Really need X-stiff?

[dokex]

What percentage of people here who claim to play X or TX shafts really need them? My guess is awfully low.

[A-A-RonCCC]

A lot of manufacturers' recommend driver swing speed greater than 105 should use x-flex.  That's not exceptionally fast, yet x-flex shafts are virtually nowhere to be found in stores.  I wonder if more people should be using x-flex and aren't than the other way around...

 

 

[animalgolfs]

35yrs ago I'd agree.....

 

Today's youth are in a different territory overall.....I'd say the % is only going to increase 

 

 

[dokex]

1 minute ago, A-A-RonCCC said:

A lot of manufacturers' recommend driver swing speed greater than 105 should use x-flex.  That's not exceptionally fast, yet x-flex shafts are virtually nowhere to be found in stores.  I wonder if more people should be using x-flex and aren't than the other way around...

 

 

What percentage of people do you think have a ss of at least 105? I think it is extremely small.

[nikeblades00]

14 minutes ago, dokex said:

What percentage of people here who claim to play X or TX shafts really need them? My guess is awfully low.

At my club I don't think I've ever thought to myself that guy shouldn't be hitting X. 

 

If what you are trying to say is that most people don't have the swing speed for X, then I think you haven't been around golf long. I know tons of golfers who's ball speeds are 170 -185. I'm no where near that btw. But lots of people need X! Duh.

[chipa]

I have stiff shafts in my irons but X stiff in my woods because I swing harder with the woods and I hook the ball. My clubhead speed with the driver is over 105 according to my radar. I buy my shafts from Monark Golf.

[doc52]

15 minutes ago, nikeblades00 said:

At my club I don't think I've ever thought to myself that guy shouldn't be hitting X. 

 

If what you are trying to say is that most people don't have the swing speed for X, then I think you haven't been around golf long. I know tons of golfers who's ball speeds are 170 -185. I'm no where near that btw. But lots of people need X! Duh.

Completely agree.

[dokex]

31 minutes ago, nikeblades00 said:

At my club I don't think I've ever thought to myself that guy shouldn't be hitting X. 

 

If what you are trying to say is that most people don't have the swing speed for X, then I think you haven't been around golf long. I know tons of golfers who's ball speeds are 170 -185. I'm no where near that btw. But lots of people need X! Duh.

Started playing in 1975.

[NRJyzr]

9 hours ago, dokex said:

What percentage of people here who claim to play X or TX shafts really need them? My guess is awfully low.

 

You should go play with more WRX members.   It might open your eyes.

 

[iknowbagu]

Almost like a website/forum that was designed to help people play good golf attracts good golfers?  Funny how that worked out.

[Billfitz]

I stopped using X flex and went to R some thirty years ago, when my swing speed was 110. My distance increased, with no loss of accuracy. Ten years ago, when my speed was down to 90, I went to A, and again my distance increased. IME the average player thinks that the stiffer the flex the longer the distance, when for the most part the opposite is the case.

[gioguy21]

3 minutes ago, Billfitz said:

I stopped using X flex and went to R some thirty years ago, when my swing speed was 110. My distance increased, with no loss of accuracy. Ten years ago, when my speed was down to 90, I went to A, and again my distance increased. IME the average player thinks that the stiffer the flex the longer the distance, when for the most part the opposite is the case.

 

well to be fair -- they say you should play as soft of a shaft as you can control, not the opposite; for that very reason. thus, people tend to favor firmer profiles for the 'stability' they provide over a softer flex.

i've heard a bunch of times - "if you want longer, go softer...if you want more control, go firmer"

[hollabachgt]

10 hours ago, A-A-RonCCC said:

A lot of manufacturers' recommend driver swing speed greater than 105 should use x-flex.  That's not exceptionally fast, yet x-flex shafts are virtually nowhere to be found in stores.  I wonder if more people should be using x-flex and aren't than the other way around...

 

 

 

It seems that X flex shafts have become weaker in recent years. I've played a stiff for 2 decades, but when I set out to update my woods recently I found that most shaft companies were recommending me to go into X flex, even though my swing speed isn't any faster. 

[Hammer_Hands]

I agree that swing speed vanity seems to be fueling this trend to a point.  However, shaft flex is almost always a trade-off between distance and control.  If you are more concerned with distance, go softer.  And if you are more concerned with control, go stiffer.  

 

I also agree that shaft manufacturer's flex profiles could be shifting the same way that clothes sizes have changed throughout the years to accomodate the modern person's vanity.  I've always heard women say that a size 0, 2, or 4 is not the same as it once was and I somehow still wear the same size 32 waist at age 41 that I did when I was in high school.  And I can guarantee that my waist is not the same size as it was in high school!

[Valtiel]

I play X/TX shafts because my dumpy work from home pandemic body still cruises around 170 ballspeed with a "short" driver. Shorter means a heavier headed build, and that demands stability. There are also a handful of guys here right off the top of my head that dwarf these numbers. 

 

Edited September 28, 2021 by Valtiel

[Stuart_G]

33 minutes ago, gioguy21 said:

 

well to be fair -- they say you should play as soft of a shaft as you can control, not the opposite; for that very reason. thus, people tend to favor firmer profiles for the 'stability' they provide over a softer flex.

 

"They" say a lot of things.   The vast majority of which you should pay absolutely no attention to - including that one.

 

There is no standard for flex - so the labels are meaningless for comparing or understanding the actual stiffness of a shaft.

 

There is no generally inherent advantages or disadvantages for playing stiffer or softer.   Everyone has to figure out for themselves what level of stiffness works best for them.

 

If anyone is worried about what might be best for them, they should go demo some different shafts to see what happens.

 

If anyone is worried about what might be best for someone else,  they're wasting their time on something that's meaningless w/o actual hard data.

 

Edited September 28, 2021 by Stuart_G

[chipa]

I put all my shafts in myself and none have labels so I can play whatever flex I like. I have stiff TT Lite XL tapers in my irons because I swing easy. However, all my woods have X because otherwise I have problems with my release and hit them 50 yards left. 

 

[copegolfer]

I moved from Stiff to X about 4 years ago in everything. 

Helped my game tremendously. 

 

Could i play a stiff flex? YES, but i like the added stability of X. 

 

Although like others have mentioned above, there is no standard for flex....

[Dannyboy44]

I recently switched to X flex in my driver and it has improved distance and dispersion. I was always afraid to try X flex. I still use stiff in irons. I honestly think there are a lot of people playing stiff that should be using X flex but since there not readily available at stores they just use what is available. 

[zrheisler22]

I play X flex in my woods then stiff in my irons. I really only have one gear with the woods regardless of shot shape where as with the irons, the stiff flex allows me to take some off of it without necessarily feeling like swinging a pole.

 

For reference my SS is around 108-110 on trackman with the driver. 6 iron comes in around 91-92.

[mvhoffman]

11 hours ago, dokex said:

What percentage of people here who claim to play X or TX shafts really need them? My guess is awfully low.

I am guilty of this.  I played X in everything and my game, while good was work.  Really had to work swinging the club to get results.  Had to work to get the ball going.  I went softer in almost everything now and it is a lot easier now.  Stiff in irons, driver, 7 wood and X in 3 wood (by choice for ball flight and strike), wedge flex in wedges.

[ChipNRun]

11 hours ago, dokex said:

What percentage of people here who claim to play X or TX shafts really need them? My guess is awfully low.

 

One only needs to look on our Classified section to answer this. Lots of iron sets  with X100 and PX 6.5 shafts up for sale.

 

11 hours ago, A-A-RonCCC said:

A lot of manufacturers' recommend driver swing speed greater than 105 should use x-flex.  That's not exceptionally fast, yet x-flex shafts are virtually nowhere to be found in stores.  I wonder if more people should be using x-flex and aren't than the other way around...

 

Fitters online and in person note that swingspeed is only

part of the equation in selecting shaft flex. Another is one's

transition, or tempo: I'm told I have a fairly abrupt transition,

which is why they recommend I play R-flex (or even lightweight

Stiff) rather than A-flex.

 

True Temper explains tempo in

its Dynamic Gold link...

 

 

 

Edited September 28, 2021 by ChipNRun
Reset tempo image.

[cwilk]

11 hours ago, dokex said:

What percentage of people do you think have a ss of at least 105? I think it is extremely small.

[third-times-a-charm]

Who cares?

[cwilk]

I hear/read the idea that people should play the softest shaft they can control.  I'm firmly in the opposite camp.  I've seen no distance loss in various shafts if I can time it right.  Loading doesn't seem to be an issue.  I do seem to have much better dispersion with heavier/stiffer shafts up to a point.  That point was seeing no real difference between X100, X7, and PX 7.0 in my irons.  The only thing that really made a difference in distance with irons was the loft of the club.  It's a little more obvious in wood shafts, especially with driver, but I still find it has little to do with flex and a lot to do with weight.

 

My teenage son who swings much slower to me found the same thing in his fittings.  He hits the DG 120 in X100 farther with the same iron head than he did the heavier DG S300, but also with better dispersion than the DG 120 S300 on the day he was fit.  Though, I'm sure he could have hit the DG 120 S300 better than the DG 120 X100 the next day if he did it all over again.  He also played the first HZRDUS Smoke 60 shaft in 6.5/x-flex with a 102 club head speed and was carrying his driver "optimal" yardages based on Trackman's data.  When he outgrow the head he was in (spinning it too much) he swapped to a lower spinning head with the Ventus Black 60 Stiff and is still carrying about the same.  He may be slightly longer on average but he's in a better fitting head and growing all the time.  He didn't even try the Ventus Black in X-flex because the stiff worked.  I assume it's because the Ventus in Stiff is similar in weight and torque to the Smoke in X-flex.  

[grochol17]

11 hours ago, dokex said:

What percentage of people here who claim to play X or TX shafts really need them? My guess is awfully low.

 

This depends on how you define "need"... as others have pointed out there are lots of reasons why someone might use an x-flex shaft.  About 10 years ago everything in my bag was stiff flex.  On a whim I bought a 3w with a Speeder 8.2 TS x-flex shaft it in, but figured I could swap shafts if I liked the clubhead.  I tested it out with the speeder and was killing it, easily hitting it past my other 3w, which was only a couple of years old.  My swing speed is right on the border between S and X, so I probably didn't "need" the x-flex, but it worked for me so I went with it.  In fact, I've since upgraded the clubhead a couple of times, but kept the same shaft.