Taylormade Shaft

[alo1984]

I know there tends to be a lot of Taylormade hate on this forum, but I have a question regarding the shaft flexes. I actually play a 09 burner driver with a stiff flex, but by good fortune, I was given a second 09 burner with a regular flex. Both drivers are stock shafts. I have played regular flex shafts in the past, so I decided to take the regular flex TM Burner out for a round yesterday and holy crap was I shocked! This thing felt like a senior flex at best!

Has anyone else noticed this about these shafts? I mean, I could bend and whip that thing unlike any other shaft I've ever played. Honest to god, I felt like a could tie a fly and use the thing as a fly rod in a creek at the course. Obviously I'm exaggerating the flex a bit but it really was shocking how much flex there actually was. It makes me wonder about the true flex of my stiff shaft that I normally play.

Any comments on this?

[James_Black]

I have a stiff on my rescue, It's pretty stiff.(I can't bend it by shaking it) But it's the TP version so there might be a difference.

My cobra feels like a senior flex though. I probably need a stiffer shaft. I played with a 4 handicapper who could drive it 280m(310 yards) Consistently a few weeks ago. He was playing a regular shaft.

[jamo]

Yeah, Taylor Made's shafts are very soft. So are all OEM's shafts, but many say Taylor Made's are the softest.

[ohiolefty]

I fight the rights (so, the lefts for you guys) with the R9 I just purchased and have been using. I suspect shaft is a part of that. I like the ballflight, though.

[scgolf]

The Re*Ax 49g 46 inches shaft on my 2009 Burner driver is certainly wimpy. Not a very good OEM shaft.

[Scott_K]

The stock '09 stiff was very tough to control. It was a noodle. I also had problems dropping in the slot. At the top it feels like nothing is there. Adapting to my new one. Much better control. Distance isn't there yet.

[moparman426]

My last TM driver had a stock reax in stiff, and it did feel whippy compared to the xcon6 in my old callie. Callies' stock 686 speeder had the same whippy feeling too though. The upgrade shafts (well the rombax anyway) feel a lot stiffer, which is probably true for all the major brands out there. You get what you pay for.

[pixel5]

Often I will walk into Golf USA/Academy/etc and pick up a TM driver (I always grab a Stiff flex) and I'll grip it and give it a firm sort of 'shaking' motion to test the flex. It bends WAY too much to be a stiff in my opinion. I feel like if I were to hit it on the range I would duck hook every ball. When someone hands me a stiff shaft, it had better be stiff...and if someone hands me an X-Stiff, that thing shouldn't move at all.

I feel like TaylorMade is corrupting the art of the driver.

[CoupleOfFew]

I agree, they are very whippy. I'm now replacing the stock stiff Reax in my Burner with a stiff prolaunch red. Hopefully it will feel much better.

[bwdial]

The "stiff" shaft in my R580 (still kickin' it ol' skool) is too whippy as well. I'm thinking about about switching to something else.

[MikeLowry5]

I am a habitual hooker and play all Taylormade woods with stock, stiff shafts. Thinking about looking to a stiffer aftermarket or the x-flex TM's as changeouts.

I hit the RIP stiff and x flex in the Supertri head and the ball still flew well off of it. With the stiff flex I could still hook however with the x flex shaft my mishits were either pushes or pulls, much less sidespin.

Will a stiffer tip reduce sidespin? If so, how?

[alo1984]

I'm glad it's not just me that has noticed TM shafts being too soft. I mean the regular was a joke and I've had suspicion that my stiff is too whippy as well.

I should probably confess that I have never been fitted for a shaft other than going by swing speed and feel. I bought the TM Burner based on price and the fact that I have become a fan of TM driver heads but the shaft really wasn't a big consideration. I just knew that previously I had used stiff shafts so I bought a stiff. I feel like that was a mistake because as I improve, it really becomes apparent that I have missed out on not getting properly fitted for a shaft.

Do you think that I should get fitted for an after market shaft and just change out the shaft in my current driver, or would it be better to get an all new driver with a custom aftermarket shaft?

[The Road Dog]

My 09 Burner shaft was a stiff, I had it replaced with a UST ProForce. Now its a much better club.