Shaft Flex Vs Strike..........

[Richuk123]

Hi Fellow Members. Hope you have all had a decent season.

i finally managed to spend a decent amount of time over the last 2 days on a launch monitor .You don't appreciate how good this equipment is until you use it.

I've been considering changing my Driver, going into Next year.

I currently play with a Titleist 910D2, 9.5 Aldila Voodoo NV 72R, on D1 setting (8.75deg, std lie). I put it up against the SLDR S, which after a few tweaks, was set for me at 11deg, with the stock Stiff Shaft at 56g.

Key Results (AVR of 15 shots, a couple of mis hits with both and both set to Neutral)

TITLEIST:
Clubhead Speed - 106mph
Carry -- 248 yds (roll out 269)
Spin -- 2810
Strike - 15Heel (launch angle 12.7)
Shot shape - Slight Pull
peak height - 40yds

SLRD S
Clubhead Speed - 106mph
Carry - 247 yds (roll out 270)
Spin -- 2360
Strike -14heel (Launch angle 13.1)
Shot Shape -- Slight Cut
Peak Height - 41yds

So , in short, i don't have a case to warrant spending money on a new Driver. The Pro i was with was stunned that the SLDR S, after fit, made no overall distance changes, and even with my swing speed, showed i had a better dispersion with the Regular. The bit that shocked me was the constant hitting of the heel, even though the shot strike felt good. the ones that felt off the toe, were more off the middle, out of the 30 recorded balls, i hit 1 favoring the toe and it felt horrid.

as i am sure there are some shaftoids out here (and me being one in the past) i am now starting to believe that shaft flex is more feel to the player than a game improvement aid. Mark Crossfield did a video similar to this earlier in the year, which took some stick from other quarters, and i now think, based on my own experience, he has a clear and hugely valid point.

I clearly have a swing issue (could be too much knee flex, bit too much on the inside approaching the ball etc...) which is my next port of call, but spending this valuable time has finally taught me to use what feels right for me, not what the manufacturer wants to me to feel.

Thoughts??

Richard

 

[fundy]

Maybe worth trying something other than the stock shaft, personally found it awful and performed worse than what I had at the time, however, changing that to the Matrix shaft was like night and day.

One stiff flex is very different to another stiff flex, dont focus on the flex just try lots of different shafts until you find what works best for you (or even better find a decent fitter who will make the process easier), doesnt matter what it has written on it

 

[garyinderry]

I hit scousers girlfriends driver over 10 yards further than my 910 last week.


I really need to get properly fitted sometime.

 

[the_coach]

on the title of the thread there's no contest the winner really every time is strike - center contact.
despite many views to the contrary you can only fine tune with shafts - assuming no-one with a 75mph SS is using an X-stiff or likewise a 116mph SS is trying to use an A flex.

first thought a SLDR S is a glued shaft no loft adjustment doesn't come in 11º....

looking at the numbers of the 2 shots listed, the heel strike contact positions will be responsible for a bunch of spin in both these strikes.
so the SF# or Efficiency#, depending on what type of LM being used would have been fairly relatively low so a lot of the club head speed not being transferred to ball speed.

description of both shots would more possibly indicate that you were (on these 2 shots - & as most folks with a reasonable repeatable swing motion {which given the index must be there} don't really vary their swing path over much shot to shot would think the swing path in these 2 shots would likely be your swing path pattern overall) not coming from the inside at all, more likely to be swinging left through impact so the path some degree of out to in.

the other key numbers to have looked at would have been the swing direction (this is the direction the club head is moving in the bottom arc of the swing in degrees - or +, so from around hip height to hip height on the forward swing)
& also the AoA.

thing worth considering, get a can of foot spray for the next trip to the range. plus set up the cell at 90º to the target line but directly behind the hands & handle address set-up position, cell also at the height of the hand position at address.
if you have a golf app, you can then draw a line over top of the shaft position at address (or if you have the tool to draw a straight line at a precise degree, draw a straight line at 48º approximately through your navel position at address)
whichever, you can then run the recorded swings with either line & you'll be able to see what the condition of the swing plane is both in the backswing & the throughswing.

spray the driver face hit a small bunch of shots it will show you whats exactly happening with your strike pattern.
if a fair amount heel biased plus the shaft on the ways down to impact is working over the drawn line so out to in (if you don't have any app that allows you to record & draw lines take a small see through plastic ruler & place the edge on the address shaft line)

go back to making some 50% effort driver swings concentrating on finding center while feeling the hands/club unit & right shoulder work downwards to the ground as the path the club travels to impact on.

when you get a pattern strike coming from around center, up speed to 60% & repeat until you can deliver center strike -ish at 80-85%, fail at any level go back to the lower percentage level & start again.

 

[Richuk123]

Coach, thank you for a great post. Yes, my bad, it was a SLDR. It has a black crown, the S has a grey. Apologies for that .

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Always fun testing clubs on a monitor. I agree that if you try different shafts I'm sure you'll get even better results not only in your own club but the others you try. It really is the engine room and sometimes the standard "stock" shaft are not the best by a long way and so you can fiddle with settings all you like but if the shaft isn't working for you it's still not going to be working to optimum performance

 

[Ethan]

Hi Fellow Members. Hope you have all had a decent season.

i finally managed to spend a decent amount of time over the last 2 days on a launch monitor .You don't appreciate how good this equipment is until you use it.

I've been considering changing my Driver, going into Next year.

I currently play with a Titleist 910D2, 9.5 Aldila Voodoo NV 72R, on D1 setting (8.75deg, std lie). I put it up against the SLDR S, which after a few tweaks, was set for me at 11deg, with the stock Stiff Shaft at 56g.

Key Results (AVR of 15 shots, a couple of mis hits with both and both set to Neutral)

TITLEIST:
Clubhead Speed - 106mph
Carry -- 248 yds (roll out 269)
Spin -- 2810
Strike - 15Heel (launch angle 12.7)
Shot shape - Slight Pull
peak height - 40yds

SLRD S
Clubhead Speed - 106mph
Carry - 247 yds (roll out 270)
Spin -- 2360
Strike -14heel (Launch angle 13.1)
Shot Shape -- Slight Cut
Peak Height - 41yds

So , in short, i don't have a case to warrant spending money on a new Driver. The Pro i was with was stunned that the SLDR S, after fit, made no overall distance changes, and even with my swing speed, showed i had a better dispersion with the Regular. The bit that shocked me was the constant hitting of the heel, even though the shot strike felt good. the ones that felt off the toe, were more off the middle, out of the 30 recorded balls, i hit 1 favoring the toe and it felt horrid.

as i am sure there are some shaftoids out here (and me being one in the past) i am now starting to believe that shaft flex is more feel to the player than a game improvement aid. Mark Crossfield did a video similar to this earlier in the year, which took some stick from other quarters, and i now think, based on my own experience, he has a clear and hugely valid point.

I clearly have a swing issue (could be too much knee flex, bit too much on the inside approaching the ball etc...) which is my next port of call, but spending this valuable time has finally taught me to use what feels right for me, not what the manufacturer wants to me to feel.

Thoughts??

Richard

Interesting. There are certainly players who hit different flexes of the same shaft quite similarly, especially better players, but I think your experiment was confounded by the differences between the shafts. The NV 72g is a fairly robust shaft, whereas the SLDR S uses a Fuji 57 which even in stiff flex isn't very stiff. It is obviously a good bit lighter too. The Titleist 910 is known to be a fairly skinny head too, which is another variable.

I suspect if you had used the same shaft model and weight, but different flexes, in the same head, you might have seen more difference. Or possibly not.

 

[Scotty Cameron]

I can never understand why all shaft manufacturers don't use the universal flex numbers like Miyazaki do. I have three Miyazaki shafts and if I ever need a stiffer or weaker shaft I just have to look at the numbers.

Also the torque of the shaft comes into play when comparing stiff shafts from different manufacturers, a made for shaft will not be as good as the "real deal".

 

[Foxholer]

I can never understand why all shaft manufacturers don't use the universal flex numbers like Miyazaki do. I have three Miyazaki shafts and if I ever need a stiffer or weaker shaft I just have to look at the numbers.

Also the torque of the shaft comes into play when comparing stiff shafts from different manufacturers, a made for shaft will not be as good as the "real deal".

Well, it was Miyazaki that 'invented' and introduced the 'International' flex code! Good thing, mabe. But easy to see why it hasn't been universally adopted!

 

[CMAC]

I'm firmly in the feel over real camp. I can hit anything from an extra stiff board to a whippy ladies club.......but only some will 'feel' right and give me confidence under pressure

 

[Imurg]

, a made for shaft will not be as good as the "real deal".

" Good" is a relative term when it comes to shafts.
The beet shaft for you might be a £15 POS that was fixed to a Dunlop POS rather than a £500 Oban.....
A good shaft works for you regardless of how "good" it is.

 

[Ethan]

I can never understand why all shaft manufacturers don't use the universal flex numbers like Miyazaki do. I have three Miyazaki shafts and if I ever need a stiffer or weaker shaft I just have to look at the numbers.

Also the torque of the shaft comes into play when comparing stiff shafts from different manufacturers, a made for shaft will not be as good as the "real deal".

Bit of a sweeping statement. 'Made for' shafts vary enormously in the degree to which they vary from the OEM version. Some 'made for' shafts are quite different in terms of flex, consistency and quality, for example some of those in TM clubs, but others are closer to being really only fine tuned for the club maker involved, for example Mizuno 'made for' shafts. In the case of the Fubuki in the 630 driver, a lot of people considered the Mizuno version to be better than the OEM base shaft. Titles 'made for's are also generally pretty good.

As others have said, if a shaft is right for you, play it. Sometimes that is a 'made for' version.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I had three stock shafts (R flex) in a set of off the shelf TM Burner woods. The 3 wood was actually closer to standard stiff, the 5 as whippy as anything and the driver the same. Nothing uniform in those