Soft stepping

[Alan Pllu]

When I had a fitting at mizuno with the shaft optimiser a few years back modus 105 in x flex came out in top numbers were good but I preferred the feel of the s flex. 

 

I ended up going with the s flex but been regretting it as I think my dispersion is suffering a bit as I feel I am having to ease off a little to time the swing with the s flex as it is a little soft for me. 

 

I have just got a set of x flex pulls cheap that I would like to try in my irons but I am considering soft stepping them to try get the best of both worlds between the numbers of the x flex but with the feel of the s flex. 

 

How much difference does soft stepping make to flex? Is once enough to be noticeable? Is twice going too far? I have enough shafts to soft stepping twice. 

 

Also with soft stepping is it as simple as 4 iron shaft into 5 iron then butt trim to length?

 

Looking at this as a little personal project to try over the winter, possibly on a spare set of iron I have kicking about in the garage. 

 

Also do I want to look at spine aligning the shaft or is that snake oil? 

[Noodler]

Rule of thumb for stepping any constant weight taper tip shafts is 1/3 of the flex rating for each step. 

[Stuart_G]

8 hours ago, Alan Pllu said:

I ended up going with the s flex but been regretting it as I think my dispersion is suffering a bit as I feel I am having to ease off a little to time the swing with the s flex as it is a little soft for me.

 

Side note - that's a mis-perception.   It certainly may feel like it's loading too much but more loading does not mean you have to alter your swing timing.  You can't really load a shaft too much from the standpoint of the physics of the swing.  It's only the mind that gets fooled from too much or too little loading.    However, what happens to the swing when a player feels too much (or too little) loading is almost a sub-conscious reaction so it's not easy to control or ignore.   So the best solution is still the same - change to a shaft that doesn't feel like it's loading too much for you.

 

 

8 hours ago, Alan Pllu said:

 

How much difference does soft stepping make to flex? Is once enough to be noticeable? Is twice going too far? I have enough shafts to soft stepping twice. 

 

It depends on the individual and particular shaft profile, but many will not be able to notice the difference for a single soft step.    You might want to put together one club that's soft stepped once and another one that's soft stepped twice (leave the butt 1/2" long and test choking up).  And test those two out before deciding what to do with the rest of the set.

 

 

8 hours ago, Alan Pllu said:

Also with soft stepping is it as simple as 4 iron shaft into 5 iron then butt trim to length?

 

In most cases, yes.  (assuming the pulls you bought are long enough to need butt trimming).

 

 

[Alan Pllu]

1 hour ago, Stuart_G said:

 

Side note - that's a mis-perception.   It certainly may feel like it's loading too much but more loading does not mean you have to alter your swing timing.  You can't really load a shaft too much from the standpoint of the physics of the swing.  It's only the mind that gets fooled from too much or too little loading.    However, what happens to the swing when a player feels too much (or too little) loading is almost a sub-conscious reaction so it's not easy to control or ignore.   So the best solution is still the same - change to a shaft that doesn't feel like it's loading too much for you.

 

 

 

It depends on the individual and particular shaft profile, but many will not be able to notice the difference for a single soft step.    You might want to put together one club that's soft stepped once and another one that's soft stepped twice (leave the butt 1/2" long and test choking up).  And test those two out before deciding what to do with the rest of the set.

 

 

 

In most cases, yes.  (assuming the pulls you bought are long enough to need butt trimming).

 

 

Thanks for the detailed response, that makes a lot of sense and I hadn't considered trying a club soft stepped once and one twice to test, wont take much to try it for a few weeks to see how it feels. 

[Alan Pllu]

8 hours ago, Noodler said:

Rule of thumb for stepping any constant weight taper tip shafts is 1/3 of the flex rating for each step. 

Thanks, that makes me a little clearer in what to expect.