Help understanding Shaft Flex

Follow Thread

By MFinley

  • 0 Likes
  • 16 Replies
  1. MFinley

    MFinley
    New York

    Hello Team Titleist,

    This is my first ever post and would love to get some feedback on a situation I have been running into.

    Some background, I am relatively new to the sport and have just in the last three seasons really tried to elevate my play. High handicap player of 17.1 in my Grint index.

    I have some scratch golfer friends that have been helping me along but I ran into a new development. Last year, I purchased a 917d3 10.5 degree driver with a lite flex shaft. I tried out several clubs in my price range and that just seemed to hit the most accurate constantly and came to the assumption without really any guidance that this was the club that worked best. Paid my 300 bucks and off I went. I had tremendous gain in my slice and distance with that club for the rest of the season, having some great outings with scores of 91-94 on average.

    Here I am feeling great. This year I finished my bag with t300 irons and nice shiny TSi3 Fairway. Hit these great as well. This time I went threw a fitting. It was an awesome experience, and I found that almost standard configuration was the way to go with my game even after trying a huge amount of options I was able to get shelf clubs with a concrete confirmation from the instructor that it was the right choice. The fairway wood is a stiff flex.

    On the links now, My driver is a slice monster, after 5 rounds of golf I can almost assure my ball is going to boomerang back to me, this is how bad its gotten seemingly out of no where.

    My friend said my lite flex shaft could be hurting me as I've gotten stronger with my swing. Ive done some research, I see a lot of mixed reviews of this. This is why I am coming to you all. Could a shaft flex change help? I know there are tons of variables here and this is no easy answer. I am actively working on this but I feel lost. Any advice or input appreciated, I am considering going back to the fitters for an evaluation but not sure if they will help me tweak what I have, or if that's reserved for purchases only.

    Anyways, I appreciate any input and gladly open to recommendations if you choose to share.

    Best, Mick

  2. Dennis H

    Dennis H
    River Falls, Wisconsin

    If you aren't sure of what you are doing, save your money and get a fitting.
  3. MFinley

    MFinley
    New York

    Thank you
  4. Darryl M

    Darryl M
    Wichita, KS

    I would be very surprised a person could get fitted/or hit a Stiff Fairway good & use a lite flex for a driver and not have massive ball spin issues.....

    What were the T300 Irons shafts is one question?
    Fairway is a Stiff & usually the driver matches that one.

    As for understanding flex, if you swing a stiff with no real issues then the lite shaft is flexing at the wrong time in your swing causing the ball to have an open face at impact or creating a lot of side spin.

    A shaft should flex at a certain place in your swing to generate quality spin rate & launch angle at impact. If those are not optimized then any other slight swing path issue or excessive flex will be amplified with that club. Ball disbursement will be wider if too much flex happens as well.

    I strongly suggest getting with a professional & checking your driver/swing and seeing the spin rate, launch angle, and disbursement pattern of your golf shots. Too much flex will make the ball spray left & right more dramatic than a shaft that flexes correctly for your swing.

    Good Luck,

    DM
  5. MFinley

    MFinley
    New York

    Thank you so much for your response. The T300 iron shaft flex are R300 True temper AMT Red. The fitting guide told me I was the most comfortable with good contact on those.

    Your first sentence is exactly how I feel about it. I can totally understand why I cant hit the ball well on a lite shaft. Im 34 and athletic. I swing strong so it makes sense a whippier shaft would open. Regular flex irons tho made me look at my bag and say ok, what's going on here.

    IM going to see if the Titleist fit guy local can help me adjust what I have. Thank you for taking the time to answer!
  6. Barry M

    Barry M
    Reno, NV

    If they fit you with a stiff flex fairway, and it works for you, you probably should consider a similar shaft for the driver. Yes a true driver fitting (outdoors) would be ideal but if you can't work that out, see if a local shop will let you demo one. The Titleist fitting hasn't changed for awhile so any of their driver shafts will fit the 917 head. Being as your from New York they might just tell you "Get the **** outta here buddy!" If you don't mind spending a little money, there are several suppliers of used shafts and you can buy one similar to the fairway shaft and give it a try.
  7. MFinley

    MFinley
    New York

    HAHA the NY attitude!

    Yes I don't mind spending some money to fix the issue, I believe a shaft that can fit in the 917 might in itself fix some of my issues with the slice, and appears its at least a step in the right direction. Im sure I still have work to do with my swing.

    I appreciate the insight. Best Regards!
  8. MFinley

    MFinley
    New York

    HAHA the NY attitude!

    Yes I don't mind spending some money to fix the issue, I believe a shaft that can fit in the 917 might in itself fix some of my issues with the slice, and appears its at least a step in the right direction. Im sure I still have work to do with my swing.

    I appreciate the insight. Best Regards!
  9. Deno

    Deno
    New Jersey

    Military

    Barry M said:

    If they fit you with a stiff flex fairway, and it works for you, you probably should consider a similar shaft for the driver. Yes a true driver fitting (outdoors) would be ideal but if you can't work that out, see if a local shop will let you demo one. The Titleist fitting hasn't changed for awhile so any of their driver shafts will fit the 917 head. Being as your from New York they might just tell you "Get the **** outta here buddy!" If you don't mind spending a little money, there are several suppliers of used shafts and you can buy one similar to the fairway shaft and give it a try.

    Barry
    Good advice there but......there are plenty of PGA Professionals in and around New York who would take exception to your generalization.

    Deno
  10. Dale V

    Dale V
    Surprise AZ

    You will see shaft stats that talk about flex and torque. Usually a softer shaft has higher flex and torque. That means the shaft is "kicking" a lot in the downswing. The stiffer the flex and higher the flex point, the less torque and the less the head will get off line. The downside is usually a loss in distance for the same swing speed. Agree, get fit as some might be the club and some might be related to your swing technique on the driver. Good luck!
  11. Doug E

    Doug E
    Urbana, MD

    Shaft flex is unlikely contributing as much to the slice as swing mechanics probably are. That's not to say you won't have a tendency to spin the wrong flex shaft more than the correct one, but if your slice is as severe as you indicate, it's likely not simply a result of too soft a flex.

    Interestingly, I picked up an old hybrid that a friend was using on the range yesterday, just out of curiosity, to feel a few shots with it. I couldn't hit it straight, whereas I hit my 21 degree stiff flex 818H2 fairly straight or with a very slight draw at times. His faded hard to the right on me at first. It had a huge offset and a senior shaft in it, whereas I am used to little or no offset and stiff flex. With a few minor swing adjustments, I began to hit it fairly straight, and then started hooking it. I put it down and said to him, "Get that thing away from me before it ruins my swing!"
  12. Brock L

    Brock L
    Fort Myers, FL

    Unless your driver distance is less than 180 yards, there is no way you need a Lite flex in the driver. Too much flex and you'll be all over the place, left and right.
  13. MFinley

    MFinley
    New York

    I want to thank all of you for your responses! all fantastic advice! I did however get ahold of the fitting agent I worked with and they agreed that the shaft flex was was to lite. They switched it to a stiff flex they had free of charge. I went on to the simulator and Sure enough, good distance and straight. Straighter. I still have a slice, but no where near as wild. Im glad they helped me out! same with all of you! great team and great forum!

    Best,
    Mick
  14. MFinley

    MFinley
    New York

    UPDATE

    I was able to get the shaft swapped for free from where I bought the club to a stiff flex. On the simulator it was still a slice, but no where near as dramatic. Titleist fitting agent told me that senior will go all over the place confirming what you all had said here. Thank you all for your input!

    Best,
    Mick
  15. Thomas K

    Thomas K
    Steamboat Springs, CO

    Military
    Many years ago a good friend of mine and an extremely good and long player (at one time a club champion at two top 100 courses and a state senior champion) went to Arizona over the winter and borrowed a friend's set of png Eye2s. He hit them extremely well until he talked to his friend and found out they were regular shafts. He could not hit them well again.
  16. Deno

    Deno
    New Jersey

    Military
    Good for you on having the problem solved. Have a great season.

    Deno
  17. Barry M

    Barry M
    Reno, NV

    Mick
    Glad it worked out. Just be sure to remember us when you start winning the big bucks. Now get out there and tee it high and let it fly!!!

Please login to post a comment.

Sign In

Haven't registered for Team Titleist yet?

Sign Up

Find a golf store near me