If you're between flexes (irons) would you choose regular or stiff, & why?

[hagie]

Looking at new set of OEM irons and I'm told I'm right between regular and stiff. If I go with stock shafts I must choose one or the other. Which would you choose and why? What are the advantages/disadvantages of each? Thanks!

[mikec3672]

lived this conundrum for years, and swing back and forth....for now, settled on stiff (~6.0 in irons, and 6.5-7.0 in woods).....bottom line depends on your tempo, and how high/accurate your want to be (with each being a trade off)....smooth syrupy tempo=R, quick, shorter swing, more of a hitter=S....much as I strive to be smooth, my natural fingerprint is a quick tempo, and have settled all my iron sets back to TT DGS 300, hit them as high as I need too, and super accurate....

[Pinhy]

sitff gives away a little distance, while regular gives away a little accuracy, right?

 

you can always grab a different club for distance. accuracy is the name of the game. if you buy stiff, you might find yourself trying to swing harder b/c of it.

 

 

but i agree with MickC..if you are right on the line, tempo could be the deciding factor

[Lngnokr71]

I'd go with regular flex and have them tipped by someone who knows what they are doing....tipping them will make them play a little stiffer but not like a stiff flex shaft..I say have someone who knows what they are doing tip them because they will know how much to trim and to get them back to your desired length they can extend the butt....

[mikec3672]

really do not care for extenders, similiar "effect" can be gotten through hard-stepping R's once or twice...again, a clubmaker who knows waht they are doing-- can do this easily

[nsduff22]

really do not care for extenders, similiar "effect" can be gotten through hard-stepping R's once or twice...again, a clubmaker who knows waht they are doing-- can do this easily

 

Agreed. I have my stiff flex irons hardstepped once to play a tad stiffer, which have made a difference in my accuracy. I custom ordered mine thru Ping and it only takes a week or so extra to do this. Most manufacturers will do this thru a custom order, or if you trust someone locally to do it for you, it's not hard. The hardstepped R's or softstepped stiffs should do the trick without having to extend or cut anything down. You can use either flex and go either way....it's a 2 way street.

[chrisfx811]

For me, it would depend on the shaft.

Rifle, dg, black gold: I'd err on the side of the 'r' flex since their heftier, more stable, and play truer to flex.

 

Any of the 'made for x' by TT that most oem's carry, and I'd go with the stiff flex. They tend to be lighter shafts, and usually cpm a little softer.

[FlyFish]

It all depends on the ball flight that you want. Demo them both on a range. Personally I prefer stiffer shafts because I tend to hit the ball too high.

[easycheesy]

I would think about your tempo and ballflight as mentioned. To me i can play most anything, but i recently went back to R flex from rifle 6.0 even though fittings generally put me into 6.0 or 6.5 in rifles and S300-X in DG. I make better swings with the R400 shafts, better tempo and can hit fades which i have trouble doing with the stiffer shafts. I think the best advice though is just to go with what feels best to you when you swing the club, making no swing compensations for the stiffness of the shaft. With irons i have never found accuracy to be affected at all when going softer. Best for me it has been regular shafts in the irons and stiff to v stiff in my woods - all based on ballflight and feel though.

[Scratch_72]

I am between regular and stiff. the past few years I was playing regular flex and struggled with accuracy. Changed shafts in my irons this year, tipped in between 'r' & 's' and a bit heavier. I find accuracy is much better and I am actually hitting about half a club longer because I have the confidence to swing at a natural tempo instead of trying to swing to the flex of the shaft. A good fitter really helped me.

[Chris5573]

I am also in between reg and stiff flex. I am currently looking to buy a set of TM RAC LT2's, and I am not sure which flex would be best for me. My 6 iron swing speed is about 81mph and I carry it approx 165-170, which apparently puts me right on the border of reg and stiff. The LT2's have the T Step 110 shafts...I've heard these are weaker than Dynamic Gold and other shafts. In this case, would you all recommend stiff?

[greenail]

I switched from the stock regular flex TT lite tour shafts in my cg4 tours to mp60's with project x 5.5 because I thought I needed stiffer. I played them for about 3 months, and switched back to my clevelands last month for more forgiveness and confidence. I am currently hitting my 8i about 160 off the tee, and by the swing speed numbers I should use a stiff but I don't really notice much of a difference, I guess that is why people need to get their CPI measured vs go by swing speed. I haven't seen my swing on vid in a while but I think my tempo is pretty smooth, and I need a pause at the top or I twitch over the top.

[JCAG]

Things to consider:

 

1. Younger, getting better, getting faster, getting stronger, go S. Older, not as strong, getting slower, go R.

2. Need a bit more height, go R. Need lower, go S.

3. Smooth tempo swinger, go R. Fast or jerky swing, go S.

4. A feely, touchy player, go R. Touch, feel not an issue, go S.

5. Fight control issues, Go S. Good ball control, go R

6. The heavier the shaft, go R. The lighter the shaft, go S.

 

Also remember that one companys S can be another companys A. This can also be true within the same company but between product lines.

[th6252]

i'm surprised no one has recommended soft stepping stiff shafts yet. if you're in between flexes, this would be the perfect thing to do. like you, i'm also in between flexes and decided to soft step as by going to regular, i felt like i'd lose control, and by going stiff, i'd find myself overswinging at times.

soft stepping made my dg's feel just right. this also particularly goes well with your reluctancy to add extenders as you'd actually be cutting down shafts to length instead.

there doesn't seem to be a consensus as to how much softer the shaft gets with each soft step, but it seems to be somewhere around 1/3 to 1/2 flex softer. good luck.

[J-Town]

I seem to be inbetween flexes like some of you. Im generally a trapper/digger, but with a smooth tempo. I have a low ballflight and would like a higher flight without changing my swing if possible. I'm a consistant ballstriker and about a 5 hdcp, i've played TT DG s300's for about 8 years. What flex would you suggest for my swing type, also what differences would there be between the True temper and rifle's?

[OrangeBlood]

I went w/ stiff only because the shafts were GS-75's. I must be a dumbarse, but I have swung both reg. and stiff in the GS-75's and really couldn't tell a huge diff. when side by side.