Look at the Shaft Flex on an 85-yard 7-Iron

[flopdarock]

im not too surprised with the flex... but i am surprised that it only went 85 yrds

[iacas]

im not too surprised with the flex... but i am surprised that it only went 85 yrds

Probably would have gone about 95 to 100, tops (it's short of my 1/2 swing, and my half swing with my wedges goes about 65% across all three), but the wind was straight into me.

[BritBoy]

im not too surprised with the flex... but i am surprised that it only went 85 yrds

Dont be. If you look at Jamie Sadlowski hitting the XXX-stiff driver the shaft is unloading at or through imapct. Iacas shaft is still loaded after the ball has left the club face so that flex isnt transfering in club head speed through the ball.

But then I could be wrong too

[iacas]

Iacas shaft is still loaded after the ball has left the club face so that flex isnt transfering in club head speed through the ball.

Yeah, you seem to be. The fastest point in the unloading of the shaft would be when it's straight. The shaft still unloads at about the right time. The frame near impact shows a fairly straight shaft (one frame later) and the frame after impact shows a forward deflecting shaft.

[thedoxology]

There is no doubt shafts flex that much. But there has to be something goofy with the picture if it's just a half or 3/4 swing. Shaft flex is a byproduct of torque and speed and for a stiff shaft to bend like that on an abbreviated swing isn't right. Assuming you hit it clean I have to believe to generate that type of flex the ball would go much much further than 85 yards.

I'm sure everything you say is real, I just think it's a wacky picture.

I don't think the driver sequence is applicable though, that's a 45" (probably longer if it's a long drive competitor) shaft swinging probably 130mph or more.

Pretty damn cool though.

[iacas]

There is no doubt shafts flex that much. But there has to be something goofy with the picture if it's just a half or 3/4 swing.

Nothing goofy. As others have said, they've seen the video.

Shaft flex is a byproduct of torque and speed and for a stiff shaft to bend like that on an abbreviated swing isn't right. Assuming you hit it clean I have to believe to generate that type of flex the ball would go much much further than 85 yards.

There's nothing "wacky" about it.

They're flighted shafts, but I doubt that matters much in a 7-iron (a mid-iron).

[Three Putt]

I'm a JD fan, so this comes as my observation as watching the tournament today.

Watching the replay....on the 18th today hit a punch/ pitch shot around 110 yards or so. The cameras did a super slow mo replay of his swing, the iron he was using had little flex in the swing. Not trying to say JD is the end all be all, but the shaft did not flex much.

Sadlowski didn't flex much either until after impact, which is the kick off the shaft...which those LD guys spend (or if they are lucky enough to have sponsors) a lot of money testing shafts, tip trimming, pulling shafts, tuning shafts, etc... for that perfect kick that is suited for their swing (and swing speed) and desired ball flight and trajectory.

I think the camera is not getting it right?

[Golfaway]

If I didn't trust you I'd say that photo was photoshop'd.

[iacas]

I think the camera is not getting it right?

The camera's getting it right.

I think it's an optical illusion here. Check out some videos of Iron shots with Swing Vision...there definitely is flex but not as much as your original picture seems to indicate:

Two people (three if you count me) have seen the video of three swings, all of which produce the same result.

You can't compare my shot, with my tempo, with a Rifle Flighted 7-iron and less than half a swing to a PGA Tour player hitting a full shot with their tempo and much stiffer shafts. I'm not sure what else to tell y'all. It's real. It's not a camera trick. So far we have my visual evidence, people attesting to that, and only theoretical rebuttals. Go record yourself hitting some shots. You won't have my tempo, but I think the results might surprise you. Take a short backswing and then go aggressively through the ball.

[neudi]

Iacas, have you taken the club to a clubmaker to test it to see if it actually is the flex you got? Sometimes, although very rare, the machine will screw up and make the shaft incorrectly. This leads to incorrect frequency and bend points. Other than the shaft being completely wrong, I don't know what to tell you. :(

[iacas]

Iacas, have you taken the club to a clubmaker to test it to see if it actually is the flex you got? Sometimes, although very rare, the machine will screw up and make the shaft incorrectly. This leads to incorrect frequency and bend points. Other than the shaft being completely wrong, I don't know what to tell you. :(

Seriously? The shaft's fine, it's what's advertised, and I played good golf with it. It's consistent with the rest of the set and it's as stated.

Here's what you could tell me: "Wow, I didn't think it was quite that extreme. You learn something new every day!" That's kind of why I posted it. The shaft is largely out of frame but you can see some pretty good flex (or hints of good flex) in George's swing from his Swing Check . And he too has a pause at the top, which no doubt helps. Dunno what to tell y'all. It is exactly what you're seeing. And the shaft is what I said it is too. ERC and BigAl have seen the video, and they've commented here. All three swings produce identical results.

[thedoxology]

Nothing goofy. As others have said, they've seen the video.

I mean you can come on here and debate every person that posts to this thread but there is no way you are convincing me a 7 iron with above normal stiffness flexes that much and goes under 100 yards. If it was normal I doubt you would have posted it.

I don't doubt any of your facts. I just think it's optical and cameras can't remedy it.

[Zeph]

I've got a camera that can shoot 300 and 600 FPS. I'll give this a try when I get home. I've recorded many swings without seeing this, but I'm casting and have never swung really aggresively through the ball.

[iacas]

I don't doubt any of your facts. I just think it's optical and cameras can't remedy it.

That makes even less sense. The motion blur isn't even enough that you could argue it's much straighter than you see. Several people have seen the video.

[Zeph]

If you don't want to host the video yourself you could upload it to Youtube or something like that.

[iacas]

If you don't want to host the video yourself you could upload it to Youtube or something like that.

That's the much smaller reason why I don't want to host it. And YouTube is hardly the place for a 60 FPS HD video.

[ryohazuki222]

Wow... this thread blew up. I don't get what's so unbelievable though. As I posted at first, it's an impressive photo.

Honestly, the picture REAFFIRMS what I've felt about shafts in general. Have you guys never tried to bend shafts by hand, or by pressing the club at an angle against the ground? The things bend easily.

When I was looking to buy irons, the first thing I wanted was to get rid of that over-wobbly feeling in my clubs (which I hate.) I ended up with Project X 6.0s nonflighted because I liked how stiff they were, but at the same time you can feel the bend/give in them if you mess around with it.

I really didn't anticipate such an incredulous audience.....

[iacas]

I apologize if some of my brief responses in this thread have been taken the wrong way. Not my intent to be rude, but some of the "I don't believe it" posts come off to me a bit like "you're lying."

I'm not lying, and so far as I can tell:

1) There's no optical trick going on that I can tell. You can assert "there must be" but what proof's been offered of that?

2) Three people have seen the video, of three swings, and they all look the same.

3) The shaft is what it says it was. I've had them checked and they're the same clubs I reviewed here .

4) You can't compare it to a full swing. You can't even necessarily compare it to a good swing (which is a big part of the reason I won't post the video - the swings suck and are somewhat embarrassing, to be honest).

5) The farthest that ball would have gone with that swing length in still conditions is 100 yards. It went 85 in the air on that day because of how windy it was.

Again, I fully apologize if my responses came off poorly. Not my intent at all. I (mistakenly) took some of the responses as "bullshit! you're lying to us somehow," and I don't take knocks against my honesty lightly. My fault - I should have given y'all the benefit of the doubt.

I still think some of you should try the shot. Take a backswing, no pause, and accelerate hard with as much lag as you can. See what kind of result you get.

FWIW, I've switched back to my AP2s with the Project X shafts. I doubt they'd deflect half as much. But who knows? What we feel isn't always reality... and that's what this shows us.