Quote:
Originally Posted by tophcfa
So golfing the other day I snapped the shaft on my Callaway Mavrik driver. I probably hit the best drive of the day and the thing just snapped on the follow through and the head of the driver whacked me on the back. I really like the driver so I brought it in for repair. The guy at the repair shop had me take a few swings so he could measure my swing speed and fit me with the proper flex on the new shaft. I have always played with stiff shafts and was shocked to learn that he recommended a senior flex shaft based on my swing speed. I guess my mind still thinks I am young and has been writing checks my body can no longer cash? Anyways, I picked up the club this evening and just finished hitting a bunch of balls into the field in our yard (I’m up north). Holly crap Batman, I was hitting long high draws all the way through the field and across the road into the state forest (hopefully the neighbor wasn’t walking their dog down the road). Typically, with the old driver shaft, I would hit a low fade about 3/4 of the way across the field. I guess it’s time to check my ego at the door and accept the fact that I really am a friggin senior citizen: )
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You just learned the secret of club fitting. Stiff shafts, oversize grips, and long shafts are for the few and not the many. All other things being equal, a more flexible shaft will easily add a minimum of 10 yards to a shot with any club, iron or wood. If you want it, the more flexible shaft will also increase the height of the shot.
The goal is to find the most flexible shaft the player can control. It does no good to hit the ball 10 yards further if it is in a giant slice or a duck hook. Finding the correct shaft can be daunting. Launch monitors and computer programs can help; however, they are far from the perfect answer.
I have built, repaired, and modified golf clubs for over 40 years. I currently play in a group of 20+ men of all skill levels. For several months, I have been correcting many of their clubs which were "custom fitted" and "factory custom-made", all at great expense. I could raise the hairs on your head with the stories I have of the incompetence of many of these "custom" club-fitters. I fixed a set of Ping woods in which their swingweights varied by 8 points from driver to 3 wood to 5 wood. One player brought me a set of the most expensive irons available which had been fitted by a factory rep at an event at The Villages golf center. The irons were perfectly matched; however, their swingweights were C2 (they were cut 1" short and the clubmaker did not increase the weight in the heads to bring the swingweight to normal). The result was that the low weight of the heads resulted in the shafts flexing as if they were XX and the clubs were unhitable. If this wasn't enough, the clubmaker installed oversized grips although the man wore a size small glove. Oversized grips limit the movement of the player's wrists, which is the real source of power in the swing.
The tried and true method of finding the correct combination of flex, swingweight, length, and grip size remains the best. Borrow different clubs with different shafts and hit balls with them. Interested in a particular shaft? Buy one shaft and have it installed in your favorite iron or wood. You'll know whether or not you like the combination after hitting only a few balls. If you don't like the combination, make up another. NEVER pay a thousand dollars for a complete set of woods or irons until you have had only one club made up and you determine that you like the combination.
The downside is that you may end up with a cabinet full of "orphaned" clubs and shafts in your garage, as I do in mine.