50 Words or Less
The Breakthrough Golf Brava fairway wood shaft is easy to swing thanks to its light weight and strong kick. Addition of X flex opens up Brava to more players. High launching. Consistent.
Introduction
Last year, Breakthrough Golf broke out of the putter shaft world and introduced the Brava driver shaft [review HERE]. Golfers clearly told BGT that they wanted more light weight shafts in their bag, so Breakthrough Golf answered with the Brava fairway wood shaft. I tested one to see if the FW version could offer the same effortless speed as the original.
Looks
The Breakthrough Golf Brava fairway wood shaft looks identical to the driver version. It has a matte finish that’s black on the upper half with golden “BRAVA” branding.
There are different colorways for the Brava shaft depending on the flex. In the regular flex, the branding is a brighter gold. Those that choose the A flex get silver Brava branding.
Feel
Light weight is the calling card of the Brava fairway wood shaft, and that’s certainly the first thing I noticed when I picked it up. In the X-flex that I tested, the Brava weighs an airy 56 grams. This made swinging the Brava feel effortless.
In addition to the light weight, the Brava has a strong kick that adds to that feeling of speed without strain. The kick feels like it starts just south of the grip and stops short of the tip. When I tested the Brava driver shaft, they did not have an X-flex available, and I noted that the tip of the stiff felt soft. In the X-flex, the tip feels very stout and consistent.
Performance
There were numerous things about the Brava fairway wood shaft that had me quite intrigued. First, very few shafts are marketed specifically for fairway woods. Second, I was curious how the addition of the X-flex could improve the way Brava performed for my swing. Finally, since testing the Mitsubishi Vanquish [review HERE], I’ve been more interested in lighter weight shafts, and I wanted to see how one would affect my often-spotty performance with a fairway wood.
What was immediately obvious is that the addition of the X-flex made the Brava much more playable for me. I didn’t need the launch monitor to confirm this – the feel alone was much more comfortable and consistent. What I also liked is that the shaft felt the same whether I swung hard or laid back. I never felt like I had to modulate my swing for the shaft; the shaft kept up with whatever swing I made.
Turning to the launch monitor data, the light weight and strong kick did add some speed to my swing. It wasn’t night-and-day, but the additional speed came without any added work. I also found I was striking the ball a bit more consistently because I wasn’t pushing for every last bit of speed.
The additional launch that the Brava provided was another way that it added carry distance to my shots. This shaft helped me produce some of the highest launch angles I’ve ever gotten out of a fairway wood. I rarely see players launch their fairway woods too high, so this can be an advantage both for distance and stopping power on the green.
The Breakthrough Golf Brava fairway wood shaft is offered in four flexes: A, R, S, and X. Each flex has a different weight – 44, 48, 52, and 56 grams, respectively. The fairway wood versions are two grams lighter than the driver versions, with the exception of the X. Each FW version has slightly lower torque values (0.2 or 0.3) than their driver counterpart.
* I tested the Brava fairway wood shaft with the PING G430 MAX fairway wood [review HERE].
Conclusion
If you’re looking to launch your fairway wood shots higher and add speed, the Breakthrough Golf Brava fairway wood shaft is something you need to test. With a simplified menu of choices, it makes the fitting process easy, and the shaft delivers the performance it promises.
Visit Breakthrough Golf HERE
Matt Saternus
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Im 60, 1 hdcp and put a Brava driver stiff shaft into my G430 LST 9* (ss 100-102mph) back in mid-March and the Brava fairway stiff shaft soon followed for my TSR2 5W . Both clubs are money when it comes to feel, better launch characteristics, dispersion and overall playability. Think Bravas work best with smoother swings vs heavy loaders. I don’t swing out of my shoes with Brava driver and typically get about 260yds and 225yds with the Brava 5W fairway. I find both are very consistent fairway finders and 5W is easier to launch off the deck than other aftermarket shafts I’ve tried with it. Great company to deal with and so far and worth the expense/hassle getting the shafts shipped to Canada..!!
sounds interesting