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I had the original shaft changed to grafalloy blue stiff. The original was so rigid, it felt like a 2x4. I demo'd a 580XD at the range that had a grafalloy blue stiff, and it felt pretty good, so I did the reshaft. Background -- My swing speed is around 95 with the driver, and my 18 hole handicap fluctuates between 9-10.

My normal ball flight is a slight draw or pretty straight - a quacker when I get tooooo fast. I've had rounds with this driver where the ball just takes off straight right, and slices from there. Over the weekend I played 9 holes and my tempo was great and I hit 5 of 6 fairways with afore-mentioned draw.

Last night in my 9 hole league, the first three drives were fine (par, par, par), then ....... straight right. Finished the 9 holes triple bogey, bogey, triple bogey, bogey. All due to the driver getting me into so much trouble it was impossible to hack out!

Its either practice more (which I don't have much time to do), go to a more forgiving driver (I have a Steelhead III with steel shaft) and give up distance, or find a shaft that suits my swing.

Sorry for the long post, but it is FRUSTRATING!!!

sorry, i don't know what shaft to recommend you but i remembered reading a review of the grafalloy blue shaft on golfclubreview.com... in the review, it says the regular plays almost like a stiff and the stiff plays almost like an extra stiff... maybe that's it? you may want to try a regular flex or a whole different shaft altogether...

http://www.golfclubreview.com/grafalloy_blue.htm

i thought the r580xd was supposed to be forgiving? anyways, why didnt you switch to a 3 wood when the troubles came?

The Graffaloy Blue plays a flex stronger, even with your SS, I wouldn't recommend a normal stiff, go with a firm or a regular.

He switched to a 3 wood cause their easier to hit in the fairway.

Nick

I demoed a Launcher 400 with a Graffaloy Blue Stiff shaft. Felt kind of rigid to me so that might make sense that those shafts play a flex stronger.

Besides flex and kickpoint, another consideration is the torque rating of the shaft. The rating is the number of degrees a shaft will twist when you swing. The harder you swing the more the shaft will twist. Another factor is the size of the clubhead, the larger the clubhead the more drag is created and the more the saft will twist. So if you have a realatively high swing speed, 95 mph is getting there, and a very large clubhead, the XD580 is 440cc I think, you can over torque the shaft. This can cause the clubhead to be open at impact and slice the ball, or depending on the spine location, cause the clubhead to snap closed before impact, causing a hook. I learned this lesson the hard way/expensive way. I had been palying a TM 360 with an Innovative UFO shaft, x-stiff, and was hitting it very well. Along comes the new R500 series and I got the bug for a new driver. My pro new I wanted the 400cc R580 but had me hit the R540, 350cc, just for grins. I hit the 540 longer and with better control. So I bought the 540, played one round, and was not satisfied, cause I still hit the 360 better. I blamed the shaft in the 540 since it was stock TM stiff, new that going in anyway, and ordered an Innovative UFO, same as the 360. Before the new shaft arrived I reasoned that since the TM shafts were not for me the R580 would be just as good or better then the 540 with the good shaft. Called my pro and he got the TM rep to swap me out, even trade. When the Innovative shaft arrived I put it in the R580 and went straight to the course. Couldn't hit the club to save my life, my buddies were giving me a bad time, so finally I pullout my older 360, same shaft and all the problems went away. I was so furious with myself, because I didn't listen, down $600 bucks. I went back to my pro and traded him even for the last 360 he had and we installed my shaft in the 360, great club, just like my other 360.

My pro then explained I eas too strong for the larger clubheads and that 360cc was probably my limit in clubhead size. My swing speed with driver is 112-116 when I swing smooth. Since I understood the physics of clubshafts I agreeded with him.
Now I know this is getting windy, but I had an oppertunity to test his theroy about swing speed, clubhead size, and shaft torque. My club had a demo day a few weeks later, Titleist and Cobra. They had all the new clubs, 983's and SS's, with a bunch of shaft options. I hit everything, and sure enough, any club above 350cc I started losing accuracy and distance, even with the x-stiff fugikura shaft. The pro was right, even the Titleist rep agreeded with the philosophy, he was a pro too.

I have just changed to the Wilson Deep Red II woods, only cause I am a Wilson freak from years back, same Innovative shafts as the TM's, hit them just as well. The Wilson's are the Tour Models, driver is 350 cc's. Hope this helps and sorry for getting so windy.:)

Have you noticed any rotation in the clubhead? I have reshafted my TM 580xd four times now, I would start spraying drives, and felt that the clubhead was moving. Of course, everyone would say that it was just me, but in fact, it was rotating. We then found that the so called .350 hosel actually is a bit bigger, .355 to be exact. And the stock (imo, lame) shaft measured in at .355. a small difference, but enough to keep the club head from actually staying put. Mine is solid at the moment, but it hasn't been lasting more than a few rounds. I'm at a total of one round since the reglue...

Forged, you say that you are too strong for a larger club head? I am curious, why would that be the case, I see players (pga pro's) playing 460 heads and they don't seem to overpower them. I just bought a r580XD with the fuji 757 shaft in a stiff flex. It was an impulse buy but I did demo one and it felt good. I am playing a 360 head right now that I like but wanted to see if I would do better with a larger head. My swing speed has slowed but I still get up around 110 when I am playing well. I know the shaft is so key and I am not rich enough to keep reshafting, I hope this combo works.

Genrr
As far as the Graf blue, I had one in an old driver and it is very stiff and boardy, I think that would explain why the ball was going right. If you can afford it, first go to a launch monitor and get tested to see which shaft best suits your swing. There are so many variable other than swing speed to consider. Once you find the best shaft try it in the r580 and see if it works for you. I have been playing for 27 years and have only had 5 drivers, sadly 3 in the last 3 years. I was never big on changing equipment until recently.

hi Forged - I've heard that the larger drivers are more difficult to square up but both Tiger and Vijay are hitting 460 cc drivers with their 120+ mph swing.

Thats because they are the two best players in the world and there timing is amazing.

Contact the shaft manufacturer of your choice and see if they will sell you a shaft like the big boys have. They probably won't unless you enlist the help of your pro. One thing, open your wallet wide cause it is going to cost you alot for a proto-type shaft. The watermelons have been around longer then the pros have been using them, the shaft technology had to catch up for the pros to use these big clubheads.

wrong color. drop the blue & go purple.

it'll fly a little higher, but it won't be right.

Dante - thanks for the reply. I ended up getting fitted last year and the clubfitter put in an Apache shaft that works great. He talked me out of a more expensive shaft. The fitting, shaft and installation was around $100. Best investment I've made!

I now hit the ball pretty straight, slight draw if anything, and decent ball flight. The driver's been in the bag for two years now, and I don't see it coming out anytime soon.

The right shaft is everything.

FYI, like you I'm no youngster when it comes to golf. I've got 40+ years under my belt, and could never hit a driver until the last 15 years with the newer technology - I used to have an old Robt. Jones 2-wood from the early 50's that I could kill. When it split I was devastated. I've gone through a bunch of Callaways from the Big to Biggest to VFT, and TM's from the Burner Bubble to the 580XD, with a Ping thrown in for good measure. I think I've found a keeper with the 580XD.

Glad to see it worked out for you. I just bought the r580xd 9.5 with a 757 speeder shaft and will get it tomorrow. My first driver was a Ping, wood that I cannot remember the model. It had a steel shaft and the most consistant flight on any driver I ever hit. It got stolen, along with my car back in 1987. Since then I have used the big bertha, then a few years ago I bought the GBBII, then the ERC Fusion and finally the r580XD. I did find another Ping like my original years back but like an old girlfriend it just wasn't right anymore.

Enough about me, I am glad you found the right combination for you. Good luck.

I know what you mean. One of my friends reshafted a Ping Tis tec. He put a Ust Proforce 65 stiff. It felt like ****. If you think it is the shaft go try and put a new one in the club. The blue does play stiff. My Ping Si3 has a stiff blue. Its to wippy for me. I hook the ball with it really easy when my swing is is in a grove. My new driver has a blue X-stiff because of the hook with the old driver (Its still on back order).