Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw Orange Shaft Review

Higher launch and lower spin are the magic words to get the most bang from your driver, and it's been bombs away for me with the new Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw Orange shaft.

Tensei AV Raw Orange is a counterbalanced shaft (with more weight in the butt section, but actually has an evenly balanced (almost linear, one-piece) feeling, and is extremely stable.  It's still a stout feeling, but a smoother stout and not boardy feeling at all.

You can't feel the Tensei AV Raw Orange load as much as the Blue (which is mostly about preference), but there's still a superior sense of what this shaft is doing in transition.  And that's translated to an improved quality of strike for me compared to the Tensei Blue.

Full disclosure, Tensei Blue shafts have been my favorite Tensei shafts the last few years.  Distance was great, accuracy was too.  But I sometimes hooked the ball more than I'd have expected, and also at times probably launched a little higher than I'd have wanted.

Tensei CK Pro Orange never quite made it into any of my drivers because it was too stout feeling for my liking, and more importantly too low launching.  The Tensei AV Raw Orange has become like a Goldilocks Tensei shaft for me, creating a flight for me that works well anywhere.  It's a medium-low trajectory, while still remaining very low spin.  The tip is livelier than CK Pro Orange but without sacrificing control like I sometimes did with Tensei Blue.

Compared to Tensei Blue there's also less twisting with AV Raw Orange  And as mentioned earlier, that has translated to more consistent strikes and consistently longer drives.  I felt I could chase AV Raw Orange as hard as I wanted, and also had better dispersion and less curve on all-out swings with Orange than I did with the same kind of swings using Blue.

Ball speed is king, and the truth of the matter is some shafts can produce more ball speed than others. Tensei AV Raw Orange gives me a real sense of crushing the ball, and I've been smiling my way to more distance and accuracy using this shaft.  Even on mishits (particularly marginally low), the added launch and lower spin kept shots closer to center with less distance loss.

The stiff tip and middle section are obvious during the swing and through impact.  And as mentioned, you can't feel Tensei AV Raw Orange load as much as you can with Blue.  But on the other hand you can feel a more powerful release at impact with Orange.  And I've found Orange won't overload like Blue sometimes if I go after it hard.

Tensei AV Raw Orange is is the straightest Tensei shaft I've hit to date.  And I'm not sacrificing distance for the added control.  In fact, I'm hitting more consistently long and straight drives with this shaft than I have with any previous Tensei.  Overall AV Raw Orange is an absolutely great mix of stability and feel.