50 Words or Less
The Aldila Rogue Elite shaft series uses their Tru-Fit System to optimize fit for more players and is designed to be firmer with lower torque, more stability, and some counterbalance.
Introduction
Aldila struck gold when they launched the original Rogue shaft. That success resulted in a lot of demand from amateurs wanting to be like Jordan. Unfortunately, not everyone has the swing for the Rogue so Aldila delivered the Rogue Elite series. The Rogue Elite shafts are a little more user friendly and provide options for a range of different swings.
Looks
The only major differentiation in the looks of the Aldila Rogue Elite shafts comes in the colors. Each shaft has the signature Aldila circuit board graphic and either a green, blue, or orange paint job. Those familiar with the Tour Blue/Green shafts will find these similar, but the Rogue Elite has a glossy finish.
Feel
All three of the Aldila Rogue Elite shafts have significantly different feels. Players familiar with the Aldila Tour Blue and Green shafts that want a touch more “firmness” will find good matches in the Rogue Elite equivalents. I don’t have any experience with the Tour Red, but I imagine the Rogue Elite Orange will be similar.
The Rogue Elite shafts have very similar feels to their Tour equivalents. The Rogue Elite Green has a more solid feel that’s better for aggressive swings. Players with smoother swings will get along better with the softer feeling Rogue Elite Blue shaft. I struggled with the Orange. I thought the Orange felt better than the Blue but was also on the softer side.
Aldila counterbalanced the Rogue Elite shafts to better fit the weights of modern drivers. Other shafts in the market have done this, and I’ve found the difference to be more noticeable in those other shafts. The counterbalance was not as noticeable to me in the Rogue Elite shafts, which may be a good thing based on your personal preferences.
Performance
Again, it’s important to remember that the three Rogue Elite shafts are going to be very different for each golfer. My comfort zone was definitely in the Rogue Elite Green, so I had much better performance numbers. I was able to make full, aggressive swings that felt under control and resulted in low to mid launching ball flights as advertised. With the Blue and Orange, I simply wasn’t a good fit and my data proves it. Players with smoother swings will find it easier to launch the ball for more carry with both these two shafts.
If selecting the right shaft for you seems daunting, Aldila has tried to make it easier. The Aldila Tru-Fit System is designed to provide “digitally measured flex zones to identify tip, mid and butt flex” to help golfers pinpoint the exact specifications that are more optimized for their swing. Of course you have to have some self-awareness of your own swing to know what you need. While useful, the Tru-Fit system is not a replacement for a fitting from a professional like Club Champion.
Conclusion
The Aldila Rogue Elite shafts may not be the same as the original Rogue, but they’re still solid shafts. Fans of the Aldila Tour shafts that want something a little more upscale will be good candidates for the new Rogue Elites. Yes, Aldila has made efforts to make shaft selection easier, but as we always preach: you still need to go get properly fit. Understanding your swing is imperative in selecting the right Aldila Rogue Elite shaft for your game.
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Bill plays Scott Readman Concepts putters and accessories.
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Tom Wishon would imply in some of hi analysis that the shaft is not a big deal in terms of performance and then we look at your results and there is a 60 yard gap with the same player. I have a hard time believing 60 yards myself, but I find the shaft and ball fitting is probably more important than the head in today’s drivers. Sorry for getting off track. I enjoyed reading the review and getting the advice that if we liked the Tour Green to stay in the same color with this shaft line.
Trust me, I have no interest in fabricating numbers. There are a ton of reasons three totally different shafts can produce that difference for one person.
If that’s what Wishon truly believes, I’d be shocked. My shafts in my clubs are all in there for a reason and tend to be exponentially better for me than others. They were all selected for a reason.
Andy
I am afraid you have misunderstood Tom Wishon’s position on shafts. If anything, he is a firm believer that the golf shaft is a key component of delivering consistent and optimum performance for golfers of all capabilities. In his book, ‘Common Sense Clubfitting’, he recommended golfers be fit for shaft specifications related to weight, flex, bend profile, torque and weight distribution. He also developed a software which measured frequency of golf shafts across various points of the shaft to allow us to understand the bending characteristics of the shaft (i.e. why some feel boardy or noodle like in nature). This enabled golfers to better appreciate why some shafts work for them and some do not.
That’s some extensive research performed on shafts for someone you have wrongly accused of implying that the ‘shaft is not a big deal in terms of performance.’
I think you may have mistaken his comment that the shaft can only do so much for a golfer. For example, when a golfer does not consistently have a late release in his/her golf swing or lacks the fundamental basics to hit a golf ball well (e.g. over the top swing or early casting), then he/she cannot assume that a shaft will materially eradicate the swing errors, transform ball flight or reduce spin.
As someone who has gamed the Grafalloy Prolaunch Blue and Red, the Aldila Tour Blue and Green, and the Mitsubishi Diamana Blue and White, I am inclined to believe that this assertion is correct. Please note that the first shaft from each manufacturer is advertised as high launching and the second as their low launching shafts. It is only on my average/good ball striking days when i can see a difference in trajectory as advertised by each manufacturer across their own product range. On my bad days, i can be shooting low bullets with the high launching shafts or shooting birds in the sky with the low launching shafts.
Wishon has never dismissed the contribution of golf shafts in performance, he just states that the benefits of the shaft is limited to a golfer’s capability and has consistently advocated that a golfer is fitted to a shaft which suits him/her to allow the golfer to play his/her best game possible.
I am an avid fan of Tom Wishon but I also don’t necessarily agree with every bit of his articles. As such, I definitely appreciate comments which disagree with him as it lends for more discourse to better understand equipment aspects of golf. However, to wrongly accuse him of dismissing the role of golf shafts in performance indicates a lack of understanding of his writing on your part. I would urge you to reconsider before spreading further misconceptions like this in the future.
Well said.
I didn’t see this comment until after I posted my reply to Andy.
Kar Ven Wai, Well said!
I’m 4.5 years late but I find it extremely odd that T.Wishon would make any statement alluding to shafts not mattering. Offhand I can only think of 1 other person that even comes close to doing the type of in-depth testing, experimentation & analysis on shafts. Why would he continue to do so if he believed that shafts don’t really matter. It defies logic and common sense???
Great Review!
I have a question. I hit the ball way too high with way too much spin. I am in the market for a new shaft rather than a new driver. Would a shaft like this bring down my ball flight? Would a heavier shaft do the same thing?
Not necessarily, a lot of that completely depends on how you swing and interact with the shaft and its weight. For instance, I recently reviewed a shaft that was supposed to be fairly low launching and low/mid spin, but I hit it with ~3100 rpms and a 16º launch angle. Neither of those were necessarily as advertised, but that’s what my swing did with it.
Ultimately, you have to use our data and input as a reference point, but will only know how well it works out for you in your hands.
is the freq. measurement in order of butt,mid,tip?9-9-5 8-5-9 7-8-8 in the tru fit system
This data doesn’t look right. Very extreme. Were the flexes the same in these shafts? I have tried the green and the orange and did not get that kind of variation. The flights were different for sure, but the differences in club head speed and distances were nothing close to this. I was going to purchase the green but now I’m a bit worried about quality control after seeing this.