
Ventus Red
Sits at the opposite end of the spectrum to the Black series.
The Red is designed for slower swingers who need help in creating spin and launch to maximise the carry and overall distance of their drives.
Shaft weight options are similar to the Ventus Blue - 50 grams to 80 grams.
Shaft flex options are R2 to stiff in the lighter shafts with the 70 and 80-gram shafts only available in stiff and extra stiff.
If we go back to our “waggle test” analogy, this shaft will feel like it has a little more give in it.
Although to some, the Ventus Red appears to be aimed at the slower swinging players, some professionals have been fitted for this shaft down to the fact it suits their characteristics the best.
Ventus TR
This is our newest introduction to the range. The idea behind the TR shaft is to provide an upgraded version of the Ventus Red, Blue and Black.
The TR version is available in Red, Blue and Black and the main difference is the addition of an ultra-lightweight spread tow fabric that supports the mid and handle sections. The addition of these three new shafts to the range, offers a golf club for every player profile.
In conclusion, utilising Fujikiura’s VeloCore technology the Ventus range of shafts achieves high levels of stability to minimise the damage caused by off-centre hits whilst maintaining high ball speeds.
Tightening up shot dispersion will reduce the “big miss” and help keep golfers of all abilities in play more often.
There is a launch and spin profile within the range to suit everybody from high-mid handicap players to fast-swinging tour professionals.
In addition to this, the Ventus range offers a number of different weight and flex options so finding the right shaft is a lot easier.
The secret to finding the right shaft comes down to being custom fitted which is well worth the time and effort if it leads to increased distance and accuracy off the tee.