Swing speed? Shaft selection?

[hercnav]

I see a lot of you know your swing speed and it seems that most balls/shafts/lofts are based on speed to determine what should work best but I have no idea what my swing speed is. One of the local pro shops has a Titleist Launch Monitor but I have no burning desire to pay 50 bucks to have them tell me at this time. How do you all determine your swing speed?

The main reason I want to know is that I ordered a new driver (TM r5 dual) from the golf warehouse with a regular flex shaft and they sent me a stiff flex by mistake. I demo'd both flexes on this particular driver and liked the reg flex a lot but I'm going to give the stiff a try again since I have it here and it won't cost me anything to give it a fair shake since TGW has a 30 day playability guarantee on this club. I can take it out and hit it a bit to see if it works for me and if not I can send it in for the regular flex shaft for a free swap.

I swing pretty hard (at least I think I do, I have no solid evidence to prove it but I am 6'2" tall and pretty strong) and I am getting longer off the tee pretty steadily with each visit to the driving range. Right now my drives are landing around 250-270 (as far as I can tell, the signs stop at 200 for some reason) and I fully expect them to gain more yardage as my swing becomes more refined (still have one or two more rough spots to work out but I'm getting there pretty quickly).

From what I have read I think I might be in a bit of a gray area as to whether a reg or stiff flex shaft is for me and I worry that if I get the reg flex shaft that I will 'outgrow' it in a short time. I want to know my current swing speed to get an idea of whether my swing will tend to favor a stiffer flex as it improves or if I should stick with the regular. As I work out more and get a stronger core and become more flexible my swing speed should increase a bit hopefully.

It will probably be pretty easy to figure out if I like this shaft after I go to the range but I still would like to know a good way to determine my swing speed from time to time so I can guage my progress as well.

I realize there are a lot of factors that determine the best shaft but speed seems to be one of the bigger ones. Then again I could be way off base. Feel free to straighten me out on this one and thanks for any insight you guys can offer.

 

[Playdead]

I just went into my local Golf Galaxy shop and asked to hit some clubs on their launch monitor. I would think if you plan on buying something any shop with a launch monitor would let you use it to determine what would work best for you for free.

 

[obagain]

We charge $35 for our launch monitor but if you buy something we credit it to your purchase.

 

[KB1982]

See if you have a Golfsmith in your area. I know that the ones near me all have launch monitors that are free. Hell half the time I walk in there, notice no one's in there, and go hit a few clubs to see.

 

[Loop]

Given your height and from your description, a rather quick tempo, and if you carry the ball 250 yards, then you definitely need a stiff shaft, maybe even in the stiffer side.
Though it's too bad there's no 250 yards panel on your range, as I find it rather difficult to evaluate distance above 200.
Just go play to your local course and measure your driving distance. If you average around 260+, then you need stiff.

 

[UCONN]

FWIW - The advice I read that made the most sense to me was to play the most flexible shaft you can control. Too "whippy" and the tendency is to spray it; too stiff and you sacrifice distance (is that right?).

 

[caddyshackgolf]

Considering your size and how far you can hit the ball, and if your getting better as fast as you say you are then I would recommend that you go with a stiff shaft instead of a regular flex.

 

[dave.]

270 is a long carry,its as long as the average pro on tour