Stiff Shafts and Loft, accuracy over distance?

[Dave B]

Last year I changed my driver from an 11 degree Callaway FT3 with a regular Aldila NVS shaft to an 11.5 degree Nike VR Pro Driver with a SVR6 Voodoo Shaft.

The Callaway was very consistent when I started playing however as my swing developed and distance increased so did the left and rights just off the fairway. The Nike resolved this without a loss of distance however as my swing has progressed I'm now hitting the Nike too high for my liking.

I recently bought a Callaway Diablo Edge Tour 10.5 degree driver at a good price and after trying it with the standard shaft, (Aldila Habenaro Regular), I was hitting it to high the same as the Nike. One of my friends had a stiff Callaway Aldilla Rip Tour shaft that he'd removed from a Razr Tour and given that he changed it because the flight was low, I thought it would be ideal.

It has bought the flight down but not by as much as I'd hoped it would. It's certainly more consistent than the Habenaro and hits the ball further.

On average in winter conditions I'm driving 230-250 which is nearly all carry. The ball flight is a typical rainbow trajectory and not penetrating.

I'm happy with the stiff shafts as they seem more consistent than the regulars I've used, however would I benefit from dropping the loft to 9.5 degrees or should I stick with what I've got and work on technique.

One point to mention is that on my previous course the pro told me that I should not be using stiff shafts unless I could carry at least 250 yds, however given the consistency the stiffer shafts have given me I am reluctant to go back to regular.

 

[patricks148]

Last year I changed my driver from an 11 degree Callaway FT3 with a regular Aldila NVS shaft to an 11.5 degree Nike VR Pro Driver with a SVR6 Voodoo Shaft.

The Callaway was very consistent when I started playing however as my swing developed and distance increased so did the left and rights just off the fairway. The Nike resolved this without a loss of distance however as my swing has progressed I'm now hitting the Nike too high for my liking.

I recently bought a Callaway Diablo Edge Tour 10.5 degree driver at a good price and after trying it with the standard shaft, (Aldila Habenaro Regular), I was hitting it to high the same as the Nike. One of my friends had a stiff Callaway Aldilla Rip Tour shaft that he'd removed from a Razr Tour and given that he changed it because the flight was low, I thought it would be ideal.

It has bought the flight down but not by as much as I'd hoped it would. It's certainly more consistent than the Habenaro and hits the ball further.

On average in winter conditions I'm driving 230-250 which is nearly all carry. The ball flight is a typical rainbow trajectory and not penetrating.

I'm happy with the stiff shafts as they seem more consistent than the regulars I've used, however would I benefit from dropping the loft to 9.5 degrees or should I stick with what I've got and work on technique.

One point to mention is that on my previous course the pro told me that I should not be using stiff shafts unless I could carry at least 250 yds, however given the consistency the stiffer shafts have given me I am reluctant to go back to regular.

Dot sure the 250 carry is right.

I don't have a high clubhead speed between 95 and 105 MPH and use stiff shaft.

I've had reg shafts and hit the ball very high with them, in fact when the new mizuno driver are out i'm checking one in 8.5 deg with the grafalloy pro launch red shaft.

even when i was off 15 and had a much slower clubhead speed i was rec a stiffer shaft in the driver.

 

[Ethan]

Too many variables to isolate shaft flex as the most important variable, in my opinion. You used clubs with different head designs, different lofts and different brands of shaft as well as different flex. Habanero is a mid launch shaft, RIP is a low launch shaft, so even in the same flex, they will play rather different from one another.

Flex varies enormously by brand, and some shafts would recommend stiff from swing speeds in the high 80s mph, others for swing speeds above 100mph. 100mph probably gives around 240 yards carry.

However, swing speed is only one variable used to determine the correct flex - tempo is another: a faster tempo will require a stiffer shaft than a slower tempo.