I need advice on shafts and fittings.

[spidermanning]

I was at the range last night and I ran into a guy I used to work with and we got to talking.  Found out he is the club champion and has been now for 4 years running.  I asked if he didn’t mind taking a look at my swing and see if he see’s anything.  I bought a new hybrid last week (Adams Pro Black 20 degree) and I love the club but I’m having problems hitting it consistently.  I’m struggling a bit on the alignment of the club, I’m not quite sure when it is square to my target, the slight offset on the club is going to take me a bit of time to understand at address.  So I’ve been playing with it, opening and closing it a bit and the ball goes left or right depending on that.  Anyways I setup and thought the club was square and I hit to flush, the ball exploded of the club face but ended up going well right of my target line.

I’ve been struggling with this issue on my irons as well.  Everyone once and awhile I catch the ball clean and it explodes off the club at least 10 yards further than normal and tracks to the right.  Most of the time the ball flight is pretty straight or even a small fade (slice on an off day) but this shot comes out of nowhere every once and awhile.

I asked him if he saw anything and he said my alignment, grip and swing all looked great and he thinks my shafts may need to be looked at.  The shaft in my hybrid is the voodoo stiff flex that comes with the Adams and the shafts in my irons are the standard shaft that came with last years Cobra SZ.  He then introduced me to a friend of his that conveniently inside the club house at the time.  He owns his own shop in town and does shaft fittings, he said give him a call and he will set me up.

So thanks for reading the background behind my question.  What my question is first has anyone had to deal with this issue before, the exploding shot to the right?  Second on shaft fittings, I feel my swing is improving a lot this year, I’m now consistently  driving the ball 280 – 310 yards, I’m having far fewer miss hits with my irons, starting to create backspin with them and hitting a lot more greens.  But I also know I have a ways to go, I’m still a 12 handicapper, and there are a lot of flaws in my game.  My swing will need to be tweaked and improved quite a bit more for me to find the consistency I’m looking for, and because of that is it too early for me to be thinking about shaft fittings, or is this something I should be jumping on?

Thanks for any help you guys can offer!

[rustyredcab]

If your technique is good -- which it must be if you consistently drive the ball 280 - 310 yards -- then I'd say your swing speed is unlikely to change much over the next few years. I've been told by my teachers that an increase in swing speed of 5-10 MPH is very rare unless you are learning to improve lag technique. Just swinging faster doesn't happen much. Consider having a teaching pro look at your swing first. Your buddy may be one heck of a player, but if your concern is that your swing may change/improve after be fitted for the swing you have now, then spend the first cash on a lesson.

If your swing is as it should be, then a dynamic fitting would be great. I'd set a budget because new exotic shafts are available from fitters and they can cost a bunch. Don't be surprised if the club fitter recommends new heads too.

IMHO, playing with clubs that fit your ideal swing (that means shafts and heads) is the only way to improve your swing without adding compensations in your swing for the clubs.

[spidermanning]

Thank you for the message I really appreciate it.  I think I will take your advice and go see a teaching pro first, have him look at my swing and ask him if he thinks I should go for a fitting right away or wait for a bit while I continue to work on my swing.  I don’t think my swing is where it needs to be yet, but it’s coming along and I plan to continue working at it, I guess I’ll see what he says.  Thanks!!