How the Shaft Flex of your Golf Clubs Can Affect your Ball Flight

It can be said that the shaft of your golf club is akin to its engine. Indeed, the shaft is responsible for delivering the clubhead to the ball in the best conditions in order to produce the best performance and ultimately, the best results.

While the length and the weight are also important features to consider, we’ll examine the flex of the shaft, or how easy it is to bend.

Read on to learn more on how a mismatch between your shaft flex and your swing speed can influence the ball flight of your golf shots

Effects of a Too Soft Shaft

The flex of your club shaft needs to be in tune with your swing speed. Generally speaking, the higher the swing speed, the stiffer you will want your shaft to be.

What would happen if you were using a shaft that is too soft for your high swing speed? For example, what would happen if your swing speed required you to hit a stiff shaft but you were using a regular, a ladies, or a senior shaft flex instead?

Well, the club would probably feel light in your hands and very difficult to control effectively, akin to holding a piece of liquorice. You might also find it very difficult to square the clubhead at impact, sending golf shots left and right.

But generally speaking, a shaft that is too soft for you will want to send the ball on a higher trajectory and more often than not, to the left for a hook (for a right-handed golfer).

Effects of a Too Stiff Shaft

As we discussed above, your swing speed will dictate how stiff your club shaft should be. What would happen if you were using a shaft that was too stiff for your swing speed? For example, if you were to use an extra stiff shaft when a regular shaft would be plenty stiff.

You would likely find that your club would feel wooden and generally unpowerful. It would seem unresponsive and unable to give you anything in terms of optimal ball flight. Finally, you would find it difficult to release the clubhead at the right time at the impact with the ball.

Generally speaking, if you are using a club shaft that is too stiff, you will notice that your shots will tend to be low and towards the right for a slice (for a right-handed golfer).