MATRIX Shafts recently introduced their new VELOX St and Sp shafts. These shafts have distinctly different profiles and markets. The VELOX Sp is a back-weighted (counterbalanced) shaft that is designed for longer clubs or heavier driver heads so swing weight does not increase making clubs feel heavy. The VELOX St is designed for traditional lengths and swing weights. Overall, our testers rated these shafts 4.6 out of 5.
Appearance: Cool looking blue and silver shaft graphics and silver-gray finish.
Flexes Available: 50p A, R, S; 60p, 70p, 80p in R, S, X; 60t R, S, X; 70t R, S, X, XX; 80t S, X, XX
MSRP: VELOX Sp – $275.00 USD; VELOX St – $375.00 USD
Availability: Authorized MATRIX Shafts dealers.
Weight Consistency: 4.8 out of 5. VELOX Sp weighs 9 grams heavier than the St in equivalent flexes.
Butt Stiffness (CPM): Only 60 Sp and 60 St were available for testing. Consistent increase in CPM through flexes. St tests 5-6 CPM softer in the Butt section.
Tip Stiffness: Sp:Mid-Soft, St: Stiff
Mid Stiffness: Sp:Mid-Soft, St: Stiff
Balance Point: While the Sp balance point is 53 % from the tip and the St is 50.8%, our demo club only showed a 1 swing weight lighter playing swing weight in the Sp, possibly due to the fact that the Sp is 9 grams heavier than the St.
Torque: Good consistency across both models and flexes. Mid-high torque rating on average:
SQI (Shaft Quality Index): 89.9 out of 100 (Average). A couple of the shafts we tested were inconsistent enough to throw the SQI below 90.
Trajectory: VELOX Sp tested mid-high and VELOX St tested mid. Sp was only .5 to .75 degree higher launch than St.
Spin: Mid spin for both shafts. Sp was only 100-200 rpm higher than St across all testers.
Feel: St definitely felt the most solid for all testers, but not harsh at all. This is probably due to the higher torque for both shafts. Sp had more kick for one of the testers.
General: Two out of three raters felt there was a little looseness in the feel of the Sp while the other felt it was firm. Raters had driver swing speeds from 79 mph to 103 mph and had shafts that were matched to their swings. Personally, I could not feel too much difference but the St felt more stable and gave better shot dispersion but about the same distance. As a comparison, the Sp felt like a Radix 7 and the St felt more like a 6Q3.