Thoughts on iron shafting

[DrBrown]

This is my first post, NEWBIE alert! I have Maxfli A10 irons with standard loft and lie. They have True temper S300 shafts and Im seriously thinking these are all wrong for me. My driver swing speed is ~100 on average and I swing very smooth and flowing almost like Ernie Els, of course not nearly as pretty heh. I've watched enough pro's hit balls to know my ball flight is nowhere close to where it SHOULD be. Mine do not have that high piercing flight like they do, my iron shots never fly that high and long. Only time I hit it high is when I have to lay the face open for a hard fade. But I know my swing isnt perfect but Im a good enough player to know the shafts are wrong by my consistancy and distance. I carry my PW 105 yards, 7-iron 150 and from the 6 and up I start losing yardage every club. For example I was playing a 520yard par 5 on Thrusday, hit a great 300yard drive and had ~220 left to the hole. I pulled the 2 iron and still ended up 15 yards short with a decent swing. So what Im looking for is suggestions on what shaft to consider as a replacement to the S300's and maybe what kind of flex I should look for. Any help here would be appreciated! Thanks everyone. -Dan

 

[obagain]

I can save you some money. The shafts you have are what I would suggest for a player like you, granted we are on the internet, but just going by what you say.

Try this, swing your 5 iron with your feet together, now like normal. What is the gap? If it is not very far you are losing distance because of an improper weight shift.
You can go with a graphite shaft to help you get the ball in the air better but it will cost you a fortune. If you are going to do that you might as well get a set like the cobra 3400 that will get the ball in the air very easy.

 

[DrBrown]

I actually recently had a lesson from a local pro, he has me swinging pretty good right now. My stace WAS too narrow, so he changed that and Im standing much farther apart than I was but I didnt gain that much distance from that. I do not have a bad weight shift, no lateral hip sliding or anything like that. So I coild pretty decent and dont break down on the backswing. My 5iron thru 2 iron stance is about like my 3 wood or driver. I did measure though since you asked, my feet are about 14" apart. Sounds slightly narrow but my toes are turned out a little since I dont stand with my toes pointing straight forward. Anyway I agree in the thought that I should have stiff shafts but Im not hitting the ball very high and I know its costing distance. Who knows, it could be a small swing problem with the hands or something. I know hitting down on the ball generally makes it go higher due to spin but even thats not working.

 

[nsherman2006]

if you are simply looking for shafts that will raise your ball flight, try rifle 5.0 or 5.5 shafts(get fitted to determine which flex), as they are a slightly higher-launch shaft than DG in my experience. Also, what worked for me to bring the ball flight up was not hitting down on the ball so much(produces low, high spin shots) and 'sweeping the ball' as well as moving it farther forward in my stance. JMO, Neal

 

[ualtim]

if you are simply looking for shafts that will raise your ball flight, try rifle 5.0 or 5.5 shafts(get fitted to determine which flex), as they are a slightly higher-launch shaft than DG in my experience.

How much lower flight will a DG S300 provide versus a 5.5 Rifle? I have been launching higher that I would like with the 5.5's and was wondering if the DG's would do the trick?

 

[obagain]

For most the dg will bring it down 1 1/2 degree.

 

[Don]

DRBROWN; You stated that you have a nice smooth swing. Going by that and the yardage you are hitting your irons, my recommendation is to get tested on the ShaftLab and find out if you need a softer flex. I hit my PW 135 yards carry, and play a R flex shaft. The DG do have a high bend point, which would keep the ball flight lower than some other choices. And the S flex would lower it some more. Plus, I don't think you will gain any distance with your short irons by hitting the ball higher, unless you are really hitting the ball way low. ONE WAY TO GET A LITTLE MORE DISTANCE WITH YOUR IRONS, IS TO PLAY THE BALL BACK IN YOUR STANCE, HIT MORE DOWN ON IT, AND HIT IT LOWER. Hitting the ball higher is more likely to cost you distance, not gain you distance. I'd like to know why you can hit your driver 300 yards and only 105 with the PW. I have the opposite problem. I hit my 9 iron 150, and have a hard time getting 250 out of any driver I have tried. Maybe I can borrow your tee shots and you can borrow my short irons? That might help us both out.

 

[DrBrown]

I agree we make a good team lol! I find it puzzling too, in highschool I got more yardage out of my irons and less from the driver. My new driver is properly shafted and I hit it very solid. The launch monitor said I hit 2700 rpm's w/ a 12.7 degree launch angle and only 99mph SS. The 905T w/ my ys-6 fits me perfect, I wish my irons did as well but Im not so sure.

I play my wedges in the center and of course its off the left heel with the driver and all the others are in between somewhere. It honestly doesnt matter much where the ball is so long as its just ahead of where your natural swing arc bottoms out and you dont cast. Not to sound arogant but I have a pretty solid swing and I'm very close to being right on plane most of the time. The better I swing the better the ball flight is and better yardage of course. I tried finding the lofts on my maxfli A10's but found nothing but Im going to assume they are the same as most other stock irons. Cleveland is having a demo day next thursday so Im gonna go see if I can get fitted and what the distance and constitancy would be. Thanks for the replies.