rbpwrx

Awesome points here and thanks for the different perspectives (and taking the time). Gapping from the 3i instead of the driver is something I haven't really thought about. the 3i is great off of the tee and fairway, I don't really risk it out of bad lies in the rough. If its a bad lie in the rough I usually will take an iron to be sure it gets back out there and stays in play. Its a 235-240 club for me if I'm being honest. Ideally a 250-260 club is what would make a difference. Driver is about 290-300 total (not carry) on a good day. Aside from all of this, the courses I play on a regular basis, I'm never really in a situation all that often where I'm standing behind a shot saying I wish I could hit 3w here or I NEED to hit 3w here. If the tee shot isn't driver its always 3i for me. It would just be nice to have another option when needed. Changing an approach shot to 15-20 yards closer to the green would always be nice. I'm honestly never in a situation where I'm 270+ from a green and wishing I could try to get there. It would just be nice to poke it a little further than the 3ui on the tee where driver isn't the move. I agree w/ Ty_Guy about gapping from your strong club. For me, that's 17° hybrid, which is long off the tee, clean off the deck, reliable out of rough, and high enough for approaches. It's even good around the green! From there, I could honestly get away with just one longer tee club, and a mini would combine best aspects of driver and FW. Which frees up another long iron or wedge spot. Curious what you end up with, OP!

BTW, if you want to go hybrid length in your mini *and you happen to play Titleist*, you can just swap your hybrid (or 5W) shaft into a GT280 head. It will mate up fine. The exterior diameter of the hybrid adapter will be slightly larger than the hosel of the mini, but same exact dimensions internally. FWIW.

1. What do you have in your irons right now? If it's S300s, you're probably OK for the time being. 2. If it's anything lighter, take note. Stock shafts have been trending lighter and longer these days. IMHO, both of those characteristics hurt more than they help the casual golfer. Just b/c it's stock does not mean it's good for you. 3. Shafts in particular can help *teach* a casual golfer a better move. We all want to improve, of course. I find that we neglect the role of the shaft in helping us find a decent path. If the club is too light, we can overpower it, generally with our dominant (trail) side. That's bad news. There's a reason most pros have 120-130g shafts in their irons. Whiffle bats make scores soar. 4. Grips are by far the most important part of the club, IMO. They need to be fresh, and they need to be the right size for you. How do your handles feel? Too thin? Too thick? Grippy enough? 5. You can pick up a used set of beautiful old blades very cheap these days. I saw a set of Hogan musclebacks go for $40 on the 'Bay recently. IMO, there is no better teaching tool. If you're young-ish and strong-ish, get something with X100s in them, put on fresh grips, and take em to the range occasionally. That's how Tiger learned. Shafts that are heavy and stiff will STING if you don't swing right. No faster way to practice getting better. Especially if you're only out once or twice a week. 6. Save any real money for your long clubs. Driver and fairway shafts can take some trial and error. Good luck!

Yes, I had my 3W shaft in a GT280 head. Played like a dream. I wouldn't go shorter, but that's just me. (FWIW, that was an 82g Graphite Design P9003TX, tipped 1", playing 43" in my 915F, so that was presumably 43.5" in the GT280.) For me, stock 3W shaft was a perfect plug-and-play. Slightly lighter head + slightly longer club = swing weight preserved. I'd try just swapping 3W in and see before you cut anything.

Guys, bear in mind that the "traditional" driver just a few decades ago was 43 inches long with a 200 cc head. These 'new' 43-1/2 inch long clubs with 280 to 340 cc heads are souped-up jumbo DRIVERS compared to the clubs of yesteryear. It shouldn't be too surprising that the ideal length and size of the LONGEST club in the bag in the 80s and 90s is making a comeback in the 20s. What works works. I see comparatively few people who are comfortable with 45 inch plus shafts and 450 cc plus heads.

BTW, I always refer back to Rocco Mediate, who famously played Precision Rifle 7.0s for most of his career, even though his swing speed didn't 'justify' those shafts. I wouldn't argue with the 91 holes he pushed Tiger to in 2008. Sometimes heavier and stiffer just works and scores (and FEELS) better.

Yes, a lo-lo shaft will do what you want. CT130 = low torque, high kick. And you MAY find that you start hitting it higher, automatically. I see nice high irons with it now, even down to 3i. My first impression was crazy LOW w/ great feel. But that changed by itself over a couple rounds, maybe as confidence grew. The thing for me is a very stable tip, because YES it does what you're trying to do. Direct translation, hands to head. Only shaft better at that for me is the X7, which is laser straight, and ultra low-torque, even for steel. Flies significantly lower than CT130, but super exacting. Will NOT jump (like the CT130, occasionally, although I always forgive it), and if I played for money, it'd be the X7 all day. Luckily I don't.

I've been through this too. Couple different fitters saw 'optimal' numbers for me with PX 6.5s. But I always hated the feel of those shafts. Gave me a rubbery shudder. (The satins were great tho, back in the day.) Played X100s (and X300s) forever, then stumbled onto the C-Taper 130X, which has been my gamer for many years now. Through multiple sets, bent tips, etc. Just fits my swing like a dream. Nothing feels better or gives me more confidence. (X7s and PX LS are in backups.) Feel may not exactly be 'quantifiable' (although I bet with fancy modern gear they can come pretty close), but confidence is ALWAYS optimal in golf. Play what feels most like *your* shaft, and then yes adjust heads to fine-tune gaps and spin etc.

I've had the STXs on a few clubs since last winter (got a batch of the prototypes). (Been playing Stars for a couple decades, since they lanched - first Sidewinders, then Classic Wrap Midsize, now Tour Star Jumbos. Nobody makes a better grip, IMO.) The STXs are very grippy, a little harder than the Tour Stars or Sidewinders, but not plasticky. Same exact rubber material as in all other Star grips - the harder feel comes from the elaborate texture. Very cool alternative to high-texture grips like cords. If they made Jumbos I'd be gaming them right now.

Interesting how there are good-driver guys and good-iron guys. Usually not both. Just like on tour!

Are we talking gear, or swing? I'm seeing both answers here. For me, the most important GEAR change has been grip size. I know that's not a club, but nothing has taken more strokes off my score than going to a Jumbo (from Midsize, from Standard). The most important SWING improvement would be chipping/ pitching. I'm not bad, I can count on being 5-10 ft on most shots. But that's still 2 putts more often than not. Getting reliably inside 4 ft would probably bring my HC down half a dozen strokes. After that would be driver. Used to be the strength of my game. Now it's either long and wild or short and straight. Having a tee ball I could count on would probably shave the rest of my strokes down to scratch. And that may in part circle back to GEAR. The rest of my bag/ game is pretty spot-on.

70TX RDX Red, tipped 1.5" in driver, is plenty tip-stiff. EI curves are almost identical. And they feel very similar, at least to me. That give at the handle, plus the linear descent, are pretty distinctive. One thing I love about a linear drop all the way to the tip is how predictable tipping is. Same thing for the OG Precision Rifles. I've heard same about Kyoshi White, although I can't personally attest.

Since this came up again, from testing dozens of shafts, the closest match to the C-Taper 130X I have found is the HZRDUS Smoke Red RDX 70TX. Almost identical EI signature (softer handle, and then very linear to stiff tip), tipped a lot to reduce torque. In FW I have GD P9003TX, great shaft and good match. OG Tour Green and Blue TX have similar low-torque feel, but slightly different bend points (Green is just below the handle, Blue is midsection - I have 105TX Blue in HB). Other spinoffs like Riptide MX play similarly - I have a 70g MX Proto (TX) in my back up driver. YMMV!

Yeah, it definitely holds up. I picked up an extra R7QTP 9.5 with stock SE80 M5 shaft (monster) and the combo is much easier for me to hit than my TSR4 with anything in it. The ACCRA is low torque, heavy, with some mid-section flex, and the head is a bomber. Just works. I can get the TSR if I try, and maybe the occasional bomb is longer, but the oldie just takes so much less effort and is considerably more reliable. Embarassing but true.

1. Wellfleet MA; 2. 7.6 HC; 3. RTX4 Zipcore Tour Rack 48, 54, 60 w/ Rifle 7.0 spinners and TourStar jumbos; 4. Tour Rack; 5. Love Cleveland wedges, have played them for decades (alternating w/ Mizzys and Vokeys), and have been stoked about the design of the RTZs since they launched - really appreciate a simple, scalloped back-of-the-wedge design - classic; 6. Absolutely, experienced writer, frequent poster, I'll give all the feedback you could possibly want. 👍