Overview/Technology-
Our first official golf shaft review of 2010′ promises to be one of the most popular shafts of the year. The Aldila RIP started out with a debut in test mode at the John Deere Classic in July of 2009′ and proved to be a pivotal marketing point for the shaft. The RIP ripped a course-record low of 61. And then, Heath Slocum followed up in August using the Aldila RIP in his driver to stun the top players in the world capturing a one-shot victory at The Barclays. Steve Stricker, Geoff Ogilvy, Ross Fisher have all either played or tested the RIP shaft. And to top it off, the RIP placed 1st and 2nd at the recent SBS Championship.
 Check price and availability here – Aldila Rip Alpha Hybrid Shaft
The Aldila RIP is a lower torque shaft with a stiff tip providing the better player a stable shaft. Built for stability, reduced spin rate and an optimal trajectory, the RIP is ripe for the pickin’ come 2010.
“RIP(TM) is Aldila’s new shaft technology that provides a lower torque, increased tip stability and better tip stiffness control,” said Stewart Bahl, Aldila’s Marketing Manager. “The RIP(TM) is currently undergoing testing on the PGA Tour and is scheduled to be launched later this year and will be released in 2010 through some of the major OEM’s product lines.”
Actual Player Feedback-
“shaft was very consistent and predictable”
“very smooth and predictable feel”
“An improved and refined version of the Voodoo is a good way to think about it”
“I was driving the ball like I was 25 years old again”
 Check price and availability here – Aldila RIP Phenom NL 60
[review pros=”Stable, low spin rate, lower trajectory. This shaft is worth a good look for the better player. ” cons=”Not for the average player. Because of the pros listed, this shaft will have a limited marketing scope.” score=N/A]
Conclusion-
It’s still early but we believe the Aldila RIP will be one of the most popular shafts in 2010′. Stay tuned for a rating update when more data and reviews become available. One thing is for sure, the RIP will deliver on Aldila’s mantra, “The hottest shafts in golf.”
 Check price and availability here – Aldila RIP 80 Hybrid Graphite
Watch for updates on this baby!
This is a sick shaft im currently playing it in my driver and it performs as advertised… Very stiff and low spin and trajectory… love the shaft
I have TM superdeep 9.5 with the RIP S in it. I spin the crap out of the ballk with this shaft. It may be too soft for me, as my CH speed is 114.
Jamie…you need an extra stiff if you are swinging over 110mph. The stiff is designed to top out around 105-108 mph. Get the extra stiff and you’ll see a big difference.
Just got the Taylor Made R9 Supertri TP 9.5 with Aldila RIP X flex today.
Launch monitor with stock shaft 313 yd
Launch monitor with Aldila RIP 328 yd
same swing and it is straight off the tee.
For you guys with the TaylorMade drivers that came with the Aldila RIP as the stock offering, the shaft in your driver and the actual Aldila RIP you can purchase are vastly different. Spent some time at our local club shop, and hit the TM R9 Supertri with the “rip” and then hit a 09 Tour Burner with an aftermarket RIP and just from swinging the clubs you could tell a difference. Sorry guys, never trust what the driver manufacturer says the stock shaft is.
Just got my 70gram stiff RIP today! 45 inches long with a med size winn lite soft grip and a R9 460 head. Man this shaft is the truth! I had a voodoo in it, tried the stock shaft, the motore, and a few others (GD tour AD) Just trust your swing and lock and load, low to mid ball flight that just goes forever. Best driver shaft I’ve had to date-needless to say, I cut my voodoo down and put it in my R9 3-wood.
I play a rip 60 in an r9 460 and it is the bast shaft I have ever played. Now a question, is there a difference between the matte textured graphics and the “shiny” graphics rip’s? Also is the rip in the 9064 adams the real deal?
Past PGA pro and tried out the RIP 6.0, S. Ball speed at 162 and a launch angle of 12.5, this shaft was easy to work fade or draw. It has a nice low spin rate, but stays in the air for sometime. Love the look of the Adams swingline head. I can see this shaft only good for few, but it is something if it’s correct for your game.
On the fence as to what Rip Shaft to purchase! I have an average 95 mph swing speed & currently play an aldila NV stiff in my driver that I’m pleased with. It sounds like the Rip is on the stiff side & that a Reg. may be the better choice. Also Aldila’s website doesn’t breakdown the difference in red eyes vs. yellow eyes specs. Any feedback?
Red is stiff, yellow is reg. I too have a 95 MPH swing speen I went with the Regular shaft, great choice for me.
The red eyes signify the “Alpha” shaft and the yellow the “beta”. Yellow are slightly softer, slightly higher torque vs. red.
To further above post, the yellow is available in regular and stiff, the red in stiff and X. If you’re after a regular it’ll be yellow, stiff could be either.
i am considering a Nike Machspeed black driver with the RIP 60 shaft. is it the same as the aftermarket version ? thanks.
I tried many combinations of this shaft and R9 heads. Found exactly what I was looking for. My club head speed averages 110-113. My ball speed averages 165-170. On a launch monitor my carry was 270 ish but too low. Ive always had a low launch angle (10-11 degrees) so I worked with several combinations. One thing to note about this shaft is that the stiff is on the very upper end of stiff or lower end of xstiff. I settled on the Alpha 60 Stiff and (beleive it or not)a R9 460 11.5 degree. Launch angle is now 12.5-13 degrees average and ball spin 2200 on average. The ball flight is a very slightly a draw (quite straight), highish ball flight that hits and and gets some pretty good roll. In love with this combo. I put my pride away regarding loft and now find my drives in the 290-310 yard range. I’m very happy. I firmly believe, at least for me, a low spin, high kick point shaft with a higher lofted club is a very deadly combo. I think a lot of golfers would find benefit from a combo like this. Just my opinion and the stats.
Thanks for the comment. I have to admit, that’s quite a combination, 110-113 club head speed and settling on a 11.5 loft! That’s what I call looking at the facts and going with what suits you best. I personally think golfers loft are too low for many. Your combination makes sense though!
I agree it is a strange combo but what got me thinking more loft is that I hit my 43″ 15 degree 3 wood 260 and was hitting my driver 15 to 20 yards past that. I experimented a great deal and I know my launch angle is likely ball position but when I put the ball more forward I am just not comfortable. I like it about a ball inside my left heal. This combo works for me, in my opinion, because the loft creates a better launch angle but the shaft creates less spin. I carry my 10.5 degree in my bag for windy or dry conditions because I hit it lower and it runs 30+ yards. But for more carry the 11.5 works better. the 11.5 goes straigher too. When I use a higher torque shaft the ball baloons and when I change to a lower loft higher torque shaft i get a little more inconsistent. I think there is a lot to say for a higher lofted, low torque, high kick point shaft for a little higher swing speed players. Longish and straight is better than longer and crooked. Well for scoring anyway. For ego maybe not but I’d rather win at golf than be the longest hitter. 290+ is plenty long for me if Im hitting fairways.
Agreed… I’d much rather hit the fairway like Fred Funk than constantly try to get out of trouble like Tiger. Of course you could make the argument that Tiger does pretty well hitting only 9 out of 18 fairways. But then again, we are not Tiger!
Maybe you’ll start a new trend!
Its actually a trend that has been going on the PGA tour for a few years. I’ve been lucky enough to play with quite a few PGA touring pros (Ian Poulter, Nick Watney, Jason Bohn etc.) and these pros are all using higher lofted drivers. 9.5 or higher. Watney was using a 11.5 when I played with him. Its all about the shaft, like the RIP. Tiger is using a 10 degree driver for crying out loud! Very interesting. There are some people making claims that the equipment manufacturers are making the lofts on off the shelf drivers higher than whats on the club head. According to my buddy at Titleist and a rep I spoke with at Taylormade thats false. According to them they will very +/- a degree or so. I had mine checked and the lofts are spot on.
Yeah, I heard about Tiger going to 10 degree loft and can remember shaking my head in disbelief.
Thanks for sharing!
PS – that’s some pretty good playing partners. I know of a nice course in Michigan, bring your buddies along, and the round will be on me 🙂
I know! I’ve been lucky. I play every year in the Isleworth member/guest and have seen Tiger on the range 3 of the last 4 years practicing. I’ve become somewhat friendly with him (as much as he will allow). Cool watching him hit balls from 8 feet away! One last thing on clubs. I’m 6’2″ and dropped my driver to 44 1/2″ and hit it just as far or farther from 45 1/2 which is pretty much stock on them now. Another good idea for most people. Hit the sweet spot more often and the ball will go further.
hey, whats the difference between the Rip 60,70, and 80
Hey Robb,
I assume you mean in the literal sense, so I’ll respond accordingly. If not, please let me know.
60 Series –
X flex .600, 70g
S flex .600, 63g
R flex .595, 62g
70 Series-
X flex .608, 76g
S flex .608, 74g
R flex .605, 74g
80 Series-
X flex .608, 86g
S flex .608, 84g
Say i shortned my driver whitch currently 45 Titleist 910 to 44 1/2 will i need to go to a heaver shaft to compensate for swing wt. and will it also make it play stiffer? i swing about 97 have a kali stiff looking at rip gamma reg. what do yall think.
Mr. Hill:
Providing the shaft’s flex and distribution of stiffness are reasonably well matched to your swing speed and your swing characteristics, you do not need to change shafts for any reason related to the shortening of the driver length. The one thing you need to watch for is whether you need to add any weight to the clubhead to counteract the effect of the length reduction. Your driver was built to a standard swingweight of likely D1 by the Titleist company when they made this driver to be shipped to a golf store to be sold off the rack to you. When you cut it down in length, that swingweight drops by 3 swingweight points for each ½” you cut off the grip end of the shaft.
For some golfers, this has the effect of making them not be able to feel the presence of the head during the swing as they did before the length reduction. On the other hand for some other golfers, they don’t notice this change from the length reduction. If you happen to notice a few more heel side impacts with the driver or if you sense that you might be starting to get a little quick with your downswing tempo, these are symptoms which tell you that you need to add some weight back to the head to bring that swingweight back up. Best, easiest way to do this is with lead tape put on the head – typically attached around the sides and back of the head’s outer surface. How much depends on your sense of feel for the weighting of the head when you swing the club. The other guideline is to add lead tape to the head to get it back to the club’s original swingweight and then hit shots over several sessions to see how you like this headweight feel.
If you use ½” wide lead tape, one strip that is 4” long will add back 1 swingweight point. So if you cut 1 inch from the driver’s original length, that would mean putting 6 strips of ½” wide lead tape, each strip being 4” in length, to get the swingweight back to where it was before the length reduction.
Hope this helps,
TOM WISHON
I recently bought a new driver with the RIP Aldila shaft. My goal was to pick up at least 15yds off the tee. When I hit the new driver I immediately noticed that I was geting more carry and roll. It has been a long time since I have been able to consistently hit the ball around 300yds. This shaft provides you will great feel, responsiveness, and consistency. I can hit my new driver smooth or hard and not be afraid that my shaft will turn the clubhead over too fast. This is the best shaft I have ever had. Thank You Aldila!
I was wondering what the difference is between the rip beta 60 & 70 . I put the 60 in a driver and like it a lot so I order another one but was sent a beta 70 I want to put it in a 3 wood what difference should I expect to get from the 70 as compared to the 60.