Shaft Hack - The Otto Phlex Journey

[MuniGolfer]

On 8/6/2023 at 2:56 PM, azstu324 said:

Some would say "why ruin a good thing".. others would say "why stop there?"..

So far I've tried probably 7-8 variations of the OP so it's obvious which camp I'm in. That said, I don't think I've found better than the PLB. It's just so damn reliable (for me)

I'm still eyeballing the MB5 though as maybe my last run

I feel the same about the mp5 for me. Do I really need to try another? But, what if the plb is better? We will see. I am loving the experimentation, and if the plb is even better, it would be worth giving it a shot.

Edited August 8, 2023 by MuniGolfer

[MuniGolfer]

Did you guys see that dechambeau was using the krank driver head? I wonder what that would be like with the op?

[Dr Strangelove]

I'm selling a Pro Launch Blue 45 A (44.25") with a Ping adapter if anyone is interested. Why? Because I have two of them and also a Distanza.  PM me if interested.

[Dr Strangelove]

On 8/10/2023 at 11:34 PM, MuniGolfer said:

Did you guys see that dechambeau was using the krank driver head? I wonder what that would be like with the op?

I've hit a Krank. The fist thing I noticed is that it has a REALLY square face.  I didn't notice any better performance for my crappy 103 MPH swing.  It could be a different story at higher speeds.

[Phildeez]

4 hours ago, Dr Strangelove said:

I'm selling a Pro Launch Blue 45 A (44.25") with a Ping adapter if anyone is interested. Why? Because I have two of them and also a Distanza.  PM me if interested.

Tried sending you a pm, says you can’t get messages. How much are you asking? Feel free to pm me. 

[Dr Strangelove]

4 minutes ago, Phildeez said:

Tried sending you a pm, says you can’t get messages. How much are you asking? Feel free to pm me. 

Got it. Sent PM back.

[Vernon]

17 hours ago, Dr Strangelove said:

I'm selling a Pro Launch Blue 45 A (44.25") with a Ping adapter if anyone is interested. Why? Because I have two of them and also a Distanza.  PM me if interested.

What's your take on the Distanza?  Personally I really like it although I think it feels a little "dead" compared to the PLB and the MP5.  

Performance is pretty dang good though. Other than what I perceive as the difference in feel it's really hard for me to quantify any real discernible differences between the PLB, MP5 and the Distanza (although I keep trying to).

All three are just really good.

Ordered a Golf Works Graffaloy Pro Launch GWX primarily to try in a fairway wood but think I'll give it a shot in the driver first before I cut it down.

Had planned on plugging the Distanza back in this afternoon since I haven't hit it in a month or more but we got an inch and a half of rain this morning and it's still coming down.

Not desperate enough to play cart path only golf in the swamp......

[Dr Strangelove]

1 hour ago, Vernon said:

What's your take on the Distanza?  Personally I really like it although I think it feels a little "dead" compared to the PLB and the MP5.  

Performance is pretty dang good though. Other than what I perceive as the difference in feel it's really hard for me to quantify any real discernible differences between the PLB, MP5 and the Distanza (although I keep trying to).

All three are just really good.

Ordered a Golf Works Graffaloy Pro Launch GWX primarily to try in a fairway wood but think I'll give it a shot in the driver first before I cut it down.

Had planned on plugging the Distanza back in this afternoon since I haven't hit it in a month or more but we got an inch and a half of rain this morning and it's still coming down.

Not desperate enough to play cart path only golf in the swamp......

I have only played with the Distanza one time, but I like it more than the PLB.  It could be the honeymoon period, though.

My impression:

- The clubhead feels lighter than with the PLB. Presumably because the Distanza is counterbalanced.

- The Distanza didnt feel "dead" to me. It did seem less whippy than the PLB

- No notable distance differences

- Launches higher than the PLB

- My dispersion was much tighter.  I didn't hit any way left or way right.

For reference, I am a smooth swinger.  My driver swing speed is 103 MPH.  I play steel stiff shafts in my irons.

[Drk.projXlab]

@azstu324 Thanks for all your information on this,  it's great stuff!  I've always been intrigued by AF after watching TXG videos and talking to a good player on the range that has one.  Im fresh off a spinal fusion and working on slowing tempo to allow time for better sequncing to stop early extension in my back.  So, the OP journey sounds like a great solution,  i have my head picked out and now time for a shaft.  After watching the Mobil Clubmaker i know he picked the Riptide CB due to a similar profile to the AF and thats what I was planning to go with, but reading all the PLB love I am now torn.  Did you have any bend profile info on the PLB or pick it just based on weight and price?  Did you see a similar swing weight with the two shafts with same weight head?  I was thinking the CB might allow for a longer shaft (I want to try 45.5-46) or a slightly heavier head?  Thanks! 

On 9/28/2022 at 12:35 AM, azstu324 said:

You read it correctly.. "Otto Phlex". I'm sure there's not a person on MGS or in the golf world who hasn't heard of (or seen) the Auto Flex shaft. For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past couple of years, Auto Flex is a South Korean company that has basically branded their flagship shaft as a very flexible, but high performing, high tech, and somewhat "magic" shaft made with "Secret Hidden Korean Technology". The concept lends itself to the idea that a specific flexy profile can help increase clubhead and ball speed, while increasing launch and keeping spin relatively low, and improving disbursement and forgiveness, therefore yielding results of long, straight, towering bombs.. I mean, who doesn't what that right? Another claim is that while keeping the profile relatively soft, tempo improves, and the overall risk for injury can be reduced. 

Well I'll be one of the first to admit it. I was NEVER enamored by the claims and especially the price of the AutoFlex. Oh, and let's not forget about the color scheme.. Ultra Hot Pink? not my jam Sam. As a sole provider trying my best to balance a decent golf game on a budget with my family life, spending $800+ on a hot pink golf shaft just isn't something that interests me.. regardless of the claims. 

Well over the past year or so, there have been a few Youtube channels that have showcased the AutoFlex Hack.. or as I like to call it, the "Otto Phlex". It has been somewhat theorized that the secret sauce to the AutoFlex is based on the following basic profile characteristics: 2-3 flexes lighter than your preferred flex or frequency, at least 1 or even 2 weight classes lower than your preferred weight, a swingweight between D0 and D2 depending on the flex, and a mid/high launch profile. It has also been debated that the Autoflex works best when it's at least 46" or longer. I tried starting at 46.5" and just didn't like the length. I then tried shorter .5" increments and I ended up at 45" and I'll explain how I got there in a bit. 

OK before anybody sounds the alarm, I realize that all of these characteristics are subject to each shaft company's interpretation and that there is no such thing as a standardized R, S, X, etc, flex shaft. All of these characteristics are based on broad generalities and this experiment has quite a bit of wiggle room so don't get your plaid golf knickers in a twist. (there, got that out of the way)

I've been playing the MotoreX F1 6X for the past 2 years. It's an XS shaft according to Fujikura, it weighs in at about 68g uncut. I've played it at about D5 SW but the shaft can take the extra head weight with no issues. Up until very recently, this was supposed to be my "Forever" shaft. It just works and up to this point I just couldn't find anything better. This is however going by conventional wisdom standards that with 110+ mph swing speed, I need to play either a hefty stiff or XS profile shaft and my preferred weight has always been sub 70g in driver. 

 

My Otto Phlex profile should look something like this: A flex, 45 - 55g, High Launch with low loft setting or mid launch with standard loft setting. Torque is another factor that can be thrown into the debate ring as having any value. The AutoFlex from what I've read is around a 4.0 torque rating. I believe torque can be important with this experiment because we're really treading on the edge of making sure the shaft bends but doesn't twist. Too high of torque rating and you may be pushing things a little too far. 
 

DISCLAIMER 1: I realize that this is a subject that might rub some folks the wrong way.. namely those who've spent the $ and are completely bought into the Autoflex concept.. or those who've done the research, had a fitting, and are about to pull the trigger on one. I think that this topic fully encompasses the MGS spirit of debunking a pretty hyped up marketing claim and/or discussing alternatives that take all of the marketing hype out of the equation and stick to the hard facts. Does the concept actually work? Can I make an Otto Phlex shaft that performs similarly or better than the real thing while nixing the insane price tag by following the guidelines listed above? 

DISCLAIMER 2: just because I'm finding success with this at the moment, it doesn't mean that it's for everybody. This is definitely a concept that even I'm still working to wrap my head around after playing for 30 years. It definitely has a lot of allure and appeal so the best we can do is try it out, give it some time and formulate final conclusions when the data is adequate. 

Below are a few of the videos that influenced my journey (and a few others like @Samsonite, @blackngold_blood, @cnosil, @cksurfdude, @tommc23, (forgive me if I missed anyone else) down this Otto Phlex rabbit hole. We all started up in the thread discussing the new PXG 0311 Gen5 Driver and ended up directing most of our discussion towards this AutoFlex Hack project because it just worked in such harmonized synchrony with the Gen5 head. Below is the PXG Gen5 thread if you'd like to catch up on what lead to this topic. The top of about page 3 is where the discussion starts to go sideways and turn into AutoFlex hack project 

 

Here is the original review by MrShortgame of the Autoflex. Very supportive of the Autoflex performance benefits

 

Here are the colab videos by MrShortgage and MobileClubmaker. Both guys make great and very informative videos and they both know their stuff. 

 

 

 

Simon from SAS did something similar a while back.. He kind of rolls like me. He's all about getting the most out of a budget and still getting some really killer gear. 

 

Freddie Meikle Golf. I found this one as I was looking up more reviews for the PXG Gen 5 and it happened to be that he also stumbled upon the Otto Phlex 

 

After watching these videos about 10x each and saying "hey I can actually do that!", I tracked down a Project X Evenflow Riptide CB. In fact, it's the exact same spec of the shaft in the MrShortgame video. 40g 5.0 A flex. I sourced the shaft from a local OfferUp listing for a PXG Gen4 driver for sale. I reached out and offered the guy a straight trade for the Diamana S series that initially came with my Gen5 driver. Being that he was trying to sell his driver and I was able to gently convince him that an S flex might appeal to a broader audience, he was open for the trade. My fallback plan if all else fails is to plug in my trusty MotoreX and resell the experimental shafts and get on with my life. The only concern that I had was that the Evenflow played at 45" and I was convinced that it needed to be at least 46" for max results so I was already sourcing my shaft extension piece to have ready. Well eventually I discovered that 45" was absolutely perfect and that no extension was needed. I took the shaft back to the workshop, put it in the Gen5 and got the SW calculated to D0. Because of the higher balance point, I needed to add just a little more weight to the head. Luckily I was able to find a 10g PXG weight to replace one of the 7.5g weights and there we go.. I'm sitting right at D1.5.

Now why is the SW so important with this build? Well this shaft isn't made for swing speeds over 100 MPH.. let alone the 110 - 115 that I'll be imparting on it. From my obsessive gathering of info, if you're able to keep the head weight to a minimum, and keep the swing weight optimal based on the desired shaft frequency (D1 lighter to D2 heavier), you should still be able to apply a max swing without any unwanted torsional head twisting. This is where the head can twist open or shut in addition to the shaft flexing the face up or down and then even more damaging is finding some odd variation in between where the face is flexed open or shut to some degree and then the face lofted or delofted to another degree and then who knows which direction the ball goes? Ultimately, the idea is to be able to put a hefty swing on the club and the ONLY reactional bending is the face increasing in loft, therefore assisting with an easier launch. Other variations are the actual club head itself. Every driver head is engineered for something specific. Luckily in my case, the PXG Gen5 seems to be a perfect mate for this experiment. It's naturally a lower spinning head and has a load of variable weight configurations. I have the 9* head option. 

Here are some standardized #'s from what I've seen with the MotoreX. I no longer have my membership with PGATSS (due to their recent 50% cost spike) so I'm just basing this off of memory from my last few sessions. (not 100%). As you can see though, the MotoreX works well for me. It's not an overly stiff profile. I'd say that it falls right where I need it to be between S+ and XS if I could give it my own classification. It's in the 65g weight class but actually closer to 70g than 65g. 

Launch - 10-12*
Ball Speed - 157 MPH (probably not accurate)
Swing Speed - 111
Carry 270
Spin 1900

Moment of Truth

I took the Project X Evenflow Riptide along with the MotoreX to the Foresight Monitors at an outdoor range. This way I can see true flight and get some basic #'s to help quantify what I'm seeing with my eyes. The only downside is that the balls they use are limited flight which supposedly cut the flight down by 20% and the monitors weren't showing club or ball speed and weren't showing Spin so I was kind of disappointed. The limited results that I did see however blew my socks off. I started off the session with about 20 hits from the MotoreX and saw a nice low-ish draw. The carry was about 250 with rollout to about 270+. Not bad considering the balls were limited flight. I did see my miss come into play a few times which is a hard pull hook. This happens when I'm not fully sync'd and I'm swinging with my arms, chasing the ball, and just flipping the face closed. My shot can quickly go from fairway to neighborhood finder on the wrong layout. 

As soon as I plugged in the "OttoPhlex1" (I'll get to that "1") I could immediately feel the difference but that's to be expected.. the difference however isn't what I was expecting at all. The club actually doesn't feel lighter by weight or Swing Weight. I think there's some kind of trickery about the D1 SW and overall lighter club. The club doesn't feel too light at all. In fact if feels perfect! The SW also doesn't feel like D1 but closer to my preferred D4-5. I'm sure it's more to do with physics than witchcraft but to a lay fool like me.. it's the devil at work!  JK. when I tee'd up my first ball, it was a high fowl ball to right field.. probably into the parking lot. weird.. OK this is a new sensation to me. At first impression I'm thinking, man this thing's too whippy and twisty. Well I buried that though and hit a few more. The more I hit, the more in sync I was getting and then the easier it became to just hit high towering baby draws. I'll say that the overall height at 9* was probably more than I wanted to see so I ended up cranking the loft down to 7.5 and just like old Bob Parsons himself would put it "KABOOM BABY".. ok I actually really hate PXG marketing but I guess it can have a time and place. You can read more about my thoughts on the Gen5 in the thread above.. but the overall feeling of it paired with the OttoPhlex1 is something else. The launch is effortless and even though I couldn't see the spin or ball speed #'s, I was getting about 15 yds more carry and rollout to about 290 - 300 yds. I went back and plugged the MotoreX in, bumped it back to 9° and then found myself struggling to get the ball in the air. A shaft that I've been familiar with for 2 years all of a sudden became a stranger to me. I had been so completely overtaken by the feeling, flight, and performance of the OttoPhlex1 that I'd completely forgot everything I knew about the MotoreX.. and that was just in 1 hitting session. 

So of course I go home all giddy happy but my silly brain just couldn't rest on 1 thing.. Just like the video with MrShortgame, the PX Evenflow Riptide didn't really feel how the Autoflex looks from videos. Those guys got some real 1/1 comparison and I don't know if I'll ever have that luxury. The shaft just felt like a really smooth, stable "Me" flex. Take the stigma of "# Flex" out of the equation. It isn't really whippy or overly explosive feeling but it just feels like a really nice, stable shaft to play that gave some great results and something that I could definitely game. So that night I went back to looking around for possibly another option that might land me a little closer to the Motore F3 like they used in the video. Looking at all of the comments, it's literally impossible to find that exact shaft anywhere and people were frustrated. Even the current MotoreX F3 is a tad pricy for an experiment. Off the top of my head I knew of a few light weight, low cost options that I could look into. I looked at the UST ProForce V2 in both the HL and standard version, the Aldila NXT GEN NVS Orange, and the classic Garafalloy Pro Launch Blue. All in A flex and ranging between 45 and 55g. Well I settled for the Garafalloy PL based on a very technical analysis of.. Aesthetics . Now we have OttoPhlex2 in the mix. This and all of these are shafts that you can pick up at Golf Galaxy, PGATSS, or Golfworks for around $60, which is about the same price that AJ (Mobileclubmaker) paid for the OG Motore F3 and all seem to fit that general profile. I will add that I started out the GPLB at 46.5". The SW was just too much and I wasn't loving the length. So this is where I shortened it in .5" increments until I just found my glass slipper at 45". 

I took this out to play a round on Saturday 9/24 and I tell you what.. Just like I was blown away by the improved results with the Evenflow Riptide, I was even more so impressed with the Garafalloy PLB. The round I played was on a tight community Exec course with very narrow fairways. I played the front 9 with the OttoPhlex1 and hit everything! then I played the back with OttoPhlex2 and not only did I hit everything but it was a noticeably longer and higher flight. Not feeling content with the limited amount of playing time during the round, I immediately took to the course driving range afterward to compare both shafts in a long drive battle. Same situation as the other range, they have limited flight balls. It's in a retirement community so the back wall of the range stops at about 290 from the matts and on the other side behind the back wall is a gigantic aluminum storage facility. When it's matts only, I haven't ever hit over the fence. When they push it to grass, and depending how far forward, and when you smash a good drive, you're rewarded with a loud PING when the ball hits the storage facility over the fence.. too many good drives, and the storage facility calls the golf course and you are kindly asked to put your driver away . like I said, from the matts, that's that furthest point from the end of the range and I've never hit one over the fence. So I started the contest with the OttoPhlex1 (Riptide). I hit a lot of nice straight bombs that bounced to the wall but not over. When I put the OttoPhlex2 (GPLB) in, I was clearing the fence almost every 2 or 3 balls. Not only was I clearing the fence but I kept a directional point of a large tree at the back end of the range and everything was at or just outside of the tree. Luckily I finished the bucket and wasn't asked to leave  Well for the finale, I took a used ball from my bag that I planned to retire to my backyard for chipping practice and tee'd it up. I didn't hit the side of the storage facility.. I landed it on the roof which had to be about 30' high and I wasn't rewarded with 1 PING.. but a series of pings as the ball bounced all the way across the rooftop.

I've already made a short story very long but I had a chance to take both shafts to PGATSS to get some better #'s with the Garafalloy PLB. What I found just added to some of the crazy things that I've already seen with this club. Launch from a 7.5* head with little to no effort is right at about 14*. Club head speed 112+ without breaking a sweat. Spin.. 2000 - 2200 RPM. Carry distance an avg of 285 - 290 rolling out to around 315. Shots that I felt like I hit off the planet were just right or left of the green. I will add that I was using my game ball Maxfli Tour CG. 

I've got 1 more potential candidate that I would like to add to the mix and that's the UST ProForce V2 HL or regular V2. TBC

****************

It's getting late. This is phase 1. I'll add some pics and continue more tomorrow. 

*****************

PLEASE feel free to start commenting or sharing any similar stories. I think this could be a really good topic for MGS to cover on their GolfScience channel. 

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

 

Edited August 15, 2023 by Drk.projXlab

[Bang60]

On 7/30/2023 at 2:29 AM, azstu324 said:

The Mizuno STZ (TXG DOTY) is a great head! I don't think I ever weighed it when I had one as it was pre-OttoPhlex. 

I've not hit a ball since because of the rain and the course is so wet and soft to walk on hoping I remember how to swing a club

obtw what's (TXG DOTY) when it's at home?

[vandyland]

4 hours ago, Bang60 said:

obtw what's (TXG DOTY) when it's at home?

TXG (Tour Experience Golf -- now owned by Club Champion) has a youtube channel where they test and talk about fitting golf clubs. If you like equipment it is really interesting and generally like Ian and Matt (when he was there but he has since left multiple times). 

Anyways, to your question, DOTY = Driver of the Year. They have a bracket/match play deal where they pit drivers against each other looking for the best driver of each year. The Mizuno STZ won the 2021 driver of the year competition last year or the year before maybe? Anyway, see below:

 

 

Edited August 16, 2023 by vandyland

[Bang60]

17 hours ago, vandyland said:

TXG (Tour Experience Golf -- now owned by Club Champion) has a youtube channel where they test and talk about fitting golf clubs. If you like equipment it is really interesting and generally like Ian and Matt (when he was there but he has since left multiple times). 

Anyways, to your question, DOTY = Driver of the Year. They have a bracket/match play deal where they pit drivers against each other looking for the best driver of each year. The Mizuno STZ won the 2021 driver of the year competition last year or the year before maybe? Anyway, see below:

 

 

Wow that's awesome thanks, I looked at one of their videos 2 years ago and didn't like it much but these are great. Best info video I've seen on my STz, looking fwd to hitting lots more.

[Bang60]

17 hours ago, vandyland said:

TXG (Tour Experience Golf -- now owned by Club Champion) has a youtube channel where they test and talk about fitting golf clubs. If you like equipment it is really interesting and generally like Ian and Matt (when he was there but he has since left multiple times). 

Anyways, to your question, DOTY = Driver of the Year. They have a bracket/match play deal where they pit drivers against each other looking for the best driver of each year. The Mizuno STZ won the 2021 driver of the year competition last year or the year before maybe? Anyway, see below:

 

 

Can I ask you for more info please , I play with a guy who has some Mizuno hot metal Elll irons he might sell?  Would you know where I can find out anything about them as I've looked online but nothing much there, I rang Mizuno in Sydney but they weren't any help just wanted to sell me new stuff lol  

[peakation]

I can report that I have had my first Ottophlex eagle! And my first proper eagle ever, that is (alone and a really short par five, barely counts).

Smashed my ladyflex 300 yards (270 m precisely on my garmin watch), five iron 30 feet (10 m) short of flag, and my only thought was to lag it close to secure the birdie, but the ball trickled in!

So much fun and not possible without YOUR help! Thanks Ottophlex!!

[Vernon]

After a full week off due to the heat (first time in my life that I skipped golf because it was too hot - another sure sign that I'm too damn old!) I finally got back out Sunday and Monday.

I had been pretty much sticking with the Pro Launch Blue Ladies flex recently but yesterday I decided to plug the MP5 back in while on the range warming up and was hitting it really, really good.

Stepped up on the first tee and hit a low neck slice a massive 200 yards and just didn't feel comfortable with it for the next five tee shots although I did hit every fairway and distance was OK.

Because of the time off (either that or the old age thing again) I had almost forgot that I had glued up the Golf Works Pro Launch in "A" flex to experiment with so I decided to give it a shot on nine tee and "whoolah" absolutely killed one dead down the middle about 285.

Proceeded to hit every fairway the rest of the way and averaged about 270 with a short of 247, a 295 and a couple in the 280's.

When I ordered this thing trying it in the driver was just kind of an afterthought before I cut it down as I was really intending to use it in my five wood.

Now maybe not so much!

The extra ten grams in weight seems noticeable (in my hands anyways) but not really a big deal after a few swings.

It seems to be quite stable and really produces a pronounced "pop" at impact - almost kind of startling the first couple of tee shots.

Anyways playing again this afternoon and really looking forward putting this shaft in play for the full eighteen holes.

Man what a crazy experiment/experience this whole deal has turned out to be!

[IndyBonzo]

I read on another forum that a poster was told by Golfworks that the Maltby M890 shaft had an identical profile to the AutoFlex.  No specifics on which flex that would be, however.  (If an answer is provided I will share it.)

Has anyone tried that shaft?  It's a little heavier than many OttoPhlex shafts, but . . . ?

[SkateboardGolf]

I have given up on my OTTO PHLEX journey. 

I have the famous Grafalloy ProLaunch 45 L flex that's all the rage in the forum, with a Ping adapter. It fits my G430. 

Selling for $59 shipped. Just reply, or PM me. Cheers,

Photo from my earlier forum post here: 

 

[IndyBonzo]

Answering my own questions via Google, I found this:

https://ralphmaltby.com/questions/question/m890-shaft-vs-autoflex/

TLDR:  Britt Lindsey at Maltby says this re the Maltby M890:

"We were able to get an Autoflex shaft and ran the basic profile and found it very similar to the M890.  I do not know the materials the Autoflex is made from or the manufacturing process they use, but just based on our simplified testing, they seemed similar."

Which flex?  Dunno.  For $24.99 plus shipping, surely someone will try it, right?  I probably will.

[Bang60]

I've been on Maltby blog many times as I like Britt's answers mostly lol

[Ding-dong]

Not been on for a while, but just an update. My driving has been poor, and it kind of spirals into worse. However the solution isn’t a lesson or get myself in this position etc .. I find my driving simply by being committed, just attacking the ball , then if it doesn’t go well, deal with it don’t lose the commitment. This has stood up well and to be honest my length and straightness is there, OP works nicely and I am still playing it.

Edited September 6, 2023 by Ding-dong

[IndyBonzo]

I posted the question about the shaft flex on the Maltby website.  Will let y'all know if I get a reply.

I saw @azstu324 on there too -- he follows me from the front all the time.  

[azstu324]

2 minutes ago, IndyBonzo said:

I posted the question about the shaft flex on the Maltby website.  Will let y'all know if I get a reply.

I saw @azstu324 on there too -- he follows me from the front all the time.  

Hey what can I say.. I get around

[Bang60]

18 hours ago, IndyBonzo said:

I posted the question about the shaft flex on the Maltby website.  Will let y'all know if I get a reply.

I saw @azstu324 on there too -- he follows me from the front all the time.  

I just asked a question on Maltby but didn't see yours ahh different login like mine?

[IndyBonzo]

17 minutes ago, Bang60 said:

I just asked a question on Maltby but didn't see yours ahh different login like mine?

Same login for me, but I put my question in the existing M890/Autoflex thread.  Perhaps I goofed.?.?

[Bang60]

11 hours ago, IndyBonzo said:

Same login for me, but I put my question in the existing M890/Autoflex thread.  Perhaps I goofed.?.?

Ahhh my bad found it

I've also posted a question asking if it's the new Rflex M890 that matches Autoflex?

[Iamsecond116]

First off, thank you to everyone that has given input on this topic. Very informative and definitely worth the week+ it took me to read through sporadically... whew. I have never custom built any clubs and have learned quite a bit from this thread, so forgive what might be some elementary questions. 

I have a G400 max 9 degree head with a Tour 65 stock shaft in Stiff flex. I am looking to order the PLB A flex and get the appropriate adapter, however I had some questions before I pulled the trigger. The "playing length" of the driver on Ping's website is 45.75" - I am assuming the shaft will be shorter than this? I plan on placing an order over the phone to make sure I get something that matches what I currently have. 

I have a SS around 103 and am working on improving it with Superspeed sticks. My tempo is smooth and I consistently hit up on the ball around 1-4 degrees with a relatively consistent in-out swing path. With a CS LS X ball I can get drives in the 290 range at best on a flat fairway, normal good drives are in the 260-270 range and anything in between is gravy. I do not struggle getting it in the air and do not struggle with too much spin (now that I am playing a better ball for my game). 

I don't know what the stock backweight is (I have read around 13-16 grams) and the stock swing weight is supposed to be at D3. I am looking to get down to the D2 target as @azstu324 so kindly tested and shared with the thread. I am guessing I will need to get the butt end of the club trimmed a bit and then get some lighter back weights to help get down to the D2 SW? 

Any other input is appreciated. I'm excited to get this tested out!

 

As a side note, I have improved my game steadily over the past couple years as much as raising a young family (3 under 3) will allow. I changed my stock iron (Callaway XR) shafts from TT 85 gram R shaft to Dynagold S300 120 gram S shafts and it has improved my iron play/dispersion dramatically. I have seen a lot of dialogue about bringing the concept to irons, and while I may not have had the right specs to perfectly fit the OP mold in my irons, I can tell you after a while I figured something was wrong when a flushed shot was 15 yards "over cooked" left of the target line. The change definitely has a different feel but I have very little movement in my iron ball flight, something I am very thankful for!

[MuniGolfer]

Has anyone tried pulling the mp5 from an adapter? I was pulling it to put it into my Ping, I didn’t even have the tip that hot with just a little pulling pressure, and the tip end of the shaft just kind of crumbled. I ended up having to cut it. I have never had that happen before. I am just going to play it tipped an inch and a quarter, well try to anyway, and extend it back to 45”. Just wanted to see if anyone has that happen before with this shaft? If it doesn’t work I may look at the plb again, or get the ust 55 gold, it looks similar to the mp5, or the GWX.

[Shlax]

Oh boy did I fall head first into this amazing topic and can’t seem to pull myself away! It’s one of the reasons why I love this forum so much.

I have not caught up with all the updates and pages of this thread yet and I’m already looking for used A or R flex driver shafts.

The OttoPhlex phenomenon presented in the original post intrigues me, to say the least. Why? Well, I was semi-fitted for my current driver (i.e., tried all stock/no upcharge 2022 driver+shaft options available and went with what brought me the closest to ideal launch parameters) and I’m starting to feel like my setup might be too much for me (x-stiff 78g Aldila Rogue White 130 MSI shaft in a 9° Callaway Rogue ST Max LS head). I cruise around 115-116 mph and hit 120-121 mph when I lean on it but somehow can’t seem to reliably drive the distance that I used to drive last year or that I am ”supposed” to hit given my ball speed. I now feel like I need to swing out of my shoes to drive even remotely close to 280 yds whereas it wasn’t the case before.

N.B. No, club head speed, smash factor, launch, spin, strike location, etc, have not changed (well spin has slightly reduced since shallowing my swing, for the better). I’m talking about to amount of effort I have to put in my driver swing to get it going.

I don’t know if it’s a good indication about my potential suitability for an OttoPhlex alternative but my 3W is probably the club in my bag with the softest shaft (Fujikura Ventus Blue FW 6S in TaylorMade Sim Max 15°) and I can’t believe how well I hit this club. I can effortlessly hit it less than 10-20 yds from my driver irrespectively of the lie (tee, fairway, etc). It’s both nice to have and frustrating as I feel like I don’t get all I could from my driver. I keep wondering what would happen if I could put this shaft in my driver head!

I added the OttoPhlex experiment to my list of projects and plan on at least giving it a go on the sim this winter. However, my main concern is spin. I had important issued with my previous driver setup which was a 50g stiff Aldila Trinity shaft in a 9.5° Callaway Razr Fit Xtreme head). Backspin was a ridiculous 3.8k-4.2k rpm so my drives ballooned and died mid flight (I had as much zip with driver than with 8-iron). What aspects of a senior shaft would be required to make sure that spin remains decent for example?

Edited September 14, 2023 by Shlax
Typos and spin question

[MuniGolfer]

1 hour ago, Shlax said:

Oh boy did I fall head first into this amazing topic and can’t seem to pull myself away! It’s one of the reasons why I love this forum so much.

I have not caught up with all the updates and pages of this thread yet and I’m already looking for used A or R flex driver shafts.

The OttoPhlex phenomenon presented in the original post intrigues me, to say the least. Why? Well, I was semi-fitted for my current driver (i.e., tried all stock/no upcharge 2022 driver+shaft options available and went with what brought me the closest to ideal launch parameters) and I’m starting to feel like my setup might be too much for me (x-stiff 78g Aldila Rogue White 130 MSI shaft in a 9° Callaway Rogue ST Max LS head). I cruise around 115-116 mph and hit 120-121 mph when I lean on it but somehow can’t seem to reliably drive the distance that I used to drive last year or that I am ”supposed” to hit given my ball speed. I now feel like I need to swing out of my shoes to drive even remotely close to 280 yds whereas it wasn’t the case before.

N.B. No, club head speed, smash factor, launch, spin, strike location, etc, have not changed (well spin has slightly reduced since shallowing my swing, for the better). I’m talking about to amount of effort I have to put in my driver swing to get it going.

I don’t know if it’s a good indication about my potential suitability for an OttoPhlex alternative but my 3W is probably the club in my bag with the softest shaft (Fujikura Ventus Blue FW 6S in TaylorMade Sim Max 15°) and I can’t believe how well I hit this club. I can effortlessly hit it less than 10-20 yds from my driver irrespectively of the lie (tee, fairway, etc). It’s both nice to have and frustrating as I feel like I don’t get all I could from my driver. I keep wondering what would happen if I could put this shaft in my driver head!

I added the OttoPhlex experiment to my list of projects and plan on at least giving it a go on the sim this winter. However, my main concern is spin. I had important issued with my previous driver setup which was a 50g stiff Aldila Trinity shaft in a 9.5° Callaway Razr Fit Xtreme head). Backspin was a ridiculous 3.8k-4.2k rpm so my drives ballooned and died mid flight (I had as much zip with driver than with 8-iron). What aspects of a senior shaft would be required to make sure that spin remains decent for example?

I had a very similar issue with a taylormade m5. My previous Nike was fantastic. Hit it great for years, just figured it was time to upgrade technology. The m5 i was semi-fit for, I rarely hit farther than my 3 wood, because it was too stout for my smoother transition and the super low spin meant it went nowhere unless I really hit it hard and perfect. I started down the road of replacing that and stumbled upon this forum group. It has been eye opening for me. I understand more now why I hit my Nike well previously, why the shaft I had in the m5 didn’t work great, and what I am looking for now. Your swing speed is similar to mine, and I have had good performance from a little heavier than most (50-55 grams). Granted I haven’t tried the pro launch blue yet. I just got a great deal on the ust mp5. Mainly, azstu found that low torque is your friend. Basically under 5. Then, we have found that it’s best to keep swing weight between d0 and d1, but some of the heavier shafts seem to be at d2 or less. Then just experiment and have fun, and keep us updated on what you find.

[IndyBonzo]

On 9/7/2023 at 5:29 PM, Bang60 said:

Ahhh my bad found it

I've also posted a question asking if it's the new Rflex M890 that matches Autoflex?

We are striking out @Bang60!  No answers!