50 Words or Less
The Newton Motion Fairway Wood shaft produces high, long, soft shots. Demands a smooth swing. Gentle, unhurried feel.
Introduction
Despite being less than a year old, Newton has already bagged a professional win with their Newton Motion driver shaft. More importantly, they’ve made converts out of countless recreational golfers. Building on that success, they’ve expanded their line to include the Newton Motion Fairway Wood shaft. I tested one to see if it could deliver the same performance into the green as it does off the tee.
Looks
The Newton Motion Fairway Wood shaft is almost identical to the driver version. What stands out most is the stunning, color-shifting paint job. A blend of blues, purples, and greens, the exact hues shift with the light. To me, it’s one of the best looking shafts in recent memory. I like even it more for its subdued tones which don’t scream for attention or cause distractions at address.
With such a bold color, the graphics don’t need to do much. The Newton branding is fairly basic and confined to the mid section of the shaft. “Fairway” has been added underneath “Motion” to differentiate this model. You can get a blank look if you install the shaft logo down.
One final spot of interest is the array of dots below the Motion branding. Newton uses these dots to indicate the weight and flex of the shaft. This is a smart way to keep the loaded flex words – stiff, regular, senior – off the shaft.
Feel
Just like the driver, the Newton Motion Fairway Wood shaft feels very loose when you give it the wiggle test. It feels more like The Orange Whip than the low launch, low spin shafts that are popular today.
Plugged into my PXG Black Ops fairway wood [review HERE], the Newton Motion produced a smooth, unhurried sensation. I could feel the shaft loading and unloading throughout the swing. The kick isn’t snappy or energetic – everything this shaft does is more smooth than aggressive.
If you want to dabble in the smooth feel rather than going all the way in, you might try moving up a “flex”. When I dialed back my swing speed, the Newton Motion was still smooth, but it was a little more traditional.
Performance
The Newton Motion Fairway Wood shaft utilizes the same key technologies as the driver shaft. If you want the full breakdown of all the tech, please check that out HERE. In the interest of not repeating myself, I’m going to dive straight into the performance of this version.
Regular readers might guess that the Newton Motion FW shaft and I were not likely friends. I am not a smooth swinger, and it’s only in the last few months that I’ve started carrying a fairway wood. Thankfully, my experience with the Motion driver shaft had given me the keys for getting along with the FW version.
When I kept my swing smooth, the Newton Motion Fairway Wood shaft produced some of the highest, softest FW shots I’ve ever hit. The launch angles were the stuff of my dreams, and the spin was also quite high. As always, I’ll emphasize that high spin is not a bad thing. For many, many players, more spin will add carry distance in addition to producing softer landings. It’s always a matter of matching your equipment to what your swing needs.
Unfortunately, when I reverted to my normal aggressive transition, the results were not good. I hit a lot of fat shots. When I did get the club to the ball cleanly, my shot pattern covered a wide range, and several of the shots ballooned. None of this is a fault with the Newton Motion FW shaft, it’s just not a good fit for me. For players who are naturally smooth, this shaft will work wonders.
Like the driver version, the Newton Motion Fairway Wood shaft is offered in six variants, denoted by the number of dots on the shaft. The lowest CPM, highest torque, lightest weight (55 gram) version has one dot. As you move up in dots, the weight and CPM go up and the torque goes down. The other end of the spectrum is the six dot version, suggested for players with driver swing speeds over 115 MPH. This model is 80 grams.
Conclusion
If you’re a smooth swinger who wants to see your fairway wood shots fly higher and land softer, this is the shaft to try this year. As with their driver shafts, the Newton Motion Fairway Wood shaft is sold direct to consumer in 3, 5, and 7 wood lengths with the adapter already installed.
Visit Newton Shafts HERE
He founded Plugged In Golf in 2013 with the goal of helping all golfers play better and enjoy the game more.
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
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