When did you know it was time to drop down a flex?

[Pingeye2_fan]

Hopefully the title makes sense, what made you switch from say stiff to regular?

I was always okay with stiff in woods but never liked the feel in irons, Preferred something like a DG R300 which would be on the firmer side of regular I suppose.

In the market for new irons , so should probably wait until things open up again and go for a fitting. Unfortunately I am prone to self diagnosis.

[rgk5]

Normally that is required due to lower launch, loss of distance and reduced feel. Often that is the result of the shaft being too heavy and/or tip stiff. The DG R300 is still quite heavy. I had many customers switch from DG 300s to the Modus 105 with much better results.

[Bosco]

I tried the KBS TOUR 90 - that was too light.
Went to the KBS TOUR 120s - too stout.

back to DG300s - all self diagnosed. It just has the feel that I’m used to

[4wedges]

I am in the market for new irons and have been wondering the same thing. My irons are 15 year old TM Burners, and they feel quite heavy to me. Over the past few years I have lost at least one club distance with them. I wonder if I need a regular flex or should I go to a graphite shaft, possibly with a stiff flex.

[MikeTO]

At 61, I've been an 'R' player for a while now and have found, for me, the weight and profile are key. Over a five year period, I've experimented with DG R300, DG 105 R, Modus 105 R, NS Pro 950 S and Modus 120 S. I eventually landed on the PX LZ 5.0 as a good match for me. I like/need a bit of weight, but not DG R300 weight anymore and the profile works well for me.

As a side note, I also got on well with the Modus 120 S for some reason. I had them soft stepped once if I recall correctly. There was no R flex available from the manufacturer, which is how I ended up with stiff.

I've also found the Mizuno shaft optimizer does a reasonable job of narrowing down the choices; if a full fit isn't available.

[Pingeye2_fan]

I am in the market for new irons and have been wondering the same thing. My irons are 15 year old TM Burners, and they feel quite heavy to me. Over the past few years I have lost at least one club distance with them. I wonder if I need a regular flex or should I go to a graphite shaft, possibly with a stiff flex.

This is a question that’s on my mind as well.
Also wonder if going to “modern” lofts I might gain back distance immediately.

I think I would like something high launching as I am better at manufacturing a knockdown lower trajectory, Than trying to hit it higher than normal.

[newy]

From my own self-experimentation I've found that weight is far more important than flex. Went to lighter regular graphite for a couple years but went back to XP105 stiff steel last year and played great w/minimal distance loss, better accuracy and no elbow pain (which I was afraid of). I'm 49 for reference.

EDIT: i have a fast tempo and not much body rotation, FWIW.

[Weirfan]

If your irons are too stiff the primary symptom will be lower-ball flight .
of course, that can lead to a reduction in distance as a 2dary symptom.

[westbeach]

From my own self-experimentation I've found that weight is far more important than flex. Went to lighter regular graphite for a couple years but went back to XP105 stiff steel last year and played great w/minimal distance loss, better accuracy and no elbow pain (which I was afraid of). I'm 49 for reference.

100% agree with this.

I'm in the Modus 105 camp myself. Much better consistency in the back 9 in the middle of summer when weight isn't an issue.

[westbeach]

At 61, I've been an 'R' player for a while now and have found, for me, the weight and profile are key. Over a five year period, I've experimented with DG R300, DG 105 R, Modus 105 R, NS Pro 950 S and Modus 120 S. I eventually landed on the PX LZ 5.0 as a good match for me. I like/need a bit of weight, but not DG R300 weight anymore and the profile works well for me.

As a side note, I also got on well with the Modus 120 S for some reason. I had them soft stepped once if I recall correctly. There was no R flex available from the manufacturer, which is how I ended up with stiff.

I've also found the Mizuno shaft optimizer does a reasonable job of narrowing down the choices; if a full fit isn't available.

The Modus 120 and the LZ are similar in weight. Both are very good shafts.

And agree with you on the Mizuno Shaft Optimizer. It spat out a Modus 105X for me when I thought I would be a borderline R/S flex PX LZ. Turns out dispersion was so good with the Modus 105X and still getting good height with the JPX Forged line. Didn't like the feel of X and went with softer flex.

[Jeffc]

A few years back I bought my Srixon Z565's with lightweight Nippon shafts in reg flex. They just feel right, hard to say based on numbers other than I like the feel, trajectory, and distance of them. I'm not a super long hitter, 7 iron carries about 150.

[ARL67]

I'm a long time Steelfiber user currently playing both i110CW X-Stiff and i95CW Regular in my 2 sets ( same heads ) and my distance and scoring are the same. What I notice between the 2 sets is the total weight difference, but I quickly adjust. The Steelfiber Regular is pretty firm for what one thinks of a Regular flex.

I think getting fit into a shaft weight class should be the first step. I will no longer game another 125-130g weight shaft, regardless if it is a Regular flex. My happy spot is 95-110 and some 120's ( from what I've hit out of the Mizuno fitting cart )

That said, at the moment I'm quite liking the set I just built with AMT White R300, and the limited amount of time I've been able to hit them. The AMT series is an ascending weight shaft. The AMT White R300 9i/wedge shaft starts at 127g and decreases by 3g per shaft with the 4i at 109g. The AMT Black R300 are even lighter with the 9/wedge at 115g and 4i at 94g. I just grabbed a new set of pulls in AMT White S300 for future use. Getting progressively lighter in the longer clubs seems like a good idea. YMMV

[thunderbolt]

What a great question! I've just recently started looking into the exact same thing. My issue also seems to be lower ball flight, loss of distance and with the 5 and 6 irons it has changed from a baby draw into a full blown hook...

[73monte]

As mentioned, I too have found that weight is a bigger issue. When lighter steel shafts came on the scene, I was able to find greater success. No particular allegiance to brand, but stick with 95 to at most 105gm shafts for my irons.

Conversely, light shafts for my driver have caused control issues. Much prefer a driver shaft at the 65gm range.

[crunch27]

Hopefully the title makes sense, what made you switch from say stiff to regular?

I was always okay with stiff in woods but never liked the feel in irons, Preferred something like a DG R300 which would be on the firmer side of regular I suppose.

In the market for new irons , so should probably wait until things open up again and go for a fitting. Unfortunately I am prone to self diagnosis.

I see you are a Ping guy. What do you have in your driver, woods and hybrids? Why I ask, I broke my wrist 3 winters ago and didn’t start playing until late June. I played with my KBS stiff shafts that year and it hurt like hell. I have always been happy with my VS Protos in my woods so I found some VS Proto 85 stiff iron shafts on eBay the next winter and installed them in my irons. The VS Protos were yesterday’s technology but were highly rated in their days. I still play them and am still satisfied. If you are looking at Ping irons, I hear and see the Alta CB iron shafts are good. Might be worth a look.

Just to let you know, I will be 68 this summer and should still be good with stiff in a graphite shaft. Stiff in a steel shaft might be a different story.