Fujikura 2024 Ventus Blue Shaft
Six years ago, in 2018, Fujikura took the golf world by storm with the introduction of the original Ventus shaft featuring something called VeloCore. As this family of golf shafts evolved to include six different models, the popularity only increased and became a favorite amongst players of all skill levels. Knowing they had to maintain characteristics that made the Ventus favored by so many, Fujikura looked to make incremental gains to improve feel, stability, and overall performance for golfers. The end result is the new Fujikura 2024 Ventus Blue featuring the updated VeloCore+.
The Looks
There are two major differences in the appearance of the Fujikura 2024 Ventus Blue. The most obvious is the new shade of blue. While the Ventus shaft has always immediately jumped out because of its signature “band” graphic, the original Blue was a modest navy-ish tone. The new Ventus Blue is a bright, bold blue that can’t be missed. I’d even call it “rich and vibrant”. I don’t know…something about it has a more confident vibe that says “yep, I’m playing a Ventus! Check it out!”
The second major difference is the 2024 Ventus Blue has a matte texture as opposed to the glossy finish of the predecessors. Fujikura kept the signature Ventus graphics with the slight change of the Ventus wordmark being a white outline rather than white lettering. As always, no one will mistake the Ventus band just beneath the grip section of your club. At the tip section, there’s a new VeloCore+ graphic representing the new technology.
How Does it Feel?
The new Fujikura 2024 Ventus Blue feels a lot like the original Ventus Blue…just better. Though many players may say to you, “it only feels incrementally better”, I would tell you that is untrue. I find the new Ventus Blue to feel way better. That same sweetness and response is there, and that signature stability that Ventus became so highly regarded for. The difference is that the new Ventus Blue feels much more stable and much more consistent without sacrificing any of the positive feel attributes. By adding a third premium material in the construction, VeloCore+ certainly elevates the feeling of this shaft to a new level. Of course, feel is often fairly subjective, but I promise you that if you were a Ventus fan in the past, you’ll find the new Ventus Blue and VeloCore+ to be quite a bit more satisfying.
On-Course Performance
| Club Speed | Ball Speed | Launch Angle | Spin | Carry (Yds) | Total (Yds) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 110.7 | 166.1 | 10.7º | 2220 | 269 | 298.5 |
Admittedly I’m not in mid-season form so my swing speeds were a bit down during my testing, but I’ll tell you what…the Fujikura 2024 Ventus Blue really delivered as advertised. With the original Ventus Blue, I felt like it had a lot of performance benefits, but it was just a touch too “loose” for me. What I mean is that with my aggressive tempo, my dispersion was greater and I was inconsistent. This is largely why the Ventus TR Blue was a better fit for me and spent so much time as my gamer. But now the new 2024 Ventus Blue gives me a little softer profile with easier load/release that I can generate a bit more power with and not lose control. So in short, I’m getting the consistency and stability that the Ventus TR Blue helped me with, but with something a little easier to swing.
I don’t know if it’s a result of the VeloCore+ design, but I also found my smash factor to be more consistent. And not just consistent, but in the higher range. A lot of shaft designs claim to help the golfer return the club to same place as a result of their materials maintaining their shape through the swing which results in finding the center of the face more often. Is that happening here? I don’t know, but the amount of of swings I had in the 1.47 to 1.50 smash factor range outnumbered what I was seeing with my Ventus TR Blue.
Final Thoughts – Fujikura 2024 Ventus Blue Shaft
Never one to rest on their laurels, Fujikura found a way to make one of the all time golf shafts even better. The Fujikura 2024 Ventus Blue has an incredible blend of excellent feel and super reliable stability that results in an impressive performance. If you’re asking me if it’s worth upgrading from the original, my answer yes is absolutely “yes”. Of course, you should test for yourself, but I think it’s definitely worth it. Though the changes may be incremental, I genuinely feel they have a significant impact in the shaft. Maybe it’s just the “shiny new thing” or “honeymoon” period, but the 2024 Ventus Blue certainly has my attention and will be getting more time as the season gets started.
Watch Kris and me take the Fujikura 2024 Ventus Blue out for the first time:
