Penalty for too stiff, too flexible?

[johnclayton1982]

Hi All,

I've been trying to figure out the "penalty" for having a too-stiff or too-flexible shaft compared to swing speed.  Much like the ball flight laws, there is a ton of information out there and most is contradictory.

What will having a shaft that is "too stiff" do to an average shot?  If my shaft is "too stiff, do I lose accuracy or distance or both?  Same question for "too flexible" ?

[Bullitt5339]

I have had a recent swing speed change because of back surgery, so I can tell you what my observations have been.

Playing shafts that are too stiff for my current swing has resulted in lower trajectory, shorter shots that tend to be right of my line.

[RichWW2]

My old clubs used to have regular shafts and once my swing speed got too fast for them, I lost distance and accuracy.  I'm sure someone can explain about the flex point and all the complicated lingo, but I would hit normal shots and they would balloon way up in the air and come down 20-30 yards shorter than they normally would.  Also, this lead to me spraying the ball all over the course because I would try and compensate the shorter distance by swinging harder.  Got shafts and clubs fitted for my swing and I am able to hit everything much most consistently now.

[WUTiger]

When I entered the military, I weighed about 150 lbs. Given the military's emphasis on fitness, I soon beefed up to 175 lbs.

Soon, my regular-shafted golf clubs started getting me into trouble with troublesome hooks once I got warmed up for the day.

Solution: I went to stiff-shafted clubs, straightened out my shots, and had the best golfing decade of my life.

Anyway, YEARSSSS passed, and the stiff shafts proved to be a bit much. I had open-heart surgery, and a couple of outpatient surgeries in ensuing years. Between the surgeries and simply pushing age 60, I had problems with the stiff shafts. Among them:

• A fall-off in distance
• A messed up swing tempo, as I tried to swing harder to make up lost distance.

I went to regular flex shafts, and have had good luck unless I've pinged myself a couple of times.

My wood shafts are mid-kick, mid torque. My irons in X20 were Uniflex - between R and S, and in the X20 Tours I have PX 5.0 rifle flighted, a 115 gram shaft with mid torque. PX runs a bit stiff compared to similar Dynamic Gold, although DG would be heavier.

Last year I was diagnosed with an arthritic right hip, and I have to get loosened up first to really clear through the shots. So, I may need to reconsider shafts, especially irons.

Anyway, I just got back from the club Fitting, Repair and Assembly course at GolfWorks (Maltby's operation). Some things to think about.

Shaft weight. At GolfWorks, and earlier at the St. Louis Golf Expo, I seemed to get better action through the ball with lighter weight steel shafts in the test irons.

Torque. How much the shaft twists during the swing to assist in squaring/closing the clubface. While torque is a minor factor in steel shafts, it can be a major factor in graphites.

I built myself a driver with a Maltby KE4 9.5* square face head, a Xcalibur 48-gram 3.8 torque shaft and a lightweight Winn grip. Came out 11% lighter than my current driver. Trying it for the first time today, I had to use good firm and full hip turn to really hit it well. If I pressed, hooks emerged due to the higher torque, and the faster clubhead speed of the lighter club.

I found an X20 Tour demo 6 iron, and shafted it in DG R300 SL (surerlight, cut to about 97 grams). With a lightweight Winn grip, it's about 12% lighter than my PX 5.0 6i. Also today: First three shots were terrible, because I was swinging too hard, but once I tried to swing the club rather than kill the ball, some pretty good shots emerged.

Next week I'll do a 9-hole practice round and see how the 5.0 6i and the DG.SL 6i match up on approach shots.

Sorry for all the rambling, but shaft dynamics include flex, weight, kickpoint, and torque. Again, I think proper weight is at least as important as proper flex.

At GolfWorks, I had hit a 4i and 8i from a set with Firm flex (between R and S) and a 135 gram shaft (felt like rebar). Top distance for both clubs was about 110 yards.

With shafts around 95-100 grams, I seemed to get more uniform distance (toward the high end) than I did with heavier shafts. Proper weight may allow us, as the old proverb says, "To swing within ourselves."

Note: If you reshaft with lighter shafts, make sure swingweights don't get messed. A good clubsmith can easily maintain proper swingweight.

[inthehole]

I've been wondering about this very question too ... I've never seen it spelled out in so many words.     From everything I've read, I can piece together the following (if we take swing speed out of the equation & assume the shaft you have is pretty close to what you need for your given swing speed) ...

- If you tend to hook it, go with a slightly stiffer shaft.

- If you tend to slice it, go with a softer regular shaft.

Obviously, it's a gross oversimplification based on all the variables involved ... but would you guys in the know say this is a reasonable rule of thumb ??

[LuciusWooding]

Originally Posted by inthehole

I've been wondering about this very question too ... I've never seen it spelled out in so many words.     From everything I've read, I can piece together the following (if we take swing speed out of the equation & assume the shaft you have is pretty close to what you need for your given swing speed) ...

- If you tend to hook it, go with a slightly stiffer shaft.

- If you tend to slice it, go with a softer regular shaft.

Obviously, it's a gross oversimplification based on all the variables involved ... but would you guys in the know say this is a reasonable rule of thumb ??

I've heard just the opposite, and I tend to believe the wrong shaft can do a variety of things. If the flex is slightly off vs way off, it can do different things. I also believe different swing types can have different symptoms, and weird things can happen.

If you hit a new shaft, obviously your swing will adjust timing wise and adapt. If you feel the shaft loading and it feels like it's bending, it might be too soft. If it feels like rebar, it might be too stiff.

I understand a very stiff shaft will give you more feedback, and dispersion will be tighter. Other than that, go and hit the shaft yourself.