Tried a reg shaft driver today-revelation

[CMAC]

After using stiff and x-stiff for years, plus trying pretty much all the new drivers recently with stiff shafts and not found the correct head/shaft combo yet, I picked up a friends TM burner with reg shaft thats 3 years old and proceeded to impress even myself as to air time, solid strikes, feel etc etc

hmmmm should I be trying reg shafts that have feel as opposed to some of the stiffs that feel dead............

 

[gripitripit]

New driver fitting and purchase soon?

 

[Dave B]

Darth

I've been playing with a stiff Voodoo in my Nike VR to keep the flight down however the club has seen better days. During yesterdays fitting I was advised that although the 9.5 degree Nike and Voodoo shaft had worked for me I would be better off going up to a 10.5 degree driver with a low spin regular shaft.

Although I hit several stiff shafted drivers reasonably well they weren't any where near as good as the Razr Fit RIP NV regular shaft combo. It was an expensive lesson but I now know I have a club with the correct shaft, launch angle and spin so any other issues will be strickly swing related and nothing to do with the club.

 

[CMAC]

Darth

I've been playing with a stiff Voodoo in my Nike VR to keep the flight down however the club has seen better days. During yesterdays fitting I was advised that although the 9.5 degree Nike and Voodoo shaft had worked for me I would be better off going up to a 10.5 degree driver with a low spin regular shaft.

Although I hit several stiff shafted drivers reasonably well they weren't any where near as good as the Razr Fit RIP NV regular shaft combo. It was an expensive lesson but I now know I have a club with the correct shaft, launch angle and spin so any other issues will be strickly swing related and nothing to do with the club.

sounds good to me dave, whats your driver SS at the fitting?

Any fittings I've had they insist on stiff but with the extra lenght its never felt comfortable, no problem with stiff and x-stiff on my 4 wood and irons though.
I'll try a 9* razr fit with reg shaft tomorrow as I'm used to an 8.5* and graffaloy prolaunch red but thats too low in soggy conditions, need more airtime

 

[Doon frae Troon]

At the risk of sounding rude and arrogrant I would question why a 14 handicap player is using stiff shafts.

I used stiff shafts for far too long but as I grew older [early forties] and my handicap went out to four I switched to reg shafts and immediatly started playing a different but better game.

 

[Val]

At the risk of sounding rude and arrogrant I would question why a 14 handicap player is using stiff shafts.

I used stiff shafts for far too long but as I grew older [early forties] and my handicap went out to four I switched to reg shafts and immediatly started playing a different but better game.

It doesn't matter what your handicap is. If your swing requires a stiff shaft then that's it, many high guys need a stiff and many low guys need regular.

 

[Foxholer]

At the risk of sounding rude and arrogrant I would question why a 14 handicap player is using stiff shafts.

No real correlation between ability and shaft flex requirement. I know a couple of guys who both require X-flex shafts. One is a scratch player and the other is a 25-capper.

I'm another example of the rule that applies to both of them - Play as soft a shaft as you can control!

Originally fitted as low-torque light weight Regular (tipped slightly) shaft in Driver, I ended up with too much 'confidence' in it and high fades were the result. Slightly stronger, active tip shaft kept things under control much better. No idea what attributes of current Driver are - it just works!

 

[USER1999]

I find a regular shaft driver puts too much back spin on it. It is obv me, chopping down on it, but there you are. I can't hit reg in my driver.

 

[Dave B]

Darth that is a good question as I was lead to believe the club head speed was between 115 and 124 however from the feedback from some of the forum members it may be that the 115-125 was infact the ball speed.

If this is correct, worrking on an average ball speed of 120 mph and the fact that the balls were 80% range balls, using a factor of 1.5 to calculate swing speed would suggest my actual swing speed is around 96 mph on a good swing, (120 + 24, (+20% range ball factor based on 80% range ball), divided by 1.5 which is the factor applied to ball speed to calculate swing speed.

This would be consistent with my 7 iron range of 150-160 yds and driver carry of around 230 yds. As you'll appreciate I'm at the top end for a regular shaft and bottom end of a stiff shaft however the RIP NV and 10.5 degree loft kept the ball flight lower that many of the 9.5 degree stiff shafted drivers.

Although I wasn't swinging perfectly the Razr Fit just felt right and is the closest I've come to my 440 cc Nike VR however I'm confident it will be more forgiving and give me a few extra yards. I didn't intend paying £300 for a driver however non of the cheaper drivers, RBZ, Nike VRS, Ping G15, Ping G20, or the R11S came close.

 

[CMAC]

At the risk of sounding rude and arrogrant I would question why a 14 handicap player is using stiff shafts.

If you're referring to me no problem, but as others have said handicap isnt relevant to shaft stiffness, I play with a 15 handicapper with a 112mph driver swing speed who cant chip or putt for toffee......

Mind if I ask what specs are in your clubs especially driver?

P.S I was just trying to be a bit wicked with my h/cap sig:smirk:

 

[Deleted member 15717]

I tested out an RBZ 3-wood with a regular shaft and absolutely loved it. The feeling of not having to put everything into a shot to get it to go the distance is incredible!

Have quickly purchased reg shafts for my R11 3 wood and driver. 3 wood has arrived and I have never struck it so well. Still awaiting driver shaft delivery, but if it has the same results...awesome!

 

[CMAC]

Went to the range last night with a different lofted reg shafted driver, just outstanding! About 30 drives in a row with the mis-hits still going well.

It's quite annoying how long I've been a bad driver and looking for a head/shaft combo that fits me. I've spent too much cash and time with fitters in the last 6 mths, and because of a SS of 102-108 it was stiff shafts all the way, one even started on extra stiff! Needless to say none of the 3 fitters recommended any shaft as none of the results were good on the day and none of the shafts felt comfortable and I tried a lot including some 'not for sale' shafts.

There's def a need and usefulness for custom fitting, think I've just been unlucky with all mine and I've found the right irons (and now driver) with trial and error and what feels 'right'

 

[pbrown7582]

Darth that is a good question as I was lead to believe the club head speed was between 115 and 124 however from the feedback from some of the forum members it may be that the 115-125 was infact the ball speed.

If this is correct, worrking on an average ball speed of 120 mph and the fact that the balls were 80% range balls, using a factor of 1.5 to calculate swing speed would suggest my actual swing speed is around 96 mph on a good swing, (120 + 24, (+20% range ball factor based on 80% range ball), divided by 1.5 which is the factor applied to ball speed to calculate swing speed.

This would be consistent with my 7 iron range of 150-160 yds and driver carry of around 230 yds. As you'll appreciate I'm at the top end for a regular shaft and bottom end of a stiff shaft however the RIP NV and 10.5 degree loft kept the ball flight lower that many of the 9.5 degree stiff shafted drivers.

Although I wasn't swinging perfectly the Razr Fit just felt right and is the closest I've come to my 440 cc Nike VR however I'm confident it will be more forgiving and give me a few extra yards. I didn't intend paying £300 for a driver however non of the cheaper drivers, RBZ, Nike VRS, Ping G15, Ping G20, or the R11S came close.

using 1.5 smash factor as a divided gives you an idea of swing speed but 1.5 is for an almost perfect strike out of the sweet spot many peoples smash factor will be nearer 1.4 than 1.5 i know is only small margins but these can make a big difference.