Anybody playing Tour stiff graphite shafts? Thoughts? My arms hurt!

[RoyalMustang]

Hi everyone,

 

As I begin practicing more, I have noticed a lot of fatigue in my hands and forearms recently.  I am really trying to dial in my swing and probably hit 400-600 balls/week.  The driving range is a 5-minute bike ride away, which helps, as does unlimited usage. 

 

I am considering switching to graphite shafts.  I was using old Ping Eye 2s w/KTM shafts and it wasn't too bad, but I recently upgraded to a new (to me) set of X100 DGs on my mizuno heads. Although I love the club, I have a very steep AOA (always have-think of a very poor man's version of Freddie) and the past couple of weeks I have been dealing with lots of forearm and finger pain.  This is pretty new to me: I used to rock climb at a fairly high level (12+ sport, 11+ trad) and am used to squeezing a lot out of my forearms. It also means my grip strength is naturally very high; I broke a hand when a car ran a stop sign and I was riding my bike down the bike path: my hand destroyed the door at 20+mph) and my good hand (for baseline) had the 2nd highest grip strength the OT had ever recorded, behind a burly mason who had me by 100lbs of weight and 3% on the grip monitor.   

 

Anyways, long story short: I put a lot of stress on my arms.  What has been your experience with tour-stiff graphite in order to relieve pain in the forearms? I swung a Recoil 80 F4 (way, way too soft) but it certainly felt like my club was hitting a pillow in comparison. 

[Gohigh]

Seems like you need to try Recoil Prototype series in either 110 or 125. Im no rock climber myself and my hand strength wont even take the doors off my kid's Powerwheels, but I use a Recoil Proto 110 F5 Soft Stepped into set of Srixons and Recoil Proto 125 F5 Soft Stepped into a set of Mizuno JPX 919 Forged. My Mizunos came with stock Recoil 95 F4, but compared to Protos, its very loose and feels weak compared to Prototypes.

 

I can practice and play longer with these without arm or hand fatigue. If I was a better ball striker, I might not need them, but it definitely helps with my thin and toe shots which would normally jar my hands and arms.

 

Trade off has been minimal, but I do feel like feedback (what makes irons feel bit harsh sometimes) is bit dull. Sometimes I feel like I hit center mass, but in actually I hit about half and inch away. Not that big of a deal, as mishits and mishits, and penalty from mishits does not improve whether its steel or graphite. Also, although my irons have matching gap wedge, I use steel shafts not matching Recoil in my wedges for better feedback and feel. 

 

Obviously someone here will say try the Steelfibers as well as MMT by Mitsubishi. Those are shafts with bit different bend profiles (Steelfibers remind me of KBS Tour with bigger midsection kick, and MMTs seem to be bit tighter than both in my experience) and definitely will offer similar benefits.

[bvanlieu]

Just find a profile you like. I tend to hit 300-500 balls a week myself as I work on some swing changes. Had pain in elbows last year and begun the switch to graphite in the off season. Any graphite is going to be better then steel in terms of NVH. If you want stiffer profiles, most brands have it you just need the feel you like. I personally game stiff (M4) Accra iCWT shafts, and have also tried a few S and R Steelfiber CW shafts. Both feel far less fatiguing on my body compared to the KBS Tour or DG S300's I was used to.  YMMV, happy hunting ? 

[7fa]

Anyone ever tried the Aldila VS Proto graphite shafts? Came across a new set for cheap but don't see much online about them? I am also looking for some shafts with less vibration due to elbow pain without giving up control.

Edited September 21, 2020 by 7fa