When it comes to driver fitting, it’s time to clear the air. If you’ve made it this far—through the descent angles of your irons, through the hybrid and fairway wood gapping conversations—then you’re ready for the truth about shafts.
Today we start at the top of the bag, not with launch monitors or ball speed charts, but by busting a few persistent myths about driver shafts. Because here’s the reality: the letters on your shaft don’t mean what you think they do.
Myth #1: The shaft is the “engine” of the golf club
This one just won’t die. Let’s set it straight: you are the engine. The shaft is more like the suspension—it responds to how you load it. It doesn’t store magical energy or power the clubhead like a coiled spring. It reacts to the way you swing, and if it matches your move, it will return to square and help deliver efficient energy into the ball. If it doesn’t match, you’ll be fighting timing, direction, and contact all day long.
Myth #2: Flex is everything
You’ve seen them—those little letters stamped onto the shaft: R, S, X. Seems simple, right? Stiff for fast swingers, Regular for the middle, Senior or Ladies for slower speeds. Except it’s completely misleading.
There’s no industry standard for flex. Zero. A “stiff” in one shaft brand can be a “regular” in another. Even within a brand, one line’s stiff may not match another’s.
Take the Ventus Blue 5R and the Ping Alta CB R. Both are around the same weight. Both say “Regular.” But in testing, the Ventus is much stiffer—like, noticeably so. One might feel buttery, the other boardy. The label doesn’t tell the whole story.
The only thing those letters are really good for is comparing shafts within the same model line. For example, if you like the feel of a Ventus 6R but want something a bit firmer, try the 6S. Beyond that? The letters mean very little.
Myth #3: Flex is about speed
Not quite. Tempo and transition matter more. It’s not just how fast you swing—it’s how you swing fast.
Think of it this way:
- If you have a short backswing and a quick, snappy transition like Jon Rahm, you’re creating force earlier and need a shaft that can handle that abrupt load.
- If you’re more like Fred Couples, smooth with a long ramp-up to speed at the bottom, you may be able to play a softer shaft—even one labeled “Ladies,” as Couples famously did while leading the Tour in driving distance.
In fact, here’s a good rule of thumb:
The shorter the backswing and quicker the transition, the stouter the shaft needs to be relative to swing speed.
It’s about when the energy shows up, not just how much of it there is.
What this means at Blades Golf Lounge
At Blades Golf Lounge in Phoenix, we throw the letter labels out the window and fit you based on your swing, not your ego or assumptions. We use high-speed camera data and real-time launch monitor feedback in our indoor golf simulator to watch how you load the shaft and where your power shows up. Then we match you to a profile that actually works.
So whether you’re a 95 mph swinger with a fast snap or a 110 mph player with syrupy tempo, we’ll find the right fit for you. Because no shaft spec matters more than feel, timing, and results.
Up next: Let’s talk about weight
In the next post, we’ll break down the role of shaft weight in your driver and why lighter isn’t always faster—or better.
Until then, forget the letters. Find the feel.
Blades Golf Lounge | Phoenix, AZ
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