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proper shaft, stiff or regular flex


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I had my swing speed checked an hour ago and it averaged 96mph, irons or woods. They suggest Regular, but I have played stiff shafts a long time. I have been playing for me the best rounds ever the last 5 days. I am only buying new clubs for the technology and hopefully more control in distance as I really love these clubs. I am 6'2" 225lbs and a gym rat going at least 5 day per week and hit the range 2 or 3 afternoons and play either Saturday or Sunday. All that said, do I go with the regular shaft or stick with the stiff shafts? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance Jim
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It appears you are increasing your golf activity, and do a lot of conditioning. Sounds like you're getting more serious about golf.

If you are going to buy new clubs, you should go beyond selecting Regular or Stiff and see which type of shaft would work best for you in driver, woods and irons. The flex - Regular or Stiff - is just one factor in selecting golf shafts. Might be time to get a full fitting to help you get the right club mix for your bag.

You say your swing speed "averaged 96mph, irons or woods." I'm not sure what you mean by this. Most people have their highest swing speed with their driver, which is the longest club. Are you above 100 MPH on your driver and in the 80s with your 5 iron? Does this average out to 96 MPH?

Keep us posted.

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My average was 96mph with the Driver either with a stiff or regular shaft... irons were done with Calloway irons in regular and it was 88. I goofed the origanal post up with not all of the complete innformation, sorry I new to this posting thing. I did however have a 96mph average with the new taylor made irons, but everything was to the right. I need to feel the club in my swing or I really pull through and never get back to square at impact, those irons were way to light for me personally.. My natural ball flight is a Fade until the set of clubs I just purchased used. They for some reason play to a slight draw and are stiff shafts. My new driver 3, 5 and 7 wood also from the same company with weight adjustment play to a draw. I do feel I'm leaviing both strokes and distaance in the golf shop with shafts, that was the original question. I am planning on buying a new set of irons, and 2 hybrids this next weeks from the same company. They have a 30 day return policy. So I am thinking about having the new Driver 3, 5 & 7 reshafted to regular. My Driving average in the last 5 rounds according to my Garmin is 254. 7 iron I am down to 166 with this set from 173 with my last set, both have stiff shafts. Hope that helped, again I am new to this so again, my apologies. Jim
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Visited Golftec and Golfsmith the other day and told them that my avg driver swing speed was 92 mph and both "experts" recommends a stiff shafted driver. I'm no expert, but with your description as a "gym rat" and a larger guy, I'd think a regular shafted club would wreak havoc in your game.

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A few thing to note about shaft flex.  There is no standard in what makes a shaft stiff vs. regular.   One brand's stiff can (and in some cases is) softer than another brands R.  Also some companies now make multiple levels of flex.  Ping makes soft R, R, S, tour S, tour XS.

Also, swing speed is only one indication of which flex you will need.  If you have an aggressive transition from the top of your back swing down to the ball, you will load up the shaft more so you will need a stiffer shaft to decrease shot dispersion.  However, I have met people who use "R" shafts to hit the ball way past what I can hit it.  I played a few weeks ago with a college kid who hit a Callaway Octane driver in 10.5 /w R flex.  He hit it to the moon in terms of height, but got a TON of carry and very little roll.  I asked him if he ever thought about trying a 9.5 in S to see if it can bring the height down and maybe give him some roll out distance.  His response was, why would I ever need to hit it further?

My point is simply this.  The letter written on the shaft means alot less than people think it does.

In my bag:

some golf clubs

a few golf balls

a bag of tee's some already broken the rest soon to be

a snickers wrapper (if you have seen me play, you would know you are not going anywhere for a while)

and an empty bottle of water

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I just returned home from my Sunday round. Shot 84, I play golf with the same 2 guys both are 2 handicap golfers. Both play regular shafts. + 1/4 and up 3. I hit both of their 7 irons on the range afterwards with the same results as my clubs which is a whole other thread. I could feel more shaft load and unload with the regular flex shafts that I can barely feel with my irons. I am staying with Stiff on my Driver and Fairway. Woods. I will try the new irons with flex shafts and if I don't like it Ill send them back to be re-shafted with Stiff Shafts. Off to the gym. Jim
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Clearwaterms said it quite well.  It's hard for someone on the internet to recommend a shaft flex for you...there are just too many variables.

Assuming that you were swinging a 6 or 5 iron at the golf shop...an 88 mph swing speed is pretty fast.  I would think a stiffer shaft in your irons would be the right choice.  For comparison, I swing my 6 iron about 86 mph and use DG S300 shafts.  I feel like I'm right on the edge between regular and stiff shafts...and it really depends on the shaft manufacturer.  For example, I can swing the DG S300's well but struggle to properly load a PX6.0.  I prefer the lower flight, less ballooning and better shot dispersion I get with the stiff shafts...but I could probably play a regular flex without too much issue.

Your driver swing speed of 96mph isn't all that high...in fact I would expect it to be higher if you iron SS is in the upper 80's.

Titleist 910D3 - 9.5°- Ahina Stiff
Taylormade Burner 2.0 3Wood - Proforce V2 Stiff

Taylormade Burner 5W - Proforce V2 Stiff
910D 21° 3h - Ahina Stiff

Titleist 712 AP2 - KBS Tour
Titleist Vokey - 52* & 56*

Odyssey White Hot #1 XG

X's or B330's

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My driver shaft swing speed for whatever reason has never been much more than that. I just returned home from the gym and I really think I am just going to go down to a range in Oceanside Ca right off the 78 I think the street is college. I hear that guy is real good at fitting and is not Name Brand Specific like most of the "pro shops" are in my opinion. That is what got me to this point. I had no buisness with a pro iron set like I am putting on ebay tomorrow. Ill let this guy fit me to a shaft based on the club head weight of a set of X22's or the GX922's I spoke of buying used. This should put me in the right shaft. I just want to shoot low 80's with a 70ish thrown in here and their. I work a lot of hours, spend 10+ in the gym, hit the range and play once or sometimes twice per week. I know I will never shoot low 70's because of practice time. I just want to enjoy a good time in the fresh air and enjoy life. Thank you all for your help Jim
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Thank all of you for your input. I ended up going to Golf Galaxy near my home in Vegas. Spent about two hours with their fitter. He suggested I stay with Stiff on the driver and gave me 3 suggestions on the irons. TRUE TEMPER GOLD in Regular. TRUE TEMPER PRO T in Stiff or TRUE TEMPER FEATHER FLIGHT (premium) in FIRM flex. They do no sell the last one nor has he ever seen one let alone, swing one. He pointed out that I have a higher swing path on the Driver than my Irons. He was concerned that I was playing a "knockoff club" as he put it. He suggested, here we go boys a brand name club. I told him I played the Adams A12Pro Irons Adams Fairway Woods and an R11s driver with GREAT FRUSTRATION! I switched to Gigagolf Irons after hitting a set of GX920 irons and was amazed how well I hit them. I bought my current set used. I did buy their TXR driver. 3. 5 & 7 new and am out driving all of my friends that are way better than I am. He got a A12pro 7 iron and he hit it, then hit mine. He was 3 yards longer and as straight as with my Gigagolf 7 iron. I hit both and my swing speed was within 2 mph of each club both stiff shafts. My distance was 14 yards longer with my current club. The A12 pro was 22 yards right, and my iron was 2 yards left center. I was impressed with him till he bacame the salesman. Long story short, I am going to order a new set of GX944 Irons from Gigagolf with one of the three shafts, I was given a choice of. Again, I look forward to reading many posts on this site.
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The shaft, in my opinion is the single most important component, especially in drivers. Without the proper shaft, the best head in the world simply will not work properly and produce a consistent trajectory even with solid ball striking.
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  • 1 year later...

I am 69 years old and just had a fitting with a Titleist fitting specialist.  I have always used ultra-light steel shafts in my irons....Stiff flex.  So on the shot monitor, I was hitting my 6 iron approx 165 yards, straight to slight draw.  He put me in a 6 iron, light weight  regular shaft and I was on average 9 yds longer with a very comfortable swing speed.  Was not exerting myself at all.  There is something to be said for changing shafts from stiff to regular flex but if you are a true golfer, the results is what is more important.  I mean, how many of us know what our playing partners have in their bag?  My swing speed for driver and three wood is still stiff but mainly because they are graphite and longer.  My driver is approx. 255 and 3 wood carry 225.  Hope this helps.  I have not gotten the clubs yet and the idea of going from Stiff to Regular is on my mind a lot.....can only hope I did the right thing.  Good luck.

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I am 69 years old and just had a fitting with a Titleist fitting specialist.  I have always used ultra-light steel shafts in my irons....Stiff flex.  So on the shot monitor, I was hitting my 6 iron approx 165 yards, straight to slight draw.  He put me in a 6 iron, light weight  regular shaft and I was on average 9 yds longer with a very comfortable swing speed.  Was not exerting myself at all.  There is something to be said for changing shafts from stiff to regular flex but if you are a true golfer, the results is what is more important.  I mean, how many of us know what our playing partners have in their bag?  My swing speed for driver and three wood is still stiff but mainly because they are graphite and longer.  My driver is approx. 255 and 3 wood carry 225.  Hope this helps.  I have not gotten the clubs yet and the idea of going from Stiff to Regular is on my mind a lot.....can only hope I did the right thing.  Good luck.


Good luck, Hank. Hope I can hit it that long at 69...

Did you have the opportunity to hit the new shaft at the range when fitted?  That typically tells you more than a simulator.

Whether the shaft fits depends on your swing and the shaft and your fitter... If you are not extremely quick or hold a larger amount of lag, the regular flex, depending on weight and construction of the shaft, may work out well.

As an example, for health and lack of swing reasons, I played a senior flex in irons for a period of time with a regular flex swing speed  at 80g and they were fine.Since that time, I was re-fitted,  my swing is on the cusp of stiff flex with a driver (depending on the shaft) and with the irons, moved up to regular flex and a heavier weight at 95g (my age is 59), and enjoy them immensely.

Ping G400 Max 9/TPT Shaft, TEE EX10 Beta 4, 5 wd, PXG 22 HY, Mizuno JPX919F 5-GW, TItleist SM7 Raw 55-09, 59-11, Bettinardi BB39

 

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Mr Desmond.....I tried to accept that if I used my club on the monitor and the new club on the monitor I at least had the monitor in common.  My shoot pattern was identical and the only difference was the extra 9 yds...but it did seem like I swung the regular shaft with a little less exertion if that makes sense.  Now my old clubs have a low kick point (bend profile) and he was able to create that in the new club.  So I will give this a try and since I left the post, I called the fitting ctr and I too have a 30 day return policy so that now will allow better sleep.  Thanks for you feedback...we can never get enough.

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I have a driver speed in mid-90s and played stiff shafts for years.  Always struggled getting higher ball flight.  Was fitted for new clubs and recommended to play regular shafts.  Got over the bruised ego of my buddies playing stiff or x-stiff shafts and now hit the ball much straighter and more consistent distances.  Best move I ever made.  Distance control on my irons improved dramatically and didn't lose any driver distance.  I did opt for a lower torque tour version driver shaft in my Ping G20 which I think makes a difference in how a shaft feels.

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  • 4 weeks later...
I am of the school of thought that the majority of ams play way too stiff for.their game. I hit a 7 iron about 165 to 170 yards and I play regular in irons and driver. I do however play a genuine aftermarket shaft in the driver so in all likelihood it would be at least a stiff in off the rack drivers. I also like heavier lower torque shafts in driver. Like most guys at my ss I can play either stiff or regular in my irons but I prefer regular for a couple of reasons. On a good swing there is no difference, stiff will feel and perform just like regular with maybe a slightly more piercing flight. But I'm a single digit cap and can't stripe every shot, and find that regular shafts are less punishing in terms of feel and distance loss. For tour players who flush every shot they can afford to play stiffer to get the lower flight, but for ams stiff does more harm than good. I also find that with long irons you need the extra height regular provides, stiff fly too low and roll out too much on the green. In shorter irons I find very little difference between the two but in the 3/4/5 regular are much better. Even in my 20s and 30s when I could play stiff comfortably I still always had regular in my long irons and stiff in shorter irons. I think the best advice I can give is to leave your ego at the door when getting fit for clubs. Clubfitters wil do their best to get you into the right specs, but they often have a hard time trying to convince guys who see regular shafts as an insult to their manhood. I would put money down that nearly any golfer with a cap higher than about 5 would benefit from going softer in their irons if they play stiff now.
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Note: This thread is 3234 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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