Driver swing speed and shaft selection

[rwhitlock]

Hello again and Happy New Year!

 

This coming year I am going to get fit for a new driver.  One of the things I'm not sure about is the stiffness of the shaft.  My driver swing speed is right around 112 (measured on Trackman and GC Quad).  All my playing buddies say I need to be in the X-flex but those feel like I'm swinging a telephone pole 😕  I can't seem to feel the shaft load and unload into the ball.

 

So, my question is:  will playing a shaft that's too 'soft' lead to a wider dispersion?  Or will it not make any real difference?   I understand the X-flex might knock the spin and launch angle down some, but just not sure of the dispersion.  

 

Thanks in advance for any info or advice.

Rod

[vadersfather]

With your swing speed, going to a softer shaft, ( a stiff or in the extreme, a regular flex)will effect dispersion for sure.  If x flex feels like a telephone pole, I would suggest ( if you can) adding weight to the head of your driver. You may need more feel of the driver head, during your swing, based on your strength, to swing in the proper tempo.

[Drivingrangehero]

Many more factors to consider.... tempo, transition, release and another important one you have cover already, FEEL! 
 

I swing in the same ball park as you. My 7 iron ball speed is 122-124 and my Driver ball speed is 166-168 on the GC Quad, I don’t know for sure swing speed, due to it being on a pre set smash factor ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

 

 I play a Modus 105 stiff shaft. The Mizuno shaft optimizer recommendations were heavy, and x-stiff .... C-Taper 130x, PX 6.5, DG X100 etc. I found my best performing shaft for dispersion, spin and feel came in the modus 105 S, next being the TT Tour Elevate. Even within manufactures things have great disparities, like Nippon. The Modus 120x felt a bit soft to me, while the modus 105 X felt much too stiff, like I had to jump on everything . I have a slow tempo, easy transition, and a mid-late to late release, I think that plays a greater role in picking a shaft than swing speed alone. 

 

I’m on the other end when it comes to Driver shafts. I don’t find stiff too whippy, I just get better results with the shaft I’m in now. I play an Aldila Xtorsion Copper 60TX and it feels great. I have found that some stiff shafts “feel” more stiff than the Copper TX I’m currently playing due to the torque rating I suppose. It seems like if the torque rating is low, then I don’t like the feel, but that just my personal experience. For instance I bought two Aldila Xtorsion Copper shafts , one 70TX and one 60TX. The torque rating of the Copper 70TX was much lower (2.9) than the 60TX (4.1) even though the difference in weight between the two shafts is 3 grams (60 TX=67 gram, 70TX =70 gram) I didn’t like the 70TX at all. It “felt” much too stiff!   The lower number the torque, the less I like the feel of the shaft, which causes me to swing harder. I have found that I get along with 65-70 gram shafts with higher torque rating, whether that is in a R, S, X, or TX ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

 

Flex is just an arbitrary rating that doesn’t have a universal standard, kind of like the number on the bottom of a club. You may get your best results in a Regular, or a TX ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  in the end it’s the numbers that matter not the letters 👍
 

 

[rwhitlock]

Thanks for the quick replies and info. 

 

I would say that I have a smoother transition, (see attached video) so maybe that's why I gravitate to the 'stiff'.  Currently, I have the G410 with a Ventus (with velocore) Blue 6S.  I really like the feel of this and am hoping the G425 head will knock off some spin for me.  Then I can pop my Ventus in that head.   

 

What got me to wondering is when I order a new club I was thinking of going with the X flex (assuming I have good numbers with it and the fitter suggests it) and if that flex doesn't work out on the course, I can always go back to my Ventus.

[SamboRoll]

53 minutes ago, rwhitlock said:

Thanks for the quick replies and info. 

 

I would say that I have a smoother transition, (see attached video) so maybe that's why I gravitate to the 'stiff'.  Currently, I have the G410 with a Ventus (with velocore) Blue 6S.  I really like the feel of this and am hoping the G425 head will knock off some spin for me.  Then I can pop my Ventus in that head.   

 

What got me to wondering is when I order a new club I was thinking of going with the X flex (assuming I have good numbers with it and the fitter suggests it) and if that flex doesn't work out on the course, I can always go back to my Ventus.

As said earlier in this thread there are many additional factors to be considered when selecting a shaft, such as your swing tempo, trajectory, shaft weight, kick point,torque etc. In the end it is a combination of all these that is optimal to you. To put it short a stiffer shaft will produce smaller dispersion, i.e. your misses should be smaller with x stiff. Your clubhead speed definitely is in the x stiff section for a driver. Btw, many players have their driver or woods x stiff even if they play their irons with stiff shafts. Some shafts feel overall boardier than others and the shaft weight with its kick point can add to that feel also. Then there is the club head + shaft combo that needs to match as well. I recommend you to try the stiff and x stiff versions of the driver shaft which suits to your swing at the fitter if possible and see the difference in dispersion and length yourself.
 

When I fitted my current driver Callaway Rogue sub zero three years ago I ended up selecting hzrdus yellow 6.5 (x stiff) 76g which was one of the stock shaft options. I hit the ball 3-5 degrees up with my driver so a low spin/low ball flight shaft provided 25-30yds longer drives than the other stock shaft alternative even flow which shot the ball to the sky with too much spin. I have a smooth swing tempo so the yellow version of hzrdus worked better for me than black which felt a bit boardy, as it is designed for more aggressive swing tempos. I chose x stiff over stiff partly because with it I felt that I can hit the ball as hard as I can and it will hold up with me. One year later I changed my driver shaft to a lighter 63g version. It has little less torque but I feel that I can swing faster with less effort with a lighter shaft. With this current set up I’ve pretty much maxed out my trackman numbers. I can hit it +300yds with a 110mph clubhead speed. Doubt that any 500$ after market shaft would bring additional value to this.

 

Go to a good fitter but before that get an understanding of your swing tempo and ball flight, and if you prefer lighter or heavier shaft, and do you prefer to swing out of your shoes with your driver or swing it smoothly. Also it helps if you already know whether a minimum dispersion or a maximum distance is more important to you with a driver, as the shaft will be a compromise between these two. I hope this post was useful and good luck with your fitting.👍🏻

[Red4282]

Not all x flexes are the same. A graphite design tour AD DI will feel very soft compared to a Fujikura Atmos black. Shafts have different design profiles for different feels and tempos. If you have a smoother transition you will like the softer profiles better. 

[Drivingrangehero]

I found much of what SamboRoll posted applied to me as well. 
 

I play my driver shafts short 44.25 and add 8-10 grams of weight to the head. 
 

I played the Ping Tour 65X in a Ping G30 ls tec and it felt boardy, after adding 10 grams of weight to the head, it felt much better while keeping the 45.25 standard length in that shaft. 
 

Agreed on some x stiff feel better than others. I think that the Aldila copper 60TX I play feels great. I found the Tensei Blue to feel amazing as well, but I hated the Tensei Orange, it felt dead to me. I hit a 80 gram RIP ALPHA X-flex that was recommended and it felt like rebar ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

[eth4and]

On 12/31/2020 at 11:27 PM, Red4282 said:

Not all x flexes are the same. A graphite design tour AD DI will feel very soft compared to a Fujikura Atmos black. Shafts have different design profiles for different feels and tempos. If you have a smoother transition you will like the softer profiles better. 

I'll 2nd these sentiments. Flex codes within a single manufacturer matter far more than flex code designations from one manufacturer to another. Some manufacturers cap out at x-stiff while others go to tx-stiff. Heck, some of Mitsubishi's shafts ascend sequentially from R, S, X, to TX whereas others in the same family of shafts (e.g. Diamana) either cap at X or skip straight from S to TX(?)

 

Not knowing anything about your swing, I'd wager you could tighten your dispersion with an equipment change. 110+mph is definitely enough to warrant an x-flex, but as always, getting a qualified fitting will always be your best bet.  

 

Further, "feel" is totally subjective and largely dependent on your unique swing dynamics. My regular playing partner & I are both x/tx guys at 115+ SS but generate our best #'s with vastly different shafts. His best #'s tend to come from super low-torque, "boardy" profiles (he's currently gaming a hzrdus green hulk but spent the majority of the summer playing the OG Graffaloy Blue ProLaunch). Conversely, I generate my best #'s from higher-torque profiles with more "feel" (I currently game a Diamana ZF 60tx but rotate that with the Accra RPG 462 M5+). 

[YMark]

Isn't this a big part of the fitter's job?

[phizzy30]

What I found is that a shaft that is too soft had was harder to control(accuracy) and spin rate could get high.  Back in the day I used to play S flex tipped 1.5 to 2 inches depending on the tip profile.  Nowadays x flex tipped one inch.  The control and dispersion is so much tighter and my spin rate is optimal now.  This is all purely based on numbers off trackman. 

[Ri_Redneck]

I'm just below you in SS and I have driver shafts from TX to S. As all have mentioned above, it's not just SS, tons of other factors have to be considered. Especially how the shaft feels to YOU. Tell them to pound sand and play what you want.

 

BT