Going from X back to S

[mvhoffman]

Have played Ping AWT 2.0 X shaft in 2 sets of irons in the past few years.  While they have a great feel, this season and the end of last season I have noticed some weird pains popping up.  Middle back has been sore 3/4 of the way through the round, fingers/hands are hurting bad after the round, frankly just getting gassed out 3/4 of the way through the round.  I have had to work very hard, swing harder, for any performance to come from the irons.  My ball flight lowered significantly, control was okay but it didn't matter because I was beat trying to hit the shots.

 

Now I'm 300lbs(close to 400 previously, still a work in progress), very strong and very "fat fit."  I walk 18/36 holes every weekend but that was starting to become tiresome as my back and hands started to hurt.  So I consulted a PGA professional, who happens to be a very close friend who I've known for 20+ years, and we looked at my whole set up.  After hitting some balls and playing a few holes he commented about the flex of the irons and the size of my grips (I have posted a few posts regarding hand pain and grip size).  He mentioned that it seemed like I was really working to make anything happen with the irons.  He said the swing looks better than it has been ever, all of the other factors of ball position, stable base, etc all looked good, I was just over swinging.  I was gripping the club too hard (causing hand issues) because the grips were a little too small(standard +2 instead of midsize) but mainly it was due to having the feeling that I had to kill the ball with my irons for anything to happen.

 

He grabbed a few clubs he had around the shop and we had some trials on the back nine.  I hit PX, TT DG, KBS, Elevate, shafts and ultimately ended up hitting them all about the same however the best "feel" came from the KBS Tour shaft in S flex.  No real specific reason why it was better, just gave a nice feel and response when I hit the ball.  Nice flight without having to help it along.  Just the ease of swing was nice. 

 

With that, and the wanting of some new irons I came across a set of 2014 TM Tour Preferred MC irons on ebay for a steal of a price.  Best part is that they come stock with KBS Tour S shafts in them... I ordered them late last week and the arrived Monday.  I haven't even hit a ball with them yet.  As soon as they came, I took down to the basement, ripped off the grips and tossed on some midsize grips.  Swung them in the back yard a bit and they feel very nice.  Great speed feel without having to muscle it.  I'm going to try to hit the range one or two nights this week as I have a tournament Sunday and next Wednesday.  The clubs, without a ball hit, are already in the bag with the plans on them staying there!

 

Ultimately, I probably never should have switched to X flex irons on a whim but then I wouldn't be a true WRX'r if I simply went and got fit and then played with the clubs recommended... Where's the fun in that (besides the likely better scores)

[Billfitz]

Soft hands are a necessity for best results. The smaller the grip and the larger your hands the more likely you are to grip the club too hard. If you find the midsize grips are better then you may find oversize are better still. Bryson isn't using jumbos on a whim.

[mvhoffman]

58 minutes ago, Billfitz said:

Soft hands are a necessity for best results. The smaller the grip and the larger your hands the more likely you are to grip the club too hard. If you find the midsize grips are better then you may find oversize are better still. Bryson isn't using jumbos on a whim.

my hands aren't huge by any means as I wear a Large glove.  I know these midsize feel better.  I had some lamkin midsize that we +1/16 and not +1/32 and my hands bothered me from them feeling too big and not feeling as stable in my grip.  I'm going to stick with the +1/32 in grips unless something I try feels better.  

[uW0tM8]

On 9/22/2021 at 8:29 AM, Billfitz said:

Soft hands are a necessity for best results. The smaller the grip and the larger your hands the more likely you are to grip the club too hard. If you find the midsize grips are better then you may find oversize are better still. Bryson isn't using jumbos on a whim.

I disagree. Bryson uses those jumbo grips to minimize face rotation. When you’re swinging as hard and fast as he does, your hands naturally will grip the club more firmly. If I remember correctly, I think Tiger (or maybe someone else prominent) said he grips the club around a 7/10 or an 8/10 in terms of pressure. 
 

A really large grip may allow you to grip the club more softly if you tend to death grip it, but if it’s too big, it will slow down face rotation too much for the average golfer. You can also lose feel of where the club head is at in your swing.

[nikeblades00]

I'll just add my driver ss is 105-107 and I was fit for a Xflex in driver and man it just felt like work. I was also overswinging and alot of bad tendencies were developing. I tinkered and went down to a stiff flex in same shaft and now I feel like I can just 'smooth' it and finding the slot much better. 

[NRJyzr]

Having recently (relatively) made this same flex transition, it likely won't be long before you feel the benefits of the switch.  

 

And, wanted to give you props on the weight loss.  Nicely done.  🙂  <polite golf applause>  

 

[mvhoffman]

11 minutes ago, NRJyzr said:

Having recently (relatively) made this same flex transition, it likely won't be long before you feel the benefits of the switch.  

 

And, wanted to give you props on the weight loss.  Nicely done.  🙂  <polite golf applause>  

 

thanks man.  Glad to hear that the transition has been beneficial for you.  I am looking forward to not having to work so hard.  I actually went to a softer flex from my 75g X flex driver shaft and the benefits were immediate.  I'm going to be hitting the range this evening to get some sort of yardage before my tournament Sunday.  The lofts are the same so I'd imagine the distance shouldn't be too far off.  Coming from blades to muscle cavity irons there should be a slight increase in ball speed so distance should be reflective of that by maybe 5 yards.  We will see though.

[NRJyzr]

41 minutes ago, mvhoffman said:

thanks man.  Glad to hear that the transition has been beneficial for you.  I am looking forward to not having to work so hard.  I actually went to a softer flex from my 75g X flex driver shaft and the benefits were immediate.  I'm going to be hitting the range this evening to get some sort of yardage before my tournament Sunday.  The lofts are the same so I'd imagine the distance shouldn't be too far off.  Coming from blades to muscle cavity irons there should be a slight increase in ball speed so distance should be reflective of that by maybe 5 yards.  We will see though.

 

I actually have multiple moves going on.  I dropped from X to S a couple years ago, this year I've gone graphite in place of steel, toying with lighter shafts, dropping my target swingweight a few points, and have some age and back issues in play.  

 

The flex drop and graphite change are separated by time, so I have something to work with there.  I noticed a reduction in muscle fatigue in a few places.  Like you, I probably could still play the X, but at the end of the round, it became a bit more work.  Didn't see a drop in consistency, such as I'd been seeing when I switched *to* X in the irons.

 

I haven't entirely dropped a flex in woods, but that's mitigated somewhat by my playing shorter clubs (43.5" driver).  The added headweight offsets a portion of the shaft flex, so instead of "straight xstiff," I'm more like S+ or X-.  😉

 

I hope you'll share updates with the new sticks.  I'm curious how they work for you.

 

Edited September 24, 2021 by NRJyzr