Is your shaft too stiff ??

That's a heck of a question to start today's blog post. But, I think it's fitting considering we are smack dab in the middle of the golf season. How many shots do you hit to the right? That's another great question, and these two questions go together like a pb&j.

I took a survey last week at Turquoise Valley Golf Course and asked 15 golfers these same questions. I got alot of weird looks and couldn't figure out why. Of those 15 golfers, only one was a single digit handicapper. The rest were between 12 and 28, and 9 of them had a stiff shaft in their driver. Of the 9 with stiff shafts, only one (the 4 handicapper) hit the ball with a draw. All the others hit a weak to moderate fade. Now that I've dropped all those stats on ya, do you have a clue where this is going?

I would bet that 95% of those surveyed bought their driver right off the rack, without hitting it first. Did you know that there are 5 normal shaft flexes, X, S, R, A & L. That's Extra Stiff, Stiff, Regular, Senior, and Ladies. Shaft flex is the ability to bend the shaft during your golf swing. Have you ever hit a really flexible shaft and realized how much you had to slow your swing down to actually hit the ball decent? That might be a good clue for you. If you have to swing out of your shoes to hit a club, don't you think that might be a little too much? How about going to a lesser flex and not swing so hard? Wow, what a concept. An even better concept might be to see your golf pro or local club fitter and try out some different shafts to see which you hit more consistent. A good club fitting will normally cost about $50, but then if you purchase the club from the fitter, they will usually knock that $50 off the price of the club/clubs.

Is your golf game and your sanity worth $50? That's another good question, and one you will have to answer on your own. Have a great golf week.