Diamana Whiteboard (Gen 6) Review and comparison to Ventus TR Blue

My one liner for this

For me, the Diamana WB > Fujikura Ventus TR Blue

When I first started writing this review, I planned on doing a stand alone review and then maybe doing a comparison article down the road. What I realized was that every other decent blog review of this product has covered how great this thing looks, feels and performs ad nauseum and to some degree they all kinda say the same thing, which is good as far the product goes. But me writing and parroting basically the exact same thing, really doesnt do anyone any good. 

So this review is going to include a direct comparison of the Mitsubishi Chemical Diamana Whiteboard 63x to the Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 6x, a shaft I really liked and started the year with as my gamer. 

I want to preface that reviews of shafts, even more than clubs,  are so much a matter of preference, and really all shafts from well known after-market providers are generally good. Which is why my one liner starts with “For me”. So if you’re in the market for a new shaft or driver, always try every shaft that catches your eye, because you’re preferences and feel perceptions may not match mine. 

That being said, the Diamana Whiteboard beat my gamer in every category and easily earned a spot in my bag. 

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Looks

Let’s start with the most subjective category. A refined designer might call the look of the Diamana WB, Modern Timeless. Its matte black finish with the small grey and white flowerband accents is a look that will never go out of style. 

I’m not a  refined designer, so to me this shaft combined with my Cobra DS Adapt head, is a perfect combo that looks bad a**  with hints of  hawaiian batman. 

But seriously, it’s a shaft that goes with any head and a look that you never get tired of.

The Fujikura Ventus TR Blue, looks good enough on its own, but navy and black as a combined colorway just doesn’t work as well to me, and the Ventus TR Blue look, though classy, isn’t nearly as timeless. 

Point 1 for the Diamana.

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Feel

I found the Diamana Whiteboard to feel more lively through the impact zone than I would’ve imagined. My first thought after my first swing is that it wouldn’t be as stable as my gamer. But as I took more swings, I realized this shaft has a “feel trifecta” of smoothness, explosiveness and stability.

It’s one of those feels you don’t think is possible until you swing a shaft like this one. 

The only thing odd is that the Mitsubishi Chemical Group Website, touts the profile as a Firm Butt, a Firm+ Mid, and a Medium+ Tip, which I didnt necessarily feel,  but every person’s feel scale is different and different combinations will manifest different feels individually.

By comparison Fujikura’s website shows the Ventus TR Blue as an ultra stiff tip, with a stiff butt and handle. Regardless of the literature, to me, the Ventus TR feels harsher, arguably stiffer which is odd for a blue profile. It’s a feeling that one might equate to high stability.

There’s a big notion out there that if you have an aggressive swing, you need a really stiff feeling shaft to fight the lefts and get that ultimate stability,  which is what I thought I needed to help with dispersion. But as you'll see below, that's not the case.

Ultimately the Diamana, and its “feel trifecta” had me smitten.

Point 2 for the Diamana.

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Performance (in the lab)

At the end of the day this is what matters most. After warming up and getting a few test swings in with the WB, I ran a test using my Skytrak+ in driving range mode. I took 5 swings in a row with each shaft in my Cobra DS Adapt Max K set to the A5 position. No deletions on any swings, just took 5 swings and looked at the results. The results were clear. 

Here’s the summary (reminder I’m at altitude in metro Denver,  so carry numbers will be longer than sea level at comparable ball dynamics):

Here’s an export of the data if you want to nerd out and see all of it.

Whats crazy is a lot of the measurements are the same/close. 

What’s great about this is that generally I’m putting consistent-ish swings on the golf ball and giving both shafts a fair shake in the test. 

But it’s clear that my face control and launch dynamics are just better on the Diamana, and that translates to huge differences in distance and dispersion. 

Point 3 for the Diamana.

The below graphic illustrates the dispersion differences better. 

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Performance (on the course) 

Now I switched to this shaft towards the end of the season. I’m not gonna blow smoke and say it magically made me a better driver of the golf ball all the time.

However, on my very last round of this season, I shot the best 9 of my year, and anecdotally speaking the best 9 driving the ball in many years at Fields Ranch East on the back 9. 

Fields Ranch East, the home of the PGA,  is a future major championship and Ryder Cup venue, and for that back 9, I was magic with the big dog, equipped with the Diamana WB.

The caddies even said at the beginning of the round, there would be no driveable par 5s today, and on 18 I had an eagle putt for -3 on the back (which is a nice way to say I three putted on 18 haha). Regardless, an incredible 9 of driving the ball for me, that has me very excited for next season. 

Point 4 for the Diamana and a clean sweep.

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Diamana Whiteboard Pros and Cons (vs Fujikura Ventus)

Pros (you kinda just read em)

• More timeless look, and really clean with a matte finish driver head.
• A feel trifecta (at least to me, I understand that some folks just like a noodle or a rebar pole)
• For me, significantly better dispersion, and an extra 10 yards of carry.
• More confidence on the golf course from the above measured performance gains.
• What else is there to say, it beats my Fujikura Ventus TR Blue in every category 

Cons

Not much to say here about the shaft itself. So I’ll nitpick on the marketing. I’m a little confused by the info on the website and the brand as a whole. Where does this fit in the line vs Tensei? Is it the flagship? I think it is?

Fuji does a little better job of branding their tech (velocore) and categorizing the Ventus as their flagship line. 

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Final Verdict

I can’t say what a shaft will do for you, or if you’ll have the same results I did. 

What I can say is the Diamana Whiteboard shaft, for me, bested a very popular competitor in every category and I feel more confident that if I swing free, I’ll find my golf ball in a better spot more often than I did with my previous gamer. 

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