Semi-stiff shafts a thing?

[dufferman]

Hi experts!

Last year, I bent my 5 iron shaft in a boot closing incident. I took it to American Golf, who told me they only had a shaft for a 6 iron in stock, and it would fit the 5 iron, be the right length but be a bit stiffer than usual.

Now, I was told that stiff shafted irons wouldn't be of benefit to me, and that off the shelf is best. However, my 5 iron is going like a bomb.

I'm hitting it almost as long as my 4 iron, leaving a bit of a gap between my 6 and 5 iron.

So, do semi stiff shafts exist, and if so, how easy are they to get hold of and is it worth taking a look at them?

I'm thinking I'd get a good few yards out of all my irons if I had them!

My clubs are TM Rocketballz.

Cheers,



Adam

 

[Doh]

Funny you should bring this up, my mate was trying out a Jetspeed Driver on Sunday I asked him what sort of shaft he had in it and he said it was semi-stiff. Must admit up till then I had never heard of them I had a hit with it but it felt very much like a regular shaft.
So is this a bit of ego rubbing TM are doing?

 

[stevie_r]

Don't project rifle do a flex between R and S, their 5.5?

 

[duncan mackie]

So, do semi stiff shafts exist?

probably easier to state that there's no singular 'stiff shaft' definition!

there are an infinite set of combinations of flex & weight with kick points, stepping, etc etc

in this case you seem to have found a combination of shaft and trimming that works well for you which any good clubmaker should be able to duplicate for you if required

otoh there may be an even better solution out there somewhere!

 

[srixon 1]

To the OP.

A popular thing now is called hard/soft stepping. This is what has happened to you without being properly explained. See link below for a better explanation than I could give.

http://www.golfclubshaftreview.com/hard-stepping--soft-stepping.html

 

[garyinderry]

firm flex sits between reg and stiff!

 

[dufferman]

Thank you all!

I'm not in a position to change the shafts at the moment, but certainly in the future it's something I will consider. I will certainly be more inclined to go to a club maker / pro rather than American Golf / a stock-shop!

 

[Ethan]

A few points.

Some manufacturers do a Uniflex shaft, pitched somewhere between regular and stiff. The Callaway Memphis 10 is a well known example of this. This is at least as much for their convenience as yours, and allows them to better plan inventory.

Shaft flex is very difficult to compare because the flex characteristics vary between brands. In terms of shaft frequency, Rifle Project X 5.5 is stiffer than TT DG S300.

I wouldn't go to AG for shaft repairs, or much else for that matter. They could easily have ordered in the right shaft but seem to have instead hard stepped a shaft for you, which increases flex by about 1/3 of a flex. Maybe that is just a better flex for you, but they really shouldn't have just done that. It is probably not worth changing the rest. Wait until you get a need for new shineys then get fitted properly.