Question About a Driver Golf Shaft

[golfer2b2000]

I am looking for a new shaft for my driver. What I am playing with now is a Titleist 913D2 in a 12* loft, and a stiff shaft. I am in my mid 60's. I like to work the ball with a slight draw. I find it quite hard to do this with the stiff shaft, even when I set the club for a draw..would purchasing a shaft in a weaker flex give me more of a tendacy to draw the ball? My swing speed is right around 90.

Thank you.

[ChetlovesMer]

9 minutes ago, golfer2b2000 said:

I am looking for a new shaft for my driver. What I am playing with now is a Titleist 913D2 in a 12* loft, and a stiff shaft. I am in my mid 60's. I like to work the ball with a slight draw. I find it quite hard to do this with the stiff shaft, even when I set the club for a draw..would purchasing a shaft in a weaker flex give me more of a tendacy to draw the ball? My swing speed is right around 90.

Thank you.

@golfer2b2000, There are plenty of people on this forum more qualified to answer this question than I. But I will tell you that has not been my experience. I actually find a stiffer driver shaft easier to draw and a softer shaft easier to fade. Having said that there are a bunch of factors which influence draw or fade. Shaft stiffness is just one of them. 

[golfer2b2000]

I appreciate your imput. At my age I probably shouldbe playing something a bit softer, but I got this club used for a low price and thought I would give it a try. You normally do not see a 12 degree loft with a stiff shaft. I have the ability to put together a shaft for it and the proper adapter. The many many different shafts out there are really confusing. I have checked places like 2nd swing golf and might just be further ahead to purchase the whole driver in a 12 degree face in a regular shaft. Won't be that much more than building one myself.

[Cantankerish]

I find the question of which shaft to be quite confusing, actually.  I hope you get your answer so that I can sponge the info.  I have been told that as we age, we want a more flexible shaft, but I do not know the reasoning.  I would be interested if it is to help draw the ball.

[klineka]

31 minutes ago, golfer2b2000 said:

I am looking for a new shaft for my driver. What I am playing with now is a Titleist 913D2 in a 12* loft, and a stiff shaft. I am in my mid 60's. I like to work the ball with a slight draw. I find it quite hard to do this with the stiff shaft, even when I set the club for a draw..would purchasing a shaft in a weaker flex give me more of a tendacy to draw the ball? My swing speed is right around 90.

Thank you.

I recommend getting custom fit. That way you will know exactly what is the best shaft for you. Sometimes a regular flex from one company might be the same as a senior flex from another company. There is no universal shaft flex across companies, so your best option is to get custom fit and then you could go out and source that shaft and build it yourself if you wanted.

Regardless of what flex the shaft is, if you want to draw the ball the club face has to be closed to the club path. I'm not super knowledgeable about shaft flex and the impact that it has on club face/path, but based on what I do know, I'm not convinced that the stiff shaft alone is preventing you from getting your desired ball flight. 

IMO if you gave your same driver/shaft combo to a PGA tour pro or someone that is skilled at moving their club face/path around on purpose, they would likely be able to make your driver draw, fade, and straight. 

11 minutes ago, Cantankerish said:

I have been told that as we age, we want a more flexible shaft, but I do not know the reasoning.  I would be interested if it is to help draw the ball.

I dont think that is the reason why. I don't think it's a one size fits all kind of thing. Getting custom fit with a launch monitor and a good fitter will give you the best results

[billchao]

44 minutes ago, golfer2b2000 said:

I am looking for a new shaft for my driver. What I am playing with now is a Titleist 913D2 in a 12* loft, and a stiff shaft. I am in my mid 60's. I like to work the ball with a slight draw. I find it quite hard to do this with the stiff shaft, even when I set the club for a draw..would purchasing a shaft in a weaker flex give me more of a tendacy to draw the ball? My swing speed is right around 90.

Thank you.

I don't think shaft stiffness plays a role in whether you will draw or fade a ball. It's the torque rating that has more to do with it. Unfortunately, like all things with shafts, there is no definitive answer to how you will respond to changes in specs. There are general "rules" but there are always exceptions (I know this from personal experience).

I'd recommend getting fit if you truly want to know what the best shaft is for your game. If you just do some independent research and buy a shaft, you might get lucky or you might not.

[mighty]

I think stiff flex is for speeds around 100 mph

[saevel25]

14 minutes ago, mighty said:

I think stiff flex is for speeds around 100 mph

Depends on the make/model of the golf shaft. A stiff flex on a golf shaft that has a high launch high spin bend profile will not fit a quicker swing speed. 

 

[Dunit507]

There are so many variables that go into it. Like some have already suggested the best option is to see a fitter and get the optimal shaft, loft etc for your swing. 

Edited March 8, 2019 by Dunit507
Miskey

[dennyjones]

When I was recently fitted for a driver, we tried about 6 different shafts after we found the correct club head.    There is a significant difference in shafts.   Don't guess, go see a fitter.

[boogielicious]

16 hours ago, golfer2b2000 said:

I am looking for a new shaft for my driver. What I am playing with now is a Titleist 913D2 in a 12* loft, and a stiff shaft. I am in my mid 60's. I like to work the ball with a slight draw. I find it quite hard to do this with the stiff shaft, even when I set the club for a draw..would purchasing a shaft in a weaker flex give me more of a tendacy to draw the ball? My swing speed is right around 90.

Thank you.

As others have stated, getting fit would be the best approach, That being said, I play the 917D2 12 degree now and had the 913D2 in a 12 and have tried both stiff and regular shafts. My swing speed is around the same as yours and I am almost 59. I would recommend trying a regular shaft or a stiff shaft that is less stiff than your current, but not a super-light one. Shaft flex can vary from different makers. I find really light shafts (>60g) hard to control. If you are playing the stock stiff Diamana shaft that came with the 913D2, I think you would find the same. Fitters sometimes tend to push older players into really light shafts to gain swing speed. But for me, really light shafts are difficult to control. 

I tried a few this winter including a Diamana Red 50g and one I like the best was a ALDILA NV 2KXV BLUE 60G REGULAR shaft. It is not super-light, which I didn't want. My ball flight is a slight push draw with this one. It feels soft in the butt section, which I like too, but the tip feels stiff at impact. 

If you decide to go the used route, you can find shafts on eBay with Titleist adapters for low prices. This one was $60. If you search for Titleist D2 Driver Shaft Regular, you will get a lot of hits.

If you don't want to get fit, go to a shop and try a bunch of shafts with the Titleist TS2 driver to get an idea of what you like. The TS2 will sound/feel the same as the 913. Or if they have a used rack, grab a 915 or 917D2 and just get the feel of the shafts.

[golfer2b2000]

I do have the Diamana stock shaft in my driver.My driver is not a real problem, but I enjoy hitting the ball and feeling a nice soft report through the shaft to my hands and arms.As you know there is way too much time spent on drivers where if you really want to improve your game you should probably concentrate on other parts of your game. I have driven many balls to within 100 yards of a green only to walk off with a bogey. I play 5 different drivers with I dont know just how many different shafts. I actually have an old Callaway VFT 12* driver on a 49 inch Penley shaft. It is said that the longer the driver is, the harder it is to control. Probably true in a lot of cases but not all. To me it makes me swing with a better tempo, and not to try to crush the ball because of the extra weight of the driver. My distances are basically the same. I am at an age where I am no longer as competitive as I was 30 years ago. My distances have really dropped off. Scores have increased, but to play a round and hit the ball consistantly means to me more than my score. But usually the better you strike the ball, the better you score. I have played rounds where I felt I struck the ball well, but my score didn't reflect my performance. And also played not good, but got a few lucky breaks and scored well.

 Sure is a funny, but great game...

[Foot Wedge]

11 hours ago, mighty said:

I think stiff flex is for speeds around 100 mph

I swing around 100 and there are many shafts I would not dare touch, even in a regular flex.  Shaft weight and profile are important, flex is relative just to that particular model.

[ChetlovesMer]

18 hours ago, golfer2b2000 said:

I am looking for a new shaft for my driver. What I am playing with now is a Titleist 913D2 in a 12* loft, and a stiff shaft. I am in my mid 60's. I like to work the ball with a slight draw. I find it quite hard to do this with the stiff shaft, even when I set the club for a draw..would purchasing a shaft in a weaker flex give me more of a tendacy to draw the ball? My swing speed is right around 90.

Thank you.

You could go old school and instead of changing out the shaft, you could put a piece of lead tape on the heel of the head. Back in the day that was how we used to promote a draw. 

[golfer2b2000]

Getting fitted for a driver is probably the best way to go.But golf club fitters are like doctors. You can have good ones, and ones not so good. Also, how many times have you went out to a course to play a round and the driver you used yesterday has seemed to left you. Our bodies, and swings change like the weather. That's the fun thing about this game. I enjoy building a shaft and trying it in a driver and compare with my others.With the new adapters it makes it a lot simpler than heating, and pulling a shaft.

Lead tape???What is that..LOL.

 Yes, I still do that sometimes still. Back in the days thats all we had. Just stick some out on the toe, or heel. You could easily hide it on the bottom so as not to be seen while you address the ball.

I also seem to have better luck drawing the ball when I use a more lofted driver like a 12* Just because a driver is 12* does not mean you are going to sky the ball. You will in most cases probably add rotation to the ball, which does promote accuracy, but loss of some distances. By changing a shaft I am able to hit the ball lower expecially with a shaft that has a higher bend point..

[Slim_Pivot]

I'm thinking about getting fitted for a new driver as well. How much money should I expect the whole thing to cost...I was thinking 600-800?

[klineka]

13 minutes ago, Slim_Pivot said:

I'm thinking about getting fitted for a new driver as well. How much money should I expect the whole thing to cost...I was thinking 600-800?

Depends on where you get fit and if you get fit into a stock shaft or an aftermarket shaft upgrade.

Most fitters will waive the cost of the fitting if you order the club through them, so yeah I'd say anywhere from $500-800 is a pretty good range for a custom fit driver.

[billchao]

59 minutes ago, golfer2b2000 said:

As you know there is way too much time spent on drivers where if you really want to improve your game you should probably concentrate on other parts of your game.

Driving is one of the most important aspects of the game when it comes to scoring well.