Why am I getting 20-25 yards more from an X flex shaft with a very Avg. Joe swingspeed?

[PingGuy68]

It could just be the weight and flex point matches your swing better. I saw the same thing on the track man today. I'm not a tour level swinger, but my dispersion, distance, and smash factor all got better with a 75g x shaft.

 

I have the same experience with an X in my driver. It fits my tempo regardless of the flex printed on it.

[Jerksen]

If you really want answers get them both on a trackman and look at the numbers. I bet the xshaft is launching lower with lower spin rates. Just a hunch but give it a look.

 

Those burner heads were proper rippers as well.

[njortego]

Best way to determine is to get on a launch monitor and see the numbers produced by both shafts and go from there

[mike5901550]

I'm swinging driver about 93-97 and this season stumbled upon an x-flex older ProforceV2 in an M2 head at a golf shop with GC2 monitor, gave it a try just for fun....

Bottom line was that my spin went from mid 3s to low 2s

Bought an x-flex new old stock V2 shaft , fitted it into my Ping Anser 8.5 head and have never looked back, hit more fairways and was longer than ever, reduced h'cap from 6.9 to 4.5 this season and it's in no small part to this combo.

I agree that "flex" should be tailored to transition or loading and not speed.

I would recommend ensuring that you 1. Don't have a downward aoa . 2. Just keep trying the stiffest tip driver shaft to lower spin irrespective of flex

Hit up, lower the spin, job done.

Mike

[Jordan Speeth]

I am a 63 year old cancer patient (which has slowed me down quite a bit) with a smooth transition and a modest driver swing speed of about 100 mph ( though I can go faster if I want) but, honestly, I know that I throttle down on the course with accuracy in mind. My best Trackman numbers are always with a stock DG S300. I also played the X100 in my Eye2's when I was younger that performed well for me. I'm thinking that it's more about the weight again rather than the flex. I've always trained with weights (over 50 years) and I'm very strong in spite of the swing speed. Just saying that these shaft recommendations are not always carved in stone. With lighter shafts, I hit moon-balls and I'm prone to flipping at the bottom rather than releasing the club late, like I do with the heavier shaft.

[ohioglfr]

The same thing happened to me around 12 years ago. I had an Orlimar Trimetal (first generation) driver with an X-flex Penley shaft I picked up at a used equipment golf show. On well-struck shots I could hit the back net at the driving range, which was 280 yds. Just the right combination of factors, I guess. It was a fun club to hit at the range, but I didn't like it on the course. Club face was too shallow and I didn't feel confident with it.

[NPVWhiz]

I have two Penley stories that fit right into this thread. Back in the 90s I was working out in San Diego. At the time I played s300 in the irons and sometimes R, sometimes S in the woods. I bought a club out of a barrel at a local driving range near Carlsbad that was one of those old dark green Cobra 14 deg fairway woods that had a Penley Platinum shaft with no flex marking on it. That thing was the best fairway I ever owned. It was one of those clubs that I could really hammer on the driving range and it actually took me a while to get it working on the course, but eventually I figured out that it was stiffer than anything I'd played before. I ordered another one from Carter that I hoped would be just like it, but it ended up being just a little different. I tried a few other Penley shafts, which were moderately popular for a stretch in that time frame, but moved on to other stuff.

 

Then in 2005, due to an odd set of circumstances I had a bunch of my really good equipment stolen from the trunk of my car late in the season, including two of the best drivers I had owned and two half sets of my favorite irons, and a great putter to boot. It was late in the season though and I knew I could probably get back to something decent by the next season with the insurance.

 

Anyway, I used it as an opportunity to clear out the basement of some stuff that I could trade in and use with the insurance funds to pick up some newer equipment. One driver head I had in the basement was a Nike Ignite that I bought off Ebay just for the shaft. It had a 0.350 tip, so I got onto Ebay and bought a $10 closeout Penley Stealth 70X with a 350 tip just to put into that club to trade it in.

 

The day I was headed to Golf Galaxy to trade some stuff for a new driver late in the afternoon was just a beautiful late October day, so I thought, I'll just stop and play nine after work instead. I hit every fairway with that Ignite/Penley combo, right down the pipe. It felt and played better than anything I'd had prior. It was ridiculous, in a way, that with $1500 of high end pulls in the basement from various experiments that a $10 closeout shaft would be the one. But that is the way things ended up for me and I haven't been able to boot that shaft out of the bag since 2006. Eventually it got an r11 tip and just kept on keeping on.

 

I'm right in between X and S in terms of what I prefer in the irons, and I think that the Penley was just a great match for the setup I'd been using for a while with the irons. They felt like they were supposed to be paired together. But the thing that was unusual is that I can always hit that driver/shaft combo much faster on Trackman than other drivers I test, S or X flex. It always seems to produce the best clubhead speed, even though it turns out now that for the better part of a decade I've had it paired to a suboptimal spin head, but I cured that it looks like with an R11S head that killed a good bit of spin off the combo.

 

The point is that for players that would never try or might not expect to ever be fit into an X, don't be dissuaded from trying a few, especially the softer X shafts that might have a bend profile that just happens to suit your swing. I'm completely convinced that having a shaft that is sort of a match to your particular way of swinging is what allows a player to really attain the best possible ball speeds. Part of that comes from the confidence of just liking the shaft and how it performs. Those two things can build upon each other to allow a player that can routinely "fit" on Trackman at 92 to 94 mph with S flex driver demos produce 103 CHS with a shaft that really fits them well. With the right spin, there is a lot of distance in that gap. Don't be warned off from the softer X shafts and generally don't get myopic about what will work for you just based on your current swing speed. And vice versa for R flex for some folks.

[phen0men0n]

Shaft flex does not matter!!!!

 

Seriously, it doesn't. Shaft flex is all arbitrary and only relative to itself. If the shaft works for you, then it works for you. No need for an existential crisis.

[Justsomeguy]

Sounds like early release plus positive AoA. Adds loft and you're timing the release and flex to ball position.

If this was your formative driver, I'm not surprised that it's the one you established your pattern with.

I started w a shortened 07 burner then a 910d2 both w stiff shafts, and I found I had to manipulate the head at impact a little to make it go.

Eventually switched to R and now I just swing.

Release and placement are variables that can change needs from R to X.

[CAGOFORIT]

FWIW, I play stiff in all of my clubs except my driver. I play a Diamana whiteboard X flex. I have a quick transition at the top as well. The X flex give me more consistency, and knocks down my spin rates.

[som500]

I am sure someone else said this but there are a lot of different factors that go into what shaft flex you should play. Without seeing your swing and knowing all the details there isn’t a single answer for you unless you get a fitting. It’s amazing what shafts some people should be playing that they refuse to play or don’t think they should be.