[Paladin]

I adopted a new driver swing recently. There is much less upper body movement on the backswing and it has prooved much more consistent. I went from hitting 6-8 fairways to 10-11 per round which is fantastic.

However, i am concerned about distance. I went from 260ish to around 240...to me that is huge.

I recently also swich from a reg shaft to a stiff flex shaft. I had a SS of around 100 but i would guess i lost 2-5 mph with the less body movement. (Maybe im not losing any speed at all, i just feel as if i am.)

So my question is...could this 20 yard loss be because i was playing in 40-45 degree weather? Could it be because my swing has changed to make less body movement on the backswing causing less leverage? Or could it be because my swing speed isnt ready for a stiff flex? If the shaft is TOO stiff, will it cost me distance?
Help please!

[Adeniinteme]

It is hard to know exactly what is going on without seeing your swing. But a couple of general points.

1) Going from summer temps to temps in the 40's will definitely affect distance. 20 yards seems like a lot, but I would certainly believe 10. And then there are the possible differences in roll to consider.

2) The biggest two effects that shaft flex has on results are the loft and face angle at impact (almost all shafts will be flexxed forward at impact) and whatever effect swinging a different flex has on your personal swing dynamics. Did your trajectory get lower when you went to stiff by any chance?

3) Did you keep the same shaft length and did the shaft weight change?

My SS is a tad lower than yours and I can hit either regular or stiff shafts and don't see much of a performance difference. Golfers with higher SS's and (more importantly) more aggressive moves into the ball with better lag might have different results.

dave

3)

[Paladin]

It is hard to know exactly what is going on without seeing your swing. But a couple of general points.

1) Going from summer temps to temps in the 40's will definitely affect distance. 20 yards seems like a lot, but I would certainly believe 10. And then there are the possible differences in roll to consider.

2) The biggest two effects that shaft flex has on results are the loft and face angle at impact (almost all shafts will be flexxed forward at impact) and whatever effect swinging a different flex has on your personal swing dynamics. Did your trajectory get lower when you went to stiff by any chance?

3) Did you keep the same shaft length and did the shaft weight change?

My SS is a tad lower than yours and I can hit either regular or stiff shafts and don't see much of a performance difference. Golfers with higher SS's and (more importantly) more aggressive moves into the ball with better lag might have different results.

dave

3)

1) it was very damp and i was using different balls also. Very good point
2) I would guess that a stiffer flex would cause a fade. Actually with the shaft change, i went from a high and soft slight fade to a more penetrating slight draw flight
3) I went from a 09 Burner reg to 09 Burner stiff so yes and yes

Maybe my iron distances wil help
Irons are Regs with a small draw
5- 180
6- 165
7-152
8- 141
9- 132
P- 120-122

My tempo is pretty smooth all around both back and through. Im thinking its a combination of, and correct me if im wrong, temperature and control. Ill take 250 every time. But 240 and below is a bit scary...

[Adeniinteme]

My best guess would be 10 yards of weather related yardage drop and 10 yards of swing change. But (obviously) just a guess.

dave

[Paladin]

Put it this way
If you could hit 2 more fairways a round at the expence of 10-15 yards, would you take it?

[Adeniinteme]

Put it this way
If you could hit 2 more fairways a round at the expence of 10-15 yards, would you take it?

I did an analysis of my data a while back. It indicated that being 10 yards closer to the pin on a typical par 4 would save me 0.1 strokes (on average).

So it depends on how tough the rough is on the courses that I play. The answer for me is 'not really tough' (in a bunker or in the trees is a different answer). So I would probably take the yardage.

dave