Shaft Hack - The Otto Phlex Journey

[Bobbers]

2 hours ago, Bang60 said:

THANKS @bobbers, didn't think of a tyre cleaner so off to the automotive spare parts shop...

Love seeing someone doing preventive work, I'll look at a few different cleaners as all I've tried is dishwashing liquid. Your advice is exactly what I wanted, thanks...

Here's a link to what it is made of in case you have to use a different product.  The listing linked is aerosol, I use it in a non-aerosol spray version.  Hope this helps.

https://www.whatsinproducts.com/types/type_detail/1/22380/standard/p class="p1">Black Magic Bleche-Wite Tire Cleaner 120139, Aerosol-09/11/2018/p>/09-009-057

[qLofty]

So I purchased the PLB in S flex, an adapter for my TSi3. As someone who can't really tweak/adjust on my own. Should I just have it made to my current driver shaft length (I'm 5'6 with a swing speed of ~110mph max) of 44.75 or think should just get the PLB cut to 45. 

Then for swing weight, would just be add/removing weight from the driver head correct?

[azstu324]

1 hour ago, qLofty said:

So I purchased the PLB in S flex, an adapter for my TSi3. As someone who can't really tweak/adjust on my own. Should I just have it made to my current driver shaft length (I'm 5'6 with a swing speed of ~110mph max) of 44.75 or think should just get the PLB cut to 45. 

Then for swing weight, would just be add/removing weight from the driver head correct?

Not meaning to pick on some of the details that you provided but are you attempting an OttoPhlex setup? Or are you just trying out the lighter PLB in your own flex? 

The reason I'm asking is because if you're simply just trying your hand at a lighter g shaft, I personally wouldn't recommend the D0 SW. In any instance, you will want to have a better sense of where the head is and D0 may cause you to lose the head on the stiffer flex.  That's just my recommendation. Additionally, in either case, if you play your driver at 44.75", you may need to add weight to the head just to get it up to D0. I have mine playing at 45" and needed to add 2.5g just to get it over D0. 

If you're trying to give OttoPhlex a go, it appears that your in the wrong flex category with an S flex based on your SS. I'd suggest an A flex for your speed. D0 actually works with the OttoPhlex because you feel much more of the loading of the shaft and it actually feels much heavier than the SW suggests.

Lastly, I might suggest starting with 45" and then see how things go from there. If it feels too long, you can cut .25" from the butt end. 45" not only seems to give great results to a lot of guys, but it's also a length that doesn't require too much weight to be added back to the head. The goal, at least with the OttoPhlex is to find D0-D1 in the most natural way possible without having to add a ridiculous amount of weight to the head. 

Hopefully that was somewhat helpful. 

[azstu324]

Would anybody believe me if I said this is just starting to get a little old?

[qLofty]

3 hours ago, azstu324 said:

Not meaning to pick on some of the details that you provided but are you attempting an OttoPhlex setup? Or are you just trying out the lighter PLB in your own flex? 

The reason I'm asking is because if you're simply just trying your hand at a lighter g shaft, I personally wouldn't recommend the D0 SW. In any instance, you will want to have a better sense of where the head is and D0 may cause you to lose the head on the stiffer flex.  That's just my recommendation. Additionally, in either case, if you play your driver at 44.75", you may need to add weight to the head just to get it up to D0. I have mine playing at 45" and needed to add 2.5g just to get it over D0. 

If you're trying to give OttoPhlex a go, it appears that your in the wrong flex category with an S flex based on your SS. I'd suggest an A flex for your speed. D0 actually works with the OttoPhlex because you feel much more of the loading of the shaft and it actually feels much heavier than the SW suggests.

Lastly, I might suggest starting with 45" and then see how things go from there. If it feels too long, you can cut .25" from the butt end. 45" not only seems to give great results to a lot of guys, but it's also a length that doesn't require too much weight to be added back to the head. The goal, at least with the OttoPhlex is to find D0-D1 in the most natural way possible without having to add a ridiculous amount of weight to the head. 

Hopefully that was somewhat helpful. 

Sorry I meant A, I got the senior flex shaft for OttoPhlex. 

By 45" are you meaning the playing length with driver head included?

[cksurfdude]

3 hours ago, azstu324 said:

Would anybody believe me if I said .. [300 yds] .. is just starting to get a little old? 

..and: No.

[Bang60]

4 hours ago, azstu324 said:

Would anybody believe me if I said this is just starting to get a little old?

Absolutely not lol...

[azstu324]

14 hours ago, qLofty said:

Sorry I meant A, I got the senior flex shaft for OttoPhlex. 

Ok sweet! 

14 hours ago, qLofty said:

By 45" are you meaning the playing length with driver head included?

Yessir. 45" playing length. For reference I'm over 6' 2" and 45" is very comfortable and I just feel like I have completed control (most of the time ). And looking back I'm noticing you said 44.75" shaft so my bad for missing that detail. Reading around, it looks like the Titleist adapter adds approximately 1/2" and the head another inch. So is your current playing length 45.75"? At that point, yes you'd probably need to swap out or remove some head weights. 

I'd recommend starting at a length that you're familiar with and work with the builder on dialing the SW. Maybe ask them what length you could play without having to remove any weight from the head and landing between D0 and D1. I'd bet it would be close to 45.25" which you might be happy with. 

[Bulldog]

It's been interesting following this topic.  I decided to give it a try  - PXG 0811X driver with PLB 45 A flex at 45.5".  My results were not encouraging.  Middling shots.  Still fighting the hook.  So I cut it down to 44" (thanks, Tom Wishon).  I'm a long time hobby club-builder.  I used the PXG weight kit to get the swing weight to D0.  I saw a shot improvement but nothing outstanding.  

So I decided to really get crazy and added a JumboMax JMX Zen Lite medium grip to the mix.  It feels like a baseball bat, and takes some getting used to. A few trips to the range and it looked like things were improving.

Yesterday I played on a soggy California course.  I hit 10 out of 14 fairways.  Of the 4 drives that missed the fairway, none were in trouble.   Distance was good (considering the soft, squishy ground and un-mowed fairways). My best drive was 238 which isn't bad for being 5' 8" and 72ish...

I think I may have found my sweet spot.

I just got three more JumboMax grips.  I'm going to test them on a short, middle, and long clubs. 

[azstu324]

23 minutes ago, Bulldog said:

It's been interesting following this topic.  I decided to give it a try  - PXG 0811X driver with PLB 45 A flex at 45.5".  My results were not encouraging.  Middling shots.  Still fighting the hook.  So I cut it down to 44" (thanks, Tom Wishon).  I'm a long time hobby club-builder.  I used the PXG weight kit to get the swing weight to D0.  I saw a shot improvement but nothing outstanding.  

So I decided to really get crazy and added a JumboMax JMX Zen Lite medium grip to the mix.  It feels like a baseball bat, and takes some getting used to. A few trips to the range and it looked like things were improving.

Yesterday I played on a soggy California course.  I hit 10 out of 14 fairways.  Of the 4 drives that missed the fairway, none were in trouble.   Distance was good (considering the soft, squishy ground and un-mowed fairways). My best drive was 238 which isn't bad for being 5' 8" and 72ish...

I think I may have found my sweet spot.

I just got three more JumboMax grips.  I'm going to test them on a short, middle, and long clubs. 

It's awesome that you saw enough potential in this not to give up after your first round. 

Here's to many more fairways and added distance to come!

[GolfSpy SAM]

Fun little tidbit:

Went for a fitting on Friday, and the fitter was absolutely bewildered by the A-Flex CB 40g shaft in my 0811 XF Gen 5. I then averaged 103mph with it, even with my timing not 100% (had a slight leak to the right on an average). 

We tried 5(?) heads, narrowed it down to the TSR2 (delightful to hit), then ended up in an Oban Devotion 6 (4-flex). I won't lie, it felt great - easy to load, kind of couldn't miss (still had a fade, but had figured out to aim left side of start line by then, lol). I got ONE up to 102 (that was him saying "really go after it").

I then went back to my gamer, and right away back to 103. Still slightly missing right. 

I explained the theory of the Otto Phlex project. He asked if I wanted to hit the actual AutoFlex. "Absolutely I do."

No faster than Otto, same slight miss right. 

Went back to the Oban for the end, just to confirm the "fit". 

It's pretty incredible to me just how much I like my set-up. I may end up trying the GFB with a PXG tip to compare, but as good as the Oban was (and really, it was), I really had to go after it to get the speed that just naturally comes with my current setup. 

I will say, as you can see below, I middling the TSR2, Whereas the PXG was a bit high. But would that be worth $868 vs. $299? Not currently for me. 

(Huge thanks to Michael at True Spec for letting me nerd out so hard, lol)

[azstu324]

19 minutes ago, GolfSpy_SAM said:

Fun little tidbit:

Went for a fitting on Friday, and the fitter was absolutely bewildered by the A-Flex CB 40g shaft in my 0811 XF Gen 5. I then averaged 103mph with it, even with my timing not 100% (had a slight leak to the right on an average). 

We tried 5(?) heads, narrowed it down to the TSR2 (delightful to hit), then ended up in an Oban Devotion 6 (4-flex). I won't lie, it felt great - easy to load, kind of couldn't miss (still had a fade, but had figured out to aim left side of start line by then, lol). I got ONE up to 102 (that was him saying "really go after it").

I then went back to my gamer, and right away back to 103. Still slightly missing right. 

I explained the theory of the Otto Phlex project. He asked if I wanted to hit the actual AutoFlex. "Absolutely I do."

No faster than Otto, same slight miss right. 

Went back to the Oban for the end, just to confirm the "fit". 

It's pretty incredible to me just how much I like my set-up. I may end up trying the GFB with a PXG tip to compare, but as good as the Oban was (and really, it was), I really had to go after it to get the speed that just naturally comes with my current setup. 

I will say, as you can see below, I middling the TSR2, Whereas the PXG was a bit high. But would that be worth $868 vs. $299? Not currently for me. 

(Huge thanks to Michael at True Spec for letting me nerd out so hard, lol)

Having started down the same path together, I really think you'd dig the PLB 45g. Such a different shaft from the Riptide 40g.. but good different IMO. The Riptide is still a great shaft and I'm purposely holding on to it for another project.. I've even tried plugging it back in a time or 2 just just to keep reminding myself that the PLB is just that good. And it's just that good

[cksurfdude]

26 minutes ago, GolfSpy_SAM said:

I then went back to my gamer, and right away back to 103. Still slightly missing right

Based on looking at the just the dispersion pattern plots, it seems to me like your current gamer is "the fit"!

[Bang60]

On 1/26/2023 at 1:52 PM, azstu324 said:

It's awesome that you saw enough potential in this not to give up after your first round. 

Here's to many more fairways and added distance to come!

Ahhh I'm wondering if I should use a ladies graphite shaft for another Otto phlex driver, it's out of a Mizuno ladies driver and the shaft weight is 68grams. I pulled it because the head has a big offset which I hate, I've compared total weight of the Mizuno driver with my Taylormade M3 and there is only 2 grams difference. 

My existing gaming driver shaft is only a 40grams shaft so what effect will that extra 28 grams have on Otto phlex, I could try with my M3 as I've adapters, I don't know ??

[Karlan]

Have now tried the PLB in my utility wood. Feels a little too whippy, not at all as good as in the driver. Going to try a UST Mamiya Gold in A flex unless anyone has any other suggestion? Its 59 grams. I play the PLB in L in the driver, ss around 95.

[GolfSpy TCB]

I've been missing this thread... my O-PH has been on the shelf for the past few month (along with every other club in my bag... AND my bag for that matter).  I'm hoping to feel that sweet flex again very soon.  

I'm seriously considering setting up a few fairways to add to the driver... and contrast and compare with my current setup.  I see there has been some success across the board with fairways... hopefully I'm one of them too.

[cksurfdude]

47 minutes ago, Golfspy_TCB said:

I'm seriously considering setting up a few fairways to add to the driver... and contrast and compare with my current setup.  I see there has been some success across the board with fairways... hopefully I'm one of them too.

Def try it. Fwiw, like I started out with testing my wife's old driver before buying a GPLB, FWs are the next club I've struggled with ... So took her old 3W (or men's 5W @ 18°) and have started hitting it decently.

Not sure what I'll end up with for a gamer FW shaft .. maybe I'll try the GWX.

 

[GolfSpy TCB]

1 hour ago, cksurfdude said:

Def try it. Fwiw, like I started out with testing my wife's old driver before buying a GPLB, FWs are the next club I've struggled with ... So took her old 3W (or men's 5W @ 18°) and have started hitting it decently.

Not sure what I'll end up with for a gamer FW shaft .. maybe I'll try the GWX.

 

I am absolutely going to test it in the 3w... if that goes well, I'll keep going.  I believe I read somewhere in the thread that the PLB shaft can also be used for fairways because it is trimmed at the butt end.  Can someone confirm that?  or will I need to find a specific FW shaft to optimize the O-H conditions?  Club building is not my strong suit  

[carter18]

5 minutes ago, Golfspy_TCB said:

I am absolutely going to test it in the 3w... if that goes well, I'll keep going.  I believe I read somewhere in the thread that the PLB shaft can also be used for fairways because it is trimmed at the butt end.  Can someone confirm that?  or will I need to find a specific FW shaft to optimize the O-H conditions?  Club building is not my strong suit  

You can def butt trim and use the PLB. I went with the GWX at @azstu324's suggestion. It is just a bit heavier and seems to work very well in the 3W.

[GolfSpy TCB]

6 minutes ago, carter18 said:

You can def butt trim and use the PLB. I went with the GWX at @azstu324's suggestion. It is just a bit heavier and seems to work very well in the 3W.

Thanks Carter!

[azstu324]

7 hours ago, Karlan said:

Have now tried the PLB in my utility wood. Feels a little too whippy, not at all as good as in the driver. Going to try a UST Mamiya Gold in A flex unless anyone has any other suggestion? Its 59 grams. I play the PLB in L in the driver, ss around 95.

Like @carter18mentioned, the Garafalloy GWX is a great metal wood option. It plays a little bit stiffer and comes in at 52g vs the PLB 44g. It has a 4" tip so can be tip trimmed to dial in stiffness but probably wouldn't be necessary. The lightest flex is A so again, adding to the stiffness coming from the L flex PLB. 

[cksurfdude]

FYI O-P Experimenters - another lightweight .. 40g and 50g in each flex .. offering to consider...

Mitsubishi Vanquish

Here's a link to a review on Plugged In Golf ... https://pluggedingolf.com/mitsubishi-vanquish-shaft-review/

[GolfSpy TCB]

2 hours ago, azstu324 said:

Like @carter18mentioned, the Garafalloy GWX is a great metal wood option. It plays a little bit stiffer and comes in at 52g vs the PLB 44g. It has a 4" tip so can be tip trimmed to dial in stiffness but probably wouldn't be necessary. The lightest flex is A so again, adding to the stiffness coming from the L flex PLB. 

The thing is...I'm so enamored with the PLB "L", and the incredible feel/feedback it gives me, I'm worried I'll be disappointed with another model shaft..lol.  But your comments make sense, though I feel part of the success I am having with the PLB is that I am dropping 2 - 2.5 flexes to my normal ... and the GWX is only in A as you mentioned... so that is another hesitation I have.   I may get both just so I won't wonder

 

[Bang60]

3 hours ago, azstu324 said:

Like @carter18mentioned, the Garafalloy GWX is a great metal wood option. It plays a little bit stiffer and comes in at 52g vs the PLB 44g. It has a 4" tip so can be tip trimmed to dial in stiffness but probably wouldn't be necessary. The lightest flex is A so again, adding to the stiffness coming from the L flex PLB. 

I'm still confused about what a heavier lady flex shaft will perform, I've got a 68gram shaft so what's the 28grams going to do make it stiffer?

[azstu324]

1 hour ago, Bang60 said:

I'm still confused about what a heavier lady flex shaft will perform, I've got a 68gram shaft so what's the 28grams going to do make it stiffer?

Honestly I'm not sure if there would be a difference. I'd say give it a whirl for experiment sake. This whole thing is all about venturing into the unknown so why not?!

[Bang60]

2 minutes ago, azstu324 said:

Honestly I'm not sure if there would be a difference. I'd say give it a whirl for experiment sake. This whole thing is all about venturing into the unknown so why not?!

I like the unknown lol excited

[Karlan]

11 hours ago, azstu324 said:

Like @carter18mentioned, the Garafalloy GWX is a great metal wood option. It plays a little bit stiffer and comes in at 52g vs the PLB 44g. It has a 4" tip so can be tip trimmed to dial in stiffness but probably wouldn't be necessary. The lightest flex is A so again, adding to the stiffness coming from the L flex PLB. 

Could not access the Golfworks website in Sweden before, but now it works for some reason. It won’t calculate the shipping cost automatically so I sent them an email. Hopefully I can get it for below double the listed price, as there is usually a 25 percent customs fee as well if you dont get lucky.

[GolfSpy_APH]

4 minutes ago, Karlan said:

Could not access the Golfworks website in Sweden before, but now it works for some reason. It won’t calculate the shipping cost automatically so I sent them an email. Hopefully I can get it for below double the listed price, as there is usually a 25 percent customs fee as well if you dont get lucky.

I have emailed for international to Switzerland and they said they wouldn't do that. Same thing I was VPN blocked to access their site. As soon as I used a different (NA) VPN it was good to go. 

They were pretty quick to respond, but unfortunately wasn't able to order anything and so on. 

Gamola Golf was a site I could access and get shipping costs in Europe. 

[Allen]

Re: PLB in FW's.

Have L flex in Driver. Put PLB A flex in 5 wood.

Nothing but sweetness.

[azstu324]

Hey y'all! 

This is a last minute bat signal reach out. 

Has anybody here tried this using the Riptide 40g with a Cobra XB head? AND playing at 45"? 

I'm going to let my dad try out the Riptide A flex just to try a lighter shaft. He's probably a true Senior flex SS so this isn't for the sake of OP so much as to have him try something lighter and maybe more stable. This is on the fly so I'm just trying to see if I need to bring any lead tape to the course this afternoon. Trying to keep him around D1 with this setup. 

If not, no biggie. I'll sort it out either way. 

Thanks!