Question, for a shaft expert preferably...

[Orikoru]

I'm currently borrowing my mate's R15 driver to try it out, felt pretty good on the range yesterday, and I'm going to use it for the course championship this weekend, and if it goes really well I said I'd probably buy it off him.

The only thing is, it has a non-standard shaft in and I don't know enough details about it. My mate doesn't know either because the shaft was already put in it when he bought it.

It's a Matrix MFS 40+, as it says on the side. I've googled that and found the following information:
http://www.hirekogolf.com/golf-components/outlet/golf-shafts/matrix-mfs-40-graphite-golf-shafts.html

If you click on specifications it shows three options, but I have no idea which one of the three it is, because there is no more info written on the shaft! Is there any way I can figure it out??

Generally it seems to be quite a heavy shaft with not much flex, which judging from my recent Titleist fitting would be completely wrong for me anyway - but I'm going to try it out regardless because if it works then you can't really argue with that. I might end up buying a different R15 online or something. But either way, it would be good to know which shaft it actually is. And are these Matrix shafts considered to be any good?

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

I wouldn't get bogged down with facts and figures to be honest. If it works then use it. There are no standards when it comes to flex, stiff from one manufacturer might only be firm or regular for another. Club fitters use frequencies instead of flexes to establish how stiff a shaft is. There are loads of variables that affect ball flight in different ways.

 

[Coffey]

The 3 different options are the different Flex's they have. There should be a letter or something on it which tells you the flex. Is there literally nothing on it? Even just a small X/R/S/A? or it may have a number for the torque or something.

 

[GreiginFife]

There will probably be information on the shaft under the grip.
That's an old shaft (possibly c.2002 ish) and at somewhere between 85 and 95 grams is seriously heavy for a driver, probably more suited to use as a fairway wood shaft IMO.
Like all shaft questions the main one is "does it work for you?" If yes then have at it but if not then probably best to look at something else.

Doesn't look like it had a R flex option, which is strange and probably unlikely, but it's likely S flex in the one you have (you would probably know if it was A flex (like spaghetti) or X flex (scaffolding pole)).

Not much info out there on it, but you say it works at the range not sure why you would expect it to be potentially different on the course tbh.

 

[Orikoru]

I wouldn't get bogged down with facts and figures to be honest. If it works then use it. There are no standards when it comes to flex, stiff from one manufacturer might only be firm or regular for another. Club fitters use frequencies instead of flexes to establish how stiff a shaft is. There are loads of variables that affect ball flight in different ways.

I do agree that if it works, it works. But it would be nice to know what I'm swinging for future reference, or if I want to compare it to other drivers I may try out.

The 3 different options are the different Flex's they have. There should be a letter or something on it which tells you the flex. Is there literally nothing on it? Even just a small X/R/S/A? or it may have a number for the torque or something.

No, this is why I was confused, the shaft just says 'MFS by Matrix 40+' with no other information at all.

There will probably be information on the shaft under the grip.
That's an old shaft (possibly c.2002 ish) and at somewhere between 85 and 95 grams is seriously heavy for a driver, probably more suited to use as a fairway wood shaft IMO.
Like all shaft questions the main one is "does it work for you?" If yes then have at it but if not then probably best to look at something else.

Doesn't look like it had a R flex option, which is strange and probably unlikely, but it's likely S flex in the one you have (you would probably know if it was A flex (like spaghetti) or X flex (scaffolding pole)).

Not much info out there on it, but you say it works at the range not sure why you would expect it to be potentially different on the course tbh.

Yeah it does seem heavy, and my swing speed is only around 85mph so I would favour a light shaft usually. I also found it weird that there were no regular shafts according to the website. I think even if the driver works ok I might look at buying a different R15 online with a lighter shaft anyway, rather than taking my mate's one off his hands.

Range and course is always different! Haha. In all seriousness, there are variables - we were on the top deck at the range, adding distance, but also range balls lose you some distance - so I'll only get a proper comparison when I play my home course this weekend. (I'll be able to compare where I end up to where my old driver was getting me.)

Thanks for the feedback guys.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

I do agree that if it works, it works. But it would be nice to know what I'm swinging for future reference, or if I want to compare it to other drivers I may try out.

In that case you will probably need to take it to a clubfitter who can test it on his frequency monitor and give you a reading which may be something like 250. You can then use that figure to compare against other shafts. As stated, the flex printed on the side of the shaft is pretty much irrelevant as each manufacturer has it's own guidelines.