Picking a driver shaft - Stiff or X stiff

Hi guys,

I've just bought a Callaway Epic sub zero driver head and i'm looking to find a shaft that works for me.

I don't have the facilities or money to try new clubs and shafts, which is made worse by being a lefty. Having not had a driver for 3 years i don't have anything else to go off apart from my M2 3 wood which has a Reax 65g x stiff in it and my previous Adams XTD driver had a HD6 red tie stiff. I was wondering if anyone had some recommendations?

Swing speed: 105 - 110 Transition: medium/fast

HZRDUS black75G XS

There is no industry standard for stiffness, so you're really not asking the right question. Really, you should be asking, what characteristics in a shaft do I need? At 105-110 with driver with a medium to fast tempo, you're kind of in "no man's land" in my opinion, because that could fit a very wide variety of shafts. It will come down to what types of feels do you prefer... do you like a counter balanced feel, etc.

Unfortunately there's kind of two paths IMO that one can go down: path 1 is just save up money, go get fit and know near 100% certainty what shaft you need. Path 2 is just guess at what shaft you need... buy & sell various shafts and risk falling down the rabbit hole. Path 2 is potentially less expensive if you get lucky.... and potentially more expensive if you don't.

Both shafts you listed as having used before are softer tip, stiff butt profiles. If you liked that feel, then you'll probably like shafts such as Tensei Blue, Aldila Tour Blue, Aldila 2kxv Blue, etc. As far as stiffness goes...You'd probably be fine in X, based on my speed being about the same as yours ans having used those shafts just fine. You could also potentially fit into something like Hzrdus Smoke if you lean more toward the fast tempo more than the medium. I wouldn't suggest starting out with the stiff tip soft butt x flex shafts unless you specifically like that feel and/or your speed goes up a little bit more.

105-110 is still stiff in most shafts as most places measure club head speed at different intervals (extrapolate based on ball speed, measure centre of mass ala Trackman, measure at point of impact ala Foresight) it is tough to gauge exactly. Further, anyone can use any flex...flex is literally the last thing that matters as there is a massive variance in what constitutes flex between different manufacturers, and even within different shaft profiles of the same manufacturer. Do me a favour and swing the Bassara GG 50 Stiff against the Diamana DF 50 Stiff...you'd be surprised at how different these two shafts feel despite being a similar weight and the same "flex".

If I were you, I'd probably go something in the 60g Stiff range, butt stiff. HZRDUS Smoke 60 6.0 should be fine.

You dont even tell how you like those shafts you mention, and if you wanted something similar or different and if different, what differences?

Not to be rude, but a graphite shaft will most likely be the best option, thats the darkness you put us all in, club speed and tempo dont tell anything, since your preferences is whats count in the end.

Start by WEIGHT...should the shaft be the same, lighter or have more feel of weight than what you are used to?

Then profile and flex, do you like to feel the shaft loading and "kick" during release, or do you prefer a "phone-pole" that dont move or bend at all? or simply stiffer or softer than the shafts you play, and if so, what part of the shaft should be softer or stiffer to please your preference?

You left us with nothing to navigate on, club speed dont really matter, and there is no standard for flex letters, so my own arsenal of drivers has both R, S, X and 5.5 options....and im only at 88-90 mph, but even i can play X flex if the shaft belongs to a "soft to flex" family of shafts like my X flex does.

You will simply have to tell us more about your experience with what you got, and what differences you want.

One practical consideration: could you get good results from an X-Flex whenever you played, or just on days you are swinging very well?

Thank you all for the info. I'm new to this site and wasn't sure i'd get a response at all, so i'll happily go into a bit more detail!

Going back to the shafts i mentioned in the earlier post:

Reax 65g X stiff - Absolutely love it, I can step on it if needs be and also take a bit off no problem. Medium to high flight normal, but again i can knock it down if i need to.

Matrix Ozik HD6 stiff - wasn't blown away by it and wasn't a fan of the Butt stiffness, but overall had a nice flight and numbers were very good. i guess if the butt stiffness was less and that wouldn't effect the flight too much then i could easily game again.

Mitsubishi Kuro Kage Silver TiNi 60 X stiff - Didn'y enjoy hitting it and it felt far too flexible which didn't give me any confidence.

Aldila RIP 70 2.8 X stiff - During the middle of summer when i play 2/3 times a week I could hit this a long way and reasonably consistently, but overall I think it was probably too stiff me and a struggle to game all year round.

I think it probably says it all that i haven't had a driver for 3 years because i'm fairly inconsistent with them, but i think half of the reason for that is not having a driver with a shaft that i feel i can completely trust and enjoy hitting. I think ideally i'd be looking at something around 60 - 70 grams and something that plays like a true stiff shaft rather than a soft one.

I have a handicap of 4 and and i hope to shave a couple of shots off this summer so i feel having something that i can go to and get an extra 20/30 yards out of might go some way to helping me achieve that!

Hzrdus Smoke 6.0 might fit then. I game the 6.5 and honestly it feels just fine even when I'm not at my full swing speed.

Thanks guys,

I'm ordering a 70s Whiteboard and Hzrdous smoke 6.0 and i'm going to see how those go. Not sure about the Hzrdous black 6.0 yet as it sounds a bit like the HD6 that i played before.

Thanks Bnperrone, but I've ordered it already and hoping to try it out tomorrow. I'll be in touch if I don't like the results...I'm based in the UK though, which might be a problem.

Just tried the Whiteboard out and its a tad to whippy. Would you say standard Hrzdous black would be best to go for next instead of the Smoke? The smoke sounded quite similar to the Whiteboard. I have to say, buying and trying new shafts is quite addictive!!

Maybe this info from Russ Ryden will help you to judge it better when you want a comparehttps://www.golfshaftreviews.info/diamana-series-w-golf-shaft-review/https://www.golfshaftreviews.info/category/2018-models/page/2/

Real curious what you think of the 6.0 smoke as I'm weighing that exact shaft. I'm down the same rabbit hole as you ordering and trying shafts out.

I just got the same driver and I have the Project X Even Flow Blue stiff shaft and it weighs 67g. I used to have the Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana S+ BLUE 60 and consistently hit the ball out to the right. I was going back and forth on whether to go Stiff or X Stiff and I am really happy I stayed with stiff and just went up 7g. The weight difference made all the difference and now I am way straighter and can even work it right to left now which was not a comfortable shot before. I'd take a look at weight and not just stiffness.

Aldila Nasty Long 60x

Same speed as you and same faster transition

I can list other x flex shafts I found I have liked over the years if it could help

Tensei pro white. Awesome shaft.