How much can the incorrect shaft flex.......

[p_funk]

hurt your distance? The reason I ask is because I am a beginer and do not know what my swing speed is but I believe it is on the slower side. I have stiff flex shafts and have been doing some looking around and it seems, to me anyways, that these are usually for higher swing speeds. Does it matter that much? Should I get my clubs reshafted?

[Mhinderaker]

hurt your distance? The reason I ask is because I am a beginer and do not know what my swing speed is but I believe it is on the slower side. I have stiff flex shafts and have been doing some looking around and it seems, to me anyways, that these are usually for higher swing speeds. Does it matter that much? Should I get my clubs reshafted?

Personally I would go somewhere where you can look at your results on a launch monitor and have someone who really knows what they are talking about determine what shaft(s) would be correct for your swing speed.

[p_funk]

Personally I would go somewhere where you can look at your results on a launch monitor and have someone who really knows what they are talking about determine what shaft(s) would be correct for your swing speed.

That is the problem, I do not have anywhere near mw that does this.

[Young04]

That is the problem, I do not have anywhere near mw that does this.

this isn't a perfect test, but how far do you hit your 7 iron on a solid strike? how bout your driver?

use this chart as a rough guideline: http://www.golfsmith.com/cm/display_...num=learn_how5

[Mhinderaker]

Just let me be the first to say that that test is going to be quite rough.

I know that I DO NOT carry my driver over 260, probably in the group below it, but I can certainly take an easy 8-Iron from 150 and hit the green with plenty to spare.

Just keep in mind that while it may be useful its not going to be perfect.

[bflat450]

this isn't a perfect test, but how far do you hit your 7 iron on a solid strike? how bout your driver?

Yeah, I hit an easy 8 150 and a full 9 close to it, and on a good drive which is about 4/5 times I carry the ball about 275 and I use stiff which is perfect.

[lamebums]

Yeah, this isn't perfect. I carry 230, 240, but hit a 7 iron 165+.

[P3R3]

According to that chart I should be a shoe in for Stiff flex, but I use regular.

[P3R3]

Im second guessing my choice in driver now, since I have been pulling my drives lately thats a sure sign of too much flex.

[green6767]

Usually too much flex in a shaft, especially the driver will tend to pull or hook the ball. Too little flex and it will push or slice normally. Of course the normal swing mechanics will have some play in that too, but this is just the norm of the "flex" mystery and what it "can" do to your ball flight. I would say that the chart above is accurate in some areas, but not in others. Again, with other members on here, I can hit an easy 8 and go 150, but I dont think I carry the driver 260+ yards unless im really on that day. I am also in the hunt for a new driver/shaft combo, considering im using a regular flex shaft and no matter what I do, Im always pulling/hooking my drives. Tried a stiff flex for a round and not a single hook or pull. Try different clubs/shafts setups and get a feel for it that way if you dont have a launch monitor in your area.

[Dent]

I have a regular flex driver that i hit really good. I tried a Stiff Flex r7 draw the other day and i was hitting it just fine also, i really didnt notice i difference in the flexes.

[seattlemudder]

hurt your distance? The reason I ask is because I am a beginer and do not know what my swing speed is but I believe it is on the slower side. I have stiff flex shafts and have been doing some looking around and it seems, to me anyways, that these are usually for higher swing speeds. Does it matter that much? Should I get my clubs reshafted?

My answer - a lot. Not all stiff flexes are the same either, some regular graphite shafts feel like other manufacturer's stiff shafts depending on total weight and kick point. Other thing to think about is the flex to loft combination. Finally swing weight is another important factor for me. Get on a launcher and narrow it down. Then I think the best thing to do is to demo the same club head with same shaft in different flexes - try both the stiff and regular and see what happens. I play stiff Aldilas but regular Fujikuras because to me at least, the regular Fujikura feels awfully close to the stiff Aldilas. It all depends and it doesn't make finding the right shaft easy.

[Spamination]

Shaft Flex is quite possibly the single most important element of a golf club.

If you ski, you know the boots are the most important piece of equipment, but the skis get all the glory.

In a similar way, the shaft is the most important element of a golf club while the club head gets all the glory.

There are 3 main factors in determing a shaft:
Torque: amount a shaft twists.
Flex: the amount a shaft bends.
Kick point: the location on the shaft at which the shaft tends to flex the most.

Shaft effects everything from club head alignment at impact, launch angle, swing path, feel, and just about everything else you can think of.

I have a Callaway FT-5 9.5 Tour. I have a Fujikura Fit-On E380 shaft. It is a very stiff shaft with a middle kick point. It encourages a boring flight path. Today, I went golfing and regularly carried 260-290 yards--260 into the wind. The shaft/clubhead combination also produces a ton of roll for me. My longest drive of the day carried 290+ and ended up going 330 yards(2-on on a 595 yard par 5). This I found was a perfect fit for my swing.

On my 3 wood, I went in a totally different direction. I use a Callaway X-Tour 13 degree, and the x-stiff steel shaft worked great for me. From the fairway today, I hit a 250 yard 3 wood onto a green. The ball only rolled 10-15 feet after landing on the green.

My recommendation, get your swing speed analyzed. In addition, consider your flight path tendencies.
Hard swinger with high ball flight like myself will want a X-stiff shaft, medium kick point with strong torque resistance.
If you are a slower swinger(80-100 club head speed) with a low ball flight, consider a Regular-Stiff shaft with a low kick point.

But whatever you do, take your shaft choice seriously.

[p_funk]

Thanks for all the advice guys. Looks like i may have to get a club with a regular flex and do some testing. When I ordered my clubs I was going to get regular flex but let my step dad talk me into stiff flex because he knows more about golf than me. Anyways thanks again.