Shaft Flex and how to take advantage of it

[Pastit]

1 hour ago, Stuart_G said:

 

Not everything.   Swing speed is only one small factor - and not even the most important one.

 

When going softer (or going firmer for that matter) causes dispersion problems or big misses or has a big influence on face impact or spin - the root cause is almost always that the different feel from the shaft is messing with your timing or sequencing.

 

Some people just learn to expect a certain feel from the shaft loading and unloading and even sometimes (subconsciously) use that feel to help time their mechanics.  When the feel doesn't match their expectations, lots of bad things can creep into the swing.  Anything can happen but dispersion and/or shot shape control are usually the most common things to get worse.

 

So, don't worry about your swing speed or what "people" say, just play what works best for YOU. There is ZERO inherent advantage to going softer and no advantage to playing what everyone thinks you should be playing based on your swing speed or anything else other than your personal preference for feel.

 

There is much in what you say I’m sure. I’ve been off my game a bit with Covid these last few weeks especially with dispersion of my driver. This is unusual for me so I went back today to the straightest driver I’ve owned. - a Bridgestone JGR, glued hosel c/w MO 7M3 Black Tie, stiff, Tour Issue. This should be way too stiff for me now. But only missed one fairway, the rest split the fairway. Maybe TM should go there in 2023. 
 

Loathe to try a Velecore and disturb the set up. It has a milled face.

[Stuart_G]

1 hour ago, Pastit said:

This should be way too stiff for me now.

 

The whole point of my post is that anyone who thinks that way isn't worth listening to.  They don't really understand shaft stiffness fitting and are too caught up blindly following the common misconceptions.

Edited October 13, 2022 by Stuart_G

[platgof]

I have noticed that spaceships deflect less at higher speeds?

[vandyfan]

I apologize if I am adding confusion to this topic but I think I am echoing @Stuart_G's point to say that you might be surprised if you dispensed with the common "I swing XXXmph so I should be XXshaft" logic. As a case in point, I am testing whippy shafts and finding that they hit the ball about the same distance with about the same dispersion as my stiff shaft. I posted this is another thread but found the results compelling enough to repost here (additional apologies for double posting). 

 

I got my standard numbers using my "stiff" (I put stiff in quotes because what does that ever really mean anymore) 72g shaft which is this little budget beauty (somewhat heavy, standard torque for a stiff shaft?):

Which produces results (for me) like this:

 

 

Now, imagine my surprise when I put in a senior flex 50g shaft (removed the back weight from my driver head as well since I assumed it would launch higher anyway so trying to bring some of the launch down). I would have guessed I would have had WAY more dispersion or way higher launch but neither really happened (launch reduction may have been due to removal of back weight):

 

TLDR: As a mid 100 mph swinger with a somewhat smooth transition I hit a stiff shaft and a senior shaft side by side in my driver and got basically the same results but the senior shaft FELT way better. 

 

 

Edited November 21, 2022 by vandyfan