Soft stepping iron shaft 3 times (i95)

[rexroh]

I am thinking of soft stepping some Steelfibre i95 3 times. I can possibly get some stiff i95 iron shafts 4-pw taper tip. I only use 7 to Pw and prefer regular shafts. Hence I am thinking of putting 4 iron shaft in 7 iron etc to 7 in Pw. Will this get them near regular or are there other factors in play with the i95's.

[MelloYello]

IDK, 3x might be severe even if theoretically it's supposed to match.

 

I just say that because I soft-stepped some S300 shafts 2x to soften them and add an inch. They came back feeling noticeably different.

[johnnybogey]

From what I’ve read, sidestepping 3x is a full flex.

[I_HATE_SNOW]

In theory, should work great!

[rexroh]

Thanks for the replies. Just wondering if anyone has done this and what were the results?

[Stuart_G]

> @rexroh said:

> I am thinking of soft stepping some Steelfibre i95 3 times. ... Will this get them near regular or are there other factors in play with the i95's.

 

Soft stepping x3 is only a rough generalization as there is no standard for flex and it can actually be between 3 and 4 times depending on who you ask. BUT while what you might end up with may be similar to some other shaft model that's a reg flex, it is NOT necessarily going to give you the same thing as buying a steelfiber i95 in reg flex. It will be softer but the profile can change. More likely a stiffer butt, softer tip, higher launching profile - but that's just a guess.

 

Now whether it's close enough or not is hard to say as it depends on your particular swing and your sensitivity to the stiffness in different parts of the shaft. It may be perfectly fine or it may be a complete disaster. I'd do up one club (prob the 7 iron) first and test it before doing the rest of the set. Once you do butt cut them after soft stepping x3, they wont be worth much anymore so little chance of flipping them if it doesn't work out.

 

 

 

[MelloYello]

> @Stuart_G said:

> > @rexroh said:

> > I am thinking of soft stepping some Steelfibre i95 3 times. ... Will this get them near regular or are there other factors in play with the i95's.

>

> Soft stepping x3 is only a rough generalization as there is no standard for flex and it can actually be between 3 and 4 times depending on who you ask. BUT while what you might end up with may be similar to some other shaft model that's a reg flex, it is NOT necessarily going to give you the same thing as buying a steelfiber i95 in reg flex. It will be softer but the profile can change. More likely a stiffer butt, softer tip, higher launching profile - but that's just a guess.

>

> Now whether it's close enough or not is hard to say as it depends on your particular swing and your sensitivity to the stiffness in different parts of the shaft. It may be perfectly fine or it may be a complete disaster. I'd do up one club (prob the 7 iron) first and test it before doing the rest of the set. Once you do butt cut them after soft stepping x3, they wont be worth much anymore so little chance of flipping them if it doesn't work out.

>

>

>

 

You know, I hadn't thought about it but when people soft-step they often keep that extra length. I would think that might affect the "perceived flex" in it's own way given two identical rods of different lengths, the shorter would feel stiffer.

 

When I soft-stepped my S300 set a few years ago I kept the extra inch of length and got exactly what you said...different feel in the hands with a more active tip which seemed to produce a higher launch.

 

When people say that soft-stepping 3x results in a 1-flex change, is that built on the assumption that the extra length is being trimmed off or kept on?

[Stuart_G]

> @MelloYello said:

> You know, I hadn't thought about it but when people soft-step they often keep that extra length which also affects feel.

>

> When I soft-stepped my S300 set a few years ago I kept the extra inch of length and got exactly what you said...different feel in the hands with a more active tip which seemed to produce a higher launch.

>

> When people say that soft-stepping 3x results in a 1-flex change, is that built on the assumption that the extra length is being trimmed off or kept on?

 

Mostly the generalizations are based on keeping the length AND swing weight the same. However, the majority of the stiffness change really comes from the change in head weight from the shaft's perspective - e.g. putting a 7 iron head (~268 gm) on a shaft that was designed for a 6 iron head (~261 gm). For stiffness (but not for swing weight or heft feel), most wont notice much (if any) difference between leaving the extra 1/2" or not. But there always are exceptions.