Getting used to new irons + steel to graphite
lo all, I'm fairly new to golf but work hard and do take lessons from our head pro.I have been playing with my dads old Ping Eye2 irons since starting 10 months ago and have just got my new Taylormade CGB Max irons today which have regular graphite shafts. ( tried stiff boy do they not suit me)
Now I'm not stupid ( honest) and realise that all clubs may lie a bit differentyl flex differently etc but these are supposed to be one of the easiest clubs to hit in the world so I didnt expect to have too much trouble getting going with them. I truly did struggle today and noticed myself that the clubs seemed to be more upright than my old clubs for starters. I went on the course on my own as the range is under repair but I did treat it as a pracie session , sneeking some extra shots in with the irons.
My actual main question is , is it normal to have to swing slower with a regular graphite and with a regular steel shaft, I ask because I got home and in my paddock started experimenting and quickly found that a very slow swing got me in to hitting them very sweetly indeed. Also I found that using a bit more wrist and a very straight left arm started to quickly turn it in to an effective flight of the ball as opposed to sending everything right which I NEVER did with the old clubs.
I thought it quite interesting how little tweeks quickly got me back to a farily good contact/flight and am preying I can repeat this on Sunday when I next play.
Cheers Mas
Reply : Mon 19th May 2008 11:22
Another can of worms this one, Mas. It is very difficult to compare the comparative flex of graphite and steel shafts let alone variations in manufacturers definitions of stiff, regular etc: In general a regular composite (graphite) shaft will appear to be more flexible than a regular steel shaft because of the way and where they flex. A graphite shaft generally has a constant wall thickness and will flex along it's entire length in relationship to the diameter of the taper - the narrower the diameter the more the flex. An equivalent traditional stepped steel shaft has a variable wall thickness in between the steps and therefore has a much more complex flex pattern generally engineered with a longer final step to tune a kick-point. This means that although both shafts will have the same displacement for a given weight they will have very different bent shapes, this gives different club head speeds for the same swing speed.
Hope that makes sense. Ha!