Driver Shaft flex vs. Swing Speed

[Just_Brad]

You could say the same thing in reverse too. You want as soft a flex as you could control.

A very famous tour fitter once said. "If I give you a golf club and the shaft moves too much, you will tell me the shaft is weak. If I give you a golf club and its too stout, you will tell me you dont like the feel of the club."

When you mentioned earlier about playing the ladies or senior shaft, it made me curious.

You mentioned (in conversation at the Grandaddy) that there was more at play with the custom UST shaft that you were using (regarding weighting/weight placement).

Do you think that a player would see similar results playing a standard ladies or senior flex, without the weighting changes? Or are the changes in weighting having more affect than change in flex?

 

[JB]

When you mentioned earlier about playing the ladies or senior shaft, it made me curious.

You mentioned (in conversation at the Grandaddy) that there was more at play with the custom UST shaft that you were using (regarding weighting/weight placement).

Do you think that a player would see similar results playing a standard ladies or senior flex, without the weighting changes? Or are the changes in weighting having more affect than change in flex?

No idea. I can tell you that I have a good friend of mine that swings pretty darn hard playing softer flex in his irons. It keeps him from going left.
My shaft does have more stability in the hands, which helps a bit.

 

[jlew]

No idea. I can tell you that I have a good friend of mine that swings pretty darn hard playing softer flex in his irons. It keeps him from going left.
My shaft does have more stability in the hands, which helps a bit.

See this is how a dunce like me gets confused haha.

What I think I know- I really have no clue.

If you were to go to Club Champion or Golf Tec now and get fit for a driver shaft, do you think they'd put you in the same flex you're in?

 

[JB]

See this is how a dunce like me gets confused haha.

What I think I know- I really have no clue.

If you were to go to Club Champion or Golf Tec now and get fit for a driver shaft, do you think they'd put you in the same flex you're in?

Possibly. Flex is such a small part of the equation for a good fitter.

 

[That post]

You could say the same thing in reverse too. You want as soft a flex as you could control.

Yeah, that’s what I meant actually controlling a club that flexes the most. I did word it a bit weird.

I’ve been kicking around the idea lately of testing out moving down to a R flex.

This thought was brought on when I inadvertently had a Linq Blue 6F3 in the darkspeed and darkspeed max heads one of the times I was testing them and I was able to time up the R flex rather well and didn’t see any big issues or yardage losses. I was actually able to hit a pretty decent little draw with it too likely less to do with the flex and more to do with the smoother swing.

 

[vgolfman]

To me there is only three reasons to choose a shaft

1. It helps you center the impact.
2. It helps eliminate misses
3. It looks cool.

Way too much talk of spin with shafts in my opinion.

Love this! Though I would argue speed & centeredness of impact are 1a/b.

One caveat though on 2... One player's "can't miss left" shaft (or at least helps to minimize a miss) may be another "can't miss right" shaft. Yes, the exact same shaft, but the opposite for different players, based on their delivery and how their body reacts to the weight, flex & bend profile.

 

[JB]

Love this! Though I would argue speed & centeredness of impact are 1a/b.

One caveat though on 2... One player's "can't miss left" shaft (or at least helps to minimize a miss) may be another "can't miss right" shaft. Yes, the exact same shaft, but the opposite for different players, based on their delivery and how their body reacts to the weight, flex & bend profile.

Oh no question. For instance someone with decent speed using a softer flex could in fact keep them from going left, whereas the opposite for someone that has more moderate speed. And based on one’s swing all of that could go out the window haha.

 

[ryang13]

Love this! Though I would argue speed & centeredness of impact are 1a/b.

One caveat though on 2... One player's "can't miss left" shaft (or at least helps to minimize a miss) may be another "can't miss right" shaft. Yes, the exact same shaft, but the opposite for different players, based on their delivery and how their body reacts to the weight, flex & bend profile.

Appreciate you poking your head into this one @vgolfman . The original thought was kind of spurred from @ddec thread about online fitting tools and some pondering I've had about what they spit out for me for suggestions based off swing speed/what I was trying to accomplish. At a recent fitting we tried one of the profiles it suggested for me (Blue), and I didn't get along with it at all.

 

[vgolfman]

Appreciate you poking your head into this one @vgolfman . The original thought was kind of spurred from @ddec thread about online fitting tools and some pondering I've had about what they spit out for me for suggestions based off swing speed/what I was trying to accomplish. At a recent fitting we tried one of the profiles it suggested for me (Blue), and I didn't get along with it at all.

Swing speed is a good, basic starting point for shaft fitting. But that's about it... a starting point. Speed and impact consistency should be the main two factors, with feel being third, for a shaft fitting.

 

[JB]

Swing speed is a good, basic starting point for shaft fitting. But that's about it... a starting point. Speed and impact consistency should be the main two factors, with feel being third, for a shaft fitting.

Don’t forget flex vs joint pain

 

[supersp0rt]

103-105, 45g L flex. on paper, it shouldnt work, but it absolutely does. id call my tempo middle of the road.

 

[davidsong]

One of the big regrets i have is not going heavier n stiffer earlier

 

[El Rayo X]

Yes. Absolutely sure.

I had an issue yeas back where I was playing the Diamana Whiteboard for a while after using the Blueboard for a while.
The WB gave me wrist and hand pain, which went away when I switched back. Same weight and flex.
I tink it was more about the profile than the flex.

 

[wedgegame]

101, 60gram, S flex.

That said, I've started doing some speed training and the difference in swing speed with the light speed stick has me thinking I should go as light as possible while maintaining feel and control.

 

[mts25]

101-110mph (yes I have that much variance day to day......I'm old). I play 60-65g stiff flex.

 

[SkiBumGolfer]

What I know from reviewing this thread and from recent experience is I'm never attempting to self fit again. The shafts that work for me are often not at all what I'd expect.

I've also learned that with swing changes and speed changes, it's really important for me to get fit again for driver/fairways this year. I got amazing results in a lesson not long ago from a combo that I hit back during my initial driver fitting for the 2022 Titleist Experience and at that time it didn't work at all.

 

[noodle3872]

Timely topic! My CHS is 98-103 mph. Normal driver shaft is Diamana PD 60S. Coming off a neck injury that led me to hooking the ball, yesterday I took my co-worker’s Diamana GT 40R at 45.25” and put it in our Ping G430 Max 10K (204G head weight) for giggles. Well, it turned out to be a good test. The soft, light shaft allowed me to be so much smoother and less aggressive in my downswing because I felt the shaft loading and unloading. The results were amazing! Ball speed and spin were down because I was in striking the ball just above the middle of the head rather than low in the head however launch was in a beautiful window that combined to produce easy 250 or more yard carry that stayed to the right of the target line with minimal curve. Tested the same setup today with near identical results. Now I’m wondering in going up in flex to 40 SR will get me a bit more ball speed while still feeling the shaft load without ruining any other measurable parameter.

Here’s my last swing with G430 Max 10K and Diamana GT 40R. Spin is low from high toe strike.

 

[CorvetteGuy]

Timely topic! My CHS is 98-103 mph. Normal driver shaft is Diamana PD 60S. Coming off a neck injury that led me to hooking the ball, yesterday I took my co-worker’s Diamana GT 40R at 45.25” and put it in our Ping G430 Max 10K (204G head weight) for giggles. Well, it turned out to be a good test. The soft, light shaft allowed me to be so much smoother and less aggressive in my downswing because I felt the shaft loading and unloading. The results were amazing! Ball speed and spin were down because I was in striking the ball just above the middle of the head rather than low in the head however launch was in a beautiful window that combined to produce easy 250 or more yard carry that stayed to the right of the target line with minimal curve. Tested the same setup today with near identical results. Now I’m wondering in going up in flex to 40 SR will get me a bit more ball speed while still feeling the shaft load without ruining any other measurable parameter.

Here’s my last swing with G430 Max 10K and Diamana GT 40R. Spin is low from high toe strike.

SO a little pain and a less flexing shaft allows for a better swing... Amazing find!!

 

[ryang13]

What I know from reviewing this thread and from recent experience is I'm never attempting to self fit again. The shafts that work for me are often not at all what I'd expect.

I've also learned that with swing changes and speed changes, it's really important for me to get fit again for driver/fairways this year. I got amazing results in a lesson not long ago from a combo that I hit back during my initial driver fitting for the 2022 Titleist Experience and at that time it didn't work at all.

These were a couple of the ponders I had while starting the thread. When I mentioned to my fitter that I was starting some speed training he said "I'll be interested to see if your profile and swingweight changes at all after doing this process".

 

[noodle3872]

SO a little pain and a less flexing shaft allows for a better swing... Amazing find!!

My finding may be trivial to you however to me they are extremely meaningful to me. I know my CHS allows me to play stiffer and heavier shafts but my injury won’t allow it. In June 2022, my neck injury had me barely able to use my left arm. My doctor told me my golfing days may be over. I never even told my wife this is what the doctor recommended. I refused accept this. I tried every and all treatments I could to get myself well. Between acupuncture, cupping, massage, chiro, interamuscular stimulation and heat/ice therapy I feel like I’m healthy enough to play again. So if I have to play a 40G noodle in my driver to reduce the strain on my neck, so be it.

Another amazing find I made today was the joke about the difference between a Corvette and a cactus seems hold true in this instance.

 

[CorvetteGuy]

My finding may be trivial to you however to me they are extremely meaningful to me. I know my CHS allows me to play stiffer and heavier shafts but my injury won’t allow it. In June 2022, my neck injury had me barely able to use my left arm. My doctor told me my golfing days may be over. I never even told my wife this is what the doctor recommended. I refused accept this. I tried every and all treatments I could to get myself well. Between acupuncture, cupping, massage, chiro, interamuscular stimulation and heat/ice therapy I feel like I’m healthy enough to play again. So if I have to play a 40G noodle in my driver to reduce the strain on my neck, so be it.

Another amazing find I made today was the joke about the difference between a Corvette and a cactus seems hold true in this instance.

Was not my intention Noodle -- I made the comment because you are the only one that supported my earlier claim of painful joints sometimes can be lessened by less flexible shafts and I was kinda told this is ridiculous statement -- very sorry if my comment to you came across as trivial - was not meant to be.. get well soon.

 

[Hitsnmisses]

Well I sorta thought , I knew where I was , and then my thoughts left the fairway …

I can join some of the dots , but all the opinions , physics and facts , supported by evidence of outcomes with the club ,
Is the the only real answer .

I spent time with Tm for my driver fitting , the then recommended shaft , went into my driver … 1 day , just 1 day out of all the golf days and range hits the club
( read me )didn’t perform lol

Can’t rely on one metric for the answer the collective evidence will be

 

[Scooby45]

I dont want to mess with a good thing I have going right now, but this thread makes me want to find some shafts on the cheaper end to try an experiment with.

 

[SkiBumGolfer]

These were a couple of the ponders I had while starting the thread. When I mentioned to my fitter that I was starting some speed training he said "I'll be interested to see if your profile and swingweight changes at all after doing this process".

It's interesting, I really didn't see much change at first after the initial speed training I did, but combining that with work on mechanics has definitely changed the profile. I have another lesson next week and I'm curious if I see the same or if it's shifted back towards the old norm at all.

 

[Mark_UK]

Swing speed is 95mph. I have everything in my bag from stiff to regular to A. I don’t find the flex makes all that much difference to me.