Soft stepping Project X

[Weirfan]

Re: Soft stepping Project X

I was surprised at Wishon's take on this,


Regards,
Dan

not really ....1/3 of a flex isn't much at all, and with the so many rec golfers unloading the shaft (early releasers) early to mid swing they aren't likely going to notice flex changes at all.

likewise the majority of golfers won't be able to notice a 2-3 swingweight point difference. ( swingweight impacts flex which impacts feel but can easily fool golfers)

When I fit and built clubs i would only soft/hard step step if I found somebody was on the fringe of a shaft being too stiff or too soft. When using .370 parallel shafts and a frequency meter, the fitter has much more leeway to fine tune and make accurate and customize his build to a defined frequency slope. ( with taper shafts much less)

many years ago I soft stepped 2x my original satin PX 5.5 shafts which played notoriously stiff and there was a noticeable difference in both feel and performance. My initial attempt to SS 1x did not produce a noticeable change....so consistent with Wishon.

[bl8d]

Re: Soft stepping Project X

soft stepping/hard is a shot at avoiding the cost of a complete shaft change,
and for the work involved, 1/3-1/2 flex change is not much of a gain. I did it once and I made myself believe it was an improvement.

[muskoka111]

Re: Soft stepping Project X

Putting a 4-iron shaft into a 5-iron head, 5-iron shaft into a 6-iron head, etc.

The reverse (5-iron shaft into a 4 head, 4-iron into a 3 head) is hard stepping.

This --- evidently --- allows you to play a shaft in between flexes.

The chart below shows measurements somebody made comparing different shafts at normal, soft-stepped, soft-stepped twice, hard-stepped and hard-stepped twice.

My KBS irons feel good --- I like the kick they give me --- I just want to see if the Project X 6.0 shafts I have would be better since they are more butt stiff.

But KBS stiff is not quite as stiff as Projext X 6.0 so if I soft-stepped the Project X 6.0 they become pretty close to the KBS stiff.

As a trial I soft-stepped the Project X into my 7 iron last week and I liked it.

The extra 1/2" of shaft length, I'm hoping, will be a benefit to me since I'm 6'3" (obviously my irons now are 1/2" longer since the shaft from one club up is now in a lower club).

Of course now that my irons are 1/2" longer, the swingweight has gone up. I'll have to add a bit of lead tape under the grips to get them down to D4.

Winter tinkering is kinda what it comes down to.

what would a KBS regular plus be equal to

[Cdntac]

Re: Soft stepping Project X

I'm not sure.

I did read somewhere (maybe Golfwrx?) that the KBS + were similar to hard-stepping but who's to say that's true for sure?

Though it's probably a safe bet from a logical standpoint.

So going by that chart, if accurate, perhaps 5.3?

[Lob wedge]

Re: Soft stepping Project X

not really ....1/3 of a flex isn't much at all, and with the so many rec golfers unloading the shaft (early releasers) early to mid swing they aren't likely going to notice flex changes at all.

likewise the majority of golfers won't be able to notice a 2-3 swingweight point difference. ( swingweight impacts flex which impacts feel but can easily fool golfers)

When I fit and built clubs i would only soft/hard step step if I found somebody was on the fringe of a shaft being too stiff or too soft. When using .370 parallel shafts and a frequency meter, the fitter has much more leeway to fine tune and make accurate and customize his build to a defined frequency slope. ( with taper shafts much less)

many years ago I soft stepped 2x my original satin PX 5.5 shafts which played notoriously stiff and there was a noticeable difference in both feel and performance. My initial attempt to SS 1x did not produce a noticeable change....so consistent with Wishon.

I agree. Surprises me that anyone this side of the tour can notice such small differences.

[gbrgolf]

Re: Soft stepping Project X

what would a KBS regular plus be equal to

The KBS Tour R flex is a 110 gram shaft, the S flex is 120 grams. The R+ is weight sorted at 125 grams.
Having said that the R flex is a 5.0 on the Rifle (FM) scale and the S -flex is 6.0, so the R+ will be 5.5 on the FM scale.

Regarding the OP, Frequency aside, the KBS Tour shaft and the PX are totally different profiles. The KBS Tour is a slightly counter balanced shaft that has a firm butt section and a very active tip section, at least compared to the PX. Generally this shaft is designed for smoother swingers who are looking to increase launch and spin.
The PX is a stout shaft from top to bottom and is designed for the polar opposite player than the KBS Tour. If you want to lower launch, lower spin, decrease dispersion and have an aggressive swing......the PX is for you.
I think by soft stepping once you are just adding a little feel to the PX shafts which might really help. But there are lots of shafts that would fit somewhere in between in terms of profile.

[Pinhunter]

Re: Soft stepping Project X

If you want a softer feeling PX shaft try to find a set of PX flighted shafts. They play softer to flex the the regular PX

[Weirfan]

Re: Soft stepping Project X

If you want a softer feeling PX shaft try to find a set of PX flighted shafts. They play softer to flex the the regular PX

feel is subjective and not the same from one player to another .
Butt stiffness of a shaft often fools people into thinking a shaft is stiffer of softer

I would argue that flighted shafts don't necessarily "play" softer to flex but some of the shafts "could" feel softer due to the variation in bend point compared to non flighted. this is not the same.

from my recollection, The difference between standard and the flighted shaft is that the flighted shafts are constructed from 3 different flex blanks, the non flighted from one/same flex blank.

The long iron shafts in the flighted set will have a softer tip for increased launch.

the middle iron shafts of a flighted set are the exact same shafts as the non flighted, there should be no difference in feel and performance when used in the same weight and model head.

short irons have stiffer tips in the flighted set for a lower trajectory and "could" even feel stiffer than non flighted.

[bl8d]

Re: Soft stepping Project X

^^^ what Weirfan said.
My set is flighted, and the 3-4 fly a little higher, which saves me having to bag a 3h.
Mid 5,6,7, are about the same as in my other rifle set.
Once you are used to the 8, 9, Pw irons flying a little lower and checking up sooner , you'll like that too. It takes a while.
I just got a mint set of older TM TP wedges with the wedge flex shaft and I don't know whether they are S2 S3 or S400. Another learning experience.