Elbows and steel shafts

Bigborgel

About 10 years ago I had My Ostrich Golf in Maine reshaft a set of Ping oversize I-series irons I bought on the Bay. They came with Ping's infamous SR or soft-regular shafts, which have always felt mushy to me, so I had Femco steels shafted. First chance I had to play them was in my Monday men's group at my club. These irons hit beautifully, there is nothing like a steel shaft, I was in love for 13 holes, suddenly my elbows started killing me, so bad that I couldn't hold onto the clubs when I was swinging. Fortunately, Ostrich returned my pulls with the rebuilt irons, so I could pull the steels and reshaft the graphite shafts, dumped them on Ebay a week later. Expensive lesson to learn.
Anyone else have bad experiences with steel shafted iron, elbows, wrists, shoulders.?

Typhoon

I just brought that issue up on another thread with Sparky. I think it was the " inexpensive shaft thread " or something.

I play steel. Never have problems. Only ones that bothered me were when I was hitting some project x and c- taper shafted irons. Elbows hurt the next day.

A good compromise might be a set of steelfiber shafts. I hit my pro's set and you'd never know they were graphite. In fact, Sparky has a few sets of shafts that just came but he seems to be in love with his rifle shafts....maybe he might want to deal them?

Nippons are the best steel shafts made IMO.

Sparky

My biggest issue is the abundance of range mats in SoCal - it is hard to find a grass range in the OC. I get out at lunch time to hit a small bucket often, and steel off of range mats gets to my wrists and elbows after a while.

So, I've played graphite for most of the last 5 years. While I am pretty good with them in terms of GIR, I sure don't have the accuracy of the steel days. I went to Dana Upshaw 10 years ago, and he fitted me into the old Rifle 5.0s or 5.5s. So I picked up an old set with 5.5s a couple of weeks ago, and sure enough my irons went dead straight all day. Tempo was so much better with 120gm shafts compared to 80g. So I have now cut them down to proper length, installed ProSoft inserts and softer grips. We'll see how that goes. I mentioned to Typhoon that I'd likely shaft up a few irons with graphite shafts just for the range mats.

Yep, I have a bunch of new Steelfiber i80s (ebay bound), and a pullout set of i80 and i95. They are solid, but they do run stiff to flex. Even the i80 stiffs run 304-310 CPMs, and since Dana's fitting said 295cpm 10 years ago, I think they are just too stiff for me.

I'd like to try some 110gm graphite shafts, but those all run $30 each minimum, and that's an expensive test.

I may just sell off my excess and go get fitted again.

SVonhof

I decided that I wanted to avoid issues (head it off at the pass) and decided to go graphite when I went for a fitting in 2012 (40 years old at the time). I told the fitter what I wanted to do and I tried lots of shaft combinations with the iron head combinations. What worked best for me was the Steelfiber i95 stiff flex. I had been using True Temper S400 (they are heavier than the S300 shafts).

So far, so good, but I had not had any problems before this time either, so take it for what it's worth.

I can say though, that the shafts are very stable and balanced and in no way feel mushy.

Typhoon

I was telling Sparky, the I95 steelfiber shafts are Aces!

sdandrea1

Yes. I love the look and feel of steel, but they murder me. Tendinitis in the elbows and wrist pain results. At 64 yo, I am and will be a graphite player. I prefer the heavier shafts tho......75g and up.

DC300

I'm at the point where I can't make it through a round with steel shafts, I don't know why it's so extreme, but I had to make the switch. The last round I played with steel I was -2 through 5 holes, playing lights out (for me), mishit a 4 iron that I was trying to muscle on the green and that was the end, I couldn't extend my arm fully, wound up +7 after 9. I can't get through a bucket of balls with steel without immediate pain.

I went to the Steel Fiber 125s, basically feels like steel, but you get the good vibration dampening of graphite. I'll never play steel again, but I'd be open to other options, the balance point isn't perfect with them for me.

shokosugi

DC300

Hey DC- try the ust recoil shafts or the recoil prototypes. The protos are quite stiff, almost a flex stiffer than DG IMO. I play the recoil protos 125 ss twice and they play very similar to x100's with no elbow issues and slightly lower launch

shokosugi

DC300

You could always try those tennis /golfers elbow strap- they actually work really well

mulegolf

I just this past week swapped out the steel shafts (TT Dynalite 85) that came in the Adams New Idea irons that I bought last year about this time. The set came with 3, 4 & 5 hybrids that had Mitsubishi Bassara shafts. When I noticed that DTG had these shafts (cheap) I decided to make the switch. I still need to clean up after the re-shafting but I know it will help end the tendonitis I was feeling toward the end of the golf season last year. I had originally made the switch to graphite years ago after suffering from tendonitis at the time but tried steel again because the clubs were so reasonably priced that way. I know I probably could have just stuffed inserts into the shafts but I didn't want to add whatever they weighed to the total weight of the clubs. I have gotten used to lightweight (over all) clubs and std. weight clubs just don't feel good to me. These shafts are 71 gram shafts which is about the same weight that I've used in the past when using graphite in my irons.

DC300

shokosugi My only issue with the recoils is the price point. I think I'm going to be honest with myself this year and go to a more serious GI club, so it might be the right time to shop for a new shaft. I just don't make the time for practice anymore, not that the X Hot Pro is difficult to hit, but I know darn well there are easier clubs out there. I keep toying with the single length idea, but the idea of higher flying wedges,9,8 iron keeps scaring me haha.

therod

I played steel shafts for years with no issues. A couple years ago (I am now 40) I started having elbow pain. I ended up going to a specialist for injections in my elbow. It happened in each elbow in consecutive years. I switched to the Xcaliber TourX shaft and never looked back. No more pain, and I can't see a difference in how they play.

Sparky

Just played my 2nd round with steel Rifles. First time back with steel in 5+ years. I really like the feel and ball flight. No distance loss between the Rifles and Steelfiber i80s. I just cut 1/2" off the Rifles and added ProSoft inserts and softer Lamkin grips - and no wrist or elbow issues so far. I did have a couple of stingers as I dug down on a couple of gap wedges.

I think <100gm is too light for me. Need to stay in the 100-120 range , it really seems to help my timing.

mcavoy

Not all steel is the same for me. I started having a lot of elbow pain a number of years ago w/a set of irons that had TTDG in them. Switched to a different set that had FST Pro 125's and noticed less harshness immediately and over time the tendinitis went away.

Sneakylong

Switched to graphite ~ 14 years ago due to elbow problems and haven't looked back. You can still get soft tissue elbow problems with graphite due to the fact that it's caused by a repetitive motion. I've been dealing with it off and on and as long as I play golf the goal is to keep it manageable.

GLFTPS

Gave up steel shafts because my hands would be very sore and swollen after practice. I like graphite and the performance is the same for me without the pain.

sdandrea1

I've been in graphite so long now that steel shafted irons feel like anchors.

Typhoon

Sfeelfiber and Recoil shafts are soo good there is no need to worry about making the change..

sdandrea1

Typhoon

There's one worry........those bitches are pricey!!!

Typhoon

sdandrea1
True.. they have been out a few years now so maybe u can find some pulls. I hear the Steelfiber is finicky to fit so if u do it yourself you might not be happy.

Recoils might be better off.