Thought I'd share with you my experience of this for those who are interested.  

I went to the Belfry yesterday to get fitted for new wedges and while I was there I asked if I could try out the new Mizuno gadget for checking out your swing, the Swing DNA / Shaft Optimizer.  For those who who don't know what this is, it's an electronic gadget attached to a special shaft that measures what the shaft does in your swing and makes a recommendation on which shaft is best suited to your swing. 

Now this gadget doesn't just measure your swing speed.  It is effectively an electronic strain gauge attached to the shaft that measures the flex and movement in the shaft during the swing and gives the fitter a set of numbers on it's screen.  The fitter then types these numbers into software on a PC for three seperate swings and the software does some funky calculations.  From this, your swing is plotted on a graph showing your speed vs tempo (I think this is purely for the player's benefit!) and recommends shafts to suit your swing type. The fitter then fits the head (or heads) of your choice to the recommended shafts and you are fitted in the usual manner to find the combination you like and suits you best. 

I was recommended the Dynamic Gold S300, with the FST KBS Tour S and Nippon N.S. PRO 1150GH TOUR S as back up options.  It was recommended that I did not use a graphite shaft and if I wanted a rifle shaft to use the Project X 5.5.  After hitting 3 balls with the Nippon shaft, I decided it wasn't for me as the balance just felt wrong.  The stats showed that the Project X shaft gave me slightly better results than the others and this felt best too, although the FST KBS Tour also felt good after a couple of shots.

This system is not supposed to replace custom fitting, merely give the fitter a head start by narrowing down the huge shaft options (39 for Mizuno irons) to the theoretical best for the player.  The custom fit lie, length, etc still needs to be done, but I was able to be fitted for wedges and irons in the time that it would normally take to do just one or the other.  I didn't even notice the piece of kit on the shaft while it was being used.  I think it was worthwhile and anything that helps you to get the right set up has got to be a positive. 

Then full details are on the Mizuno website via the link below if you want to find out more.  

http://golf.mizunoeurope.com/custom/swing-dna.php 

I have set of MP32's and a brand new set of MP32's spare. I was having issues getting these off the ground and I was just going to change the shafts in them as the TT DGS300 are a low launch shaft.

I went to my local Mizuno fitter who also has one of these optimisers to get this done. It measures swing speed, tempo, release timing and toe down angle. It cost Mizuno over £10m to develop from all accounts.

When going through the process I got talking to the pro and he suggested that I really should change my heads too (salesman in him talking perhaps!) - I tried a few heads in the suggested shaft (Nippon Pro 950GH in stiff) really liked the MP62 and MP68 but my results were just soooo good with the MX300 I had to let my head rule my heart.

He also said how much he loves the MP32's (he plays them himself) and he would personally like to buy my two sets off me for £500 big ones and a new bag (nike sasquach tour).....The 300's cost me £410 for 5-PW and a 52deg MP T10 wedge.

So whilst I wish I had the game to play the 32's......I think I've done the right thing to get properly fitted for a club that can take me to low single figures if I have the ability in me!....considering I got both MP32 sets for less than £150 I also done some good bussiness.

I also fully reconmmend the Mizuno fitting if you are in the market for a new club or shaft.....the pro also says lots of people use it to fit shafts for other makes of clubs as it is so easy and also very accurate.

****WARNING - BORING TECHNICAL HATCHET JOB FOLLOWS****

An interesting concept, but as usual the website is high on jargon filled prose (with spelling mistakes!) but little technical detail.  However, I can see quite a few flaws in their cunning plan.  The object of the exercise I can understand, dynamically measuring the shaft flex to optimise the choice of an individuals shaft, but the method they have chosen to use simply cannot work.  OK, they do address one of my first queries with the interchangeable heads by helpfully removing 8 grams of material to compensate for the fixing system, but unfortunately because of the large swing radii involved even minute shifts in the centre of gravity of a head can have significant effects on the balance of the club.  As a consequence the data gained is then compromised if you need different length shafts for different clubs, unless of course they go through the complete range from wedge to 1 iron.

The main problem I have with it though is that the transducer part clips onto the shaft being tested.  Real straingauges need to be close physically bonded to the material being tested and are arranged (on a cylindrical shaft) in 3 axes (lengthways down the shaft, radially around the shaft and at 45 deg to the central axis) otherwise they don't work, and for a long thin shaft you would need at least three along it's total length to be able to get any meaningful data.  So this device measures the flex in only one position and cannot compensate for shafts with different kick and flex points, which is probably why they've got some fancy software to show you what could, possibly, be happening.  Smoke and mirrors I'm afraid.  And I'm still not sure how my head would change my swing with a lump of plastic just below the grip, and unless it's weightless could also affect the clubs C of G...

Sorry folks, wanted to be outside building a pergola but it's raining, so decided to have a rant instead..     

*****WARNING - DEBUNKING OF THE TECHNICAL DEBUNKING FOLLOWS*****

Hate to destroy a large part of what you said Tim, but the strain gauge does not clip onto an existing shaft.  It's a specially constructed shaft with the gauges built into it that is balanced like a normal shaft and is available in different versions.  They measure you with the one closest to the shaft you currently use. I couldn't tell the reader was there.  They also rebalance the heads so that the weight distribution is as close as possible to a normal head.  I tried an MP62 head with a Project X 5.5 in both a built up one and a standard off the shelf (they had one there).  Got to be honest, they felt the same.  

Everything you said is true though

Mr Perry is right about the shaft tester thing.....I has multiple sensor types built into it to measure what it does. The club felt very natural and I had some really nice shots with it, I wasn't aware of any weird weighting when I used it.

 Mizuno are quite good on club balance and feel so I'm sure they spent a long time making this a good as they possibily could.

Don't care, it's stopped raining now so back out in the garden with large pieces of wood.  Apologies for not grasping the technology better, more to do with their website than anything else.  However, if it has got an optimised shaft with multiple sensors on it as claimed why have they bolted on the massive block just under the grip?  That approach would mean that the shaft would need a hole in it therefore compromising the vibration characteristics of the shaft.  Surely a better approach would be to build all the kit into the grip and then to just plug it all in (or even blue tooth) to download the data?    Still not convinced that it's all that it's cracked up to be in tech terms...  

Tim, your perfectly correct to think it is not perfect - but it's far better than what lots of local clubs/fitters had before. It has widened the reach of fitted clubs for us hackers. Plus I'm sure it is better than alot of local fitters at matching a shaft to a particular swing.

Nothing will replace the eye,skill and experience of a good fitter.....but how many of them are there in this world?

enjoy your wood Tim....

I went to the Mizuno National Fitting Center at The World of Golf in New Malden, Surrey.

The guy there used the Swing DNA thing to work out the best three shaft options for my swing.

He did tell me what it measured but I cannot remember what he said now!

He did say it had cost Mizuno a load of dosh to develop.

Once he had the best three shafts for my swing he then put different clubheads on each shaft and measured the results.

I ended up with the Mizuno MP68s (8 iron to PW) with the Project X Rifle 5.5 shaft.

Russ

Russ,

I'll quote myself

"It measures swing speed, tempo, release timing and toe down angle. It cost Mizuno over £10m to develop from all accounts."

"Nothing will replace the eye,skill and experience of a good fitter.....but how many of them are there in this world?"

You should have spent a bit off time to find one Lewis , this is just more mumbo jumbo and some poor souls have to help re-coup Mizuno's investment.I cannot believe that a powerhouse like yourself has come away with NS 950's.(to light for you IMO)There's no need to be a brain surgeon to work out that the MX is easier to hit than the MP's either.

Lewis , I seriously hope they workout for you and you don't become bored with the diluted feedback as I know you spend alot of time on ball striking. I went down that route once and I did. Just my opinion, though I suspect it's not.

Dave,

I got the shaft in stiff as my swing speed with a six iron is 85mph.....and yes the shaft is very light compared to the S300 in my 32's - but I really could feel of the head more in the swing.....which I couldn't in the 32's and I was losing my timing quite abit. I spent quite a long time with different shafts and heads and the Nippon felt nice.

The MX head is a bridge between the MP and MX range and whilst it has a cavity it is small and from address it looks very nice and the feel out of it was as nice as my 32's, I may regret my change but I'll give these clubs a chance, there are even pro's on the PGA and LPGA with this club in their bags and nearly every review I have read is extremely positive - and lots of them are low single figure golfers.

When I'm down to single figures I'll no doubt move back to the MP range and get myself ready for the seniors tour   ;-)

Listen to Leyo he's a snake eyes god