Switching To Softer Flex

Toulon

What have you noticed in switching to a softer flex?

I'm curious what impact this has had on your:

1) Driver
2) FWs
3) Irons

I've used softer flex in my fairways and loved the feel but have noticed with some clubs that it feels like I've crushed something only to find I've come up well short of where I thought the ball would end up. I thought softer flex would produce greater distance, but not my experience with 5 woods and hybrids.

I recall, I believe it ws Fred Couples saying use the softest flex you can control. What has been your experience in changing relating to distance, control, and overall enjoyment of the game.

shokosugi

Toulon

I'm the opposite of Couples- I'm more play the stiffest and heaviest shafts that I can manage. I'm thinking if you have a nice smooth swing, you could maybe go softer, but if you have an aggressive swing like me, softer flexes may not work.

Toulon

shokosugi

I liked this quote:

You should play the softest shaft you can control OR You should play the stiffest shaft you can get airborne.

EDIT: Greg Norman agrees with your approach:

https://shark.com/the-shark/golf-tips/lesson-81/

Par4QC

Toulon You should play the softest shaft you can control OR You should play the stiffest shaft you can get airborne.

I never tried launching a shaft before. Do you do that like a javelin?

johnnydoom

My distances are lower since switching from stiff to regular shafts over the past two years. Of course, the reason I switched was because my swing speed has declined through the years. When younger, I experimented with regular shafts and it greatly increased my chances at hooking the ball. Don’t have that problem anymore 😩.

CallMeAl

Since there is no standard on shaft flex, how do you really know what you're swinging?

Torque, weight, profile would seem more important than flex. JMO

shokosugi

CallMeAl

I generally look for reviews to narrow down choices but generally for me anything around 80g, low torque, x-flex is my starting point. I'm currently experimenting with a 65g x-flex, not sure about it yet though

Taki27

Par4QC Better to cast it like a fishing pole

freebowlofsoup

What I have found is that the softer the flex, the more left (hooky) I tend to get. Woods and irons. Not always a bad thing, btw.

Toulon

Anyone lose distance with same swing speed? I recall some tee shots with a whippy 22* hybrid that I thought I just smoked. Felt so so good. I think it was 210 yard Par 3. I was 20-30 yards short of the hole and was so surprised. Just checked the shaft. It's an Akira and had a little white sticker that showed shaft was 250cpm.

The stiffest shaft in my bag was on a backup driver (Mag Cruzer...head made out of Magnesium with titanium insert) I carried around that I never intended to play, but decided for fun to pull it out and give it a go on one of the final holes during one of my last outings. May have been the last. My buddy who was the club champ at the time at Troy Burne up in Hudson, WI hit his drive and had it pegged at 340 yards on his device when he rolled up on it. He went to hit his 2nd and realized it wasn't his ball. It was mine. His was 10 yards behind. I can/could hit it 300, but I don't think I've ever hit one that far. That one felt horrible when I hit it, but I'd never swung that hard in my life.

Just strange that feel had nothing to do with distance in either case. I couldn't even see the drive that went what my buddy had at 340 yards. I wasn't even sure it was in the fairway. Just didn't feel good at all.

To me, I would rather hit it shorter and have it feel good, than feel awful and have it go much longer.

sdandrea1

Toulon To me, I would rather hit it shorter and have it feel good,

Yep, especially if it's accurate.

PA-PLAYA

I've found that for me, especially as I've gotten older, that softer flex helps me get the ball airborne a lot easier. Of course, a firm flex with a soft tip can create a similar result... I personally like having a little more action at the tip because it helps me generate more launch. The downside, of course, is that a softer tip with more action is often times a liability for the golfer with an aggressive swing.

As David Feherty once accurately stated, the shortest distance between two points is a duck hook.

I'd rather swing normally with a shaft that I can feel loading versus having to swing out of my shoes to feel the loading of a shaft that feels too stiff. That's why any competent club fitter fits equipment to the golfer's swing, avoiding trying to alter a golfer's swing to fit the equipment.

Sneakylong

Flex shouldn't affect distance that much. Trajectory and control more so. Depends on your swing characteristics.

Par4QC

Shaft flex--drivers

Driver heads can vary quite a bit in weight now(adapter included). I've got/had brand new heads that range from 199-206gr.. Lengths vary also on the new OEM clubs, from 45.25-46". When you try to use 'your flex' in one from the other, you'll fail quite a few times. imo, it's the reason I see a boatload of guys selling brand new drivers, or buying/selling/trading shafts; they are always looking for the same flex, regardless of the head, & the drivers are a constant failure for them.
I don't know how they do things at driver fittings, but they should change it to be called shaft fittings. Just because I may be 69 & swing at 80-85mph, does not mean I may not need an S flex, in my driver, and A flex in my irons. (😁I actually have just the opposite!) Or R flex in my FW clubs.(I do)

toraider

Par4QC Just because I may be 69 & swing at 80-85mph, does not mean I may not need an S flex, in my driver, and A flex in my irons. (😁I actually have just the opposite!) Or R flex in my FW clubs.(I do)

Transition, AoA, play a factor, not to mention there are no standards for shaft companies to follow! However, shaft profiling should help...

CallMeAl

Watch at 5:20 mark when Karsten talks about flex...

Walterjn

CallMeAl that is a pretty cool video. I'm off to part 2