How in the heck do I hit a reg flex better than a stiff.

[cj4501]

Was tinkering at golf galaxy tonight and was messing with a qi10 max reg shaft diamana t 60r and was stripping it at 98-101mph ss.  Got a couple at 102 and they were nice 4/5 yrd draws.  Has me interested in that now vs my ltdx kaili blue 60s that I've been hitting like crap lately. 

[adams603]

I literally just switched my driver, 3,5 woods to regular flex. My friend does fittings and I was screwing around with different shafts and started hammering one with tight draws. I didn’t even realize it was an R flex. My swing speed is 100-105. I like that I can feel the head better during the swing. 

[Ri_Redneck]

The flex and profile fit your swing/tempo. Simple as that. Besides R doesn't always mean R.

 

BT

[Howard_Jones]

3 hours ago, cj4501 said:

Was tinkering at golf galaxy tonight and was messing with a qi10 max reg shaft diamana t 60r and was stripping it at 98-101mph ss.  Got a couple at 102 and they were nice 4/5 yrd draws.  Has me interested in that now vs my ltdx kaili blue 60s that I've been hitting like crap lately. 

"R flex" means "Racing flex", while "S flex" is just plain "Standard flex", did they not tell you that? LOL

There is no common standards for flex labels, they are ONLY a address in that model series and weight, so those labels is NOT meant for compare of flex between models, ONLY WITHIN the SAME model.

The shaft profile and flex itself is really a "timing device"
- Too strong, and you will swing out of your shoes to make it work. (impact suffers)
- Too soft, and you slow down too much
- Good profile and flex for you = timing becomes fluid and natural, impact improves

Just like with weight, we should find the upper limit and dial back, so with flex and profile, since they are both "triggers" how how you will swing the club.
 

[Socrates]

You don't need to know why.  If you hit it good, you hit it good.

 

My nephew could bomb a Nike driver with a Reg flex shaft.  Regularly over 300 with a slight fade.

[rsballer10]

I can't tell you how many times I've heard "I was slicing my regular flex into the other fairway, I needed a stiffer shaft and that straightened my drive out" and then proceed to slice their stiff shafted driver into the other fairway. Shaft flex matters, but it's importance tends to get overstated. Loft, lie, length, clubhead CG/MOI, THE GOLFER have a much bigger influence on ball flight than shaft flex.

 

Anecdotally, in the winter/spring when I'm out of practice I much prefer softer shafts. Its hard to FORCE a shaft to load when my timing is off, but a softer shaft will be receptive to all sorts of swings.

[gvogel]

2 hours ago, Socrates said:

You don't need to know why.  If you hit it good, you hit it good.

 

My nephew could bomb a Nike driver with a Reg flex shaft.  Regularly over 300 with a slight fade.

This^.  Truer words have never been spoken.

[Mike_C]

13 hours ago, Ri_Redneck said:

The flex and profile fit your swing/tempo. Simple as that. Besides R doesn't always mean R.

 

BT

Exactly.   

 

Years ago I got an Orlimar HipTi driver with the gold/purple pro force shaft when they first came out.   Had a great month or two of driving the ball with it.  One day really looked at it and realized it was an "R" flex!  How could that be??  I only play at least stiff.   So what did I do?  Like an idiot, I went back and had it reshafted with the same shaft in Stiff.   

 

Never hit that club very good ever again......  What ever it was about that shaft, the R profile just fit my swing/tempo so well.....S flex, not so much.....

[vandyfan]

This is the autoflex / otto-phlex baby step. I still have (and 1/2 the time play) a senior flex, 45g grafalloy prolaunch blue shaft. I am not fast but I swing 105-108 mph with a driver. I don't think any fitter in the world would put me in that shaft but most days it works VERY well. I don't rip on the handle so the extra flex doesn't really impact me that much and it almost feels like it is doing the work for me in most cases. 

[rmazgolf17]

Not entirely surprising. You are probably sequencing the club better with the added flex. Overall my guess is your tempo is far better. If my memory serves correctly didn't Vijay win a major with a Regular shafted driver?

[Howard_Jones]

1 hour ago, vandyfan said:

This is the autoflex / otto-phlex baby step. I still have (and 1/2 the time play) a senior flex, 45g grafalloy prolaunch blue shaft. I am not fast but I swing 105-108 mph with a driver. I don't think any fitter in the world would put me in that shaft but most days it works VERY well. I don't rip on the handle so the extra flex doesn't really impact me that much and it almost feels like it is doing the work for me in most cases. 

Try the same model both as R and S, you might loose some "dedication" and speed with A (see the link below)
- I'm surprised the 45 S aint more common as a sub 50 shaft for higher club speed players. (above 110 mph)

Link to my DIY driver Tune up, and the chapter VISUAL FITTING (post #9)
- By looking at the players "body language", we can SEE club specs, and what direction to go, to tune the player swing like it was a Rolex watch we was tuning in. I used this fitting techs in my studio, both for PGA and LPGA players with very good results. Its all about finding the specs that "jives" the best with the players swing, or TRIGGER him, into a better path, by using club specs, where EI profile and over all flex is part of it. Its very easy to use, and any player who reads it, will be able to LOOK on his friend swinging his clubs, and SEE what specs that should get some attention or adjustment, and what direction.
 

 

[vandyfan]

Just now, Howard_Jones said:

Try the same model both as R and S, you might loose some "dedication" and speed with A (see the link below)
- I'm surprised the 45 S aint more common as a sub 50 shaft for higher club speed players. (above 110 mph)

 

I also have a Vanquish 45 in R which I like as well. In fact I just put it back in my driver this week so we will see. I basically have 3 shafts that I play which may seem odd as they all look a bit different written out:

 

Grafalloy ProLaunch Blue 45 - A Flex
MCA Vanquish 4 (48g) - R Flex
UST Mamiya LIN-Q Red 5F4 (58g) - S Flex

 

I *think* I like all 3 of these because they are high in torque and feel livelier/kickier than the low/low shafts (Hzrdus comes to mind) that I tend to hate. 

[Pepperturbo]

15 hours ago, cj4501 said:

Was tinkering at golf galaxy tonight and was messing with a qi10 max reg shaft diamana t 60r and was stripping it at 98-101mph ss.  Got a couple at 102 and they were nice 4/5 yrd draws.  Has me interested in that now vs my ltdx kaili blue 60s that I've been hitting like crap lately. 

Sometimes we can find ourselves on the cusp of flexes, due to a gradual shift in our SS.  Also, sometimes if one shaft has a longer playing length, slightly different bend profile, a slight weight difference, those can make a ball striking difference. 

 

It's been that way for me for years.  First between S and X until a few yeas back when it changed to R and S, and shaft weight, thanks to my fast tempo and transition.  I hit both flexes similarly, except for days when I am feeling strong, then R feels almost flat compared to S flex.  Reason for having two TR Blue 5 series shafts.  

 

 

[Pepperturbo]

36 minutes ago, vandyfan said:

 

I also have a Vanquish 45 in R which I like as well. In fact I just put it back in my driver this week so we will see. I basically have 3 shafts that I play which may seem odd as they all look a bit different written out:

 

Grafalloy ProLaunch Blue 45 - A Flex
MCA Vanquish 4 (48g) - R Flex
UST Mamiya LIN-Q Red 5F4 (58g) - S Flex

 

I *think* I like all 3 of these because they are high in torque and feel livelier/kickier than the low/low shafts (Hzrdus comes to mind) that I tend to hate. 

I never tested driver shafts in that ultra-light weight range.  What kind of swing weight do you have with those in the 40s range?

[vandyfan]

9 minutes ago, Pepperturbo said:

I never tested driver shafts in that ultra-light weight range.  What kind of swing weight do you have with those in the 40s range?

 

At the risk of getting kicked off of Golfwrx...I have no idea. I have never really worried that much about swing weight. I went from a typical 65g shaft in stiff down to the grafalloy prolaunch blue 45g without making any changes to the head weight. The transition was not seamless by any means but I got through it in a few range sessions. Now I kind of live at that shaft weight (50ish g) without really thinking about it. 

[Michael K]

I'm around your range. I really like the Tensei shafts for this reason. Their stiff target is 91-105, which means that ideal on the shaft is 98-102 which is where 97% of my driver SS is. Throttle down? still in the range. I have very fast hands (due to a mostly self taught recovering baseball swing) so that last 1' of swing changes everything for me. On the flip side, if you are drawing a reg flex driver at 102, your hands and the clubhead are already through. 

[dokex]

5 hours ago, Mike_C said:

Exactly.   

 

Years ago I got an Orlimar HipTi driver with the gold/purple pro force shaft when they first came out.   Had a great month or two of driving the ball with it.  One day really looked at it and realized it was an "R" flex!  How could that be??  I only play at least stiff.   So what did I do?  Like an idiot, I went back and had it reshafted with the same shaft in Stiff.   

 

Never hit that club very good ever again......  What ever it was about that shaft, the R profile just fit my swing/tempo so well.....S flex, not so much.....

Those old Pro Force shafts played very stiff to flex; I knew a lot of people who dropped down a flex when using that shaft.

[Cwebb]

A softer flex shaft promotes or "allows" a smoother transition and tempo from the top.  This is beneficial for a lot of players