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Hi there. Im a bit curious on this.

What could potentially happen if you have to fast a swing with a regular stiffness grafite shaft with your driver?

I have alway been a slicer of my 3 wood and driver so Im not sure if it relates to swingplane or loading of the shaft.

For example. I thought I would give it a good rip yesterday with my driver. I swung within myself and tried not to shift but I got tremendous speed on the club compared to what Im used to. The ball took off extremely high and curved monstrously to the left (slice for a leftie).

As I have heard, the shaft loads in the transition and unloads at impacts, right? If one swings to fast, relative to the shaft loft/stiffness could it make it not unload and cause it to slice?

I have no idea what Im taking about here so if anyone could explain the different scenarios with shaft stiffness/swingspeed I would be delighted :)

Some stats if it helps:
Driver loft: 11 degrees
Shaft stiffness: Regular

Swing speed: Have no idea, hits the 5 iron about 165 yards.

I am still a "newbie" so my 5 iron could probably go a little but further with 100% proper impact.. :)

BTW: With solid Impact I drive from 215 to 240 yards..

I'm pretty sure a regular flex shaft is suited for those with a slower swing speeds. My hybrids, 3 wood, and driver are all regular and I have a fast swing speed, and I can feel the head of the club lagging behind. I'm almost 100% sure the clubs are adding to my slice. My irons are actually straight shots, unless I push them to the right. I'm currently getting a stiff shaft installed on my driver, so I'll let you know how that feels when I get it back from the shop. I want a new set of clubs, but I just spent 300 on a boxed set, so I'm just going to have to slow my swing down a little and go with it.... hope this helps..

That is a wide range of distances regarding the driver. Considering you are a novice like me, you are probably closer, on average, to the 220 yard carry.

Have you measured your swing speed with a radar or launch monitor to give you the assessment of 'fast swing'? What you perceive as fast may be a hard and tense swing leading to timing issues and leaving the clubface open at impact.

When I try to 'swing hard' it ends up starting left of the target and then goes wide right. When I try to actively rotate the hands, I hook.

When I do a smooth tension free swing with passive hands, it goes straighter and farther than any conscious effort to make it go far.

So my thought it is the technique and not the shaft. I swing about 94-97 mph with a smooth swing on a launch monitor. I have never tried to swing 'harder' since I do not get a good result.
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If you slice the 3 wood, you will probably slice the driver.
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I did not start hitting my driver consistently until I actually started hitting the 3 and 5 woods consistently straight and far - off of the deck/fairway. Work on that swing, first, and the driver will follow.

I saw Jack Lumpkin say that unless you are shooting in the 80s, hit the 3 wood. I don't believe that philosophy, entirely. I like to use the strategy that Mike Adams and TJ Tomasi recommend in How to Break 90, regarding the use of drivers and FWs.

Thanks for the great answers.

When I say I swing slow its what I usually do. Yesterday a blasted a drive with all the speed I could handle it went SKY high with the most massive slice Ive seen.

What I think is funny though is the the combined height, speed and slice that ball achieved. I felt like an awesome hit but it just took off high and to the left (leftie player). Not sure if it is right though, but I feel that finding the right speed/tempo for my driver is what is keeping me from hitting it solid/straight.

If the ball I hit yesterday had gone straight it would have gone probably up t o 250-260 yards. The ball speed was way quicker , so quick wasn`t even able to see it.. But yeah, I agree with you though titanium, I need to learn hitting my woods of the deck or very low teed up..

Im pretty sure I overswing with the woods because I feel the need to make a larger turn and really give it a rip. For instance I took my 3 hybrid a couple of days ago and almost made a pitch swing just to get it in play and the ball went pretty far and straight.

My mental aspect has to be: "Don`t try to force the club, let the club do what it is designed to do."

And no, I have not monitored my swing speed yet, I have no idea.
8 iron- 130 yards
5 Iron 165 yards
3 hybrid: 186 yards
3 wood- 200-220 yards

Height: 6 foot 1
Weight: 80 kg (not sure in pounds but Im not stocky, normal built with relatively low fat)

Could anyone guess my speed from these numbers?

I

If a shaft is too stiff, the clubface won't get closed and that causes a fade/slice. If the shaft is too soft, it will close early and hook. The slice on the "hard" swing you did was likely due to a swing that left the club face open, and not the shafts fault. Its pretty common for slices to occur when people swing harder than normal(definetly true for me). You should get an idea of your swing speed before you change shafts. Other factors can affect this too though, like tempo, an aggressive move at the top, or a quick transition from backswing to downswing.

Maybe I don`t need to worry after all :P

I usually play a little bit of a closed clubface (irons) (looks that way from my view anyway).

I just closed the wood the same amount and hit a straight shot that went 200 yards with a little bit high trajectory.

Is closing the clubface a bad solution if there is something wrong with my swing?

Max, you need to be a little careful because while there is definitely correlation between swingspeed and loading, swing speed itself is not enough to fully describe a shaft choice.

Don't get me wrong, swing speed is probably the largest variable and should really be the starting point for your choice of shaft. Do be aware that what one company calls a "regular" can be very different from what another one calls a regular -- it doesn't even have to change from company to company, different models from the same company can even be significantly different on this. The good news is that today almost every shaft manufacturer puts their swing speed guidelines on their websites, so you can find this information reasonable easy.

Now, with the swingspeed out of the way, let's look at "loading". The speed is a significant portion of this, but, a players transition from backswing to forward swing is also important. There are some players who make a very smooth transition -- almost or even actually coming to a complete stop after backswinging before forward swinging. These players may actually need a flex less than their swing speed would indicate because of the slow transition. On the other hand, there are some players who make a very sharp, violent, quick transition from back swing to forward swing -- these players may need a flex stronger because of the quick reversal in their transition.

Lastly, the all-elusive variable of feel is truly important. A player needs to like the feel in his clubs to be the most confident in them. I call it all-elusive because what I like in feel may be very different from what you like in feel, even if we have very similar swings. For a lot of people, this last variable can override other. I have an acquaintance who swings his driver 105 mph or so, but really likes regular shafts. He says he just loses feel with anything stiffer, so that's what he plays.

Even then, all that said, a good clubmaker can also trim a shaft to a desired flex. A shaft can be trimmed to be left a little stiffer and/or weight added to the clubhead to make a shaft play a little weaker. So, if you find a shaft you like, but are right between the speed guidelines, a good clubmaker can make the shaft flex right where you need it to be. So, there are lots of options out there.

The big thing, like was said above, is to go and get your swing speed measured. It can be guessed, sort of, by posting your club's distances, but that isn't super accurate because not all iron sets are made the same. But, nothing beats having actual measurements.

Thanks for the long and informative answer big nose.

I would check with my local pro if I can measure it somehow.
I have a relatively smooth transition and swing all in all but I have no idea what my swing speed is.

I actually think its a little bit faster than average but definitely not a power hitter. I am strong enough to do it but I loose control over balance and swing plane swinging too fast.

Anyway, I will try to get it measured. Right now I have the feel of trying to adjust my speed to the clubs and I actually think that is a good thing. If I can find the speed which feels best with these clubs I can get a mental picture of my tempo/speed and be more consistent... :)