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Who here plays stock shafts?

usa1950

Divots like a 72 Playboy
Jul 15, 2007
599
0
There are LOTS of threads on this board about shafts, which are the best, some costing hundreds of dollars, etc.

While I find it all interesting, I'm simply not into it. I have stock stiff shafts in all my clubs, with the exception of my driver, a mid-priced MacGregor V-Foil, which has an X in it. I find it plays more like a stiff anyway.

Last round, I was part of a scramble which shot 8 under, and I won both long drive holes with my "off the rack" driver. Hit tons of em close with my irons as well. I was the A player for sure.... we had two B- guys and a F- guy who had NEVER played befor.

Best round so far this year (out of the 6 I've played) was a 75 on a medium difficulty course. (not too long, but sand and a bit of water)

Why would I go out and spend three or four greens fees worth of cash on a shaft which, I don't need to score well?

I'm just curious if there are any of you out there like me..... stock shaft guys.

Here's my bag....

MacGregor V-Foil Eye-O-Matic 8.5 degree with an X (bought at the end of the season for $75, and I KILL it.)
TM Burner 9.5 degree which I hit off the deck with a S graphite
Ping Eye 2 1 Iron with a stiff steel
Wilson Staff RM Forged midsize irons, Stiff Firesticks (these are all 13 years old)
Wilson Staff RM Gap Wedge 52 degree
Wison Staff Sand Wedge 56 degree
Ancient Ping Anser 2 (Bought it in 1987 and have been draining putts ever since)

My golf money goes to the following, in this STRICT order.

Greens fees
About a dozen balls per year
Playiong the local Par 3 course with my 11 year old son and 9 year old girl
Regrip every few years
 

Clugnut

Gimme some roombas!
Aug 13, 2006
3,423
1
If you hit it well, that's all that matters. If it fits you, it will perform well. Stock shafts have gotten a lot better over the years. You don't need high dollar aftermarkets to play well.
 
OP
usa1950

usa1950

Divots like a 72 Playboy
Jul 15, 2007
599
0
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #3
Yet 90% of the guys on this site who list "their bag" in their sig, also list their shafts, as do you.

Not knocking it, just making an observation. I can go low without all that, I'm just surprised there are not more like me around here.
 

chemboy2

M634
Supporting Member
Sep 23, 2004
2,822
3
The definition of stock shaft has changed a bit over the last few years as more and more manufacturers have started to put some pretty good, formerly only after market, shafts in their OTR offerings. I think we really started seeing this trend with the NV and Pro-Launch shafts. Now, even some pretty spendy shafts like the Aldila VS Proto and various Fujikura models are showing up as "stock" offerings. Hell, the Adams Idea Pro forged iron set comes stock with VSProto hybrid shafts and TT Black Gold in the irons; that would have been hundreds of dollars of an upgrade just a year or so ago.

For me, I play two after market shafts (the Evolutions). I really wanted to try an Evolution so I put one in my 3W. I like it so much that when the shaft in my 4h club broke I picked up another one as a replacement. Other than those though, all my other shafts came as stock offerings.
 

RickinMA

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Feb 3, 2007
1,845
27
I picked up over 30 yards on the driver when I was fit for the right shaft - I was also terribly inconsistent with my 4 wood until I reshafted it

also, many stock shafts cost the OEM's less than $10 - if that shaft fits you great - but spending another couple bucks seems reasonable to me for a shaft that should be better suited to my swing and most likely more consistent than "cheap" shafts

many players like TT Dynamic Gold iron shafts - these shafts are just more consistent than TT's commercial grade iron shafts that will vary in weight and flex throughout a set

When I hit a bad shot, I want to know it's the indian and not the arrow
 

MCDavis

The Plaid Duffer
Staff member
Moderator
Oct 19, 2006
13,633
5,195
Sanford, NC
Country
United States United States
My Toski Perfect Match irons have Nippon 950's in them. Other than those, all of my clubs have the stock shafts. But like cb2 said, they're good shafts: ProLaunch Blue in my Adams Driver/3/5 woods and my Ping G5 3 wood, TT Dynalite Golds in my Mizuno's, TT TP wedge flex in my wedges. The woods/driver I bought because they had the upgraded shafts in them.

I do have the stock TFC 100D in my Ping G5 driver, but I also have a Comp NT 65 that I'm debating putting into this head. We'll see...
 

ualtim

Carrollton, TX
Supporting Member
Aug 20, 2005
7,779
2,331
Country
United States United States
If stock shafts fit you, great. Unfortunately, most stock graphite shafts are tend to be a bit softer than stated flex. Like you said, your in an X flex that plays like a stiff flex. Launch angle is going to be more mid to high, and not very tip stiff. There are exceptions, especially when the stock shaft is cobranded with a proline shaft such as the NV, Grafalloy Blue, VS Proto, and Fuji Speeder etc. Again, if the stock shaft suits your game, keep it and play it.

Personally, I find that most stock shafts tend to launch too high for my swing. I need help getting the ball on a more boring trajectory. My TEE has an Aldila NV stock in it and that worked out great. Most of my other drivers were bought in component form so shaft choice was indepent to begin with. With driver heads limited in size and properties, the only frontier left available is to work on are the shafts to increase you club's performance.

The rest of my bag is basically stock in some form or another. 3W I bought used with the YS6+ it. 5w and 7W have a Fuji shaft in them that work well with my swing so they stayed in. My hybrids came with the Aldila NV 85 in them so they stayed. Irons shafts were recycled from a component set and put into the Hogans. Wedge shafts are the stock TT DG wedge flexes. Again, while the shafts are technically considered stock, they were bought for what shaft was in them. The hybrids I could choose between the NV and a Fuji, hit the NV better so bought the NV clubs. Irons, tried DG in my iron for a while, preferred the Rifles so they went in the Hogans. The 3W stock shaft is a Fuji, plays well in the Carbons but no so good in the Exotics so I bought one with a YS6+ FW in it. There is a vast difference in qulaity and performance in "stock shafts". You may play well with the stock shaft, but could you be playing better with a shaft more suited for your swing?
 

LyleG

gear head
Aug 10, 2006
6,388
28
Country
Canada Canada
You say you hit your driver well with the stock shaft but how do you know you are getting everything you can out of your swing with it?

I have fit over 100 people this year for new driver heads and after market, these were all players who had stock shafts in their drivers. All of them, every single one gained distance or accuracy after being fit, most gained both.
Good is relative, unless you have been fit and the shaft you are using proves to be optimal then you can never be sure.
 

JEFF4i

She lives!
Supporting Member
Jul 3, 2006
13,545
95
OKay, I used to be different, but now a days I'd rather piss on myself than play that TM RE*AX again.

Just sooo wasn't me.

However, Ping puts aftermarket shafts stock, so the situation is kind of odd now a days.
 

Youngun5

Beware of the Phog!
Aug 26, 2004
2,734
11
4 years ago I had a fitting session where the shaft that fit me best added 30 yards to my drives over the stock shaft i played at the time....have been an aftermarket believer ever since.

if the majority of people seem to be on the aftermarket side of the situation here....i'd say its because their is an unrepresentative sample of golfers on this board. someone who is die hard enough about the game to spend as much time at this great place as we do would be more willing to drop a little $ and make sure their equipment is well suited for them.

if i went to a fitting session and the stock shaft i had performed just as well with my swing as others, or even just good enough....i would have no problem bagging it at all.
 

RickinMA

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Feb 3, 2007
1,845
27
usa1950 - have you considered getting fit for the right shaft yet? if you're scoring well now, how do you think you'd do if you were another 20-30 yards closer to the hole? I'd much rather hit 7i instead of 5i, or a 5i instead of a 3i
 

Eracer

No more triple bogies!!
Oct 31, 2005
12,405
8
If all this talk (and money) being thrown around about shafts was nothing more than bigger fins on this year's Cadillac, then I would share your view that it was a bunch of baloney. The fact is that the shaft is the engine of the club, and just like an upgraded engine in a car, an upgraded shaft fitted to a player's swing can make a huge difference in the playability and performance of a club. It's real.

Like others said, if you're happy with your stock shafts, then by all means carry on, but you may be missing out on one of the best things you can do for your game by dismissing shaft upgrades as unnecessary.
 
OP
usa1950

usa1950

Divots like a 72 Playboy
Jul 15, 2007
599
0
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #13
You say you hit your driver well with the stock shaft but how do you know you are getting everything you can out of your swing with it?

I am almost completely sure that I am NOT getting the absolute most I could out of, say the driver, if I were to get fitted and reshafted.... the club, not me lol. But when you win BOTH the long drive holes at a golf outing for work last week (with pokes of 275 and 290... netting $150 in free stuff at the pro shop) you tend to be pretty happy with what you have.

And I am not dismissing the entire reshafting process as not helpful, I agree that it absolutely can be.... probalby 90% of the time.

But last year, I played about 10 rounds (had a two year old). This year I am on track for about the same. With a house for sale, and other expenses, I'm not playing much. Say I spend $400 this year on golf, which is about right..... Mostly on Greens fees, range balls, balls to play with, a new glove, and a dozen new balls.

But when I do I play well.

Sorry if I came across as a shaft hater... I am not. I am just curious if there are others out there like me... who play stock shafts (and play them well) almost purely as a finacial decision.....

Now, if I was out there shooting 90 every time out, I'd be.. what is it called.... HOING? with the rest of you! (no offense to bogey golfers)

Bryan

Who's to say I would add 20 yards anyway?
 
OP
usa1950

usa1950

Divots like a 72 Playboy
Jul 15, 2007
599
0
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #14
Played with my Dad yesterday.... and drove the back edge of the green on a 310 yard par 4. It has a little dogleg in it which I bit off..... but still a poke that surprised even me.

Lovely 3 jack (even though my first was from off the green about two feet) for a par.

My putter was hideous yesterday. Maybe I should but a BB Solution in it.
 

chemboy2

M634
Supporting Member
Sep 23, 2004
2,822
3
Played with my Dad yesterday.... and drove the back edge of the green on a 310 yard par 4. It has a little dogleg in it which I bit off..... but still a poke that surprised even me.

Lovely 3 jack (even though my first was from off the green about two feet) for a par.

My putter was hideous yesterday. Maybe I should but a BB Solution in it.

That's the spirit!!

I am almost completely sure that I am NOT getting the absolute most I could out of, say the driver, if I were to get fitted and reshafted.... the club, not me lol. But when you win BOTH the long drive holes at a golf outing for work last week (with pokes of 275 and 290... netting $150 in free stuff at the pro shop) you tend to be pretty happy with what you have.

And I am not dismissing the entire reshafting process as not helpful, I agree that it absolutely can be.... probalby 90% of the time.

But last year, I played about 10 rounds (had a two year old). This year I am on track for about the same. With a house for sale, and other expenses, I'm not playing much. Say I spend $400 this year on golf, which is about right..... Mostly on Greens fees, range balls, balls to play with, a new glove, and a dozen new balls.

But when I do I play well.

Sorry if I came across as a shaft hater... I am not. I am just curious if there are others out there like me... who play stock shafts (and play them well) almost purely as a finacial decision.....

Now, if I was out there shooting 90 every time out, I'd be.. what is it called.... HOING? with the rest of you! (no offense to bogey golfers)

Bryan

Who's to say I would add 20 yards anyway?

That must've hurt like hell!
 

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