Driver shaft flex - flight pattern???

I visited a clubbuilder in Hamburg (Germany) yesterday who is specialized on fitting / building "rare" import clubs (KZG, Nakashima, Miura, Bridgestone etc.). He had really nice stuff and I tried a number of drivers.

We discussed the effect of shaft flexes on flight curves and he said basically - all other parameters being equal - a stiffer shaft will go left and a softer shaft will go right ( obviously for righthanders!).

Now this is contrary to everything I previously read/heard. I thought if the shaft is too soft, it will have a tendancy to go left/hook, if too stiff = right/slice, always the same player.

Obviously this is a very simple approach and excludes all other factors / swing flaws etc.

Can someone please enlighten me as to which is correct?

Thanks

Johann

I'm with you Johann:

 

Flex is too stiff - push right

 

Flex is too soft - hook left

 

Your clubmaker seems a tad confused.

46853[/snapback]

Agree with the above - based on experience and other's comments.

no, the clubmaker can be right... there is so much more to shaft fitting than the direction it goes (i read this in an old golf mag article). if the shaft is too stiff, you are probably not loading it properly so the clubhead doesn't lag enough and the hands are behind the clubhead and shut the face at impact taking it left...

I'm with you Johann:

 

Flex is too stiff - push right

 

Flex is too soft - hook left

 

Your clubmaker seems a tad confused.

46853[/snapback]

Might want to shop for a second opinion based on my experience it contradicts your clubmakers statements.

http://www.golfonline.com/golfonline/yahoo...,700903,00.html

i've generally believed stiff right, flexible left, but if you read the linked article, they're talking about subtleties in shaft loading. tom wishon, and i think max out and hot stix, and for sure the callaway and titleist fitting centers graph the shaft loading in a swing to determine the proper shaft. macgregor, for example, used this technology to make the proprietary shaft for their drivers. it's kind of a new wave in fitting exactly to the customer's swing tendencies. probably wouldn't work as effectively on an erratic swing, but pretty cool nonetheles...