Is my driver shaft too stiff?

[Righty to Lefty]

I just feel like there is too much emphasis put on shaft flex and I don't feel like it is anywhere close to as important as most people think. I give the weight and the torque of the shaft more credence than shaft flex. The weight of the club and the resistance to twisting or the torque mean much more to how the club is delivered than shaft flex. Kickpoint is also mostly irrelevant.

There really no such thing as a low launch or high launch shaft because the shaft doesn't have loft on it and no shaft is doing too much before impact. The club head, it's loft, CoG location, and how centered the strike is has way more influence on the ball's flight than the shaft ever will. Any club can be hit high or low depending on the impact conditions provided.

As others have probably already said, check your swing first and if you are getting a centered strike, then begin to examine the club and see if you can benefit from a change.

[Mulligan Jeff]

Shaft flex, bend point, torque, tip stiffness all are key ingredients in playability factor of ball flight.

[Righty to Lefty]

Shaft flex, bend point, torque, tip stiffness all are key ingredients in playability factor of ball flight.

Not really as much as you may think. Strike is so much more important than shaft flex:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDaKUHxk0I8

[Mulligan Jeff]

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source;=web&cd;=1&ved;=0CAsQFjAA&url;=http%3A%2F%2Fgolftips.golfsmith.com%2Fadvantages-stiffshaft-irons-20497.html&ei;=hu2AU6__BYi1yASEmoKICg&usg;=AFQjCNHtSltHw1zeKuR3jnVCH6saGMk-yw&sig2;=1UhZRhhWJGLmGydvsst4Bw

[Righty to Lefty]

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source;=web&cd;=1&ved;=0CAsQFjAA&url;=http%3A%2F%2Fgolftips.golfsmith.com%2Fadvantages-stiffshaft-irons-20497.html&ei;=hu2AU6__BYi1yASEmoKICg&usg;=AFQjCNHtSltHw1zeKuR3jnVCH6saGMk-yw&sig2;=1UhZRhhWJGLmGydvsst4Bw

That article was completely useless and provided no facts about the subject at hand. You can't refute it when a guy posts a video proving the point that strike is much more important than any shaft.

[Mulligan Jeff]

golf.about.com/od/.../fleximportance.htm What happens when you use golf clubs with the wrong shaft flex? Here are ... How important is the weight of the shaft?

[peiserma]

Not really as much as you may think. Strike is so much more important than shaft flex: [URL=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDaKUHxk0I8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDaKUHxk0I8[/URL]

I found that enlightening, thanks for posting the link. So, if a golfer has a fundamentally sound swing such that (s)he hits the ball with the center of the club, the shaft has a lot less influence than conventional wisdom would have you believe. I can now stop wondering if I should be using regular or stiff shafts and instead focus on hitting the ball properly.

[arturo28mx]

My own personal experience with my Titleist 913 D2 driver.

I'm right on the border between a regular flex shaft and a stiff flex shaft.

I hit both shafts about the same total distance. HOWEVER, the stiff shaft gives me a tighter dispersion. I hit more fairways with it.

[saevel25]

Problem is, I got a ballooning ball flight that consistently faded a good bit. Even if I teed the ball lower, or moved it back in my stance an inch, it went sky high. So high, in fact, that the ball would only go about 200-220 yards. That's never happened to me, but then again I've never really toned down my swing that much in the hopes of increasing accuracy.

I feel like I've made a classic mistake by getting the stiff shaft. I've read that side effects may include a fading ball flight and a lower tragectory. I definitly have the fading ball flight, but as I mentioned, the tragectory is sky high

Of course, there is always a question as to how much the issues are caused by my swing and how much by the club. But I do know that when I hit them right, even with a "toned down" swing, my 5i or 3h go straight with a normal flight path.

What do you guys think?

Usually a stiffer shaft will reduce spin. Yes a lower trajectory is common with a stiff shaft.

The reason you are hitting it high is because you are hitting down on the ball. This is causing you to put a TON of spin on it and it will rise high in the air. I would check out a few threads on the forum about hitting up with the driver.

When push comes to shove in the end the swing is more of an indicator of what the ball will do than the club. Given getting fitted is important, but the swing is much more so.

So my best tip, fix the golf swing.

[cobraman1]

I bought a cobra amp cell driver off the rack , no specing ( which is a first I'm a driver for me ). I have always run a stiff shaft In all of my drivers and consistently used to get a lot lower ball flight than the reg shaft. I have found with my swing any reg flex I played in anything always launched a lot higher than running stiff shafts. I will be looking forward to getting a stiff shaft for this club as it is already awesome stock standard.

[Derek02]

If you're getting clubs with stock shafts, and they're not performing they way you expect (assuming your swing is consistant) have your local golf shop test the profile.

I recently got 2 new X2Hot hybrids and a RBZ Stage 2 FW.  My trajectory on the FW (17*) was a lot higher than the 19* hybrid (both off the fairway).  I had the shafts checked and found out that the RBZ was an extra stiff flex even though it was marked as a stiff flex and the hybrid was playing to a reg/stiff flex.  My 22* was playing to an extra stiff flex as well....

This really threw me off b/c I was hitting the FW higher than the hybrid which is counterintuitive, but I trust the guy who checked them.  I had the hybrid tipped to change the profile and better match my other clubs.

My point is, don't assume the stamp on the shaft is accurate.  These clubs are mass produced, and quality control is not nearly as strict as it is for after market shafts.

[arturo28mx]

If you're getting clubs with stock shafts, and they're not performing they way you expect (assuming your swing is consistant) have your local golf shop test the profile.

I recently got 2 new X2Hot hybrids and a RBZ Stage 2 FW.  My trajectory on the FW (17*) was a lot higher than the 19* hybrid (both off the fairway).  I had the shafts checked and found out that the RBZ was an extra stiff flex even though it was marked as a stiff flex and the hybrid was playing to a reg/stiff flex.  My 22* was playing to an extra stiff flex as well....

This really threw me off b/c I was hitting the FW higher than the hybrid which is counterintuitive, but I trust the guy who checked them.  I had the hybrid tipped to change the profile and better match my other clubs.

My point is, don't assume the stamp on the shaft is accurate.  These clubs are mass produced, and quality control is not nearly as strict as it is for after market shafts.

Totally agree with the last paragraph.

I have a Titleist 913 D2 driver 9.5 degrees and another one 10.5 degrees. I also have two Diamana Blue stock regular flex shafts and two Diamana Blue stock stiff flex shafts for them.

Well, guess what, they are all different!!! One "regular" shaft is what I normally consider regular but the other "regular" is more like "firm" (i.e., a little stiffer)

One of my "stiff" shafts is slightly more rigid than my "firm" shaft, but the other "stiff" shaft is almost extra stiff.

[joekelly]

Very instructive Crossfield video, thanks for that.  One note is the use of a set screw to change shaft on the same head.  I have not heard of that before.  Seems the way to go as no need for epoxy, heat guns, flame throwers etc.  Since the use of adjustable lofts on drivers is permitted  by the rules, i would expect the swapping heads also OK.  Since the heads are removable with only the Allen wrench, i could imagine taking my next holiday carrying only my golf heads and renting shafts on site.  Big money savings and convenience. And, ability to test out new shafts to learn about differences without epoxy gunk.

Yeah, well. Fix the swing too.  I wonder how many of us here could match Crossfield's consistency over 10 balls, 2 different shafts, wearing a winter coat. Looked like a 6i at 85 mph.

[cobraman1]

After plenty of research I ended up going with grafalloys pro launch blue 62g stiff. It is a different club, has bought the backspin back a few hundred revs but still is a high launching shaft, so still achieving good launch and the result is more distance and it's not going as sideways if I get it a bit wrong.

[fonebone]

It might be that golf is a bit over thought by most of us at least once. Think the more flex the less control for higher swing speeds and conversely the stiffer more control allows for higher swing speeds for consistent swingers who can dial it in and ratchet up even more. The slower swing speed crowd will lose distance because the shaft isn't loading and unloading at all the right moments. Factory shafts have so much variance in them as to be incomparable. Find a fitter and pay the little extra to get what works, its worth the result.