Would improperly stiff shaft be more of an issue with long or short irons?

[Used2PlayALot]

I have stiff shaft irons, but should be playing regular flex.

Will the mismatch consequences be more apparent of a problem with 3 and 4 iron, or with 9 and W ?

[WUTiger]

With the longer irons. The short iron shafts are shorter, and the club is easier to control.

In flighted shaft packages, the longer irons have a softer flex to improve launch angle, the medium irons the "stated" flex, and the short irons a bit stiffer flex to prevent ballooning of the ball.

One of the guys at the GolfWorks school had run his own custom club shop back in the 1980s, a time when lots of the male players still used 2 irons and 3 irons. He would always softstep the 2i and 3i shafts (soften the flex) without telling them, because he knew it would help the launch.

Try things out. What you might do is softstep the 3i through 6i, and keep the shorter irons as is. For a softstep, you would have the clubsmith buy a shaft tipped for 2i and put it in the 3i; put your current 3i shaft in your 4i, etc. A 3i with shaft tipped for 2i (and then but-trimmed to 3i length) would have a longer flex zone and would get the ball up better. Softstepping softens the shaft by about 1/3 flex.

You would need some launch monitor data to see if this would work for you. 

If you find the irons overall are too stiff to handle well, you could always trade them in for R-flex irons. 

[Piz]

@WUTiger  is referring, I believe, to tapered tip shafts; but the advice is equally valid for parallel tipped shafts.  Any shaft can be made more flexible by increasing the weight of the head.  If you pop the heads off your iron set and move everything up one, or two, the shafts will undergo greater stress and flex more.  You would have to trim the butt section to restore the clubs to their original length...although I'd leave them long and see how they hit before cutting off the grips...one can always grip down.  You would only have to buy one, or two, new shafts to "re - flex" the entire set.  Good thinkin'

[WUTiger]

8 hours ago, Piz said:

@WUTiger  is referring, I believe, to tapered tip shafts; but the advice is equally valid for parallel tipped shafts. ...  

That's correct. For parallel tip shafts, say DG S300, the clubsmith would just have to buy a shaft from your model and tip-trim it for 2i, then insert it in 3i.

For taper-tip shafts, the smith would have to buy a shaft, say Project X Rifle, pre-tipped for 2i, and then insert it into the three iron. If you tip-trim a taper-tip shaft on your own, it won't fit into the hosel, because the remaining taper would be too wide.

One reason some taper tips cost more than parallel tip is the manufacturer must maintain 10 different shafts, pre-cut for each iron, to make up a shaft set. For the parallel tips, you just buy 10 DG S300 shafts and tip-trim them for each iron before insert.

Note: Many popular shafts have both taper-tip and parallel-tip versions. Make sure you get the right one (matches width of your iron hosel).

8 hours ago, Piz said:

You would have to trim the butt section to restore the clubs to their original length...

Yes... final touches.

[DocParty]

Doesn't this really come down to how well you perform with any given shaft?
I'd hesitate to put myself in a category that I have not been able to prove myself with.

I'm 65 and use stiff shafts. I can hit a nice draw most of the times and any miss hit is my fault not the clubs fault.

I'd try whatever it is you are wondering about at any place that they professionally fit clubs. They'll have a complete set that they should be able to put together a club with the loft/lie/shaft for you to hit in just a few minutes. Hit a dozen balls with it and adjust from there.

Just don't fall into the box that everyone says you should be in. Each golfer really does have a unique swing set and no two are exactly alike. Unless you are a touring pro where you can hit anyone's club pretty darn well, weekend warriors need things to be tuned in a bit more and the equipment and swing made less complicated.