Experiences in Switching From Stiff to Regular Shafts

[parsalot]

I am new to the forum. Glad to be here. I have been playing golf for a long time, and over the years my club fittings have indicated that I needed a stiff shaft for all my clubs. Recently, I purchased a new set of clubs and my fitting revealed that Project X LZ 5.5 shafts are the best fit for me (I understand these are regular flex, although some here believe them to be in between stiff and regular). Perhaps it is a sign of my middle age, but these less stiff shafts definitely feel smoother than my old DG S300's. I have also noticed that a slower (or should I say smoother) tempo is a must or the new shafts (especially the driver) tend to leak to the right. However, when I make a good, smooth swing with these new shafts they reward me with a nice mid flight baby draw.

The problem is that I have grown accustomed to a harder transition which may have been the product of playing with my stiffer former clubs. I have been working on slowing my tempo which is easy on the range, but not as easy on the course where I sometimes return to old habits. Has anyone gone through this? Tell me about your experience. Is it simply a matter of time and practice? Are there any good drills for slowing my tempo that you can suggest? Thanks!

[billchao]

6 minutes ago, parsalot said:

I have also noticed that a slower (or should I say smoother) tempo is a must or the new shafts (especially the driver) tend to leak to the right. However, when I make a good, smooth swing with these new shafts they reward me with a nice mid flight baby draw.

My guess is this has more to do with how getting a little quick in transition affects your swing than the shaft.

If you've been fit for it, assuming it was a good fitting, just trust it. If your tendency is to get a little quick in transition, that probably popped up while you were going through your fitting, no?

[parsalot]

2 minutes ago, billchao said:

My guess is this has more to do with how getting a little quick in transition affects your swing than the shaft.

If you've been fit for it, assuming it was a good fitting, just trust it. If your tendency is to get a little quick in transition, that probably popped up while you were going through your fitting, no?

Yes and no. During the fitting I worked with several shafts, to include the S300 and the Project X 5.5's. The fitter noticed right away that the S300's were not for me anymore. He is the one who suggested I slow my tempo and then put the 5.5's on the club. I don't really know how to describe it, but the best way I can put it is that less effort achieved better results, with better distance and better accuracy. The issue of leaking to the right only occurs with the 5.5 on the driver when I overswing. When I slow it down it draws nicely, and to quote an old commercial... ball go far. Later, I took both the new driver shaft and the old shaft to the range and tried them side by side. The stiff shaft responded better to a hard swing and generated straight to slightly fading drives that stay in play. The 5.5 responded to a hard swing by leaking much further right, but provided much better feel, generating a draw and better distance when I slow my tempo. I can play both but the 5.5's feel better to me. I'm working hard on slowing my tempo.

[Sandy Divot]

Mabye I'm looking at it the wrong way, but I always thought a fitting was meant to fit clubs to your swing rather than changing your swing to fit clubs. You are a 9, so the swing you went in with had to be ok. 

[parsalot]

3 hours ago, Sandy Divot said:

Mabye I'm looking at it the wrong way, but I always thought a fitting was meant to fit clubs to your swing rather than changing your swing to fit clubs. You are a 9, so the swing you went in with had to be ok. 

I don't see it that way. If a fitter addresses a swing flaw without at least pointing out the cause of the flaw and letting you decide the course of action to be taken, then I think he/she is doing you a disservice in the long run. However, I guess it can be both. On the one hand, one can go into a fitting with a swing flaw and buy a set of clubs that somewhat mitigate that swing flaw without any intention of addressing the root cause of the problem. Nevertheless, IMO most serious golfers want to work to identity and correct swing flaws (like my quickness). Once they have hopefully overcome the flaw, the new clubs could conceivably become obsolete unless they took into account the corrective step. Doesn't it make more sense to work towards correcting the flaw and be fit with a set of clubs that accommodates your best potential? To me that is a fitting worth having. Once you own those clubs any swing problems are on you. That provides incentive to overcome the flaw and unlock your best potential. That is the way I see it. It is the journey to get there that I want to discuss.

Edited September 16, 2018 by parsalot

[Vinsk]

On 9/15/2018 at 12:16 PM, parsalot said:

I am new to the forum. Glad to be here. I have been playing golf for a long time, and over the years my club fittings have indicated that I needed a stiff shaft for all my clubs. Recently, I purchased a new set of clubs and my fitting revealed that Project X LZ 5.5 shafts are the best fit for me (I understand these are regular flex, although some here believe them to be in between stiff and regular). Perhaps it is a sign of my middle age, but these less stiff shafts definitely feel smoother than my old DG S300's. I have also noticed that a slower (or should I say smoother) tempo is a must or the new shafts (especially the driver) tend to leak to the right. However, when I make a good, smooth swing with these new shafts they reward me with a nice mid flight baby draw.

The problem is that I have grown accustomed to a harder transition which may have been the product of playing with my stiffer former clubs. I have been working on slowing my tempo which is easy on the range, but not as easy on the course where I sometimes return to old habits. Has anyone gone through this? Tell me about your experience. Is it simply a matter of time and practice? Are there any good drills for slowing my tempo that you can suggest? Thanks!

FWIW: I was playing ping i200 fitted as +1/4”/Red Dot/PX 5.5. I spend hours at the range trying to ‘change the picture which I was finally able to do (thanks @mvmac ). After demo sessions I went with the Ping i500. I again was fitted curious to see If my changes would cause for different specs. After the fitting was done I got the i500’s at: +1/2”/Blue Dot/DG R300. I’ve never played irons that were ‘labeled’ as regular flex. I can say it was a different feel for me but for whatever reason I liked it and improved my numbers. Now going from PX 5.5 to DG R300 isn’t a vast change, but having played a variety of stiff shafts I can say it has been a good move for me to go to the R300. It may be due to how I tend to have a slow bs with an explosive downswing. I pause almost like Hideki. Anyway, it did take me a few sessions to get used to these new clubs. But I really like them. 

[3jacker]

On 9/16/2018 at 9:08 AM, parsalot said:

I don't see it that way. If a fitter addresses a swing flaw without at least pointing out the cause of the flaw and letting you decide the course of action to be taken, then I think he/she is doing you a disservice in the long run. However, I guess it can be both. On the one hand, one can go into a fitting with a swing flaw and buy a set of clubs that somewhat mitigate that swing flaw without any intention of addressing the root cause of the problem. Nevertheless, IMO most serious golfers want to work to identity and correct swing flaws (like my quickness). Once they have hopefully overcome the flaw, the new clubs could conceivably become obsolete unless they took into account the corrective step. Doesn't it make more sense to work towards correcting the flaw and be fit with a set of clubs that accommodates your best potential? To me that is a fitting worth having. Once you own those clubs any swing problems are on you. That provides incentive to overcome the flaw and unlock your best potential. That is the way I see it. It is the journey to get there that I want to discuss.

I'd fix the flaw first before introducing a new variable.

[parsalot]

22 minutes ago, 3jacker said:

I'd fix the flaw first before introducing a new variable.

OK, thanks but this conversation has gotten way of the rails. It was supposed to be about switching from stiff to regular shafts. I guess the Internet has a way of going in its own direction. Frustrating!

[Vinsk]

2 hours ago, parsalot said:

OK, thanks but this conversation has gotten way of the rails. It was supposed to be about switching from stiff to regular shafts. I guess the Internet has a way of going in its own direction. Frustrating!

Well I thought I stated my experience but I guess it didn’t amount to much..lol. As far as tempo I actually used a metronome app on my phone and listened to it while I practiced. Stiff/Reg May give you no difference in feel whatsoever. So what? It’s the results we’re looking for. My numbers (ss, distance, spin, launch) were all better with the DG R300 than the stiff shafts I demo’d.

[3jacker]

3 hours ago, parsalot said:

OK, thanks but this conversation has gotten way of the rails. It was supposed to be about switching from stiff to regular shafts. I guess the Internet has a way of going in its own direction. Frustrating!

Fair enough.  

Well, in my experience I find that stepping down in stiffness feels better.  But I have to try harder (slow down my transition and acceleration - it's a timing thing) to hit it straight as I also experience the high/right result if I make no changes to my tempo.  I also hit it shorter and with more spin.  

 

Edited September 17, 2018 by 3jacker

[Sandy Divot]

19 minutes ago, 3jacker said:

Fair enough.  

Well, in my experience I find that stepping down in stiffness feels better.  But I have to try harder (slow down my transition and acceleration - it's a timing thing) to hit it straight as I also experience the high/right result if I make no changes to my tempo.  I also hit it shorter and with more spin.  

 

I tried a demo in a reg. shaft, and the ball went very high. I like to control trajectory, and could not do that with the reg. shaft. I had much the same results as 3jacker. Don't want to change my swing to fit a shaft, want to find a shaft to fit my swing.

[rehmwa]

4 hours ago, 3jacker said:

I'd fix the flaw first before introducing a new variable.

I don't think he had a 'flaw' so much as the fitter offered another option to try and get good fitting results and it seemed to be a good one for this golfer.  Hopefully, the fitter was also able confirm that the suggestion wasn't outside the 'natural' swing of the player (i.e., the tempo reduction didn't change too much).  From the OP's note, he hits really well with the 'slower' swing. 

Since he claims the ball goes farther, I wonder if the swing is truly 'slower' vs whether the suggestion was actually to get the player to feel just a 'smoother' swing and then match it to the correct shaft to let the shaft do the work, not the player.  (did they take head speed metrics and compare?)  I bet it's a better fit and the OP is correct in that trying to continue to hit stiff shafts likely just had him swinging outside his current comfort zone.

IMO, the question in play now is how does the OP get his tempo cleaned up.

I found my fitting (still stiff shafts) resulted in a much better shaft for my swing and I get best results with a smoother swing (I specifically do NOT say slower, I can still 'lean' into it and get good results, but don't really need to) - but the metrics still showed that even though I though I was swinging 'easier', I still had the same or better head speed and results.  Isn't that what we're supposed to get from a good fitting?  A club that makes our good strikes feel effortless?

 

 

Edited September 17, 2018 by rehmwa

[3jacker]

He said he hits them well but then said he's struggling with the transition.

If these are better, stick with em.  If not, go back to stiffer.

EZPZ.  We're milking the mouse here.