Shafts too stiff?

[bjwestner]

I just got new irons and I put them in play for the first time this past weekend.  They have stiff shafts and my old irons that I used to play had regular flex shafts.  I moved up because my swing speed with driver is right around 100mph.

So I played the new irons on Saturday.....the weather was very cold, when we tee'd off it was just above freezing and the warmest it got all day was 35 degrees.  We had to drive all the way from north of DC down to Williamsburg VA just to play because all the courses where I live were snow covered.

I know that the temperature affects the distance of a golf ball big time.  I'm just wondering if maybe the stiff shafts are not for me and I am better with regular?  I ask because while the cold weather affected the distance, I have played in similar temperatures before with my old irons and the ball went further.  I know every course is different and with wind in all, but it was pretty noticable the loss of distance.  For example I was hitting 9 iron from just under 100 yards out because of the temperature and a little wind.

When I was 150 out I had to hit 4 iron and still came up short sometimes.  I fear that I may have made a mistake in going to stiff shafts?  As for my ball flight.......my ball flight was fine if not even better with these new irons.  I got a lot of height with the irons, way more height than with my old irons.  It was just that the distance loss seemed to be more than with my old irons.  Is this the case?  Would you recommend that I get the shafts changed in them now or wait until warmer weather and see what happens?  Thanks for your assistance.

[Derrick Parker]

If they are steel shafts I would wait until the weather gets warmer. I notice a big difference in distance with my RAMS on cold days. I have to take one or two clubs longer for the same distance on warm days.  150 is usually a 7 iron for me and I am now using a 6 or sometimes a 5 hybrid and still having to swing harder to get the distance I want. Golf balls don't travel as far when they are cold either. Try putting a couple of them in your pocked about an hour before tee off.

[WUTiger]

Have you been playing during recent winter weeks? Or, was this the first time out in four weeks? If you've cut back on your playing, your "swing muscles" might be a little out of shape.

Also, playing new irons for the first time in freezing temps is not a good overall test. Wait until springtime to make any judgments.

As for breaking in the new irons, you may have to retrain your eye for proper clubface alignment. If you have square tiles on your kitchen floor, line up the clubface "square" and see what it looks like. Two years ago I switched to irons with less offset than my old ones, and found I was lining up about 2* closed, thinking it was straight ahead.

[tristanhilton85]

Also, what model are the new irons and what are the old ones... maybe a difference in loft? That combined with cold temps and not playing for a while could lead to the distance loss.

[bjwestner]

I was able to hit two buckets of balls with the new irons during the week.  It was really windy though and the wind was coming right into me.  Also the range that I hit at has a huge valley that goes down to where the 100yd mark is and then it's straight up hill all the way to the 250 yard.  Thus it's not a really good place to judge distance and with the wind factored in I was not hitting the ball as far during the week either (although it was 60 degrees then).  So this was the first time that I had hit the irons in a round.

I'm hoping that it's a situation where I can play stiff shafts but since it's new to me and also since it's so cold out thats why I lost so much distance.  In cold weather like Saturday I probably would have been better playing my old irons as I would have gotten the necessary flex out of them.  Probably if I had played the old irons since the weather was so cold, the regular shafts would have acted like stiff shafts in the cold????

My buddy that I was playing with thinks that it was just the temperature. My ball flight was pretty good and I was getting much more height than I had before because the new irons have much less offset versus my old irons.

[dsc123]

Its probably just a matter of getting used to them.  Even if regular shafts were right for you, I dont think you'd be seeing such a drastic difference in distance.  I don't notice much of a difference playing in the 30's vs the 60's. Maybe a club.

[shooter]

I played this weekend in 25 deg temps, and this was my first round of golf in 2 and half months. You figure, do the conditions, that my distance would be off, but my iron distances didn't change due to the cold (9i 145yds, 60* 95yds). I also have a laser finder to take the guess work out of distance estimates.

I've done lots of testing on how cold weather effect's distances because i play lots in the winter and I've always wondered the same thing as the OP, but i have found that cold temps only effect distances by a max factor of 10% (15 yards less for a 150 yards club) the numbers are higher if the ball is a inflatable type (soccer,football, etc), with golf balls being solid they are less susceptible to the cold. Sports Science did a episode on this exact topic, you tube it, the golf balls they used for the cold test were put in a freezer for like 12 hours, and only lost 10%. LOL i keep my balls in my pocket so they rarely get cold. that's probably explains why i don't see any loss from cold weather, and any loss in distance is determined by any head wind.

One issue i might see, is with the shaft the OP is playing, a stiff flex iron should be for players that can generate enough club head speed to carry a 8i 150'ish. With a stiffer shaft  you can potentially loose out on the some distance, and that can coause ou to swing harder, compromising control, and how close to the cup you can hit the ball.  With a iron you want a smooth swing that controls distance, not so much adding distance.

My driver swing is around 100-102 mph and can squeze my 9i 150 yards and i use stiff flex thru the bag. With a smooth swing what is your 150 yrd club with the old set, that are shafted with the R flex, during the season? If it's less than a 7i, i would recommend R flex unless your athletic or have a HIGH ball fligth.

That's my .02

[Pblock45]

I was in the exact same situation you where in i moved from regular to stiff. I had a hard time with them so i switched to a softer shaft. I went from a dynamic gold s300 to the true temper gs95 s300  way different. this is a higher launching shaft with a softer tip. this helped me alot and fit right where i needed it. Hope this helps.

[bjwestner]

so it sounds like I need to get my new irons re-shafted back to regular flex?

[Pblock45]

No only if you have the moola and if you can try and get shaft fit but what i found was i went to a different shaft by true temper and it was right between traditional stiff and regular but its says its a stiff shaft. Check out true temper gs 95 in stiff (s300) or maybe even the true temper  dynalite stiff (s300). I found the gs95 to be perfect for me its a easy to swing shaft that is a softer than a traditional stiff. I only support switching shafts if you have the money golf is already expensive enough. Check out these gs95 shafts you seem to have a very similar situation to me. the stiff will play great with a high ball fligh which i prefer

http://www.truetemper.com/golf/product_info.php?cPath=1&products;_id=41

[dsc123]

  bjwestner said:

Originally Posted by bjwestner

so it sounds like I need to get my new irons re-shafted back to regular flex?

Did you get fitted for the clubs?

Others would know better than I would, but I find it hard to believe that getting shafts that are too stiff would have you losing 40+ yards on your 4 iron.  Especially if your SS is around 100, you're not going to be that far off, if at all, with stiff shafts.

I'd give it more time to get used to the clubs before changing them.

[Pblock45]

Agree on the above statement if you havent gotten fit i would look at another shaft. That shaft i posted is a great stiff shaft that is softer i had the exact same problem and my driver ss is around 108

[Pblock45]

What kind of clubs are they ?

[Derrick Parker]

Losing yardage could be caused by something other than shaft flex. Is the length the same as your old ones? When I went from Graphite to Steel, the club length dropped by avg of 1 inch. That caused me to hit the ball a bit thin and I dropped a lot of yards...at first until I got used to them.

[Nitro]

This thread makes me nervous.. I've always used callaway hawk eye vft irons in regular graphite. (age 16 to like 24) Now I swing about 95mph using burner 2.0 s & im on steel shafts. Was this a bad choice?

[Pblock45]

NO no way i feel steel is alot more consistant thats why i keep the gs95 they are the feel of graphite but consistancy of steel. I prefer steel i feel i can get better stiking with them but that could just be in my head 95 is a fast swing thats nothing to be messed with.

[Pblock45]

Im not a expert by any means what so ever. I just know what happend to me and how going to a softer  steel shaft really helped alot. If you feel comfortable with what you have and are consistant than you cant fix whats not broken. I always blam my equipment when i know i shouldnt so im always swapping, changing and tweaking so i have no excuses. But thats what i like to do im a tinkerer.

[dsc123]

  Pblock45 said:

Originally Posted by Pblock45

Im not a expert by any means what so ever. I just know what happend to me and how going to a softer  steel shaft really helped alot. If you feel comfortable with what you have and are consistant than you cant fix whats not broken. I always blam my equipment when i know i shouldnt so im always swapping, changing and tweaking so i have no excuses. But thats what i like to do im a tinkerer.

40+ yards though?