Soft stepping and slowing down????

[chuckyz2]

Hi Guys. Going to give a lengthly description for best possible replies.

 

5.8 slender tone strong and flexible old (53) still capable of getting after it.

 

Driver swing speed 105is but can swing a swing stick 118. the kind you turn over and tap. Done it many times and with different ones out of the barrel and with friends. But I never sing that hard when playing.

 

I'm flat. Low and inside take away flat wrist at top, business card in watch flat, I maintain that all the way down and through the ball using no slapping with right hand with driver. I just let it go. I hold it back till shaft is parallel with ground before release.

 

At the top my shaft angle is pretty even with shoulder line. My ball flight is straight and some days a very slight fade 10 to 15 yards. I prefer the straight but just play the fade when it shows up. Sometimes it straightens on during the round and usually when I loosen my grip.

 

I average 280 with driver and 150 with 8i with smooth full swings. My driver is a 9* tour rbz and 9* tour stage 2. My irons are original Rbladez standard that came with 85g Stiff fuelies.

 

I played those fuelies for a month then put in KBS Tours (125g) tip trimmed to KBS trimmed sheet for middle stiffness. I think it was 6.0. They felt like boards. I soft stepped them and though they still felt stiff they flew decent. I also butt trimmed .5" shorter than my standards came from TM.

 

Over a year or so playing those I noticed sore fingers and fatique. So I went lighter with KBS tour 90's trimmed to the middle of the trim chart which is less than the middle of the trim for the Tours. Its like a 4.5. Just checked and they are at 5.0 because I hard stepped them to avoid having to butt trim and grip. 5.0 is at the stiffest on the KBS chart. softest being a 4.0.

 

The tours also started to fly lower and shorter but that could have just been my swing. After installing the 90's which I hoped would bring my trajectory back up I was a little disappointed. Though they were a little higher, it wasn't much and my distance didn't come back as I had hoped. So I went bact to work on my swing and figured it out. I was swinging with a flat shoulder turn instead of right shoulder coming down as it should and my release had become a little premature.

 

I still struggle with it but have great days when they are right.

 

My question is in regards to soft stepping to further raise my trajectory as I want to take 80% swings on all approach shots instead of full swings. This will slow down my SS which has to be full plus for the shafts to feel right as they are now.

 

I have been taking an extra club and 3/4 back swings with much better dispersion. Just too low of ball flight.

 

If I soft step, I am thinking it will not only feel better but give me more height and more spin, even if it is just a little. And if it puts the flex more in my range, as I am confident they are too stiff now, it will help on full shots when bite is needed.

 

I loved the trajectory of the fuelies and the distance, but I stay more on line, dispersion with the KBS. They should by all rights be as long and only a tad lower, so I am thinking my 90's are just too stiff.

 

I am aware that soft stepping once is only 1/3 flex softer. I have soft stepped before and that 1/3 always makes a very noticeable difference.

 

The pros almost always do 3/4 swings on their approaches and I know that it changes shaft charateristics. Do they play a softer flex in their irons when they always swing 75 to 80 %?

 

SSL : )

[chuckyz2]

I soft stepped my 6i and left it at standard length and played around with it today. It was better. A little longer and higher. But not as much as I want. It felt good on full swings. I choked down a little as it will be 1/2" shorter when finished.

I choked down 1/2" as it was 1/2" over what I should be playing and was swinging smooth full.

So I pulled that shaft and the 5i shaft that was in my 4i. Now I have 3 shafts and measured the tip trim

They are:

3 3/8
4
4.5 this is the one I have been playing in my six till today
that's a 1/3 stiffer than a 5.0 or a hard stepped 5.0

My 6 head weighs 260g. Don't know what the standard is but that's what mine weighs.

Today I played with the shaft trimmed 4" That's exactly a 5.0 in a 6i on KBS's chart. If the head weight is in the range they base their chart from.

If I was going to swing hard a lot this would be a good flex for me. But I want to tone it down.

So the 3 3/8 is going in. It should be 3 1/2 but they trimmed it a tad softer for the longer irons. They were new pulls.

This will put me at a soft stepped 5.0 not counting shortening my butt end 1/2 which from what Ive read stiffens the shaft up also.

Not sure how much but will assume for now I will be playing a 5.0

Going from a 5.33 to a 5.0 was noticeably better everywhere. Trajectory, distance and dispersion. I'm hoping going to a 4.66 will get even better. If not I will go back. I'm sure it will be the last step needed if needed.

[chuckyz2]

Soft stepped my 6-9 last night. I have been playing with 5.33 freq and they felt boardy but I still played decent with them. I soft step my 6 once and tested it and decided to soft step them all twice. Now they are at 4.66ish.

Had to work today but snuck out before work and hit some shots. They are definitely different. I wasn't catching them properly and was leaving them out to the right. Something that happens to me when I play to soft of flex but they felt absolutely perfect. I didn't have time to sort if it was the flex or swing so went to work. Got off and anxiously went out and tested some more.

Was doing the same as in the morning. So I checked my swing and sure enough, I was leaving it open at impact due to not setting properly at the top. It took a bit but I got it sorted and right before dark, about an hour later, I started to hit some crisp straight shots. I was getting the trajectory I wanted and my distance was back. I was swinging hard, full and 3/4 getting very good dispersion. As I had hoped, My less than full swings were going as far as my full swings but a little higher.

Ive always was quick at the top. Been working on that for a month or so and really concentrated on pausing and going back down starting slow and gradually speeding it up with a smooth 90% release. The club was still turning me around to a full smooth finish and the ball flight was beautiful. Not too high, though I like high. Mid high penetrating even against the wind. Good bite.

Heres the kicker. I wanted to swing weight them to my hard stepped swing weights but didn't have the time or the lead tape. They felt light. After a while they felt right.

My 6 and 7 are at C9 and C9.5. The 8 and 9 are at D0.5 and D0.75. With no tape as I stripped it all off. I left it on my 9 but took it off during practice because the lighter clubs with the softer tip were working better.

I am very happy I pulled the trigger and did this. I cant wait to practice 75/80% shots.

I still have a gap between my 5 rescue and 6 iron. The rescue is easy to choke down on and hit so I will live with it. It flies lower but still bites.

Its weird hitting the green most of the time. It makes making adjustments easier and progress in fine tuning faster.

I know I am getting better but am doing the same swing and fighting the same misses as before. I see the better tuned clubs helping me get rapidly better.

And the smooth yet solid feel is just amazing.

Last hole. 140 into the wind 7-10mph. 8 iron is 150 on smooth swing. 3 balls right at the target and all next to each other, 2 short right next to each other,
The ones on the green were middle back. About 145 yards.

Same spot, 9i. 3 shots bunched up like Moe Norman hit them. Just short of middle 138ish yards. one front left fringe. 2 right front green. 1 spray.

For me that's a great spread especially first time out with different flex. Pin was in the back. chipped in the fringe ball. made 2 putts and two putted all but one of the others.

If you saw me play just a few months ago or even last month, you would not believe it was the same guy. Cant wait to play in my group tomorrow.

[mac94]

Cool story, bro.

[chuckyz2]

I have been doin a lot of research on flex fitting and for the most part the general rule is certain SS need certain flexes. Im sure everyone is familiar with those speeds and flexes. Yet there are also people with stiff flex speeds that do much better with looser flexes. Jack Nicholas being one of the most notable. He also liked lower swingweights. So I have been experimenting with reg and even M flex shafts in rescue clubs. I have also put R flex fairway Ilima in a rescue and have seen some remarkable results. The heavier head loosens up the shaft and makes it play to R- and maybe even close to a M flex. The distance gains are stunning and the dispersion is not any worse. I have also put Stage 2 M flex resue shaft into an old Nickent 5 rescue with the same tipping as it came in the Stage 2 5 rescue. That club has replaced my Rbladez 5i. I am twice as consistent with it.

I think I may have stumbled on to something here. And not just for me. I have friend who is a plus hdcp and he is getting the same results. I have since built him a driver, 3w and 3h and his long game has not only got substantialy longer, his dispersion has not suffered at all. He gained an average 20 yds with each club. Now he has a gap between his rescue and 4i, soon to be filled with another rescue.

I could be wrong, but I would almost wager the long knockers on tour are using softer flexes than they claim. I'm am going to continue testing. I am aware that different swings require different shafts and not all people would get the same results, but the only two I have tested so far, me being one of them, Have. And we can get after it without the negative results most claim when hitting softer shafts. Maybe its a fluke. We'll see.