shaft flex hurting my swing...or not?

[I KyotE I]

Well I have hurd two different theorys on how this works. I have a swing of around 111 and I am thinking of re-shafting. I have hurd that having too stiff a shaft will slice. wich doesn't make logic to me. I thought that having too little would as a high swing rate would torque the club back and could remain there through impact. I swung a friends driver that had a reg shaft and I sliced hard but when I swung my driver I only sliced 10 ft off.(still bad but not as bad as the other driver was in the next fairway.) So would stiffer shafts be better at around 109-112 or do I go with regular. I would like to get rid of the slice and make it more of a push if nothing more than cure it. Does anyone know if a slice is cause by a swing too strong with regular or more with a underswing on a stiff?

Also if I don't reshaft I will be buying new so either way I would like to have some idea before I go. And yes I will be getting fitted but I would like some kind of idea on what I might be looking at.

[MPS67]

As of yet, shafts manufacturers are not bound by an industry standard, so it's possible that your friends R (regular) flex could be stiffer than your S (stiff) flexed shaft.

In addition to flex, graphite shafts have two other major characteristics which effect its performance. Those are shaft torque and shaft bend point, which is sometimes called kick point.

Flex. When a shaft is first swung down, the club head will bend back and potential energy will build up in the shaft. Later in the downswing, the shaft will rebound and the club head will gain speed. The goal is to match the correct shaft flex to your swing speed so that the club head returns back to it's original square position relative to how it was aligned at address.

Many golfers with slower swing speeds slice when using shafts that are too stiff. These shafts are less flexible and the flex/rebound cycle is slower compared to a more flexible versions. What happens is that the club face does not have enough time to rebound back to square.

Having a shaft that is too soft & flexible can have the opposite effect where the golfer may suffer hooked shots with a closed face. Here, the club head rebounds and continues to accelerate ahead of the shaft line.

Torque. This parameter is measured in degrees and represents how much a shaft can be twisted. The higher the number, the more degrees is gives. Club head weight and swing speed are things to consider when selecting the correct torque value. The faster the swing speed, the lower the amount of toque is needed, for example.

Bend/Kick point. Shaft manufacturers can position where on the length of the shaft it flexes the most. This parameter allows the golfer to adjust the ball flight trajectory. The lower the kick point (closer to the club head,) the higher the trajectory.

IMHO, I highly recommend getting fitted by an experienced and competent club fitter. Fine tuning these, and other parameters can drastically improve your performance.

Best of luck

[YZINGERR]

interesting info MPS67, thanks

[rebby]

As of yet, shafts manufacturers are not bound by an industry standard, so it's possible that your friends R (regular) flex could be stiffer than your S (stiff) flexed shaft.

Excellent advise. I would also suggest getting fitted. My average driver swing is 118mph and I use a high kick point, very low torque, extra stiff shaft. Your swing may differ than mine though so that may not be the best choice for you but should serve as a decent starting point.

I do have one minor contention with the above post however...

Having a shaft that is too soft & flexible can have the opposite effect where the golfer may suffer hooked shots with a closed face. Here, the club head rebounds and continues to accelerate ahead of the shaft line.

I'd just like to add that: Having a shaft that is too soft & flexible can have a similar effect where the golfer may suffer sliced shots with a open face. Here, the club head rebounds late and lags way behind the shaft line.

I say this because it was the exact issue that I had with my old driver (that had a mid kick point, high torque, stiff shaft). With my swing I was more or less "overloading" the shaft and my release is late enough that the club head never had a chance to catch up. This would result in a high soft cut. Generally this only happened when my timing was a bit off. When my timing was perfect, I hit the driver great. The problem with that is that the swing I needed for this perfect timing was not my natural swing and thus required 3x the practice to maintain. Since switching drivers (well, mainly shafts really) I've become a lot more comfortable over the ball, swing much more naturally, hit better shots and have a lot more fun on the t-box. Get fitted. I tried over 50 combinations over a 3 week period before I pulled out the credit card. It was a lot of fun to see how making minor changes here and there affected ball flight. It was also a great learning experience. Good luck!

[I KyotE I]

Thank you for the input. When I get back to my home town I will definatly be contacting the shop that I have hurd to be best in town. Can't really do much while in chicago but when I get back to CO I will be at the shop that week I hope.

[wachesawgolfer]

Definitely get fitted. There are no truisms to golf shafts. They can be any spec as there is no standard and there is no way to know a shaft is right and what the ball flight will be unless you hit it. A too stiff shaft can slice or hook depending on YOUR swing and vice versa with a too soft shaft. A softer shaft may add distance or it may not. Not everybody swings to catch the rebound depending on how they load the club. So, regrettably, its takes a lot of time and work to find the perfect shaft, but, not so much to find a decent shaft for your swing.