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Heavier shaft made me feel like my strikes were absolutely amazing?

Nippon Shafts
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shocktop

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I feel like I've been missing out on Golf after hitting a 125g Shaft.

I took at 10 year lay off golf. I played in HS and was never very good, averaged low 80's. Now that I'm a little older (30) and stronger I'm a good bit better than I was in HS. I currently game stock RBZ irons with the stock RBZ S shafts which weigh in at 85g. I currently sit at about a 10Hcp, and dip into the low 70's often.

I have a higher swing speed.

Iron Distances:

4 Iron: 215
5 Iron: 205
6 Iron: 195
7 Iron: 180
8 Iron: 170
9 Iron: 155


I went to Golfsmith because I had some cash to burn and I was interested in the new RSI irons. I hit them and they were a great iron. The club fitter at Golfsmith told me to swing a 125g C-Taper shaft after swinging the stock 105g shaft that comes in the RSI and I was absolutely blown away. The contact, and the feel was amazing. It made me realize I'm losing connection (Mentally & Physically) with my RBZ iron in the back swing probably because it is so light.

Can someone describe the cons towards moving towards a heavy shaft?
 
Theoretically the cons are that you will lose a little swing speed having to swing the heavier club. BUT if you are hitting it better with center face contact, and more importantly, hitting it straighter, the pros would far outweigh the cons. And don't discount how much you enjoyed the feel of the heavier shafts. Golf is mostly mental and if you feel good and confident that's half the battle.
 
I would glady give up 10+ yards for more contol.
 
shocktop said:
I would glady give up 10+ yards for more contol.
Click to expand...

Thing is, you may not even give up any yardage. Solid contact at slightly less speed may mean more distance. Some people even increase speed with a heavier shaft due to comfort, tempo, etc.
 
I went from 80g to 120g in the irons at the recommendation of a fitter. Not the longest irons but I love the feel and control.

If you like the feel and are comfortable with the weight, and they perform for you there is nothing wrong at all with going heavier.
 
I also went heavier after recommendations from a couple of fitters. 120g KBS Tours in my irons and an 85g Rogue in my hybrid. Helps my tempo and to "feel" my swing.
 
I went the other way from 130 to 90 and was really blow away. So the feel in this wonderful game is very personal and important. If you like it play it!
 
I prefer heavier shafts. In woods, I'll find a light shaft here and there that will work and feel right but I've strictly preferred heavier in irons.

But recently I went with Apex irons with Recoil 110 f5 shafts. They're listed at their flex to range from 108-111g so they are lighter than the TFR 6.0's I've played for years. I'm still dialing them in but so far, so good.
 
I play speed blades at 85g and I tried heavier shafts after breaking the shaft of my 9i in a fit of rage. I tried everything from 90 to 115 and the heavier it got the worse they felt to me. I lost swing speed for sure, probably a good 3-5 mph between the 85 and 115. And more importantly they just felt heavy so I would tend to swing harder and things would get worse. I also felt like I would fatigue much quicker with heavier irons and I battle a lead arm forearm strain every year it seems, so that wouldn't be good for me.

I think there is definitely validity to the more control aspect, but it's a personal preference thing.


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Heavier is better for me. My irons are 130g, hybrid is 92g, 3 wood and driver are 70g but working on finding something heavier at least for the 3 wood. I used to play 85g in my irons and the heavier shafts help me concentrate on tempo and feel the club during back and downswing. My distances are virtually the same, even with new irons.
 
I've long been interested in trying a heavier shaft. I've also thought about trying irons with counterweights in the grip.
 
Feel is very dependent on the person. Personally I like to play heavier shafts as well. I have X100 shafts in my current irons and C Taper X 130 in my set I am building. Any time I switch to lighter shafts I tend to get an over the top move. I also prefer to play heavier shafts in driver and woods as well.
 
As far as you hit the ball, it's no surprise that those shafts work well for you. Glad you found a solid match.
 
I don't usually care about overall weight but more the swing weight. If I keep my clubs around D2 I'm good and have a good sense of where the club head is during the swing. But it comes back to how the weight of the club feels during the swing.
 
I'm thinking the heavier vs lighter allows the clubhead to fall more behind you (naturally) . Which means the lighter made you steeper , where the heavier is making you shallower in transition. I'm still trying to find a right match now for years and years. Sounds like you got it now :)
 
Mystery Meat said:
I'm thinking the heavier vs lighter allows the clubhead to fall more behind you (naturally) . Which means the lighter made you steeper , where the heavier is making you shallower in transition. I'm still trying to find a right match now for years and years. Sounds like you got it now :)
Click to expand...

There's some truth To that. I tend to get steep in my 8-aw. I skied a few yesterday. Usually a 52 aw would be a 95-100yd club in a full smooth swing. But yesterday I hit a few pop flies that went 50yds.




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Yesterday I started toying with a move where I'd drop and shallow out my shaft at the top. It produced some really nice results, and I'm thinking that a heavier shaft would allow me to feel the move much better. I'll go back and read through the thread, but where would one go to be fitted for a shaft?
 
I'm assuming you had good numbers on a launch monitor....as in, your launch wasn't too low. If that's the case, go with what you are comfortable with.

I also hit a C-Taper in an RSI iron. It launched too low for me. I also tried a KBS Tour 90 in stiff (100 or 110g as I recall). Couldn't feel the club head at the top of the swing at all. So I went with a 120g KBS Tour in stiff. It felt the most natural, had good launch and distance.

IMO, the only con to a heavier shaft is if it doesn't work for you or feels like 'work' to connect with the ball. It sounds to me like it worked for you.

~Rock
 
All I know I messed around with different shafts/grips/weights by hosel etc etc. This caused a lot of funds and ended up making a lot of the clubs unplayable for me and ended me just putting them in the garage corner. So do this with a pro's approval and stay away from DIY with clubs
 
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