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Shaft Flex; Are you right?

Nippon Shafts
I can't afford a proper fitting (choice is either a lesson or a new toy or a fitting, and to this pt I've always gone for one of the former), so I take the info I know (driver carries ~250-260, monitor has me between 99-103 ss), and the fact that I would like a lower ball flight that draws less. The guys at golftown and my research leads me to a stiff shaft, and my next shaft may be an x b/c I still hit it higher with more draw than I'd like, though it's much better with the 9.5°S than it was with my old 10.5°R.
 
Great thread Ryan.
I think this is something to def. think about as players swing tempo and abilities change throughout the year.
I started out with a reg. Flex in my driver and now have found that a stiffer shaft allows me to find more fairways.
So I'm not counting any particular flex out with out giving the club a fair chance out on the range.
I hit the Amp Cell in reg.at the NC Tour Van stop and Loved it.
 
War Eagle said:
I agree that getting fitted to a shaft is the way to go, looking forward to how your fitting goes for you buddy.

But, if you are fit and it is recommended that you go down in flex, will that bother you?
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Actually it wouldn't bother me a bit. As long as I can get information to support the decision, and I'm assuming at a fitting I would be able to see launch monitor or "real" results and it wouldn't bother me at all.

I think some of that may come from when I've done running in the past I went to a running store and was basically fit for shoes. They have a few different tests and once you are determined to need neutral, stability or whatever for your foot and stride type they bring out a host of shoes for you to try, that varies a bit from golf but my point is that while I have seen other shoes that I liked the look of I'm not going to run in something that doesn't fit so if it's ugly but comfortable and the right fit so be it.

Also, I want to give myself the best chances at succeeding and improving at golf. I haven't taken many lessons this summer just to try to pick a shaft based on anything other than what has the chance to make me better.

Great topic and thanks for starting it out.
 
I think a lot of golfers automatically assume they're a stiff-flex and in fact, go around telling people (and themselves) they can't hit a regular-flex.

Another big factor is exactly how were you fitted for your driver? I've seen stores which have a player hitting club X in a regular shaft and then say "here, try this in stiff" when it's a totally different driver. Then the customer buys the original driver in stiff. If it's not the same driver, you don't know the results you're going to get.

The grind of a fitting comes into play too. Were the shafts you didn't like towards the end of your fitting session when you were more tired? If you go to a different store for another fitting tomorrow, are you going to get a different result?
 
I play whatever works for me. I have been fitted and generally us x stiff shafts, however I have 2 clubs in my bag that are simply stiff and those work fine as well.
 
Great thread Ryan I think the importance is often overlooked. I get fit for everything I but with one exception and that's my driver, I bought it because I hit it well but the numbers on the launch monitor aren't the greatest. The shaft recommendation is for a 75 gram stiff shaft Aldila and I have a 65, I haven't changed because quite frankly I don't want to relearn a new shaft and I hate having a shaft pulled and replaced, kinda makes me feel like my club has been violated lol. I am going to get a driver after the first of the year and will go with whatever recommendation the fitter gives me, I do think that not playing the right shaft costs yards and accuracy in both Irons and woods.
 
I was fit for my last set, so I hope the shafts are correct all the way through.
 
I think hitting R flex shafts has a little stigma to it, to be honest. I've seen store empolyees basically pander to people and say the old "you're right on the line between R and S". Actually, they did that to me and I probably had no business playing anything stiff. It's one of those wienie measuring things.
 
Excellent thread! I play the Miyazaki 43s in my TM SuperTri, and I just love it. I also have a Mashie M3 stiff which is great. My shafts in my TM2.0s are PX flighted 5.5, whitch is supposed to be stiff. I do NOT like these shafts. As some of you know I'm going to try a Miyazaki 59s in my 7i to see how I like it.

I need a 3W. In that thread I mentioned that I had tried a few 3Ws at GS. I tried a TM R11s 3W in the stiff Adila Rip Phenom shaft. It was just OK. I then tried the Regular Adila Rip Phenom 70 in the TM R11s. I absolutely LOVED it. It went farther with better dispirsion than the stiff!! I then tried the TM R11s 5W in both stiff and regular Adila Rip Phenom shafts. Again, I loved the regular and hit it MUCH better.

I want to get fit for a new driver in the spring. I will definitely be fit for it. I expect to gain both distance and dispirsion with new equipment rather than my TM SuperTri which is about 5 yrs. old (except for the shaft!). I will keep an open mind on hitting everything. I think it was JB that said he would use a L flex if it worked better for him.

Stiff or Regular?? It makes NO difference to me. Which ever gets the job done.
 
I think manufacturers are well aware of the ego bias, and therefore many of them have been making their "stiff" flex shafts less and less stiff. If a guy needs a regular flex shaft, but insists he needs stiff, then he might see huge improvement by swinging a "stiff" shaft that is actually a lot more flexible than other "stiff" shafts out there. I have long had an anti-ego when it comes to shafts; I will generally go for the regular flex shaft unless I am convinced the stiff flex will work for me.

With shafts getting more flexible these days, I am now more likely to settle on a stiff flex shaft than I would have been 5 years ago. For many years my swing speed has been on the edge of needing either regular or stiff flex. I really have to add in the other factors, such as weight of the shaft, swing weight of the club, flex point, and just what type of swing I have that day. As a result, I really cannot buy a club or shaft without trying it out first. Earlier this year, I bought a G20 3 Wood with the stock regular flex shaft, and it turned out to be just too whippy for me -- I think maybe I needed the "Tour" regular flex or something like that.

When I was hitting the Razr Fit at a demo day, the Callaway rep decided I could either go with a 10.5* in the stiff flex, or the 9.5* in regular flex. I opted for the 10.5/stiff, because I liked the trajectory better.....but after a few weeks I traded that in for a 9.5/regular looking for a little more distance. I ultimately upgraded the shaft in the 9.5 to something kind of in between the stock regular and stiff, and now I'm pretty happy with my results.
 
I personally think that one of the things that holds golfers back is inconsistent shafts up and down a bag. I think that this is particularly true of high handicappers like me.

Yes, it is a problem if you think something is playing to stiff and it is playing to senior. If every club is that way though, I still think that is better than having every single one play different.
 
Hawk said:
I think hitting R flex shafts has a little stigma to it, to be honest. I've seen store empolyees basically pander to people and say the old "you're right on the line between R and S". Actually, they did that to me and I probably had no business playing anything stiff. It's one of those wienie measuring things.
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Exactly. I had a store guy trying to talk me into stiffs and I have no business with them when you look at my swing speed and transition. I'm fine with saying that I'm a regular flex guy. There's a reason that is regular -- because most players are falling in there.

I'd hit a water hose if I could hit it 250 yards down the middle of the fairway. I could care less what that little sticker says.

Also, not a popular opinion, but I really liked the uniflex steel shafts in some of my Callaway irons. I know that most look down on them, but I found them to be a pretty good fit for my game. They seemed to work when I laid off, but didn't get wild if I leaned into it a little bit. That's all I really want out of a shaft.
 
I don't think one should be stuck on the regular or stiff question since all shaft makers have different versions of stiff and regular. Before I got fitted I would hit different clubs until I found one that felt right and was most consistent. Now I try to look more at weight, kick point and frequency.

I dropped off my 5 wood last night to get re-shafted and I told the guy I wanted the shaft tipped to 6.1 and spined. His first comment was the graphics won't line up. I laughed and said I didn't care. His response was most people care more about the looks then the functionality. Anyway point being my fairway woods are labeled regular and my driver is labeled stiff however the frequencies are 6.1 for the FW and 6.3 for the driver. I care more about performance then looks or what it says on my shaft.
 
Yesterday I did a quick fitting with the 10.5 R11s and the tech narrowed it down and I hit both the stiff RIP phenom and the regular. With the stiff the launch monitor showed 225 average distance with 9* launch angle, about 2200 RPM back spin and about +440 side spin, then he had me hit the regular shaft and I was hitting it an average of 250, closer to 2000 back spin about -400 side spin and my launch angle was 11* I had better results this way-I'll post pictures later to show the dispersion- the tech said he liked this dispersion way better and most of my shot were draws and some straight it made a huge difference to have a launch monitor for once



Tapping & autocorrecting

"Life is short, Drive fast and leave a sexy corpse."
-Stanley Hudson
 
The only clubs I have EVER been fit for are my Morgan Cup clubs from last year, I will go through another full fitting this year somewhere, after the improvment I saw from the fitting last year...I wont buy clubs or shafts without a fitting again.
 
It's different for me with a lot of different shafts. I have a Matrix X-Con 6 shaft in stiff that I LOVE in my driver. In my 3W, I have a an X-Con 7 in Stiff. For my 5W (When I play one) I have a blue board in Regular. The stiff lowered my flight too much, and the regular felt just right, so I went with it.

In KBS Tours, Stiff soft stepped feel perfect. In the 90s, I have found that I play a full stiff well. In PX, I like the 5.0's the best. It really just depends on what works best for me, and what I am trying to achieve with each shaft.
 
I saw this thread this morning but my day didn't allow for me to comment until now. I think most golfers that haven't been fit are more than likely hitting he wrong flex shafts. I also don't think most golfers know what an optimum ball flight looks like, and that's ok. You play what feels good and that's all that really matters. It's these golfers that keep the OEMs of the world in business.

12 years ago I played to a frequency instead of a flex. I tinkered until my drivers were all the same frequency. I had a Titleist J with a Fujikura tipped reg. flex shaft. It was the only way I could get to my desired frequency. The funny thing is that I only did that with my drivers and nothing else. I assumed I was swinging the proper flex in my irons and FWs.
Last year I went to Golftec and found out I was swinging the proper gear for my swing. Then I tested the KbS your 90s and had great results. I now swing KBS tour stiffs and hit them well. Today I gamed the KBS Ctapers and hit them well enough to be of assistance to my team. My point is that I can swing all three but only one really brings out the best in my game, tour stiffs.

In the end people are going to play what they want with only part of the equation being taken into consideration, feel. It's all the other intangibles that are left on the cutting room floor.

Someone responded that they hit the Amp and hit well but didn't like the ball flight. The ball had great trajectory and distance but did meet the ball flight requirement. Sounds to me like a match made in heaven but that's just me. Great thread, that far more people should pay attention to.
 
I think I am close to playing the optimal shafts in my irons, which is the flighted PX 5.5. With that said, I also had quite the experience with some KBS Tour 90's / stiff in Iowa during the tour van stop.

I always thought I was a regular flex kind of golfer, but the more gear I have tried has put me closer to stiff. Also one of the reasons I like PX as I can be a tweener in that 5.5 irons / 6.0 driver.

Interesting discussion and replies, I definitely look forward to go through a full club fitting soon and really trying to nail down these details further.
 
I've been fit, so yes.
 
I made the mistake when being fitting for giving a swing that was not relaxed. Not swinging out of my shoes mind you, but not a normal, relaxed swing. I really liked the lauch, dispersion, and distance I was seeing. Well, when the clubs actually arrived, I found it difficult to get those same numbers without continually working at it. I went to get everything check at another custom fitter and his first words were, "I know what your issue is". I went with a totally different component and stayed with the same shaft, but now within a comfortable swing and flex. I am now seeing the same numbers, with less effort.

Getting fit is the key, getting your mindset fit at the same time works wonders. Lesson learned the hard way.
 
This is a very informative thread. I've been playing regular flex for a few years now and find that it works best for my swing. With that said different companies regular flex shafts are different than others. The really light weight shafts in regular are not in my comfort zone. I prefer a 60 + gram regular shaft, which gives me the ball flight I prefer and the overall feel for the club.
 
Well I can say I am guilty of just playing whats on the rack. Being left handed I don't get to hit very many different shaft types or clubs for that matter.
What I do know is since switching from a stiff Biomatrix shaft in my driver to a Project X 5.5 (even though my SS says it should be stiff) my drives are much more consistent and much longer and have a much better trajectory .
My irons, well since I only play 7-sw I go with just regular flex and have never gamed anything else.
I am very budget minded and will never be a pro, I play to enjoy myself. If every shaft was different flex in my bag and I played them decently I would be happy.
Ego means nothing-if They said Ladies Flex and I hit them well,then fine.
 
Hotled said:
If every shaft was different flex in my bag and I played them decently I would be happy.
Ego means nothing-if They said Ladies Flex and I hit them well,then fine.
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Ole hot has some wisdom going on :thumb:
 
i never really realized until this weekend the effect of different shafts... ive played stiff in the past and its been pretty reliable but i played the r11s with the project x black 7.0 and it was a whole new world in terms of feel and performance. im not sure what flex it was and honestly im less concerned about the letter that describes it and more about the reaction of the equipment
 
So this is what I was talking about yesterday, I went and hit the R11s on the launch monitor and I thought I needed stiff, but the numbers were way better with the regular flex RIP Phenom. I was hitting an average of 250 yards pretty close to the middle and the dispersion was pretty tight. I noticed I had a better launch angle and launch conditions with the regular shaft (2200 RPM backspin, 420-440 side spin, 11* launch angle and 250 yard drives with at most 10 yards off line)

the numbers were easier to see on my phone but if you look on the top right you can see the dispersion, I hit mostly draws, a few straight and 2 small fades.

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Most of my drives with the stiff looked like this

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