Will lighter equal more club head speed

[kennyv]

Generally speaking, will a lighter shaft increase club head speed by a few mph?  Been to a few driver fittings and the theme has been lighter shafts. I play a 65g R flex shaft. Swing speed is still 88-90mph. As I get older and slower, will a move to a 55g shaft help. Fittings confirm I'm on that 55 and 65 bubble.  Still good enough for 65R, but long term should I move now to a 55gSenior. Age isn't a barometer but I'll be 72 in a few months. 

[J13]

5 minutes ago, kennyv said:

Generally speaking, will a lighter shaft increase club head speed by a few mph?  Been to a few driver fittings and the theme has been lighter shafts. I play a 65g R flex shaft. Swing speed is still 88-90mph. As I get older and slower, will a move to a 55g shaft help. Fittings confirm I'm on that 55 and 65 bubble.  Still good enough for 65R, but long term should I move now to a 55gSenior. Age isn't a barometer but I'll be 72 in a few months. 

 

Typically yes

[Jeff58]

I think the appropriate question is “can it” vs. “does it”. The first answer is yes, while the second is more that any increase is dependent on the individual’s mechanics.

 

The more aggressive your initiation, the less like that there will be any difference.

 

The greater the difference between your driver’s weight / flex / mass distribution vs. the rest of your bag, the more difficult it will be to be consistent with it.

 

If you haven’t already done so, consider optimizing your ball choice first.

[Honman]

So my speed is a touch quicker than yours but not but much, and you've got 30 years on me, so well done on that!

 

But I think the current Diamana line is amazing as they have sub 50 gram shafts that are very stable and I definitely swing them quicker. And because they offer stronger flexes at those weights as well, in all three profiles I'd definitely recommend them to test. 

Edited June 3 by Honman

[TNwanabe]

Check out the Newton shaft line. The newest light shaft is awesome. 

[Phabs]

I messed around with a tensei white 50g TX at 44.5” and didn’t see anything interms of speed increase over my LAGP.  I’m pretty pedestrian by wrx standards with driver speed around 120 give or take a few 

 

Edited June 3 by Phabs

[GoldenEagle69]

I'm probably in the minority, but graphite shafted clubs go significantly shorter for me. I lose track of the club which destroys my sequencing.

 

I'm 56 single digit hcp.

[ctonr]

For me there's a point of diminishing returns.  Too light and I lose tempo and feel resulting in poor contact.

[ScooterMcTavish]

3 hours ago, kennyv said:

Generally speaking, will a lighter shaft increase club head speed by a few mph?  Been to a few driver fittings and the theme has been lighter shafts. I play a 65g R flex shaft. Swing speed is still 88-90mph. As I get older and slower, will a move to a 55g shaft help. Fittings confirm I'm on that 55 and 65 bubble.  Still good enough for 65R, but long term should I move now to a 55gSenior. Age isn't a barometer but I'll be 72 in a few months. 

 

Shaft is only one point of overall club weight, and often the static weight of the club may have as much bearing as just the shaft.  How the shaft bends is also important, especially if you prefer a softer handle, or a softer tip.

ctonr also had it right that too light a shaft can create many issues, including a lack of feel, a lack of load, and an over-the-top move.  There's a great driver "self fitting" thread in the club tech forum from @Howard_Jones and he provides a great description about the issues he sees with shafts that are too light.

I tried going lighter in both my irons and driver, and was unable to do so.  I could certainly swing the club faster, but in now way that allowed my ball to go where I wanted it to.

 

FYI, I am in my mid-50s with a SS of 87-95 (depending on day), and I'm hitting my Darkspeed LS with a 67g Lin-Q white stiff shaft farther than anything I've tried in the last decade.   

[596]

I'm my last fitting we tried the regular/senior weight and flex shafts. At 70 years old and a swing speed of 87 I had best results with the 65g regular flex at 8* loft.  Even ended up with a Hazardous Black low spin shaft.  The old adage of "loft and spin are your friend as you age" isn't always true. Same goes for "lighter shafts equals higher swing speed".... but not always.

[getitdaily]

I found that it did.  Went ventus black 6x to try black 5x. That's 8g lighter and I saw 2-3 mph faster clubhead speed.  I figured that combining lighter with a stiffer profile would be good. I was right.

[gumpy]

Added about 3 for me and with my irons it helps stop golf elbow for me. 

[ARL67]

I'm slower SS at 95 mph and for the last several years use a heavy CP2 Jumbo grip ( 80g ) and much heavier sole weights in my driver heads ( TSR & G430 series ), and hit the driver pretty reliably.  The driver shafts I have are low 60g and high 50g.   With my heavy grips and heavier sole weights, the club's total weight is quite high.

 

This seasons experimentation will be to go to lighter grips and sole weight, yet still maintain a heavier feeling driver swingweight'wise 

I'm also eyeing some 40/43g Diamana shafts on eBay.

 

Funny, after years of using Jumbo grips on everything, I can barely hang onto a Standard size grip.

I have a couple Superstroke Traxion Oversize grips on hand, which weigh 50g and are really the size of a Golfpride Midsize ( which typically weight 64g ).  So I'll use the SS Traxions along with whatever lighter sole weight gives me the feel/heft I like.

[596]

11 hours ago, ARL67 said:

I'm slower SS at 95 mph and for the last several years use a heavy CP2 Jumbo grip ( 80g ) and much heavier sole weights in my driver heads ( TSR & G430 series ), and hit the driver pretty reliably.  The driver shafts I have are low 60g and high 50g.   With my heavy grips and heavier sole weights, the club's total weight is quite high.

 

This seasons experimentation will be to go to lighter grips and sole weight, yet still maintain a heavier feeling driver swingweight'wise 

I'm also eyeing some 40/43g Diamana shafts on eBay.

 

Funny, after years of using Jumbo grips on everything, I can barely hang onto a Standard size grip.

I have a couple Superstroke Traxion Oversize grips on hand, which weigh 50g and are really the size of a Golfpride Midsize ( which typically weight 64g ).  So I'll use the SS Traxions along with whatever lighter sole weight gives me the feel/heft I like.

You can also look at Jumbo Max ultralight grips. They only weigh 50 to 55g.  The 55g is the extra large and is no heavier then a standard grip.

[ARL67]

So I removed the 80g CP2 Wrap Jumbo on a couple driver shafts and put a 48g Superstroke Traxion Oversize on one and a 39g Jumbomax STR8 Ultralite XS on the other.  I played 18 with each an did not get any more distance.  Keep in mind I'm only 95 SS.  I did however notice the heavier swingweight feel, which I quite liked.  I think I was more reliable, but will need more rounds to be sure.  An easy experiment.

 

[twidener]

I'm 74 and I grew up playing persimmon drivers with steel shafts and I tried a 55 gram shaft in a TR3. I did not like how light it felt. I now have 65 gram shaft. Also after trying the TR3 before I ordered it, I felt like the head was too light and I couldn't feel where the head was, so I had Titleist put a heavier weight on the head. Now with the 65 gram shaft and heavier head the driver feels pretty good. I have no idea what my swing speed is and the only time I had a fitting was 16 years ago to make sure my irons, which I ordered 2* flatter than standard, were what I should still be playing. And they were. I've played flat lies since high school. After over 60 years of playing I know what feels good to me and what works best for my game. I like heavier, stiff, flat lie clubs.