Fujikura AXIOM Iron Shaft Review

Fujikura AXIOM Shaft Review

Fujikura is one of the leading manufacturers of premium golf shafts. The Speeder franchise, played by the likes of former world number one Dustin Johnson, has been arguably one the most recognisable shaft franchises in the game since its release. For the past two years the Fujikura Ventus has been the number one metalwood shaft on professional tours worldwide, finding its way into the bag of Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods among many others, and is enjoyed by club golfers alike as a stock option in a few driver models. Now Fujikura has created a  graphite iron shaft called AXIOM which features the VeloCore technology found in the Ventus, aiming to provide golfers with extra confidence in their iron game performance. 

While Fujikura has been a major player in the metalwood shaft game for many years, it hasn't necessarily seen the same success with iron shafts. We see very few professionals on the major tours use graphite in their irons aside from utility irons and this is normally due to a graphite shaft not being strong enough to cope with the speed or load produced by the world's best players. But with technology advancing, this is no longer the case. I was lucky enough to get fitted into the AXIOM iron shafts during a recent trip to Orlando, Florida.

The AXIOM shaft looks very premium with delicate detailing and the silver AXIOM and VeloCore logos standing out against the satin black finish. My only concern would be around the satin finish wearing off with time - I guess time will tell on that. 

As a former collegiate and professional golfer I’m lucky enough to have tested many different iron shaft and head combinations over the years. Due to my relatively fast swing speed and aggressive load in transition, I’ve always needed a heavy, low launching and low spinning iron shaft. In fact from all the fittings I’ve been to I’ve never once been handed a graphite iron shaft and so I was skeptical at best at the start of testing.

I was fitted into a 125g x-stiff shaft, which is a weight I have used for a while now, and they felt great straight away. What I particularly liked was that they didn’t feel quite as ‘boardy’ as some of the steel iron shafts I have used in the past. Through impact it felt noticeably stable and produced an extremely consistent ball flight. 

I saw carry numbers around the 180 yard mark with a 7-iron, which is around five yards longer than my current average. The AXIOM shaft produced a mid-high trajectory that didn’t climb too much into the wind, which I loved to see. As I’ve mentioned previously I tend to launch the ball quite high and with a lot of spin, so I was worried that this may be exaggerated with this graphite shaft, yet I was happily proven wrong and the stigma around graphite iron shafts being soft and unstable is something Fujikura has come to the market with AXIOM to break.

One of the key design features behind the AXIOM shaft is that the shafts come in a 3-parallel shaft system. This means the shafts are split between the longer iron shafts (2-4 iron), mid irons (5-7 iron) and the short irons (8-pitching wedge). By doing this Fujikura has created a way to create constant shaft weight and reduce the need for shaft tipping. The VeloCore technology, which came to fame through the Ventus franchise, is a multi-material bias core construction technique, which utilizes Pitch 70 Ton Carbon Fiber to deliver stability through transition and impact to increase velocity. 

I believe the Fujikura AXIOM iron shaft has the ability to become commonplace among players of varying abilities looking for performance without the weight of steel. Golfers who have previously dismissed the idea of using graphite iron shafts should really think again. The different flex and weight offerings allow this shaft to be fitted into the hands of club golfers seeking more consistency and distance, while potentially being able for practice for longer too. I was so impressed by the AXIOM shafts that I'm going to get a set fitted into my irons and try them long term on the course - look out for feedback on that in the coming months.

Pricing and Availability

The Fujikura AXIOM iron shafts will come to retail in March 2023 and will be available in the following weights, flexes and prices:

75 gram - R2, Regular, Stiff - MSRP: $105
105 gram - Stiff, X-Stiff - MSRP: $115
125 gram - X-Stiff - MSRP: $125