Difference with shafts...

[Losttheplot]

Hi guys,

I normally play with a 11.5* Cobra S2 offset with a 65g reg flex shaft.
My analysis of my club is that my ball flight isn't too bad maybe a touch high but I've always questioned the shaft. Because I have an offset on my club I think it counteracts the club lagging behind so instead of the face being open on impact, because of the offset it closes it to project a straighter ball flight.
Normally carry about 210 in current conditions and roll out not too much due to conditions.

Now I Demo'ed the Titleist 910 D2 today, 2 of them.

1. 10.5* reg flex. Club set to neutral.
Found the ball flight similar to my cobra except slicing to the right which hopefully confirms the shaft lagging and leaving the clubhead open.
2. 9.5* stiff flex. Club set to neutral.
Found the ball flight maybe a tad low but acceptable. Now the direction was fairly straight, I do have a slight fade so that was happening but workable. The carry though was the surprise. I was getting 230-240 carry. It was a clear increase in distance.

Is this what I should be expecting....????

 

[Region3]

Do you remember the other figures from the launch monitor like swing speed, smash factor, launch angle and spin?

It might be that you're swinging a bit too fast for the regular shaft to catch up if that makes sense?

I think finding the right shaft CAN make that much difference.

 

[Imurg]

YOur regular shaft may be putting too much backspin on the ball and that kills distance. The stiffer shaft may be reducing it, increasing your carry. I added about 15-20 yards on my carry by using a different shaft at my 910 fitting. It bought the spin down to around 2500 from 3800 but maintained the launch angle.

 

[Losttheplot]

Well what I did was take the clubs to the range and did it there. I wanted to see exactly what the differences were with my own eyes with no technology involved.

It just suprised me how much difference the stiff shaft did for distance. I'm not one of these people who want to smash it into tomorrow and claim they hit it 300 yards, I'm just interested in being accurate. But if I can sneak a clear 20 yards in purely carry, from just changing my shaft then I'm up for it. I only average about 220 in current conditions and maybe 250 in the summer with role out so I'm really interested in this shaft issue.

Without sounding like a knob here, I've always looked at how I strike the ball and knew there was something missing and knew I was capable to hit it further than it currently does so when I tried the stiff shaft I was just blown away.

If it was 5-10 yards improvement I wouldn't really be all the fussed but a clear 20 odd yards carry improvement just seemed massive. That's 10% further.....?????

 

[Losttheplot]

Imurg I'm glad It's not just me who has seen a big improvement in distance from a shaft fitting.

Your probably right with the backspin and because I do tend to have a slight fade on my usual drive then there's definately backspin present.

I could do with getting on the computer in the pro shop and having a look at some proper figures.

 

[USER1999]

I think you need to see some numbers. If the ball flight is flatter, there is no way you are carrying 240. That would run a mile on landing, and you'd need a heck of a swing speed. No wonder you couldn't hit a regular. But, and it's a big but, if you could carry 240, you would hook the heck out of regular, not slice it.

Get measured.

 

[Losttheplot]

The ball flight with the stiff shaft 9.5* wasnt a low, flat trajectory, it was lower than my Cobra flight but not too much lower. Also I can't confirm the driver lofts are correct. As I'm sure you know the lofts on drivers are not what they state. Plus I think my Cobra @ 11.5* isn't 11.5* as it's offset so I bet it's quite a bit lower.

I spoke to a friend of mine who deals in club fitting and he recommends tipping my current shaft and see how that compares but he thinks it will make it stiffer and keeping the current head will be fine as the offset helps with the fact I do fade the ball so it will produce a straighter flight as it currently does.

Just add, the carry distances are correct, there was little roll out and in the summer I can imagine there won't be that much more. Maybe 10-15 yards more.

My drives aren't carrying 200 then rolling out 40 yards they do all the distance in carry then drop to the ground with little roll out. I just assumed that was how it was suppost to be. It's certainly what I've been told to be the ideal shot. It's certainly the type of ball flight I get with my irons.

Probably getting the tipping done this week so fingers crossed by next week I'll be able to see the results.

 

[USER1999]

Roll should be about 10% of total distance, so a carry of 240 should roll out another 24 yards.

To carry 240, you need a swing speed of about 110 mph, which is proper fast.

 

[Losttheplot]

I'll have to see what I come to on the computer, I do swing quite fast, haven't a clue what figure it would be though.

 

[NWJocko]

Roll should be about 10% of total distance, so a carry of 240 should roll out another 24 yards.

To carry 240, you need a swing speed of about 110 mph, which is proper fast.

Interesting, this is almost spot on what I got out of the trackman when I was at my driver fitting. I am hitting it really low and flat (compared to my old driver) but was/am carrying it that far. Swing speed was 109 on average I think.

 

[Region3]

Roll should be about 10% of total distance, so a carry of 240 should roll out another 24 yards.

To carry 240, you need a swing speed of about 110 mph, which is proper fast.

Either I disagree with that or the LM's at Titleist and The Belfry are 'optimistic'.

At Titleist : SS 105-107mph, carry 250yds
The Belfry : SS 101-103mph, carry 240yds

If I remember right, Jammydodgers figures at Ping were 100mph & 250yd carry because of a smash factor I can only dream of