golfrewind.com

I just started playing glof again after a 10 year lay off. Just moved to a golf course so I'm looking forward to becoming a decent golfer some day. 10 years ago I had about a 14 handicap with some pretty cheap clubs.

I'm currently using a set of Armour TI 1000 irons that were given to me by a friend. They are very forgiving but the sole is huge on them. I'm shopping for a set with a thinner sole for more playability and when hitting off bare spots. I'm also looking to buy some new woods. Which, BTW the new big headed woods make my head spin!...lol

Anyway, I had my swing speed measured and it was only about 80 mph....albeit it was about the first week I even picked up a club again. I was told I needed a regular shaft. However, yesterday when I went to the Ping web site they just asked me how far I hit a 6 iron (165 yards). From this they recommended a stiff shaft!

My Armour clubs that were given to me have stiff graphite shafts. I hit them fine. if anything when I don't hit straight I pull or draw (which I thought was more likely with a more flexible shaft so I'm still confused). Then again, I'm also drawing the ball with a regular shaft driver so it's probably my swing plane.

The bottom line is that I want some custom clubs but I'm confused about shaft flex and also the lie. BTW, the ping.com site recommended a green dot lie, white grip (slightly above standard), and stiff flex. Should I go with this fitting or base it on my actual swing speed?

Seems strange that they'd ask about your 6 iron when looking for a shaft for your driver. I don't swing my irons nearly as hard as I swing my driver so it seems irrelevant.

I am currently using regular flex stainless steel iron shafts, but I', upgrading to an Extra Stiff driver shaft. I play just fine with regular flex irons, but need to re-shaft my driver if I want to crank it up

With that said, you should be fine with a regular flex driver shaft if your SS is 80.....for now anyway

once you get a swing again, your swing speed will probably increase a lot. I'd get stiff just so you don't have to change it really soon..

I'd rather have too stiff opposed to whipping the shaft

I bought some new irons last year and the pro, after seeing me hit some shots and checking my SS. said that I should have reg shaft in my irons. My SS is about 85 with irons, have steel shafts, and 105 with the driver in which I use a firm flex grafalloy. I hit the irons quite well and the driver also, when I hit it.

I may not have been clear. I was asking for a custom fit for irons.

Get stiff shafts. You'll probably need them in the long run anyway.

BTW, a swing speed of 85 MPH with a 5-iron equates to a stiff shaft even with True Temper Dynamic Gold's, the stiffest-playing shafts around. See below.

True Temper Golf Shafts: Dynamic Gold Iron Shaft

So does this mean I need stiff shafts for my woods as well?

A lot of people like me that are on the borderline with swing speed find that they need Stiff in the longer clubs( Driver , 3 Wood) and Regular Shaft in the other Clubs. Just because you need a Stiff Shaft in a Driver doesn't mean you need that in your Irons.
And yes your swing speed will probably improve as you play more. You may want to get rechecked after you play a little longer to avoid wasting money on the wrong equiptment like I did. My Driver swing speed after a 5 year layoff was only 82 and bought a regular Driver and hit it well. 2 months later I was swinging it 88-95 and starting pulling it real bad so I had to go to a Stiff. My swing with Irons is lower so I stayed with regular.

go figure, i'm the opposite...
i swing harder with my irons than i do with driver, meaning reg driver and stiff irons.

Even some tour players have different flexes in their irons and woods.

This is certainly true, though for possibly for a few different reasons. The first reason is the one being talked about in this thread, that is, that the swings with the different clubs are different speeds or loaded differently or differently aggressive.

But, the second is that they probably have different manufacturer's shafts in different clubs. And what True Temper says is "stiff" is not necessarily what Graphite Designs or UST or Aldila says is "stiff" TT's stiff may be Aldila's regular and UST's X, for instance. (I just made these up, so don't quote me on these.)

Point is, there are no standards in the industry regarding the naming of the shafts. The best way is to look at the shaft company's website, where they will most likely list the swingspeeds needed for their own shafts. But, those ranges are only good for that company's shafts -- maybe even only one specific model from that company. A good clubfitter should also have a list of shafts and the swingspeeds corresponding to each flex.

yeah right now I have stiff shafts in my irons and regular shafts in my woods.

I think ur right, I'm gonna play with these clubs the rest of this year until I get in "golf shape" and then go get my swing speed tested and then fit for a good set of clubs. I can already tell that my swing speed in increasing..especially with my driver. My body has had to regain some flexibility that I've lost over the years.

As my swing is returning I feel like I have a tendency now to push my irons and pull my woods...which tells me I need a stiffer shaft on my woods and maybe a regular shaft on my irons. I may try and borrow someone's driver with a stiff shaft and compare distances and shot path.