I put a lady’s flex shaft in my long driver. Here’s what happened.

I have a fast-swing speed, so I used a lady’s flex shaft in my long driver to see what happened. 

If I told you I have a swing speed of 130mph or more, I’m pretty confident you’d be able to guess what type of shaft I should have in my driver. That driver shaft you would assume is an Extra Stiff shaft, which has a low torque profile and is very stiff. Now, nine times out of ten you’d be right. But what would happen if I put a lady’s flex shaft in my driver? 

Well, I did, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. 

The shaft I put in my driver is made by TPT Golf and is called the 21 Hi Nitro. With most driver shafts weighing anywhere between 55g-80g, this only weighs 40g. It’s super lightweight but is made using a carbon which is rolled, making it spinless. It’s 195 CPM which is very soft in comparison to extra stiff shaft at 275CPM, so it is very whippy. 

Typically, this is a shaft designed for golfers with an 85mph swing speed and below. So, for me, this shouldn’t even be an option to consider, or should it? 

A lot of people reading this will think well, surely if you’re swing is at that speed you’d break it. But you’d be wrong, and that’s because of the strength and stability of the rolled carbon fibre design. 

Whilst standing over the ball, it took some getting used to how soft the shaft is. If you waggle the club head, the shaft moves like a fishing rod, but once you have a few swings and feel the club head and how to time it, it starts to feel really good. 

At the start, I hit a few off the toe because the softness of the shaft and it droops slightly. But once I got a little closer, I started to hit it really well.

As my confidence grew, I was able to hit harder without trying as the shaft is so light, with that extra flex and bend. This really surprised me. My ball speed and club speed also increased as well as my distance without trying too much. Just with the extra flex and bending of the shaft, it helped generate extra speed and whip through the ball. It launched very high and the spin was around that mid spin range but it was very consistent once you get the timing.

Now this is all about timing, because if you get it wrong it can go very wrong. But gaining that little bit of extra speed and distance is great. 

As someone who competes in the Long Drive competitions, we used to use triple extra stiff shafts but a lot more competitors are moving into a softer shaft as it helps give them more speed, which equals more distance. 

I’m fully aware that this isn’t going to be for everyone but if you can time a softer shaft and get used to the flex and bend profile, you’ll definitely see an increase in speed across the board. 

You obviously don’t need to go as soft as a lady’s flex, but TPT Golf has a huge amount of shaft options that will suit whatever you need for your swing. 

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James Tait is bunkered’s Gear Editor. Want to know how the latest Callaway driver, Vokey wedge or Scotty Cameron putter performs? He’s the guy to ask. Better yet, just watch his videos on the bunkered YouTube channel. One of the biggest hitters in the UK, James also competes on the World Long Drive circuit and is a descendent of former Amateur champion Freddie Tait.

Gear Editor