Which graphite shafts do you have in your TM P790s? Here's why I ask...

[KMeloney]

I got fitted for graphite in my AP2s a few years back due to golfer's elbow problems. Got fitted into SteelFiber 110s, stiff -- and although they've completely mitigated my elbow issues, I'd be lying if I said I loved the shafts. I don't think I have any real qualms with the SF, themselves. I just wonder if the 110 weight, and/or the stiff flex is doing me any favors. And now that I've had them put into my P790s for more than a year -- and I'm not seeing the explosive distance gains that folks sometime find with the 790s -- I wonder if this weight/flex combo is making me work harder than I should.

It's been 4 years or so since I first had the 110s put in my AP2s, but I distinctly remember going to the range right after picking them up and thinking, "Oh no... This isn't going to work," as swing after swing felt dead, and I couldn't make good contact and get the ball up in the air like I was used to. Now, I certainly figured out how to play with them, and, like I said, had them put into my P790s, but... I just can't seem to be smooth with them, and can't rely on the high side of my distance ranges without feel like I need to really "step" on them. (And you can imagine that when you do that enough, the swing gets out of whack, and everything goes to crap.)

I can't tell you my 6 iron swing speed or anything, but I can say that I'll be 50 this year, have recently been down to a 5.2, and can't go back to steel. I keep up just fine and am sometimes "long" with my driver. I've played S300s and PX 6.0s and couldn't complain about their weight/feel. I really don't WANT to go through the expense and time of another shaft fitting (although I may just bite the bullet) nor the expense of new shafts... But I don't really want to play another season not loving the feel of my irons (but via the shafts). I think I may want/need something through which I can feel the head better. Not sure.

I'd love to hear what you've got in your P790s, especially if you've changed weight or flex within SF. What do you like about your current graphite vs your previous? Any options that are great that won't break the bank?

Thank you!

 

[Jeff58]

Try impact tape.

[nickpiro]

What is your thoughts on Steelfiber but just in a lighter weight and maybe soft step them? When I first hit SF they felt hard to load, but post soft step and they are like butter now. Just a thought!

[KMeloney]

Not opposed to that at all. That's the kind of thing I'm interested in hearing about, especially where folks have gone the lighter and maybe softer route.

I've never hit irons with SF 95s, so I just don't know what to expect. But I've got to think that they'd be less fatiguing by the end of a round, maybe.

[jjr]

Im 60, 5 HDCP, been playing Wilson Staff V4 with DG Pro S300's (130gm) for a few years and decided to get fit (outdoors) for the 790's, I found that I picked up height and length (10 yards) with the Recoil Smac Wrap 780 F4, I'm still in a stiff but 40 grams less helped me regain some distance and height I've lost. I assume it's a combo of head and shaft. My elbows have never been an issue just wanted a shaft I could age into so to speak.

The Recoil's felt much better then the Steelfiber's and the dispersion was better too. I spent approximately 30 minutes hitting balls as the fitter looked on.

Unfortunately it's been 3 weeks and I've yet to receive my irons from TM. I'm not sure how long it will be before I get out on the course to see if my ball hitting session results will hold true.

[chisag]

... The i95 is the most popular Steelfiber shaft on Tour and while that does not necessarily translate to our game, it at least tells us that even Pro's don't have a problem with that weight, so us am's probably ly won't either. I can give you my experience as a smooth swinging 100mph driver swing speed player. I tried Steelfiber i95's in s-flex and they were too stout for my swing. I found myself over swinging trying to feel the shaft unload and sold them after 2 rounds. I put Recoil 95 s-flex in my P790's and really enjoyed the combo. Took the next step and found some Recoil 95 Prototypes in r-flex and liked them even more. UST advised me that my swing would be right in the middle of the Prototypes if the regular Recoil 95's in s-flex worked well for me. So they advised soft stepping twice or just playing r-flex. For me at least the regular 95 in s-flex and Prototypes in r-flex feel just about the same, although I find dispersion a little tighter with the Prototypes.

... As a life long shaft ho, this caused me to talk with Aerotech and they agreed the i95's in s-flex was a poor fit for my swing. Unless you are a hard hitter, with a short explosive swing they recommend dropping down one flex from what you normally play. So I picked up a set of 2019 P790's and re-shafted them with some Steelfiber i95 r-flex shafts. Due to a herniated disc and then this virus outbreak, I was not able to travel to Phoenix for the winter so I have not hit them yet. So I can't tell you how they play for my swing yet. Good news is I can always go back to my Recoil Prototype r-flex that I put in my P760's if the Steelfibers turn out to be less suited for my swing than the i95's.

[Orlandogolfguru]

i have both p790 and mizuno mp20 hmb. i went from steelfiber 95 to recoil 95. the recoil just feels softer to me, and better suits my swing. it feels less "boardy" if that makes sense. both are great shafts, i just got along better with the recoils.

[dcmidnight]

Going to post here bc I'm looking for the same setup and interested in the feedback. I have been playing the i95s for the last several seasons and they are a perfect fit for my swing so I am not looking to make any changes in that regard. I tried the new Recoils in a demo club this weekend and did not like the weight or the feel of them.

[halfsumo]

I have played i95 stiff in 4 different sets and have shot my lowest rounds with them. This current set, I decided to just go with whatever the Mizuno shaft optimizer recommended. It said PX LZ 6.5 so that’s what I did. Honestly, other than the weight, performance is extremely similar. I will probably switch back to i95s soon because of the shock absorption, but just letting everyone know my experience that the i95 stiff can be pretty similar to some x-flex shafts out there. I am generally 105-108 driver swing the a shorter backswing.

[nickpiro]

I would definitely recommend giving them a try if it's available, I am gaming the i95 soft stepped and have really enjoyed them. Cheers!

[KMeloney]

This is some great insight, folks. Keep it coming, please. Thanks!

[cardoustie]

I have recoil 110 in mine

however, I prefer the recoil 95 in my 919t set ... but that could be the heads

I am going to try aldila VS Proto 85x in my 790 set and move the recoil 110 into my blueprints

i find steelfiber to feel harsh vs the recoils ... especially the 110. To me it also seems effortless to load recoils

[ian-500]

Can I ask the OP what changed from your fitting to trying your newly fitted set on the range/course? Surely you loved the feel when you were being fitted.....

[chisag]

 

... Fwiw I do not find much difference between Recoil 110's and 95's. I have Recoil 110's in my wedges and notice no difference compared to my pw with Recoil 95's. And I have posted this in other threads but after being diagnosed with elbow tendonitis I started with NV Tour 130gm shafts and they were beasts at 1.5* of torque and while they performed well as I was younger then, they were a little too stout for me to be ideal. So I was very happy when Aldila released the NV Pro's at 105 gms with more torque that played like lighter dynamic gold shafts. I then started playing the VS Proto 100's and really loved their performance that felt and played like KBS Tours and were my favorites from Aldila. Since every drop in weight provided excellent performance and feel I tried a set of VS Proto 85's and they turned out to be just too light for me. I added lead tape to get them to D6 and they felt better but still not as good as the 100's. If you have already bought the 85x VS Proto shafts I wish you luck with them, but if you have not bought them yet you might wanna try one before buying an entire set.

[Golf64]

Always found the SF about 1/2 flex stiffer vs. other graphites. I agree with the above posters, maybe SF95 in Reg. might be the ticket?! Worth a try in one club and if it works, do the rest of the set!?

[driveandputtmachine]

I am a pretty aggressive swinger of the club, and even for me the I-110 in my normal flex was way too stout. I went down a flex and soft stepped twice to get them where I wanted. I will say I experimented with lighter weight shafts and it threw EVERYTHING off. I hit so few good iron shots, and it crept into my long game as well. I went from hitting 11-15 greens to hitting 7-9 greens a round. I tried new clubs that were more forgiving, but I just cannot have 70 in a driver and 80 in my fairways and have 100 gram or less iron shafts. Maybe it was the balance point, but I know I hit the Recoil 110 F5 soft stepped once well, I hit the Nippon 130's X soft stepped once well, and I hit the KBS FLT in S straight in very good as well, I am also back to driving the ball the way I want as well.

For me, I believe I cannot go light in any clubs unless I go light in all of them. I feel like my timing is all off. I went back to my good weight on iron shafts (my comfort zone is the KBS FLT in S to NIppon 130's in steel and recoil 110's in X soft stepped once) and my timing feels back this past Sunday the way I like it.

[cardoustie]

I have the set, they cost 80 bucks. I have also played proto aldila 125x and nv105x .. and 100 and 120 Fuji MCI's ... old hat for me with all the old graphite models .. and I have tried the vs proto 100x as well ... smoother thank the nv line for sure

[KMeloney]

Ian— I don’t know if I ever “loved” the feel at the fitting. I don’t enjoy the indoor golf/fitting experience, I was looking to solve my elbow problem, and I wasn’t interested in paying a lot more for some of the other graphite shafts at the time. Fast forward to today, I don’t dislike the SF, and I’ve played relatively well with them. But I don’t think my current set-up is ideal for me. I may end up keeping the weight but changing the flex, or maybe changing the weight. I don’t even know that I need to look outside of SF to be really happy with my irons.

I guess I’m just coming to grips with the fact that my current set-up might just be “too much” for me in some sense(s), and I’m looking to hear how folks have solved similar issues.

[taylorx300]

OP

I will be 54 this year, been battling elbow issues for two seasons. Had always played Project X 6.0. Loved the feel. With age and elbow pain started to see a problem with peak height. Went to KBS Ctaper Lite In stiff. Feel ok but still still the same issues. Them moved to Project X LZ 5.5. Height went up a smidge but finally realized it was time for graphite. Since I was getting 790, tried Smac 780, recoil 95, MMT, SF 95 & 110. The best one that I tried last was KBS TGI 100 in stiff. Love it for curing the problems.

[KMeloney]

Interesting. Didn’t even know about the KBS. I think there might be a number more options out now that weren’t available when I was fitted.

[icemakr]

If your looking for the least expensive option, soft stepping helps.

Cost for 1-2 shafts plus labor

I found a significant difference in the feel of Reg SF and Stiff in either weight.

recently I tried i95 Reg hard stepped once and loved them. But My gamers are recoil proto 95’s in Reg. As another poster suggested, great feel, controlled flight and dispersion without feeling harsh.

[chisag]

... Just a thought, I have been doing all my own work for so long I tend to forget others have the expense of the shaft itself and then re-shafting charges, so total cost can get pretty expensive. As I said earlier I installed some Steelfiber i95 r-flex in my P790's and if I don't like them as much as my Recoil Prototype 95's now in my P760's I can just pull the Proto's and install them in my P790's at zero cost. Then I can either install the Steelfiber i95's in another set or sell them and I am out very little $. Couple that with I know I do excellent work so I don't have to trust someone else doing my install which is what caused me to start doing my own work to begin with. So I get this can be a much more deliberate, researched and expensive endeavor than just trying some new shafts you buy on Ebay.

[Mob]

So I think I can help alittle bit. I am 49 and around a 6 handicap. My 7 iron distance is 170 yards. I play TM p790's as well. I had tendonitis requiring surgery 7 years ago, so I switched to graphite around that time. I started with Recoils, they felt very lively, but dispersion and distance control wasn't great. I then switched to Steelfiber 110 stiffs and liked them. I liked the "dead" feel to them actually, and dispersion was great, but distance suffered. I then switched to Fujikura Pro i95 Tour Spec shafts, and they were the perfect balance between the Steelfibers and the Recoils. I have been in them for 3 seasons now, and very happy with them.

[Pepperturbo]

Regardless of head, its an error to assume distance gain with i110 graphite shafts, as that weight shaft is close to that of standard steel. It's design is to make transition from Steel to graphite easier.

If distance gain in your goal, than you should test i95 "S" even "R" shafts. Regular flex still feels stiffer by comparison to other similar shafts. The feel of i95 is going to be similar to i110 except lighter weight will bring faster SS and probably extra yards. The problem with going to light graphite shafts has everything to do with your swing mechanics and tempo, it's very easy to swing too fast or over-swing so impact will have more clunkers. If you can slow down and make solid impact distance will be like steel. But I doubt the stronger lofted TM irons will make much distance difference. Too fast or too slow, you'll likely lose some distance and dispersion will fluctuate. The other consideration is stronger lofts with softer graphite may result in more unwanted spin, so less distance.

I play taper-tip i110 "S" Steelfiber in my weak lofted 620 irons and really like trajectory and down range result. I changed from PX 6.0 (120gram) so only realized back the distance I had lost due to medical issue with a heavier stiffer shaft. Now that I am stronger I see gradual gains in distance but it's slight. However, I have i95 in my 2 iron and hitting it equal to or past others hitting driver, wood or hybrid, and it's laser straight. I call it point and shoot. When retail gets back to normal I am putting i95 "S" in 6i-3i, keeping i110 in 7i-PW, and i125 in SW and LW.

[KMeloney]

This is great stuff, folks! Really gives me some great things to consider.

[Alex G]

thanks guys. I am 36 but a 19 hcp and just got fitted for P-790s and went with a S graphite shaft instead of the R steel ive used for 15 years. These clubs are a far upgrade from my old clubs and my game needs work so the lighter shaft with more feel for the club head was why I went this route. Hope it works. Any tips on transitioning from steel to graphite is greatly appreciated. My CH speed is about 85. 
 

thanks.

AG