Jetspeed shaft not stiff enough?

gantoise1 · June 5, 2016

I started playing golf a couple of months ago, and yesterday I played my first 18 holes round.

It was a texas scramble so I hit my driver on almost every hole.

I've only been hitting driver at the range since two weeks, so I'm kind off hitting my drives all over the place.

Yesterday a buddy of mine (+hcp) told me my shaft was not stiff enough.

I bought a Taylormade Jetspeed driver with a stiff Matrix Velox T-49 shaft and when struck well I think I carry about 260 yards.

Yesterday I hit a few good drives, but also a couple that went really high and only carried 240 yards or so.

I don't know what my swing speed with the driver is, but I do know that my swing speed with a 3W is around 106mph (trackman).

Should I look for a new shaft? If so, how to begin? Is this something you can test in golf stores?

I bought all my equipment online so never been inside a golf store before...

MadGolfer76 · June 5, 2016

1) Stop hitting driver so much at the range.

2) Pull the shaft you have and cut off an inch from the tip section and reinstall it. Any golf store should be able to do that for you.

gantoise1 · June 5, 2016

1) Stop hitting driver so much at the range.

2) Pull the shaft you have and cut off an inch from the tip section and reinstall it. Any golf store should be able to do that for you.

Thanks for the reply.

"I've only been hitting driver at the range since two weeks, so I'm kind off hitting my drives all over the place."

With this I mean that I have just started to hit drives 2 weeks ago, before that I didn't even have a driver. I have maybe hit 100-150 drives in my lifetime...

MadGolfer76 · June 5, 2016

1) Stop hitting driver so much at the range.

2) Pull the shaft you have and cut off an inch from the tip section and reinstall it. Any golf store should be able to do that for you.
Thanks for the reply.

"I've only been hitting driver at the range since two weeks, so I'm kind off hitting my drives all over the place."
With this I mean that I have just started to hit drives 2 weeks ago, before that I didn't even have a driver. I have maybe hit 100-150 drives in my lifetime...

Apologies! I took that to mean that you had only been hitting driver at the range for two weeks. Sorry, but I see this sometimes at my own range.

The thing with the Jetspeed is that it is a great head, but the stock length of the club overall can make it hard to swing for accuracy. By pulling and "tipping" the shaft, you reduce the length of the club and firm up the lower section of the shaft. Both of which help with accuracy...and also potentially with distance if it promotes better contact. When you reduce the length of the driver, you limit *potential* distance by using a shorter "lever," but a lot of people have experienced no loss since contact improved.

These are things to discuss with a club repair person in your area. If you just want a different shaft to try, there are plenty of cheap options out there depending on what you want.

Stuart_G · June 6, 2016

For that type of distance (when you hit it well), I would suspect the bigger problems would more likely be the long stock playing length (as mentioned above) but also the light shaft weight, which for most tends to be more important than the flex (or bend profile) when it comes to being able to reproduce a consistent swing. But the flex still could potentially be a problem as well.

MadGolfer's suggestions are good and will help a bit with the length and possibly the stiffness issues but unfortunately can't address the weight issues. Although, if I remember correctly, stock length for the jetspeed was 46" so I might even extend that suggestion to 1.5" instead of 1". And whether you tip 1" or 1.5", you'll likely need to get some lead tape to play with the head weight. Too light a shaft weight combined with too light a head weight (swing weight) could potentially make the consistency even worse.

So yes, I would think you will likely better off with a new shaft. However, way to little information to determine what would be a good replacement. That will take some time demoing different shafts with different weights and bend profiles to see how the changing shaft specs impact your swing. That typically is easiest to do with a good quality fitting.

misplacedtexan83 · June 6, 2016

Can't go wrong with any of those answers.

I'll add one since the shaft has to be pulled in order to make it stiffer.

Find a pull driver shaft in the 60 gram weight class in stiff on BST. A lot of good products come through for cheap.

Good luck and I hope you have continue success in the wonderful game of golf.

IsleOfMan · January 4, 2017

I used a Speeder 57 from a SLDR, shortened to 44" playing length with pretty good results. Much better results than the stock Velox-T 49 and the shorter length + heavier weight help keep swing weight in the ballpark without needing more weight in the head. It's still my backup and will probably find its way to the bag I keep at my parents house in KY.