Determining If Iron Shafts Are Too Light?

[mjf34g]

What's the boards consensus in how to determine that an Iron shaft is too light?  I've kind of went down the rabbit hole when looking at my iron game and thinking of reversing my decision (we've all been there haven't we)? 

My recent steel shafts have been Pro Modus 105's and Ping AWT's and I recently picked up a set of irons shafted with Ping's Alta CB Red AWT's.

While the 72 gram Alta's do seem to generate a bit more distance the "feel" is definitely lacking along with a high ballflight. Dispersion is ok. Just seems that I have tendency to get quick with these shafts. 

In the case of these two steel shafts not much to chose as too distance and dispersion is about equal. However tempo seems better particularly in the short irons. Plus it seems a bit easier to flight the shorter irons when needed.

The attempted move to graphite was due to age and old injuries and a slight loss of distance but I'm wondering if the trade off is worth it.

Any input from the board would be appreciated.

[bnperrone]

I'll defer to the experts, but it sounds like you are describing exactly what it's like to have shafts that are too light. Getting quick, pulls, etc. 

 

There's so many graphite shafts these days that you shouldn't have to get away from your ideal weight range to accomplish your age/injury goals. Best of luck to you.

[animalgolfs]

54 minutes ago, mjf34g said:

What's the boards consensus in how to determine that an Iron shaft is too light?  I've kind of went down the rabbit hole when looking at my iron game and thinking of reversing my decision (we've all been there haven't we)? 

My recent steel shafts have been Pro Modus 105's and Ping AWT's and I recently picked up a set of irons shafted with Ping's Alta CB Red AWT's.

While the 72 gram Alta's do seem to generate a bit more distance the "feel" is definitely lacking along with a high ballflight. Dispersion is ok. Just seems that I have tendency to get quick with these shafts. 

In the case of these two steel shafts not much to chose as too distance and dispersion is about equal. However tempo seems better particularly in the short irons. Plus it seems a bit easier to flight the shorter irons when needed.

The attempted move to graphite was due to age and old injuries and a slight loss of distance but I'm wondering if the trade off is worth it.

Any input from the board would be appreciated.

Th lead tape on shaft is the way to determine @Stuart_G will be the person to ask

[Stuart_G]

1 hour ago, mjf34g said:

What's the boards consensus in how to determine that an Iron shaft is too light?  I've kind of went down the rabbit hole when looking at my iron game and thinking of reversing my decision (we've all been there haven't we)? 

My recent steel shafts have been Pro Modus 105's and Ping AWT's and I recently picked up a set of irons shafted with Ping's Alta CB Red AWT's.

While the 72 gram Alta's do seem to generate a bit more distance the "feel" is definitely lacking along with a high ballflight. Dispersion is ok. Just seems that I have tendency to get quick with these shafts. 

In the case of these two steel shafts not much to chose as too distance and dispersion is about equal. However tempo seems better particularly in the short irons. Plus it seems a bit easier to flight the shorter irons when needed.

The attempted move to graphite was due to age and old injuries and a slight loss of distance but I'm wondering if the trade off is worth it.

Any input from the board would be appreciated.

 

The important part is taking the time to investigate the effects on the results (distance, dispersion, shot control, fatigue, etc..)  But after that work is done, everyone has to make that judgement on their own where the best balance might be for them and their game.

 

Just keep in mind, the dispersion on the range or in a store while grooving the swing with multiple shots while recording the data on an LM, is not the same as dispersion on the course where you only get once shot under pressure.    Because of that, I personally would be concerned if tempo was suffering.   Inconsistent tendencies with the tempo will generally lead to more inconsistency on the course for most.  But only you can tell if that's the case for you or not.

 

I can also add that it can be very important to reassess and refit for swing weight as the shaft weight changes.   As the shaft weight drops, you may see a benefit in increasing the head weight/swing weight.   So don't forget to take some time to play around with the lead tape on the heads.   That's another way that you might address the tempo issue.

 

[Jmccas]

I moved to 63 gram graphite shafts from 105 gram steel due to age and injuries and my game iron game has gotten worse. I went and took a few swings with the Mizuno Shaft Optimizer which confirmed my shaft weight was at least 35 grams light.  I have also had to slow my swing down to try and increase strike consistency.  All in all, it was a bad experiment for me....

 

I am going to stick with graphite but will move to a heavier weight graphite shaft.

[Cwebb]

Impact pattern on the face.  Shot results.  Test for detail on both, at the same time.  Club-head speed would be well down on the list. 

 

Beyond that, if you have pretty good feel, trust your instincts with no bias

[anser85029]

Everyone's swing speed will decrease over time , however YOUR TEMPO most likely remains the same.  Instead of automatically thinking that iron shafts that are lighter in weight will be the panacea, it might be better to first try the same weight steel shafts you are used to but ONE FLEX softer.  

 

My tempo has been based on swinging the same weighted shafts for the past 50 years!  SS has declined significantly in my 60s, but my tempo is the same.  I, too, tried several lighter iron shafts as a "cure" but they all destroyed my tempo as I got too quick.  Went back to my old heavier shafts but went one flex softer.  Tempo returned with the familiar weight.  One flex softer lowers the flex point a tad.  Trajectory has returned.  Hitting irons is now fun again.

 

 

[naj959]

Like mentioned above, if strike location starts to become compromised and you feel like you've lost some control of the ball then that says it all. I typically play mid-weight steel but decided to try out graphite this year. I made the all too common mistake of going too light and purchased a set with Recoil 780s. My impact started to stray away from center and I never felt like I had a feel for what the club was doing. I jumped into an old set I had lying around with DG R300s and it was like night and day. Dipsersion was actually better than the mid weight shaft I typically play so now I'm thinking 120 grams would be my goldilocks zone. Not what you would expect based on my swing speed and tempo.

[phizzy30]

4 hours ago, mjf34g said:

What's the boards consensus in how to determine that an Iron shaft is too light?  I've kind of went down the rabbit hole when looking at my iron game and thinking of reversing my decision (we've all been there haven't we)? 

My recent steel shafts have been Pro Modus 105's and Ping AWT's and I recently picked up a set of irons shafted with Ping's Alta CB Red AWT's.

While the 72 gram Alta's do seem to generate a bit more distance the "feel" is definitely lacking along with a high ballflight. Dispersion is ok. Just seems that I have tendency to get quick with these shafts. 

In the case of these two steel shafts not much to chose as too distance and dispersion is about equal. However tempo seems better particularly in the short irons. Plus it seems a bit easier to flight the shorter irons when needed.

The attempted move to graphite was due to age and old injuries and a slight loss of distance but I'm wondering if the trade off is worth it.

Any input from the board would be appreciated.

Try the MMT 95 or 105.  Very stable and as good as any offering out there.  I too went to composite iron shafts due to age and various injuries to my hands and wrists.  They are expensive but worth every penny for us older guys. 

[Ghostwedge]

I went down that rabbit hole a few years ago ( light weight graphite shafts ) its a tempo-wrecker. Lot of upside for them, carry less weight (if walking) ward off injuries to joints, etc.

Played numerous rds with them, lead tape was used extensively. GIR plummeted my 4 cap was closer to 8 now. Back to steel shafts, tempo was back, scores back down. 

The alternative is heavier graphite shafts, now have the Recoil 95' shafts in my other set. No tempo issues, great shafts too.

[Pete O'Tube]

After playing S300's for years, then R300's, then Regular KBS Tour 105's, I was fitted with Recoil 95 F3 iron shafts a couple of years ago using the Mizuno shaft optimiser thing. Totally useless as I suffered from being too quick, over the top etc. etc. - all the issues mentioned with too light shafts.

In a moment of desperation I stuck a strip of lead tape on the back of all my irons. Bingo! Down from 9 to 6 in a month.

Edited July 7, 2021 by Pete O'Tube