Shaft flex's, am i about to make a mistake.

[Oddsocks]

I got my hands on a set of 08/09 burner fairway woods last year to match the 09 burner driver i have, 3w & 5w to be exact, and both were fitted with the stock Reax 50g regular graphite shaft. Now they have always served me well although I have always felt the shaft was a bit soft in them.

The 09 burner driver is fitted with a stiff and this suits me well, but with the fairway woods ive always felt that i have had to hold back and never give them everything. i find if i really attack the ball with them they always go left, and after reading the net this seems a key factor in the shaft not being stiff enough.

Thecraw from here has kindly given me a couple of shafts which are the same model but stiff so for the sakes of £30.00 for both shafts to be swapped i think its worth a go.

Now to the point. A few months back during a lesson the pro commented that there was a chance my burner irons (fitted with reg/steel) were a bit soft also, and that i may have opted for the wrong shaft. Now dont get me wrong on a good day i can hit anything, but generally looking back at my stats if i miss a green it tends to be left, and the greens i hit tend to be on the left side.

On saturday i have the option of a quick few on the launch machine where im picking the fairway woods up from, but is this going to be a bad idea.

Saturday as far as im away im playing the daily mail round 1 comp, and i cant help but think this reg vs stiff think is going to get right in my head, especially if i find out my shafts in my irons are all wrong. OK theres nothing i can do this week, but would you try for the sakes of knowing you needed stiff, or would you not just so it doesnt mess with your mind set.

 

[Imurg]

I would. The longer you leave it the worse it's going to play on your mind.
It doesn't follow that just because you have stiff in your woods that you need stiff in your irons - but it wouldn't surprise me.

 

[USER1999]

I would leave it well alone.

You shouldn't really be hitting your irons 'eyeballs out' anyway.

How far do you carry a 7i?

 

[robbest3offthetee]

Oddsocks, Have you tried playing the 3 and 5 woods back in your stance(middle),this works for me,if i play them to far forward they also go left,and they are the stiff shafts...

 

[Oddsocks]

the thing is excluding the 4i, the irons feel fine. but the fact that the 4i has the longest shaft maybe higlights that they should be stiff aswell.

when will i learn educating yourself is expensive.

 

[Oddsocks]

murph, thats my gut feeling but i cant help keep hearing that pro saying they should have been stiff, and the fact that where im collecting my woods from saturday has this machine with no obligation seems to good to not test

Rob, ive tried that, but to be fair when i take the club away from its address point it almost feels like im going to leave the head where the ball is. Even at address the club does feel too whippy, hence me opting to change. Obvioulsy i will test the clubs before passing on my old shafts just in case

 

[john0]

How far do you carry a 7i?

Probably about 18 holes the same as the rest of his clubs

 

[Oddsocks]

How far do you carry a 7i?

depending on temps it is normally around 145/150 unless is super cold.

 

[JustOne]

I wouldn't mess with your irons (save that for another day). You could probably use stiff in your driver and fairways.

 

[USER1999]

145/150 will put you somewehere between stiff and regular, same as me. I can hit either just as badly. I'd leave it alone. Sometimes you can think way too much.

 

[Oddsocks]

cheers lads, ill leave it as woods for now.

Out of interest what is the suggested club head speeds on reg & stiff for say a 6i?

 

[Oddsocks]

I wouldn't mess with your irons (save that for another day). You could probably use stiff in your driver and fairways.

interesting, entered my stats on truetempter.com.

this is what is suggests based on a 140 & 145 7i, and a 240 & 250 driver.

Irons Rifle (Regular)
Driver: Prolaunch Axis Red (Stiff)
Fairway Woods: ProLaunch Red FW (Siff)

 

[Ethan]

The underlying question is what suits you best. It is perfectly possible that you suit stiff in woods and regular in irons, or a mixture of flexes depending on which make.

I would get fitted if I was you. Official TM fitting (for those who do not want to spend £200 at Wentworth) is in Basingstoke, and Jason the pro there will soon tell you what shafts you need. The woods and irons can be tipped or hard stepped to make them play a bit firmer if you want to avoid the cost of a full reshaft.

Also, you can get a range of subflexes between R and S if you don't obviously suit either.

 

[Oddsocks]

ehtan, can you explain the stepped and tipped bit.

My understanding of stepping is moving the shafts across then triming, IE 4i to 5I, meaning i only buy 1 new shaft effectively?

Whats the tipping about?

 

[Aztecs27]

The underlying question is what suits you best. It is perfectly possible that you suit stiff in woods and regular in irons, or a mixture of flexes depending on which make.

I would get fitted if I was you. Official TM fitting (for those who do not want to spend £200 at Wentworth) is in Basingstoke, and Jason the pro there will soon tell you what shafts you need. The woods and irons can be tipped or hard stepped to make them play a bit firmer if you want to avoid the cost of a full reshaft.

Also, you can get a range of subflexes between R and S if you don't obviously suit either.

It's actually £100 at Wentworth, unless you're getting fitted for a full set of irons. And you get a Dozen Penta balls and a rather tasty Wentworth Polo included in that price...As well as a full 2 hour fitting session and DVD at the end of it which has a motion captured copy of your swing that is viewable from 360 degrees and at whatever speed you want. Ideal to go back and show your pro. Not that it's not expensive, but having been there last week and seen what it is they can do, I would say, if you have the extra £100 and can afford it, it's definitely £100 worth spending (and good value for money) and I plan on going to get fitted for an R11 3 and 5 wood for my birthday this year.

 

[Oddsocks]

well spoke to my pro who has a a stiff 6i that matches my reg 6i, so in my lesson ill try both and report back.

 

[viscount17]

145/150 will put you somewehere between stiff and regular, same as me. I can hit either just as badly. I'd leave it alone. Sometimes you can think way too much.

I've been looking at changing mine for the same reason as Oddsocks - irons miss left. I hit my 7-i around 155, which on the basis of the above would argue for stiff? Yet the Mizuno DNA thingy has me firmly Regular.

and Imurg's right - it's been a nagging irritant for some time.

 

[ScienceBoy]

After a fitting I have ended up with a heavy stiff shaft in my woods, these have helped me get the ball going quite well, if not a little high.

From the above I know the feeling, I hope the shafts are right for me but only time will tell. Also as my swing improves will they still be right?

One thing that comforts me is that I know I have a quality shaft that has been chosen by a professional (an independent fitter) to fit my natural rhythm. I know it will be closer to optimal than anything I could have picked out and if I need to change it will probably be time to change the driver anyway.

Next up will be the irons, my MP-52s arrive tomorrow (confirmed by parcel forces website) and I expect I will go get them retro fitted this spring, once I have got a feel for how they work.

 

[Ethan]

ehtan, can you explain the stepped and tipped bit.

My understanding of stepping is moving the shafts across then triming, IE 4i to 5I, meaning i only buy 1 new shaft effectively?

Whats the tipping about?

Tipping means giving the pro a fiver for a drink after he has helped you out.





Or cutting a bit off the tip and reinserting the head, which will make the shaft play stiffer.

Hard stepping is best done at the time of manufacture, because the wedge shaft is shorter than the one you would want to put in the 9 iron etc.

 

[Ethan]

145/150 will put you somewehere between stiff and regular, same as me. I can hit either just as badly. I'd leave it alone. Sometimes you can think way too much.

I've been looking at changing mine for the same reason as Oddsocks - irons miss left. I hit my 7-i around 155, which on the basis of the above would argue for stiff? Yet the Mizuno DNA thingy has me firmly Regular.

The Mizuno DNA thingy uses more than swing speed to judge flex, so presumably you have a smooth tempo which would tend to point you to the softer shaft.

Also depends on the shaft.