Shaft too stiff=fade?

[CosmosMpower]

Hoping for some clarification on shaft stiffness and how it relates to ball flight. I've heard that a shaft too stiff can cause a fade and also that it will cause a hook. Does anyone have some definitive information? I'm thinking about changing a stiff flex shaft on my driver out for regular. The shaft is a Fujikura Speeder 569 which is fairly lightweight and supposed to provide a higher launch (which I need). I posted the specs below was hoping someone can tell me if it would be a big difference since the torque is the same and I don't understand how the tiff and butt flex changes how it plays. My driver SS is between 90-93 mph with a slightly fast tempo, the head is a R7 425 non TP.

 

FLEX : R

LENGTH : 46"

WEIGHT : 59g

TIP FLEX : 127

BUTT FLEX : 95

TORQUE : 4.5

BEND POINT : Low to Medium

 

FLEX : S

LENGTH : 46"

WEIGHT : 58g

TIP FLEX : 122

BUTT FLEX : 84

TORQUE : 4.5

BEND POINT : Low to Medium

[CenterOfPercussion]

In my experience a very stiff shaft can help produce a fade, as the shaft flexes very little and may not bring the clubface square as fast as you are normally accustomed. But once you get used to it it is predictable and you can shape shots both ways. You will lose distance over a more flexible shaft.

 

A too flexy shaft can produce both left and right misses as the shaft can flex both too early and too late to come in square to the ball, depending on swing you put on it.

 

Hogan said use the stiffest shaft possible. Maybe he said that before there were super stiff shafts around, I don't know. Nicklaus said use the one that is just stiff enoough to produce a predictable ball flight (or something like that) don't use telephone poles. He said he never used a shaft that was rated more than stiff.

[dlefty]

for ME, too stiff equals hooks and straight blocks, too soft equals inconsistencies in ball flight and fades.

[LowPost42]

I'm of the opinion that an ill-fitting shaft, whether too soft or too stout will exaggerate swing flaws, magnifying your miss. I've sliced everything from A flex to a XXXX flex Aggressive Frenzy LD.

[MS1]

I have the same SS as you and just recently switched from my nike sumo 495 reg diamana to the 5000 with a prolaunch v2 by ust in stiff. I had considered it for a while and with that SS it is kind of border line for a stiff. I always felt like the reg was a bit unpredictable for me and my missed were big high fades. I am not a great player but I have decent mechanics. My bad drives came from leaving the face open not from an over the top move. What I have found so far - just a few weeks - is that with the stiff I can swing harder with more confidence and when I do that I get better results - a longer shot and pretty straight. I am still working on turning it over for a draw. If I take a smooth swing I fade it, but I think that is all due to me not releasing through thru the ball. But when I swing harder I get better results than when I had the reg. With the reg, when I swung hard I felt like the club was not in my control and I could miss left or right. Interested to know where you end up and your results as well.

[CosmosMpower]

I have the same SS as you and just recently switched from my nike sumo 495 reg diamana to the 5000 with a prolaunch v2 by ust in stiff. I had considered it for a while and with that SS it is kind of border line for a stiff. I always felt like the reg was a bit unpredictable for me and my missed were big high fades. I am not a great player but I have decent mechanics. My bad drives came from leaving the face open not from an over the top move. What I have found so far - just a few weeks - is that with the stiff I can swing harder with more confidence and when I do that I get better results - a longer shot and pretty straight. I am still working on turning it over for a draw. If I take a smooth swing I fade it, but I think that is all due to me not releasing through thru the ball. But when I swing harder I get better results than when I had the reg. With the reg, when I swung hard I felt like the club was not in my control and I could miss left or right. Interested to know where you end up and your results as well.

 

I experienced the same thing although my experiement with the V2 shaft in reg flex was that it was way too boardy for me, can't imagine a stiff. With my current stiff shaft I tend to hit straighter shots when I try and swing out of my shoes (maybe 2 out of 5 were OB). Right now with a smoother easier swing it's a boarderline fade/slice and I was hoping someone could tell me if a regular flex of the same shaft based on the specs I listed would work better. I'd guess on a smooth swing the SS is more like 88-90.

[pocketfulladoubles]

I don't think you are going to like a stiff flex at a 90 mph SS. It will be harder to turn over and you will probably fade it more. Going too stiff will also give you the feeling that you need to swing extra hard to load it and/or get any feeling out of the ball strike. That's not good for a swing, as you'll probably get handsy with it. Really, you need to get the backspin and sidespin numbers from a vector to see where you are at.

[OldSkoolTexan]

Sure, too stiff = fade.  I knew a guy that purposely played X100s so that he could elminate the left side of the course.  He hit straight or cut shots, never tried to draw.  I play a X stiff driver for this reason as well.  Im not a hooker and dont want to start anytime soon.

 

The Whiteboard I currently have installed behaved very differently after I tipped it 1".  I hit it in the lil computer simulator at Golf Galaxy and could turn it over.  Before I took it to the course, I pulled it and tipped it, then BAMM!  NO LEFT!  Trust me, I TRIED to hit a tight draw and it was NOT having it, so I stick to my straight or tight fade(ideally).  :)  I prefer it this way, because I can give it all I have and not worry about a mean hooker.  Of course Im tall with a neutral grip and dont have a flat swing, so a cut is my natural shape anyway.

[Milo]

Not wishing to sneeze on anyone's Doritos here but I have not found this to be the case.

Club head orientation at impact and swing path into the ball dictate where my shots go.

I play mostly X flex stuff because I much prefer the feel of connection with the club head. Draws, hooks etc are just as easy to produce. The only major differences I find is that dispersion and ball height - not necessarily distance- are reduced. We often have significant wind here and stiffer shafts make it so much easier to control trajectory. You can hit a high spinner with a regular shaft and a PX 7 but you might have trouble keeping that R300 down in a gale.

Good luck. Experiment with as much different stuff as you can.

[Hifade]

Milo is spot on and 100% correct. Shaft stiffness equates more to feel and trajectory than anything.

 

 

Not wishing to sneeze on anyone's Doritos here but I have not found this to be the case.

Club head orientation at impact and swing path into the ball dictate where my shots go.

I play mostly X flex stuff because I much prefer the feel of connection with the club head. Draws, hooks etc are just as easy to produce. The only major differences I find is that dispersion and ball height - not necessarily distance- are reduced. We often have significant wind here and stiffer shafts make it so much easier to control trajectory. You can hit a high spinner with a regular shaft and a PX 7 but you might have trouble keeping that R300 down in a gale.

Good luck. Experiment with as much different stuff as you can.