Heavy reg shaft vs light stiff shaft - I am CONFUSED

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Hi guys
Hello from Scotland, new poster and am confused about shafts.

I am going for a fitting this weekend for Titleist AP1s. I have always been a regular shaft guy, I have a slowish swing speed , think my driver is mid 80s.

I have hit the AP1s with the True Temper XP95 shaft and the Dynalite Gold shaft XP shaft .. both felt good, possibly hit the Dynalite better.

My confusion is that I have been playing with RBZ irons and I think the shaft in them is about 85gms , the XP95 is 93gms and the Dynalite is about 117gms

All regular, yet you can get a stiff XP95 shaft which comes in at 95gms , 20 odd gms lighter than a Dynalite Gold

I realise that say a 90 gm shaft could be made stiffer than a 130gm shaft due to construction ... but where does weight figure in a shaft performance.

Why would someone be better with say a 90 gm reg shaft than say a 120 gm regular shaft ?

Is it supposed that a lighter shaft can be swung faster ?

Should I be going for the lightest shaft that I can use ?

Kenny.

Edited .... says my HC is 36 .... it is 8.
 
Kenny welcome to THP.

Lighter shafts do in fact produce more club head speed. If you took the same swing with a 93 and 117g shaft, the 93g shaft should be a bit faster.
Now,flex is something completely different. The lighter shaft may be needed in stiff to compensate for the load you put onto shaft through the down swing. So in a heavier shaft the flex might be reg flex vs stiff. It's all about how the shaft releases for you at impact. Heavy+reg flex might be optimal and the same could be said for light+stiff flex. It the combination of both weight and flex that will determine what shaft works best for you.
 
Welcome to THP Kenny! You may want to look around for a shop / club that has the Mizuno shaft optimizer system. This is geared towards fitting you with the correct shaft for your irons and it is free. I did it a few years ago and it fit me into the True Temper GS95 stiff. Went with that suggestion and picked up about 10 yards per iron and did not lose accuracy over my then heavier stiff shaft. My driver swing speed is a little higher than yours at about 95.
 
Weight of shaft does not equal flex of shaft. They are two separate traits.
A lighter shaft will not always be lighter in flex.
 
Thanks for the responses guys.
So why would someone needing a regular or a stiff shaft for that matter not pick the lightest one available ?
Or is is a case of a regular DG shaft at 127 gms is stiffer than a stiff XP at 95gms ?

The place I am going to has the Mizuno shaft optimizer , must get them to test me on that. Thanks.
 
Thanks for the responses guys.
So why would someone needing a regular or a stiff shaft for that matter not pick the lightest one available ?
Or is is a case of a regular DG shaft at 127 gms is stiffer than a stiff XP at 95gms ?

The place I am going to has the Mizuno shaft optimizer , must get them to test me on that. Thanks.

Because weight can be a preference like anything else.
Some people prefer the feel of a heavier shaft. Some people believe they play better with a heavier shaft.

However the flip side is that over the last decade, as manufacturing has become that much better, you are seeing lighter and lighter shafts as the norm.
 
Thanks again guys.
I think it is beginning to make sense to me, flex is suited to swing speed in general and weight is a personal preference although in theory the lighter ths shaft the faster it could be swung.

I'll report back after my fitting and let you know what came of it

Just tried something there .... I weighed some tea bags and a tea spoon , 6 tea bags weigh 20 gms , a tea spoon weighs 27gms. I don't think I would notice that extra weight when swinging a club , maybe it's got to do with centrifugal force though ... hmmm
 
Thanks for the responses guys.
So why would someone needing a regular or a stiff shaft for that matter not pick the lightest one available ?
Or is is a case of a regular DG shaft at 127 gms is stiffer than a stiff XP at 95gms ?

The place I am going to has the Mizuno shaft optimizer , must get them to test me on that. Thanks.

The reason some go with a heavier shaft is it performs better for them. I know for me this is true as I get better results with regular flex with a heavier shaft. I am not totally sure why, but I think it encourages me to make a "better" swing. I think the heavier shaft makes it more difficult for my swing to get "loose" and the weight seems keep me more compact and slow down my arms and transition some. Just a guess really, though. I do know for sure my smash factor goes up with a heavier shaft. My dispersion is much better with heavier shaft and heavier clubs for that matter. I really don't think I loose distance either except on maybe one shot out of 20. Just my experience.
 
The reason some go with a heavier shaft is it performs better for them. I know for me this is true as I get better results with regular flex with a heavier shaft. I am not totally sure why, but I think it encourages me to make a "better" swing. I think the heavier shaft makes it more difficult for my swing to get "loose" and the weight seems keep me more compact and slow down my arms and transition some. Just a guess really, though. I do know for sure my smash factor goes up with a heavier shaft. My dispersion is much better with heavier shaft and heavier clubs for that matter. I really don't think I loose distance either except on maybe one shot out of 20. Just my experience.
This is exactly how I feel about my swing, yet like you, it is a complete guess as well. I was fit into KBS shafts in March 2013, but didn't even know enough to ask which ones or WHY. I wish I had participated more on this forum then and gone into my fitting with those questions ready.

I am pondering an iron reshaft, and if I decide to go that way, I'll be back in the fitting studios requesting to hit EVERYTHING and to ask why the fitter thinks one shaft would work better than another for my swing.
 
Kenny welcome

Tadashi and JB are spot on i there description of what and whys on shaft weight.

I play heavier shafts in everything because they feel good and the #'s show that they work for me.

When you go for your fitting do not ask what shaft your hitting just put the same swing in every on every ball and let the #'s tell the tale of what shaft fits you best.
 
Well I went along for my fitting.
I was trying out the Titleist AP1 in 712 and 714 version , used a 7 iron , the 714 is 1 degree stronger loft.
The 712 had a DynaLITE Gold XP shaft , reg flex I think it is about 113 grams.
The 714 had the XP95 reg flex which I believe comes i nat 93 grams, so 20 grams lighter.

After warming up I was given the Mizuno swing analyser for 3 swings, ave SS was 74 , with an average of 5 for tempo. The SS put me very marginally below Reg flex and bang in the middle between a light and heavy shaft.
This punched out suggested shafts as DynaLITE Gold XP reg as No 1 choice ( 113 grams ) , KBS 110 as 2nd at 110grams , NS Pro 950 as 3rd ( 97 grams ) and 4th choice was NS Pro 1150 ( 111.5 grams ) These are shafts currently offered by Mizuno it was pointed out to me.
I continued to hit the rest of the balls with the XP 95 shaft and the DynaLITE , the XP 95 went marginally further although this iron was 1 degree stronger.
I was completely unaware of any difference in shaft feel.
So the analyser tells me I need Reg flex and would be ideal with a mid weighted shaft .
I thnik I need to go back and hit the same iron on trackman with the 95 and 113 gram shafts , this will then also show me dispersion and true distance before ordering my new set of irons.
Would you agree with my reckoning ?
Thanks guys.
 
While more info is always better, I am not sure you will see much difference hitting them again.
 
The reason some go with a heavier shaft is it performs better for them. I know for me this is true as I get better results with regular flex with a heavier shaft. I am not totally sure why, but I think it encourages me to make a "better" swing. I think the heavier shaft makes it more difficult for my swing to get "loose" and the weight seems keep me more compact and slow down my arms and transition some. Just a guess really, though. I do know for sure my smash factor goes up with a heavier shaft. My dispersion is much better with heavier shaft and heavier clubs for that matter. I really don't think I loose distance either except on maybe one shot out of 20. Just my experience.

Yea, I agree. The think for me is that I am physically strong, but due to a shoulder / neck issue, I have a limited backswing which limits my club head speed to less than 90, but it is a fast tempo with a really quick transition. But a lightweight shaft just does not feel right, and every time I have tried one I have really struggled...
 
Well, my indecision was taken from me which I'm pleased about.

I got an email through from a local golf shop yesterday giving 15% off on " Cyber " Monday up to midnight. So I had to order the irons without being able to go back and re hit them.

My only regret is not being able to place the order with the shop that I had the fitting with , I phoned them to see if they could get near the offer from the other place but they were still over £100 ( Sterling ) dearer. I'd have gone with them if they could have got close but over 100 was too much of a difference.

Went with the XP95 shafts which I know I hit well on my test last Sat.

I really appreciate all of the advice I have been given by you all .. many thanks.
 
You'll be happy with the xp 95s. They're a great shaft. Seems many times I hit a club I like in a store it has that shaft in it.

Don't look back, just enjoy.
 
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