Iron shafts - lighter vs. heavier

[iacas]

...I seem to be very inconsistant in the 5,6,7....But it has nothing to do with my clubs....my bad ones are really bad. And those really bad swings are not because of the extra 20 grams.

It sounds like lighter clubs might only exacerbate any control problems you have.

Buy some impact tape. If you're making contact all over the face right now then you probably shouldn't go lighter.

[Leftygolfer]

It sounds like lighter clubs might only exacerbate any control problems you have.

Thanks. I will and agree. The issue is my wild shots aren't mis hits. I am hitting pretty close to the sweet spot but the face is drastically closed at impact on my bad quick swings and putting me in places where I have to hit a career shot to make a par or take penalty strokes. No way to play golf and my scores have suffered.

[DaveLeeNC]

If I added more weight to the clubhead bringing it back to where it was with the old shafts, wouldn't that make it feel the same as it did with the heavier shafts? Wouldn't this make the feel of the swing heavy again making it pointless to use lighter shafts? Forgive my ignorance if this is a stupid question, I'm just new to all of this stuff. I used to just think a club is another club but recently just started learning about all of this different stuff.

If you went to a lighter shaft and weighted the club back to where the swingweight was originally, you would probably end up with a shaft that was 20-40 grams lighter than before. But you would only have to add somewhere in the 5-10 grams of weight to the clubhead (rough approximation) to get back to the original swingweight.

Constant swingweight is not magic or a firm requirement. But it is not a bad idea either. The "latest" in club matching is "MOI matching" which is different than swingweight matching. A google search on that term should yield way more than you are willing to wade through. dave

[danieldsuh]

Thanks for the info!

[Shindig]

Late last summer, I got talked into putting lighter shafts into my irons by an "independent fitter" (who I now know suggests these shafts to everyone). On Sunday, I managed to borrow two 6-irons, identical to mine, except with heavier shafts in them (one each of R300 and S300). I hit those far better - and slightly farther - than the ones I have.

[Kieran123]

Heck of a bump here....I recently purchased some RSI 1's that came with 90g shafts. My old iron shafts were 105g....and now I feel my contact is nowhere near as consistent as it used to be. I have a fast swing ( 110ish mph...and my back swing is a little quick too ) so I am curious if having a faster swing with lighter shafts could cause the club to drift around a bit during the swing.

I've also been dealing with the shanks lately, and am curious if a lighter shaft could exacerbate this as well ( I have a flat swing which I am aware is the main cause )

My past 3 sets of irons have all been 105g until these 90g.

Edited June 22, 2017 by Kieran123

[billchao]

3 hours ago, Kieran123 said:

.I recently purchased some RSI 1's that came with 90g shafts. My old iron shafts were 105g....and now I feel my contact is nowhere near as consistent as it used to be. I have a fast swing ( 110ish mph...and my back swing is a little quick too ) so I am curious if having a faster swing with lighter shafts could cause the club to drift around a bit during the swing.

Shaft weight can be a pretty personal thing. I've read articles describing how some slower swings are better off with lighter, others heavier, some faster swingers play better with lighter, etc., so there's no rule of thumb about it. Best way to know for sure is to see a good fitter.

That said, it does sound like shaft weight could be an issue for you. Do you still have your old clubs and is you contact better with them?

[WUTiger]

On 6/15/2009 at 2:39 AM, Technospaz said:

Upon reflection, I realize that they are pretty heavy and while it gives me greater control for the shorter clubs (love 'em on my 7i-9is), they can be a little tough on my 3i-5is.

I played X20s with Uniflex for two seasons. What you might do is softstep the shafts in 3i through 6i, which would help you with initial launch.

In softstepping you would need to get a Uniflex shaft trimmed for 2i, and insert it in your 3i. Take the 3i shaft, and insert it into the 4i. Repeat for 5i and 6i (you'll end up with an extra 6i shaft). What this does is increase the length of the flexible shaft tip by 1/2" and soften the flex. As I said earlier, this would help with initial launch.

[Kieran123]

14 hours ago, billchao said:

Shaft weight can be a pretty personal thing. I've read articles describing how some slower swings are better off with lighter, others heavier, some faster swingers play better with lighter, etc., so there's no rule of thumb about it. Best way to know for sure is to see a good fitter.

That said, it does sound like shaft weight could be an issue for you. Do you still have your old clubs and is you contact better with them?

Unfortunately I don't have my old clubs. I may just have to go see a fitter and test some other shafts out