Age when you switched to regular flex iron shafts

[spring70]

users, fitters, builders, at what age did you make the switch or at what age have you seen the majority of players going from Stiff to Regular in iron shafts?

[icemakr]

My $.02

 

I’m 56 and recently switched to regular. I think the true determining factor

should be ball flight. I started struggling with low ball flight. I tried lighter stiff flex first

but that disrupted my 40+yo muscle memory. Switched to same shaft but regular flex

and ball flight went back up without losing feel or accuracy.

[macedan]

I am 21 and have always played regular flex iron shafts. My driver SS is right around 100-105 and I also recently switched from a stiff to a regular flex shaft and noticed improvements.

[Buzzkill]

I'm 58 and switched over a few years ago. Honestly, I could still play stiff BUT the biggest change for me has been going down to 90 gram iron shafts with woods in the 50 gram range.

[halliedog]

51 years old - just switched this year from KBS variants to a set of TT Tour Concepts in a new set of TM P770s. Love everything about them. About a club longer, easier to control flight, and feel great. Not sure how much is the heads and how much is the shafts, but I don't think I'll ever go back to stiff in the irons. Still using stiff in the driver, but irons are a different story. The only thing is I normally get along better with heavier shafts, and from what I've seen the softer the flex then generally weight goes down.

[p3ga]

Went to regular (steel) around my 53rd birthday, then moved to graphite regular a year or two later.

 

My body is tired / worn out & age should be calculated in dog years.

[gvogel]

58. I should have done it sooner. Went to Manchester Lane for a fitting, and they suggested it there. Wedges as well. Best advice ever.

[GHIN n Juice]

Switched in my late 20s. I’m 100ish with my driver SS and I prefer regular flex shafts with my smoother tempo.

[RainShadow]

57, 80 mph SS with 6 iron.

I’ve tried to go regular flex a couple of time without success.

My results are decreased accuracy and more spin.

Currently playing Modus 105 stiff, but I have a set of Mizuno 919 Forged w/ PX LZ 5.5, which is really a pretty firm regular or soft stiff, from what I’ve read.

Mizzy shaft optimizer always puts me in stiff flex 105-115 gm shafts unless it a True Temper, then it spits out XP105 R ( I hit it outside and hated it)

[starrman77]

I'm 72 and thinking of switching to a sling shot. Seriously though, I am still a single digit HC. 6'- 200 lbs, Still work out regularly. I hit a 7 iron to 150 and drive about 225. I have a smooth transition and have played regular shafts since I was in my 50's. I golf 3 times a week, weather permitting and play the senior tees.

[avguy]

At 55 now, I can't recall a switch age as I currently mix & match 3 iron sets, and have for some time.

 

Currently, my heaviest irons have Modus 125 in R flex. Next set has Recoils 125 F4 which are S - but that is graphite. My awesome Callaway Razr MBs are in their original PX 5.0 F - which is the softest flex in that steel shaft possible.

 

My concern with iron shafts is weight, first. As a lefty playing right, my lead elbow gets sore and tender with lots of range time if I use too much of the heavy steel.

If I keep my steel shafts in R, I know that the impact of graphite in S is comparable as far as repeated divots/strikes.

 

Woods/hybrids - the flex is no matter to me for pain or golf results, but I don't even try the X flex here.

[Oldplayer]

I am happy to play reg or stiff but the biggest factor for me is shaft weight. I first tried reg shafts about 57 years of age.

Prefer graphite now.

I can still play a 90 gram nspro stiff shaft quite happily with good height and distance but an S300 at about 124 grams is out of the question.

Even a dynamic gold R300 around 120 grams is not ideal. So it is the weight and not the stated flex that I look at.

I can play a stiff tipped graphite at 70 grams and have no problem at all. For reference my driver swing speed would be around 90 to 95 mph.

[Moo]

Just about 52, but with a clause! I only switched from stiff to regular with the irons and the regular I switched to was KBS Tour 110, which was explained to me to be either Stiff minus or Regular plus. All my wedges and woods are still stiff flex.

 

For me it was an issue of getting enough height with the 6 to 3 iron and the KBS offered an improvement over my DG 300S. The KBS was about 15 grams lighter and in testing and fitting really helped me get my ball flight up a bit.

[Golf64]

54 and am thinking it is almost time. SS is mid to high 70s with 7 iron. Usually 80 is the gen. line between R & S. Would depend on performance with whatever head your are pairing the shaft with and the feel. ;)

[ChipNRun]

Let's see if I can remember...

 

I switched from Regular to Stiff when I was 23. I had just gotten out of the service, and was about 20 pounds heavier (good shape) than when I had gotten my first full set of irons in high school.

 

At age 59 I then switched back from stiff to regular. I was losing distance, and was tending to scoop the ball (higher not lower flights) to try to compensate. "Fighting the shaft" as the fitter said. My tempo suffered.

 

Steel shafts at about 95-100 grams R.flex seem to work best for me. On occasion a rough fitting will recommend me for S-flex in the really light shafts, but I feel better with a slightly heavier R.flex. I may go to Recoils to lessen stress on my joints.

 

Moo, I really like the KBS Tour 90 shafts in my new irons. Lively without being spongy.

 

Went to regular (steel) around my 53rd birthday, then moved to graphite regular a year or two later. ...

A few years back, our bible Golf Digest ran an article that said age 53 is decision time for all male golfers. This is when GD recommends a refitting to see if it's time to dump Stiff for Regular. Can't remember the justification for it, but... it was in GD! :dntknw:

[Mr. Grumpy]

And, oddly enough, I am 53 and my next set will be reg shaft...

[boggyman]

I’ll be 50 this month and have put down the Px 5.5 and gone to regular graphite in my OL Cobras. Old nagging MX injuries are hard on me anymore so I’ve made the switch.

[DoglegRight]

Age 37, after a low back injury a few years ago I lost some distance. I finally went to regular in my irons last year. So far I'm happy with the change and feel that I don't have to work hard to hit my irons. Now I just focus on tempo and direction.

 

I do still play stiff in hybrids, fairway woods and driver.

[mantan]

Just about 52, but with a clause! I only switched from stiff to regular with the irons and the regular I switched to was KBS Tour 110, which was explained to me to be either Stiff minus or Regular plus. All my wedges and woods are still stiff flex.

 

For me it was an issue of getting enough height with the 6 to 3 iron and the KBS offered an improvement over my DG 300S. The KBS was about 15 grams lighter and in testing and fitting really helped me get my ball flight up a bit.

 

I got a good chuckle out of the disclaimer clause.

 

The golfing ego is a funny thing. Probably the biggest mistake made back in the day was using the terms regular and stiff. Most guys see it as questioning their manhood if they don't need a stiff shaft. And as Tom Wishon has shared, with no industry standard, it's really all over the board what is 'stiff' and what is regular.

 

Come to think of it, manufacturers have had big hits with really stiff stock shafts (early PING models) and softer flex stock shafts (early day Callaway stuff with a uniflex shaft.)

 

As others have said the thread, weight plays a big deal in fitting as well. It's a long way from when everybody was using heavy 120 gram+ shafts. There are so many options out there that shaft stiffness is just one variable to consider. Unless it's resale value where stiff shafted clubs are probably easier to sell. Or x-stiff shafts, because unwritten GolfWRX rules say you have to reference your extra shift shafts in your signature line.

[flip_rome]

I switched a couple years ago... I'm 42. I dropped down to a 8 from a 16 since the switch.

[sm_watts]

I've been playing Hogan Apex 4 (stiff) in my FTX's and played around with KBS Tour 90's in stiff (and pretty soft to flex from a graph I saw in the clubmaking forum at one point), but I switched to Recoil 95's in regular this year at age 44. I'm short, 5'5", with short arms relative to my height (my wife is an inch shorter than me, but she can reach things on the kitchen shelves 2-3" higher), so I have a youth-sized swing arc. I play regularly with a 6'5" math teacher who hits the ball a mile. We broke out the tape measure and calculator this fall and he determined that if my arc was the same as his, my clubhead speed would actually be 2-3 mph faster. But as it is, I switched to regular shafts to help get a little more spin & carry on my irons.

[sm_watts]

I switched a couple years ago... I'm 42. I dropped down to a 8 from a 16 since the switch.

Don't ever change your avatar!

[flip_rome]

I switched a couple years ago... I'm 42. I dropped down to a 8 from a 16 since the switch.

Don't ever change your avatar!

 

Never! They'll be back soon now that Hockey is coming to town.

[Oh Hi Carl]

Generally play stiff shafts, but in some clubs I hit R or X better than stiffs.

[Chuck905]

I’ve switched from S300 to Project-X LZ 5.5 in 2018, and turning 38 soon.

 

The biggest improvement I made was fighting of fatigue which translated to more range time or double header.

 

It did take me quite a while to feel comfortable and confident in going lighter and softer.

 

I still play stiff in the wedges, two iron (switched from steel to recoil 110), 3 wood and driver because of the control and optimized spin rates.

[Mikeski]

I'm 48 and really didn't switch flexes but switched to graphite a few years ago. In one set of clubs (Adams CMB) I have regular flex and in another set of irons (Adams CC1) I have stiff flex. After messing around with shaft flexes in these clubs this is what works best for me in each set. The stiff shaft are Aldila NV-3 and the regulars are Aldila NVS-2.

In my Adams MB2's I have Recoil F3 95 which are regular flex.

 

Basically the thing for me wasn't going from stiff flex to regular due to age but jumping to graphite due to elbow problems due to work/age.

[leo the lion]

Late 50's here. S300's all my life but felt the need to change a few months ago. Still have good speed so decided to go for a lighter shaft. The Ping AWT's seem to fit nicely.

[RogerinNewZealand]

Like the best Chev 57

Got some dgr300 mid last year plus found some royal precision rifles 114gram pw and 128 gram 3 iron.Sweet shafts cheers.

[blehnhard]

While I have not yet moved all the way to "R", I have made changes to shaft weight over the past 10 years. I am currently 76 years old with driver swing speed in low 90's (down from upper 90's 3 years ago). I have moved from Flighted Rifle 6.0 to KBS Tour Stiff (120g) to KBS C Taper Lite Stiff (110g) to TT AMT Red S (95g) in my current set of AP3 which I have had for a little over a year. I am getting ready to reshaft these irons with Recoil 80 F4 soft stepped twice (should put me midway between R and S) for 5i thru PW and 48deg gap and Recoil 95 F4 8 iron shafts for 52 and 58 wedges.

 

I have stiff in both drivers - 917 D2 with Diamana Red (50g) and Srixon 785 with Miyazaki Kaula (65g). 3w and hybrids are both stiff.

 

I currently play to scratch from regular men's tees (6100 to 6600 yds). Played golf on the professional level (club pro, Senior PGA Tour).

[Baitkiller]

At 52 I went to I95R Steelfibers. Got the ball flight back up where it needed to be. Still play S in all woods though. More for control than anything.