AutoFLex Shaft

[jdish13]

I bought one over the winter and I have a quick transition but it performs great. I threw it in a Callaway Speed head and this has been the best I have ever hit a driver. I'm not saying its all because of the shaft but something about the combo is working.

 

[Desmond]

Glad it is working for you.

I think lighter shaft weight, longer length driver, and lower loft are three factors that I have a feeling are trending.

 

[Sox_Fan]

I have 2 rounds in with the Autoflex shaft (505 SF). What I have seen so far is the dispersion, or lack thereof, is outstanding with this shaft. The ball flight, mid to mid-high, was about what I was getting with my previous combos. But....the distance was lacking for me. I have played 1 round each with the shaft in the Hogan GS53 and GS53 Max heads and the results were consistent with both. To get to their recommended max D2, I ended up with the driver playing 45.25". That was the swing weight I was playing those drivers at previously at a length of 45" with 2 other shafts.

Previous to playing rounds with them, I hit numerous balls into a net with a Rapsodo MLM with the shaft in each head. I was seeing 4 or 5 mph swing speed increases over my previous set-ups with those heads but the ball speed decreases pretty much mirrored the swing speed increases.

In terms of feel while swinging the shaft, I thought it felt great. Never had a whippy feeling while swinging the shaft. I did notice, from the swing video recorded by the Rapsodo, that the bow of the shaft at the top did give the perception of a longer backswing.

Will continue to work with it to hopefully get the distance to the point where it at least equals my other set-ups while maintaining the tight dispersion.

 

[TRA024]

I have 2 rounds in with the Autoflex shaft (505 SF). What I have seen so far is the dispersion, or lack thereof, is outstanding with this shaft. The ball flight, mid to mid-high, was about what I was getting with my previous combos. But....the distance was lacking for me. I have played 1 round each with the shaft in the Hogan GS53 and GS53 Max heads and the results were consistent with both. To get to their recommended max D2, I ended up with the driver playing 45.25". That was the swing weight I was playing those drivers at previously at a length of 45" with 2 other shafts.

Previous to playing rounds with them, I hit numerous balls into a net with a Rapsodo MLM with the shaft in each head. I was seeing 4 or 5 mph swing speed increases over my previous set-ups with those heads but the ball speed decreases pretty much mirrored the swing speed increases.

In terms of feel while swinging the shaft, I thought it felt great. Never had a whippy feeling while swinging the shaft. I did notice, from the swing video recorded by the Rapsodo, that the bow of the shaft at the top did give the perception of a longer backswing.

Will continue to work with it to hopefully get the distance to the point where it at least equals my other set-ups while maintaining the tight dispersion.

I’ve noticed in my tinkering with the AF that head weight and not only SW is important for the shaft to come alive and not be all over the place. Read this in other places as well and this is a reason why eg Ping heads as std don’t work very well as the head weight is high (205ish) even if shaft is cut down to reduce SW. I have my SIM at a little over 190g and that made a big difference compared to the std weight which was 199g.

 

[Iceman!]

So I have one more round before I get fit by one of the greats to something different, but in over 50 rounds with my Autoflex there have been good times and better times

I have been taking lessons and back to a committed fitness program (long way to go on both). But overall my handicap has gone down almost 5 strokes. In something that is probably not much of a coincidence, my strokes gained driving is down over 6 (was over an 18, now at a 12 index in that regard. I got the strokes gained down to 10 index at its lowest, but tearing my pectoral muscle and stopping overspeed training got me a little regression (more on that later).

Overall distance from beginning to now has been an increase of 30+ yards.

Now, getting this combo in front of a shaft guru (look up shaft up #3 if you want to follow that) will be interesting as I think their is something to this combo (lighter/longer) but I don't believe that the AF is the only way to get great results from that.

Most golfers I think would be better served by spending the money it costs for one of these shafts on lessons, I am the idiot that decided to spend it on both... but new and shiny are fun so I regret absolutely nothing of my purchase and while I won't be playing this combo indefinitely, if you find out that I sold this combo it means that Danny Le is the GOAT and he fit me into something I 1000% believe is better than this for me, which is a very high bar to clear.

Bumping your reply to see if you have any additional thoughts after your UST fitting with DLe....

 

[mancest]

Bumping your reply to see if you have any additional thoughts after your UST fitting with DLe....

Honestly I think it is too early to come up with any real thoughts. In 2 rounds of shamble where I wasn't using Arccos not a lot could really be gleaned as far as distance/dispersion that I would use as a real basis for a conclusion as it was at 2 courses I have never played in rather unusual conditions. I missed one drive left in those 2 rounds, and it wasn't hooking, just pulled with the new set up.

In just set up, I feel like the new combo is more stable so I can be more aggressive if I want to, but swinging smoothly is a good thing for my results overall.

My theory has always been that the AF shaft is good for a lot of people because it is lighter and longer = more speed which most recreational golfers need. But a proper fitting with someone that knows what they are doing should get you better results than buying a shaft on a whim. Will see if long term trends bare that out, but I think at least 5-10 rounds are needed to get enough swings to make any basis for comparison and even 5 rounds seems a bit low.

 

[McLovin]

looks like i'll get a few swings in with a rainbow sf505x in the very near future.

 

[mts25]

Let me throw another data point out there which makes no sense based on what I've read. I got a 505x shaft mid-way through 2021. I'm 53 and swing in the 100mph range (lost a lot of speed in the last 7 or 8 years). I technically fall in the 505 range, but after quite a bit of research I decided to get the 505x.

My gamer has been a Ping G425 Max driver w/Tensei orange shaft. Most everything I've read seemed to indicate the Ping head (stock) was really just too heavy with the stock 26g weight. I tried the Autoflex in the Ping head with the 26g weight, then a 17g, 15g and 10g. I was unable to get decent numbers out of it (was getting similar speeds, but worse control). Further, with the lighter weights I really hated the feel of the club. Complete failure.

I was considering selling the Autoflex, but decided to change out the adapter with a Callaway one to put in my Mavrik from last year. I used the stock weight, then went down to a 2 gram. The lighter I made the club, the less I liked it and the more spin I was getting. I believe I got it down in the C-7 range and just about every weight in between that and about D-6 with the different combinations of heads and weights.

Nothing was as good at my Ping G425 Max with the Tensei Orange. Again, I just about listed the Autoflex for sale. Recently I came across another Mavrik head (9.0) and it was a Callaway Custom club (always hated the orange on the standard Mavrik) and picked it up and a slightly heavier Callaway weight (8 grams). I could really feel where the head was with the Autoflex and took it out on the course on a whim and really liked it. I loved the feel and it seemed like I was picking up distance vs. my Ping.

So I got on the launch monitor with the Ping G425 Max and Tensei orange alternating it with the Mavrik w/8gram weight and the Autoflex. The Mavrik was set at 8.0 degrees and the Ping at 9.0 degrees. The shafts are the same length. I hit 20 drives with each club. The results are below.

I was picking up 3mph club head speed and 3mph ball speed while still keeping the spin below 2,000 rpm with the Mavrik/Autoflex combo vs. the Ping. That gets me an extra 10+/- yrds of carry and total yardage. Basically, I really liked the Mavrik head with the Autoflex, I had one pretty bad hook in the mix of shots with the Autoflex, a bad swing. Toss that out and the dispersion was similar to the Ping. It's definitely a keeper.

Now for the bizarre part. I weighed the heads, the Callaway Custom Mavrik head had been hot melted. It was quite a bit heavier than my Mavrik head from last season. I posted pictures of the head weights (without weights) for each head. Throw the 8g weight in that Mavrik head and it comes in at a portly 207g. The stock Ping head with the 26g weight only comes in at 202g.

I put the Mavrik head with the 8g weight in it (how I was hitting it) on the scale and it's a swing weight of D-9!

It is what it is I suppose. Maybe I'm just an odd duck, but this works for me. I wanted to throw this out there, because everyone else seems to be getting good results going lighter. I only tried heavier by accident, but it seems to work for me.

I recently took the AutoFlex/Mavrik combo to a 3-day tournament in Monterey. I got to play Spyglass, Pebble and Spanish Bay. I was the "B" player on my team. About 1/2 way through the first round, I swapped places with the A player on holes where we were hitting driver because I was putting it past him (I normally do not). They put Trackman on us on the 1st hole at Spanish Bay and I hit a ball speed of 156, carry of 271 and total of 302. Those are big numbers for me. That placed me 6th for the long drive out of everyone playing in the tournament. I'm way past my prime speed days, no way that happens with my Ping/Tensei.

On the downside, I did hit several balls out of play, a bit more than normal. More testing is required in regular play, but I'm likely to keep it for scrambles at a minimum. I can say that when I put a good swing on it, it really goes and goes straight. When I'm swinging hard, dispersion goes down. The same can be said for any shaft/head combo for me, but this combo is perhaps a little worse on dispersion with hard swings.

Edit - I can't seem to get the images to load, I'll work on it.

 

[bbuonic81]

Got some swings in with one of these over the weekend and initially I am cautiously impressed. I am far from the longest driver of the ball and if there was a place where I'd be willing to throw money at "magic" tech it's definitely at the top of my bag.

In 2021, my Shot Scope V3 tracked playing average driving distance between an Epic Flash Sub-Zero and a Big Bertha B21 was 207 and 201 yards. When I was fit for the shaft I used in 2021 (an Accra FX 2.0 140), my Trackman numbers had me at an 88 MPH clubhead speed with 209 carry distance and 228 total (I am slightly skeptical of some of the yardage since the smash factor on the fitting sheet was all 1.50 or above).

In two data sets with the same head and just switching between the AutoFlex SF405 and the Accra FX 2.0 140 I saw the AutoFlex average 10 yards more carry, 4 MPH more ball speed and even flash 100 MPH on the clubhead reading on one swing.

More testing will need to be done, but it's not not interesting at this point.

 

[McLovin]

i just spent about an hour on the range hitting drives. my gamer tsi2 rdx black 6.0 against tsi2 autoflex 505x. no, i didn't buy the autoflex, it was sent to me to try. but i'd probably still buy it in this exact setup if i was single lol. the aufoflex is a little longer length than my gamer, maybe 1/4" to 1/2".

here are some of my fastest numbers with each:
gamer ss 101.3
autoflex ss 104.7

gamer ballspeed 150.7
autoflex ballspeed 151.8 (of course my fastest was at the end of the session when i stopped recording data, and hit 155mph ball speed)

gamer carry 259.5
autoflex carry 267.3

gamer total 278.2
autoflex total 288.0

gamer spin (high) 3099
autoflex spin (high) 3,499

gamer spin (low) 1,324 (pretty high on the face lol)
autoflex spin (low) 1,324 (also pretty high on the face!)

my path was reading left today, and i did feel like i was swinging a little left. it wasn't a day to work on that, just to bang balls and see what the numbers showed. but i do find it interesting that i had several big left misses with the autoflex, and autoflex accounted for my biggest left and right misses. also registered several more peak heights over 100' with autoflex than my gamer which is great for me.

the feel is pretty wild. it reminds me a ton of aldila dvs. i described that shaft as "boingy." maybe that's from very high torque? i don't know. it's not a bad feeling, but i would definitely not describe it as stable.

so the $790 question is, would i game it? right now i'm not sure. registering 105mph swing speed is a huge improvement for me, and 155 ball speed is kinda hard to believe. the question mark for me is control. i felt much more in control with my gamer. but maybe over a few more range sessions, i could get more comfortable and controlled with autoflex and make good use of those speed gains.

 

[Tenputt]

i just spent about an hour on the range hitting drives. my gamer tsi2 rdx black 6.0 against tsi2 autoflex 505x. no, i didn't buy the autoflex, it was sent to me to try. but i'd probably still buy it in this exact setup if i was single lol. the aufoflex is a little longer length than my gamer, maybe 1/4" to 1/2".

here are some of my fastest numbers with each:
gamer ss 101.3
autoflex ss 104.7

gamer ballspeed 150.7
autoflex ballspeed 151.8 (of course my fastest was at the end of the session when i stopped recording data, and hit 155mph ball speed)

gamer carry 259.5
autoflex carry 267.3

gamer total 278.2
autoflex total 288.0

gamer spin (high) 3099
autoflex spin (high) 3,499

gamer spin (low) 1,324 (pretty high on the face lol)
autoflex spin (low) 1,324 (also pretty high on the face!)

my path was reading left today, and i did feel like i was swinging a little left. it wasn't a day to work on that, just to bang balls and see what the numbers showed. but i do find it interesting that i had several big left misses with the autoflex, and autoflex accounted for my biggest left and right misses. also registered several more peak heights over 100' with autoflex than my gamer which is great for me.

the feel is pretty wild. it reminds me a ton of aldila dvs. i described that shaft as "boingy." maybe that's from very high torque? i don't know. it's not a bad feeling, but i would definitely not describe it as stable.

so the $790 question is, would i game it? right now i'm not sure. registering 105mph swing speed is a huge improvement for me, and 155 ball speed is kinda hard to believe. the question mark for me is control. i felt much more in control with my gamer. but maybe over a few more range sessions, i could get more comfortable and controlled with autoflex and make good use of those speed gains.

8 to 10 yards are a big deal.

 

[KEV]

i just spent about an hour on the range hitting drives. my gamer tsi2 rdx black 6.0 against tsi2 autoflex 505x. no, i didn't buy the autoflex, it was sent to me to try. but i'd probably still buy it in this exact setup if i was single lol. the aufoflex is a little longer length than my gamer, maybe 1/4" to 1/2".

here are some of my fastest numbers with each:
gamer ss 101.3
autoflex ss 104.7

gamer ballspeed 150.7
autoflex ballspeed 151.8 (of course my fastest was at the end of the session when i stopped recording data, and hit 155mph ball speed)

gamer carry 259.5
autoflex carry 267.3

gamer total 278.2
autoflex total 288.0

gamer spin (high) 3099
autoflex spin (high) 3,499

gamer spin (low) 1,324 (pretty high on the face lol)
autoflex spin (low) 1,324 (also pretty high on the face!)

my path was reading left today, and i did feel like i was swinging a little left. it wasn't a day to work on that, just to bang balls and see what the numbers showed. but i do find it interesting that i had several big left misses with the autoflex, and autoflex accounted for my biggest left and right misses. also registered several more peak heights over 100' with autoflex than my gamer which is great for me.

the feel is pretty wild. it reminds me a ton of aldila dvs. i described that shaft as "boingy." maybe that's from very high torque? i don't know. it's not a bad feeling, but i would definitely not describe it as stable.

so the $790 question is, would i game it? right now i'm not sure. registering 105mph swing speed is a huge improvement for me, and 155 ball speed is kinda hard to believe. the question mark for me is control. i felt much more in control with my gamer. but maybe over a few more range sessions, i could get more comfortable and controlled with autoflex and make good use of those speed gains.

That's a pretty big gain man. The accuracy is my biggest question about that shaft. From the people I've known that have tried it they seem to have picked up distance but I never hear much about if that distance stays in play.

 

[DNice26]

i just spent about an hour on the range hitting drives. my gamer tsi2 rdx black 6.0 against tsi2 autoflex 505x. no, i didn't buy the autoflex, it was sent to me to try. but i'd probably still buy it in this exact setup if i was single lol. the aufoflex is a little longer length than my gamer, maybe 1/4" to 1/2".

here are some of my fastest numbers with each:
gamer ss 101.3
autoflex ss 104.7

gamer ballspeed 150.7
autoflex ballspeed 151.8 (of course my fastest was at the end of the session when i stopped recording data, and hit 155mph ball speed)

gamer carry 259.5
autoflex carry 267.3

gamer total 278.2
autoflex total 288.0

gamer spin (high) 3099
autoflex spin (high) 3,499

gamer spin (low) 1,324 (pretty high on the face lol)
autoflex spin (low) 1,324 (also pretty high on the face!)

my path was reading left today, and i did feel like i was swinging a little left. it wasn't a day to work on that, just to bang balls and see what the numbers showed. but i do find it interesting that i had several big left misses with the autoflex, and autoflex accounted for my biggest left and right misses. also registered several more peak heights over 100' with autoflex than my gamer which is great for me.

the feel is pretty wild. it reminds me a ton of aldila dvs. i described that shaft as "boingy." maybe that's from very high torque? i don't know. it's not a bad feeling, but i would definitely not describe it as stable.

so the $790 question is, would i game it? right now i'm not sure. registering 105mph swing speed is a huge improvement for me, and 155 ball speed is kinda hard to believe. the question mark for me is control. i felt much more in control with my gamer. but maybe over a few more range sessions, i could get more comfortable and controlled with autoflex and make good use of those speed gains.

Curious…do you bbring your GC3 on course with you? Your on course swing may be a bit different from your range swing and that might help you separate the “def buying” vs “def not.”

 

[McLovin]

Curious…do you bbring your GC3 on course with you? Your on course swing may be a bit different from your range swing and that might help you separate the “def buying” vs “def not.”

yep. these numbers were all with gc3

 

[DNice26]

yep. these numbers were all with gc3

Sorry, but at the range or while you are playing a round of golf.... thats what I meant.

 

[McLovin]

That's a pretty big gain man. The accuracy is my biggest question about that shaft. From the people I've known that have tried it they seem to have picked up distance but I never hear much about if that distance stays in play.

it just feels crazy loose. like uncontrollably loose. i know matty at txg talks about how it seems to do best when you go hard at it. personally i didn’t find that to be the case. but i hit some beauties with it.

 

[McLovin]

Sorry, but at the range or while you are playing a round of golf.... thats what I meant.

oh, no not golf. just range rat chris. who swings much better than on course scar tissue chris.

 

[DNice26]

oh, no not golf. just range rat chris. who swings much better than on course scar tissue chris.

Exactly my point. Scar tissue Chris should def play a factor in your potential $700 investment.

Or perhaps you want your alignment stick to be fancier than Annika's? I know you fancy! lol

 

[McLovin]

Exactly my point. Scar tissue Chris should def play a factor in your potential $700 investment.

Or perhaps you want your alignment stick to be fancier than Annika's? I know you fancy! lol

if i buy (i don’t expect to), it will be much less than that

 

[VMCollier]

Anybody finding better performance if they go stiffer than the recommended? My swing speed numbers indicate I am at the top end of 505x… would the XX be too ill-fitting?

I thought I recall a John Muir newsletter In which he indicated he was fitting people a flex above with great results but I for the life of me cannot find it.

 

[Jman]

Anybody finding better performance if they go stiffer than the recommended? My swing speed numbers indicate I am at the top end of 505x… would the XX be too ill-fitting?

I thought I recall a John Muir newsletter In which he indicated he was fitting people a flex above with great results but I for the life of me cannot find it.

I’ve heard of people going stronger, and going weaker, in their quest for speed with these. It seems there’s no consensus.

 

[DNice26]

Anybody finding better performance if they go stiffer than the recommended? My swing speed numbers indicate I am at the top end of 505x… would the XX be too ill-fitting?

I thought I recall a John Muir newsletter In which he indicated he was fitting people a flex above with great results but I for the life of me cannot find it.

I’ve never tried one, but have heard that even the guys in the 110ss range are in the X.
Of course YMMV and for a shaft as unique as this and given its cost, a good thorough demo is prob your best bet.

 

[McLovin]

i ended up not buying the sf505x i was trying. the speed gains are undeniable. my issue was control. even on the range where i have my best driver swing, i couldn't control it. dispersion was hilariously bad, particularly on my second attempt with it. i just couldn't time the face. sometimes it was the biggest hook you've ever seen, sometimes big banana slices. but when i timed it, i saw some really impressive distance and the biggest swing and ball speeds i've ever seen.

 

[Sox_Fan]

After taking 4 months off to let my torn left rotator cuff heal, every shaft I was swung in my driver felt too stiff and slow so I decided to give the Autoflex SF505 another try a couple of weeks ago. Other than the occasional pull hook when I got way too quick (which I have always battled regardless of the shaft), I was quite impressed with the dispersion with this shaft during my initial impressions with it about 7 months ago and that has not changed. Lack of distance with the shaft was the issue for me previously. That has not been an issue during this latest go around. I am getting what I was used to with more conventional shaft profiles previously with dispersion as good or better. I am going to stick with it this time and expect I will eventually see a little distance gain as I get more comfortable timing it up properly.

Since I started playing it again, I have had it in the Hogan GS53 Max head. Going to try it in the original GS53 head, which I am more comfortable with due primarily to sound and feel, over my next few rounds.

 

[93civiccpe]

i ended up not buying the sf505x i was trying. the speed gains are undeniable. my issue was control. even on the range where i have my best driver swing, i couldn't control it. dispersion was hilariously bad, particularly on my second attempt with it. i just couldn't time the face. sometimes it was the biggest hook you've ever seen, sometimes big banana slices. but when i timed it, i saw some really impressive distance and the biggest swing and ball speeds i've ever seen.

I've been seeing similar on course but have seen really good results on the range. I think a harsh transition is bad for this shaft. When ai swing smooth the results are solid