How do you determine your ideal (driver) shaft flex? (I've just bought a new driver with a 'regular-flex' shaft and only seem to go straight when I 'swoop', and not 'swipe' - iow the moment I start pushing some power into it I 'lose it'. The marvellous result is that my straight driver shots are now as far &/or shorter than my 3-hybrid shots!) The resident quasi-pro at the range says the shaft is too flexible for me, but as I'm a 'regular' guy/golfer, surely 'regular flex' must be right?
It all depends on how much you load the shaft. If you have a Nick Price like swing, you could probably use a stiffer shaft, but if you have a Freddie Couples type swing you could probably stay with regular shaft.
The thing is, with shafts, the little "R", "S", or "X" on the shaft means nothing. Every shaft company puts those on there as a kind of guage to tell the stiffness, but in reality, an Aldila "S" might be Graffaloy's "R" (I just made that up). Best thing to do is go see a pro who can fit you properly for your driver. That goes for loft, shaft length, stiffness, kickpoint, look, etc. Just buying one off the shelf or getting one becuase it has an "X" on it, is like playing the lottery as far as matching a club to your swing.
How do you determine your ideal (driver) shaft flex? (I've just bought a new driver with a 'regular-flex' shaft and only seem to go straight when I 'swoop', and not 'swipe' - iow the moment I start pushing some power into it I 'lose it'. The marvellous result is that my straight driver shots are now as far &/or shorter than my 3-hybrid shots!) The resident quasi-pro at the range says the shaft is too flexible for me, but as I'm a 'regular' guy/golfer, surely 'regular flex' must be right?
Also, is shaft flex related to torque?
What do you mean by "regular guy/golfer"? What's the shaft in your 3-hybrid? How far do you hit your driver, typically? What make/model of shaft is in your driver now?
Deron is correct in that if you have a smooth swing, you'll typically need a shaft with more flex. Without knowing anything about your swing, all that can really be said is to try the same club and with the same shaft in stiff flex and see if that's better. Then, if you can, try the same club with the same shaft in an X. Whichever one is best, is the one you should use.
The best thing to do is get properly fit. Also you can not trust the symbol on the shaft that says S,R or X because oems do not test those before they ship them...You could get three S flexes and one be ladies, one be stiff, and one be tour stiff..But Just hit the S flex and see if you like it more...Also you say that when you "push power into it" you "lose it" Are you losing it because of the shaft, or is it that you are swinging so hard you are losing timing, and swing path, and so on....I would get put on a launch monitor and let m know what your numbers are!
- My 3 hybrid is a Dunlop 19* with an R-flex shaft.
- Typically I drive 220/230 meters, and around 250 on a good day. A few times I've reached +/- 275, but that's as rare as the steak still being part of the ox grazing in the field.
- My 'old' driver was/is a Big Brother 10.5* with a flex of 28.5" - (???). Reason I opted for a replacement was 'cause I hit it rotten too often.
- The driver I bought is a Top Flite 'Encore' 460, 9.5* with the R(egular) graphite shaft.
- About 'power & swing (losing it)': I don't have much of a problem with my other clubs - I can crack my 3 hybrid 220/230 on a good day (ave 180/200) and the ball just sails beautifully. Same goes for long irons: from a 'mellow-' to a 'max'-swing I'm OK. (I'm very concious of the 'gorilla-factor' when it comes to 'power-play', so I don't attempt a long-drive with an 'all-brawn-&-no-brains' approach.)
- I did go to the ProShop here by us but the guy wasn't much interested in 'selling' me a club - he was far too pre-occupied with showing me how to improve my swing - like his. Really put me off. The (PGA-rated) pro I'm seeing is mostly happy with my swing - a few rough spots to iron out.
I really hope I can get to grips with - and master - this aspect of my game. Someone once said "cleanliness is close to godliness". I think "beautiful drives are the like the chip-shots of angels"
Get on a launch monitor and get a shaft frequency matched for your swingspeed. Also have the shaft floed before installing in the head. that will asure you are using a properly set up shaft. bend point is also a important consideration as well as your loft and lenght. If your swing is outside in instead of straight or inside out be carefull about getting to long. Once you go over 44" with a outside in swing path it will get continuosly worse the longer you go for MOST golfers. there are exceptions to the rules but this one is usually very dependable.
November 8th, 2006, 02:17 PM
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