Driver Shaft Fitting Help

[NYJetsfan]

I currently play a Taylormade '09 Burner, Stock Stiff flex shaft driver.  Now my driver swing is constantly under maintenance and under going changes and in the past 2 years I've went from a severe slice to moderate slice that can be somewhat controlled.  I'm still working on the swing to eliminate it altogether which leads me to my question regarding a shaft fitting and replacement.  I've read that if you are using too shift of a shaft this will lead to trouble getting the club through the zone quickly, thus a slice, which is what has piqued my interest in this whole thing.  Now I know full well and dandy that a shaft is not going to magically fix a swing, but I also know that confidence goes a long way in golf, of which I have zero in my current driver.  I feel like I have little control of the club and little lag in the shaft.

My only concern though is that is this actually worth doing now or waiting until I get my swing where I need it to be?  Of course if I wait I may be waiting forever lol!  Anyone have any advice, stories, experience on anything similar to this?  I know this was a long rant, hopefully you guys understand what I'm trying to convey.

On a separate note, I'd be getting the fitting/shaft replacement done at Golf Galaxy so also any advice on how well they do would be appreciated.

[Shagbag]

Originally Posted by NYJetsfan

.  I've read that if you are using too shift of a shaft this will lead to trouble getting the club through the zone quickly, thus a slice, which is what has piqued my interest in this whole thing.  Now I know full well and dandy that a shaft is not going to magically fix a swing, but I also know that confidence goes a long way in golf, of which I have zero in my current driver.  I feel like I have little control of the club and little lag in the shaft.

The shaft has little or no effect with respect to "getting the club through the zone quickly" UNLESS you have a very late release.  Most amatuers have an "early to midway" release point.  If the club is released early to midway the shaft has done everything it's going to do with respect to "unloading" (or whatever term you choose for downward flex action during the downswing) well before the clubface arrives at the hitting zone.  The downward flexing action of the club occurs instantly when the club is released.

[Golf'nBiker]

JETSFAN, not long ago I was in a similar situation.  Mine began by listining to fellow golfrers.  long confusing story short, I was flip-flopping from a STIFF flex to a super stiff flex and really was not sure what I was seeking.  I went to a shop and swung 6 different drivers.  3 stiff, 3 regular flex..discovered my swing speed and the best 'results' on the monitor in the reg. flex for one club.  The gentleman who owns the shop allowed me to use a demo for a few days, and now I am the owner of and very happy w/my driver...Cleveland XL270

[newtogolf]

No personal experience with Golf Galaxy, but be sure to test both the Regular and Stiff versions of each driver.  Shaft stiffness is not universal across manufacturers.  When TM or Callaway use a well known shaft in their driver, it's usually a special version that might not conform to the shaft specs that the shaft manufacturer specifies for their stand-alone shafts.  I've found Titleist shafts are stiffer than say Callaways even though they both say "S".  My swing speed is on the bubble where a Titleist "S" is too stiff for my swing but a Callaway isn't.

[WUTiger]

I swapped out all my clubs - except my putter - about three years ago. It was simply time to move from stiff to regular shafts.

I had talked to the pro at Golf Galaxy about my situation, and made an appointment for a driver fitting on the shop's launch monitor. First, I hit shots with my stiff shafted driver to get a baseline reading. He said regular was the way to go.

I had researched different drivers, and started on the Callaway Hyper-X and Hyper-X Tour. He then selected similar Cleveland and Ping drivers for comparison. The 9.5* drivers produced line drives about half the time, so he moved me to 10.5*. I got the best performance from HX Tour with a Fuji E360 mid-kick R-flex shaft, and an R-flex Cleveland HiBore Red. I bought the Hyper-X Tour because I liked the set-up better; picked up an X-Tour 3W later that month; it had the same Fuji shaft.

The pro gave me a printout of the performance figures on all seven drivers. I still use the printouts when I test out newer drivers. Fitting was free since I bought a new driver.

Make sure you say you want a driver fitting. A couple of times I have been in the shop, and the fitter asked the customer if he wanted a fitting. The customer said no, "I just want to hit driver X to see if it's better than my current driver." Some people are in a super hurry to spend $400, even if it's not the driver they need.

[delav]

While it can be true that too soft of a shaft will tend to miss left, and too firm will miss right, it's very likely that this isn't the real problem.  Unless the weight and stiffness are prohibiting you from feeling the position of the clubhead in your swing (not terribly common with many off the shelf combos), this is likely the wrong route at this point.

If you're swing path is across the target line, changing out the shaft is unlikely to help straighten your drive.  Before spending $100+ on a fitting, shaft and install, make sure you take a lesson with a good pro in your area.  Once you've developed a strong path into the ball, you'll really benefit from a proper fitting.

[handlez42]

i bought a used Tour Edge Exotics Cb3 Tour driver a 2-3 months ago, and i've only had just over handful of times to use it on course cause of the weather. on my preferred shot hits low and penetrating roller drive. other shots that turn out good tend to fly a bit high. this is a control clubhead, and with this shaft it is a bit harder to do so.

Recently i played in probably the coldest weather i ever played in. with the sun barely up it was high 40s and after it went down it dropped 8-10 degrees within 10 minutes. I was hitting my drives relatively straight and consistent. A little shorter than usual but thats expected.

Then a few days later (yesterday) it was high 60s and much warmer. I noticed my Motore Exotics (stock 65g reg) was playing much softer than i remembered. when i hit the ball with a solid swing and slightly more consistent quick tempo, i can feel the shaft flex or warp almost. i feel like my swing is finally going in the direction i want it to in terms of tempo and power. since ive only been golfing for roughly a year and a half. I have also been having a "pull" or "duck hook" issue only recently.

Could this be simply because my swing has become stronger, and that id need to consider a shaft fitting for a slightly better/stiffer shaft?

Now i have no idea how "well-made" the stock shaft is for this club. i can only imagine terribly made-for because its a fujikura motore "exotics" shaft.

and i guess my only concern would be if step up in driver shaft makes....would that depreciate my distance because of the flex? or would the club work better with my swing and transfer more energy into the ball instead of scrubbing it all off with the soft flex?