QUESTION: Hi Gang…

Okay… I have played this game for many years..high school and
college.. and tried to qualify for the senior U S Open at 52.. I am 54 now and want to get serious again.  Oddly, I have never been fitted for clubs.. I know that there are so many ways now to increase distance and control. 

I hear you guys make the best lighter shafts … I would think lighter may mean more distance hopefully without losing control.  I am exploring and would love your input .. 

I am about your average size golfer… 5′11′  and  196 lbs..  I am a 4 handicap.. my swing speed is around 100 to maybe 105.. I hit a 7 iron 145 to 158. I use Mizuno MP33 blades. (tried the so-called game inprovement clubs-can’t look at um)  

Where can I go from this point, as far as technology, to increase distance and take advantage of all that is available…?   If I
simply changed to one of your better lighter shafts in my irons, what could I expect from this ? Is this a good starting point?  

I wish I knew more about all this tech stuff and really do not have much of a clue about how to go about finding the best situation possible.

The pros have so much of an advantage on most of us.. It is just not a guessing game for them because they have the best possible fit clubs and ball for their individual games..  I want that … HELP!

Thanks, Cecil

ANSWER: Hi Cecil,

Like most every golfer, especially among golfers our age, you grew up finding some equipment that worked reasonably well, and then LEARNED to ADJUST to the rest. This was OK when we were younger, but if we want to play our best, the time has come to leave behind compensations, and choose power and efficiency.

The starting point is a combination of both, the new technology options, but also discovering how to fit our equipment to our bodies and swings.

This means the following- “The best equipment is that which allows us to swing in the most powerful, natural and efficient manner, with the most powerful, natural, efficient flight, without the need for compensation or adjustment in our swing, body or game.”

Are you with me so far?

Your equipment salvation may include one of our premium lightweight shaft models, but it doesn’t start there. It begins with finding a clubfitter or facility that offers a variety of test combinations that, via testing and comparison, will lead your body to finding the best heads, shafts and specifications for your body, swing and game.

You would be wise to consider going to www.shaftology.com and click on our CENTER LOCATOR, and contact several of our Centers, inquiring about the fitting services that they offer.

This is not an easy task to accomplish. Most golfers, and clubmakers, do not understand exactly how things should work, and thus our fitting choices/availabilities are quite mixed up. However, if you pursue live testing, and demand comparative choices, you will find the hottest and most consistent performing equipment.

Please stay in touch with your progress. Regards, Mark 

QUESRION: Hi,

My question is about my ball flight. My clubhead speed is about 110-116. My
question is- that without seeing my swing and everything that goes with it, I wanted to know what a good ball flight should be? I talked to a local PGA Pro and they said you don’t want a ballooning flight, and you don’t want a low flight. Thankfully, I don’t have that ball flight, but mine is very high, but not ballooning. I believe that I am not getting the distance because my ball flight is all carry and no roll. Would you recommend going to a stiffer shaft? My current driver loft is 9 degrees and stiff shaft. Thank You, EB

ANSWER: Hello again,

If you fixate on shaft flex and your swing speed, you will miss the relevant parts, and not make the changes needed to achieve your optimal flight.

I completely understand that you are asking which shaft flex will help you find your optimum trajectory, based on your swing speed. However, after many thousands of fitting assessments, I can tell you that trajectory is not simply optimized by finding your best shaft flex.

If you want to achieve the most efficient driver trajectory, you must consider the shaft model geometry, shaft flex, shaft weight, head model geometry, head loft, head weight, club length, and golf ball, but most importantly, your delivery of the driver into the ball at impact.

The major reason why you have all carry and no roll with your driver shots is your steep angle of delivery with your driver at impact. All carry and no roll means that you actually have an inefficient driver ball flight, with a low/flat launch angle, and a high/distance robbing spin, which is the aerodynamic portion of your flight that creates your high trajectory.
If you adjust your shaft flex, your ball flight may improve, but this typically will only gain you a few percentage points of improvement. If you investigate the relationship between your clubhead specifications, clubhead delivery(angle of attack), shaft specifications, and golf ball specifications, and find a more optimum path, you will radically change your ball flight to a more efficient one, and achieve better control in the wind, and greater distance on every driver swing.

Finding your best flight means achieving consistent contact, with a high launch, and a flat, boring type trajectory, which is the inverse of your existing flight pattern.

To embark on this journey requires that you go back and read what I recommended in my earlier post. Working with a skilled fitter, who encounters this flight inefficiency on a regular basis, and with a complete array of test equipment, to help identify the optimal characteristics, will prove to be the least expensive and the most effective format to learn which combination of specifications that will optimize your ball flight.

Below is a link to a post that says the same thing in a slightly different manner.

Optimize Distance via a Professional Assessment

Best regards, Mark

QUESTION: Hi,

I have a question on shaft flex based on my swing speed. It’s around 112-116, but I can go faster If needed. My question is- without seeing my swing and all
that, would you recommend going to an x flex?
The reason I’m asking this is with my current driver the trajectory is high and
it’s a 9 degree stiff flex. Thank you, EB

ANSWER: Hi EB,

Your swing speed number will not give you a complete assessment of your shaft needs, head needs, and loft needs. It is a tiny part of the whole story of your game.

Yes, you have a great amount of speed, which typically indicates the possibility of a stiffer flex and a heavier shaft. However, the true method of shaft determination is to test, compare and evaluate shaft models and flexes in a live setting.

At the very least, find a facility that offers some shaft demos where you can compare a Stiff, and an Extra-Stiff flex. It is a waste of your time and energy to rely on just a math formula.

If 100 golfers with your swing speed, connected with a quality fitter, with an array of test shafts, and a functional testing methodology, and then hit a variety of test models- the evaluation would lead to an optimum shaft fit in 90 to 95+ percent of the golfers.

If the same 100 golfers instead based their shaft selection solely on their swing speed number, the number of golfers that would find the optimum shaft, would be in the 5 to 10 percent range.

My best recommendation is to find a quality clubfitter, that offers an array of head and shaft combinations, and learn about which flex performs best, which shaft weight is best for your body, if you are delivering the head to the ball in the most efficient manner, the best length, the best loft, the best head style, and the overall best combination of all of these factors.

One place to start is at www.shaftology.com, by looking up some of our Authorized Installation Centers and inquiring as to the fitting services offered.

Regards, Mark  

QUESTION: Hi,

What is the background behind the uniflex shaft? Is it steel or graphite and is
it comparable to a regular, stiff or x stiff shaft? I saw an ad for Callaway X-
20 irons that had the uniflex shaft. MC

AMSWER: Hi MC,

The term- “uniflex” has been used to communicate a flex rating that is generally between a Regular and a Stiff shaft flex.

Regards, Mark

QUESTION: Hi Mark,I just wrote to you about the NS PRO 950WF several days ago. I got fitted and
found out that the shafts were way too light, and that it promoted a very
jerky tempo. I was recommended to play the Super Peening Blue shafts in R flex.