Could I really play an X flex diver shaft?

[golf4life]

Now I have a question. So I was fitted for the X-Stiff Diamana 'ahina shaft for my driver. I am also looking to get a FW. Should I be looking to get a FW in X-Stiff or stick with Stiff. At the Kingdom they I picked up the R11 FW and started hitting it and it had the Diamana Kai'li sahft in stiff flex and I was hitting it well. But I never had them put an X-Stiff shaft in it or the hybrids. So should I go with what I hit before and seemed to hit well or do I risk it and go for X-Stiff in the FW. I just don't know that with the smaller heads in the FW and Hybrids if I need X flex. They did fit me for X100 shafts in the irons. Any thoughts?

Personally, I think in most cases the X flex in your fairway woods will be more suitable for you than the Stiff shaft. For fairway woods and hybrids, generally you're looking for better accuracy and overall dispersion versus eeking out every little extra yard. Based on your swing speed, I think the X flex will give you better results. There's a reason that traditionally hybrids and fairway woods come with shafts that are heavier than their driver counterparts (although with the Mashies, the C. Kua hybrid shafts are light). Its to help with accuracy. X Flex should help tighten your shots even more, provided you're swinging driver in that 110ish range to begin with. But again, this is just a generalization as the shaft kick point and torque and so on will affect performance as much as overall stiffness.

 

[Griff]

I get what you are saying Griff. The three things I would love to change with my driver is lower my ball flight, lower my back spin and tighten up my dispersion.

Then I can unequivicably say a Project X should be at the top of your list. Flexing those can be tricky, but I would guess a 6.5 would fit you.

edit, well done TC!

 

[Bridges]

This might be useful if your considering trying an Project X shaft..

 

[the_paulo]

Awesome stuff from TC, good luck with the Miyazaki J, can't wait to read your thoughts on it.

Doc T, I originally got the X in my 3w, before the driver. Just out of luck, really! I found that it did just as JRamz describes above - made me much more accurate. I actually gained a little distance on the 3w, simply because I was confident that I wouldn't hurt too much if I did swing a little fast. Guarding against that one shot seemed to hold me back with the fwy wood.

 

[JRamz]

Then I can unequivicably say a Project X should be at the top of your list. Flexing those can be tricky, but I would guess a 6.5 would fit you.

edit, well done TC!

I have to say that I tried the Project X in the 910 and I didn't care for it. Granted it was only a 6.0 and not in my SuperTri. For a shaft that was supposed to be on the stiff side and stiff tip it felt whippy to me.

 

[JRamz]

Either Friday or Saturday I am planning on trying the TP Blur X that we have in the fitting cart for the R11's in my SuperTri head. Not that I am considering that shaft but I figure I will at least get an initial feel for how an X flex will work for me.

 

[Dent]

Either Friday or Saturday I am planning on trying the TP Blur X that we have in the fitting cart for the R11's in my SuperTri head. Not that I am considering that shaft but I figure I will at least get an initial feel for how an X flex will work for me.

Let us know how it goes Ramz, all this talk about stiffness of a shaft has really got me thinking as well.

 

[Lefty78]

First let me preface this by saying I understand that the stiffness of different manufacturers can vary.

I have always played a stiff shaft in my driver and never even considered trying an X flex. Recently my driver club head speed has been 105-110 between the two different monitors we have at work. I have tried 3 different shaft manufacturers online shaft fittings and I was surprised to find that all have placed me in an X. I even emailed some one from UST and they also recommended an X.

Have any of you changed from a stiff to an X? I would love to hear some other peoples experiences in making this change.

Your best bet it to try different shafts. I purchased a TM SuperTri and the good thing about those, you can hit the same driver with lots of different shafts. It turned out that the Aldila RIP 70X was for me. So I switched even though I had hit stiff shaft since shafts started being rated. I hit the RIP 60 S in the driver as well with not nearly as good results. Our swing speeds are similar.

 

[Dr. Teeth]

Thanks OG, G4L and the_Paulo for your advice. I am going to call Redtail and see if they have the shafts I need. I truly appreciate your thoughts.

 

[tomahawk18]

I would be more than happy to send you mine if you want to try it out. It's already tipped and ready to go in to the Supertri! All I would ask is that you pay for the shipping.

That is pretty darn cool of you TC

 

[WestTex]

I am one who made the transition from stiff to x over the last year or so.

I think X helps with a couple things when you are getting up there in swing speed:

1) Dispersion. The stiffer shaft helps me hit the ball more consistently to where I'm aiming. I'm less likely to hit a duck hook or balloon fade with the X than the stiff shaft.
2) Ball flight. The X stiff in general helps lower the ball flight. Although, the kick point and many other factors also affect ball flight so its very possible to have a stiff flex shaft that launches lower than an X stiff flex shaft.

Be prepared though that you may not see a distance increase with the X flex, in fact you may see more distance with a stiff shaft if you can control it sufficiently.

golf4life covered it pretty well. I converted over to an X about 3 years ago. Going stiffer should help you with inaccuracy, I know it helped me a ton. The ball flight will really depend on your shaft/head combo more so than just going from S to X.

 

[Griff]

I have to say that I tried the Project X in the 910 and I didn't care for it. Granted it was only a 6.0 and not in my SuperTri. For a shaft that was supposed to be on the stiff side and stiff tip it felt whippy to me.

Surprising! The PX tip is extremely stiff and doesn't kick low. I think that is the real deal shaft in the 910, not a made for so you got the real experience. Hitting a 6.5 may make a difference. Getting the right shaft is a pain, but man is it worth it in the end.

 

[JRamz]

I just got done trying the R11 with the Blur TP X flex in it. I was just simply trying to get a feel for swinging an X. The monitor at work was already turned off so I didn't get any launch or spin numbers. My initial thought is that I don't feel like the X was too much shaft for me. It appeared that my ball was hitting lower on the screen than normal and I really liked how stable it felt. I am beginning to think this might work. Round 2 will come Friday when I bring my SuperTri with me to work and plug the Blur X into it. I will actually get some numbers on that one.

 

[cg13]

i was debating the same. Right now im struggling with Fairways. Im swing easier thinking - i must be swinging too hard - thats why im missing. But when im warmed up on the range and really going after them - i feel like i could use a stiffer shaft. I play a stiff now. Its def something i want to try at the outing.

What is the downside to playing too stiff a shaft? how do you know? ballflight? path tendencies? common misses?

good thread to the OP

 

[the_paulo]

i was debating the same. Right now im struggling with Fairways. Im swing easier thinking - i must be swinging too hard - thats why im missing. But when im warmed up on the range and really going after them - i feel like i could use a stiffer shaft. I play a stiff now. Its def something i want to try at the outing.

What is the downside to playing too stiff a shaft? how do you know? ballflight? path tendencies? common misses?

good thread to the OP

The downsides for me would be -

Most importantly, as you state - going after it. Initially, you think you've got to swing hard to get anything out of the shaft. It's all about your natural tempo. The harder you swing, the worse your misses might be.

Loss of distance on misses. If you miss it badly, and haven't put a decent swing on it, I find it won't get up and travel. As always, would depend on the shaft characteristics.

 

[WestTex]

i was debating the same. Right now im struggling with Fairways. Im swing easier thinking - i must be swinging too hard - thats why im missing. But when im warmed up on the range and really going after them - i feel like i could use a stiffer shaft. I play a stiff now. Its def something i want to try at the outing.

What is the downside to playing too stiff a shaft? how do you know? ballflight? path tendencies? common misses?

good thread to the OP

To go along with Paulo, your tendencies will be low and to the right since you won't be able to get the head back to square.