Shaft Hack - The Otto Phlex Journey

[Karlan]

Lets see if uploading some images works. My dad got his PLB a while ago. He was hitting his drives a bit more erratic than normal. He measured the swing weight and it was c3. So we added some lead tape and he started hitting it better right away. This is 15 meters more than a normal drive for him so he is happy.
 

As for myself Im sidelined for a few weeks after some surgery on my finger. In the meantime I have left my u wood with the pro shop for reshafting, excited to try it at the start of next year.

Dont have any actual trackman data for myself, but I lofted the g400 LST down to 7,5 and so far Im liking the ball flight. With my less then stellar swing speed Im very happy with drives like this, especially in temps around 0c. 

[DukeStKing]

I was able to give the PING DISTAZA a try today and it felt good- a little looser than the Grafalloy. I hit about 70 balls at the range- hit some real nice ones until my tennis elbow kicked in and I was in a lot of pain. The flight was nice and penetrating and whether it had a fade or draw it traveled in the cold- it was in the 30’s today, windy and I was hitting floating balls at a driving range with a lake. So I was happy with the DISTAZA (D0 swing weight in G425 Max with a 20 gram weight instead of the stock 26) Hoping my elbow heals and I can do a comparison between the Grafalloy and the DISTAZA. 

[Bobbers]

1 hour ago, DukeStKing said:

I was able to give the PING DISTAZA a try today and it felt good- a little looser than the Grafalloy. I hit about 70 balls at the range- hit some real nice ones until my tennis elbow kicked in and I was in a lot of pain. The flight was nice and penetrating and whether it had a fade or draw it traveled in the cold- it was in the 30’s today, windy and I was hitting floating balls at a driving range with a lake. So I was happy with the DISTAZA (D0 swing weight in G425 Max with a 20 gram weight instead of the stock 26) Hoping my elbow heals and I can do a comparison between the Grafalloy and the DISTAZA. 

I liked the Distanza shaft when I hit it.  I agree, it IS a bit looser in feel than the PLB.  I have a guess about how your further testing will work out but am looking forward to seeing what happens with your comparison.  Sorry about the elbow.

[Bang60]

Finally hit some Mizuno Widex'll clubs today, my new Fav club is the 5wood just unbelievable performance 145 metres carry into the wind and 175 metres carry with the wind plus all shots were baby draws "magic". And there's my 2nd Fav Mizuno Widex'll 6 iron that went 169 metres with the wind and swing weight of C4, I built up the grip alittle so lost 2 points. I'm absolutely not believing those distances, I need to do a repeat to confirm how far they went. Plus I've not played or hit a ball in anger for about 6weeks even though I've wanted to, I have been doing alot of stretching with speed training with my rope...

[Bang60]

I watched this video from "thatgolfgrind" doing a comparison between xstiff stiff regular and senior shafts, he plays xstiff which he hit further out of all but the senior was equal 2nd 8 yards behind. I think the reason is he's an aggressive swinger and he broke the stealth driver face lol, actually think it's demonstrating for lighter flex a smooth swing works real well... purple =senior shaft.

Edited December 20, 2022 by Bang60
Missed info

[Bang60]

So played 9 holes today with my Titleist TS3 8.5* driver with the head loft set at minus .75 C1 on the adapter, still not tuned it on my Rapsodo launch monitor to find the best ball position and ball height to get the best outcome which is a Draw. My best drive was dead straight down the middle 230 metres. WOW guess who's a happy camper and I passed my friends ball by 12 metres so a double helping of joy as my friends not happy as it's the first time yabba dabba doo..

I only reminded him a couple of times hahaha..

[BadgerRick]

Tried a little experiment yesterday. I've been playing the Callaway Epic Speed LS with a Grafalloy PLB in senior flex, and been getting carries of around 300, but the dispersion is a little hit or miss. I have an Xcaliber Tour light in X stiff, around 50 grams or so, so I decided to game that yesterday and see how the light weight but stiffer flex felt after the PLB. I absolutely blasted some drives, with one going around 340 or so, and a few in the 320 range. It did take a bit more work on the swing, but I was still swinging my playing swing, and not my long drive swing. Still going to probably get a TPT shaft in what amounts to a ladies flex, something like 203cpm's for my long driver.

[vandyland]

Well, today was another win for me in the Otto-Phlex war. I touched 170 mph ball speed 3 times today which I have never done before and got several CARRIES over 300 yds. Average swing speed was 112-115 mph and I am awaiting my trackman report which I will use to update this or a subsequent  post with. The magic setup today was -1* (10.5 --> 9.5) with the 6g weight rather than 12g weight. Launch was down and spin was down. Just a joy to swing really. 

[Artica]

So I’ve slightly given up on this. I’m not getting rid of the shaft just yet though. While I do get my best numbers with it. I’m not consistent enough with my swing to avoid that towering 5k rpm shot. With my other shaft I never get it. It sits around 2,700 - 3,000 and a 260ish carry. Yes the Otto can give me that 2200 and 270 carry but I get those errant shots that’s really discouraging. 

[azstu324]

35 minutes ago, Artica said:

So I’ve slightly given up on this. I’m not getting rid of the shaft just yet though. While I do get my best numbers with it. I’m not consistent enough with my swing to avoid that towering 5k rpm shot. With my other shaft I never get it. It sits around 2,700 - 3,000 and a 260ish carry. Yes the Otto can give me that 2200 and 270 carry but I get those errant shots that’s really discouraging. 

Remind us what setup and SS range you're in. It might just be a matter of tweaking a thing or 2.. or 3. A lot of us had to bounce ideas off of each other in order to get dialed in as this is kind of uncharted territory. As long as you're willing to keep trying, you've got a support group here as strong as any, willing to help out. 

[Artica]

5 hours ago, azstu324 said:

Remind us what setup and SS range you're in. It might just be a matter of tweaking a thing or 2.. or 3. A lot of us had to bounce ideas off of each other in order to get dialed in as this is kind of uncharted territory. As long as you're willing to keep trying, you've got a support group here as strong as any, willing to help out. 

Appreciate that, and I’m absolutely willing to keep trying. 
 

my swing speed averages between 104-106. I am a high spin driver of the golf ball. Mostly because of high dynamic loft, usually a result of flipping. My current setup is either TSi4 with the Tensei white raw AV 65 s or the Matrix white 45g senior flex. 

[peakation]

3 hours ago, Artica said:

Appreciate that, and I’m absolutely willing to keep trying. 
 

my swing speed averages between 104-106. I am a high spin driver of the golf ball. Mostly because of high dynamic loft, usually a result of flipping. My current setup is either TSi4 with the Tensei white raw AV 65 s or the Matrix white 45g senior flex. 

I see this as well. The "softer" shafts will increase spin loft if not kept under control. While also experimenting with clubs, I always experiment with my swing and it is in constant change. I got the spin loft (dynamic loft) under control last session by flexing my left wrist (leading hand). That works because I am trying to be more of a tower than a hitter (see bebettergolf or milolines on yt). In my hitting career so far I have always early extended and flipped. So there's no easy fix.

Maybe it boils down to that the "softer" shafts fit better towers than hitters?

[vandyland]

Avg swing speed was 114 mph with 282 yd carry and 300 total. Never been quite there before. Ball speed average was 166 mph. The last strike was truly a walk off for me at 115 mph because it didn’t feel like much effort and got out there at 317 yds total which is like….whoa. Sorry, not trying to brag as it is just uncharted territory for me. The balls I missed right still had slight left curvature. Pretty much everything was a draw. 

[Bang60]

Played 9 holes today but not well as I struggled all day because I was either on a downhill uphill sidehill lie for a swings excluding off the tee, I had one of those days where I only hit a handful of good shots. Plus I played with a ladies set of Taylormade R7 irons which I didn't like, felt quite different to my Mizuno Widex irons maybe because they were heavier but they were borrowed from my golf club so I asked about swing weight etc but learnt nothing never mind didn't like them . Except L flex 45 gram shaft..

[Bobbers]

7 hours ago, Bang60 said:

Played 9 holes today but not well as I struggled all day because I was either on a downhill uphill sidehill lie for a swings excluding off the tee, I had one of those days where I only hit a handful of good shots. Plus I played with a ladies set of Taylormade R7 irons which I didn't like, felt quite different to my Mizuno Widex irons maybe because they were heavier but they were borrowed from my golf club so I asked about swing weight etc but learnt nothing never mind didn't like them . Except L flex 45 gram shaft..

I woke up to -13F temps (didn't bother to check the wind chill) yesterday with 40 mph winds.  Today is a balmy -3F and the bit of snow we did get is drifting. 

I'm sorry you had a bad day at the course but at the same time I envy you the opportunity.  Merry Christmas.

[azstu324]

Santee Claus stopped by last night. Dropped off some toys for the MGS Nippon 850 NEO / OP project..

[AzRoger]

17 hours ago, vandyland said:

Avg swing speed was 114 mph with 282 yd carry and 300 total. Never been quite there before. Ball speed average was 166 mph. The last strike was truly a walk off for me at 115 mph because it didn’t feel like much effort and got out there at 317 yds total which is like….whoa. Sorry, not trying to brag as it is just uncharted territory for me. The balls I missed right still had slight left curvature. Pretty much everything was a draw. 

 

Very good distance but what about the dispersion? If I'm reading the graph right half of those look to be 30 yards off center, left and right.

[azstu324]

17 hours ago, vandyland said:

whoa. Sorry, not trying to brag as it is just uncharted territory for me

Brag away sir! You've earned it

[cnosil]

16 minutes ago, AzRoger said:

Very good distance but what about the dispersion? If I'm reading the graph right half of those look to be 30 yards off center, left and right.

What is your expectation for driver a driver dispersion pattern?

[AzRoger]

1 minute ago, cnosil said:

What is your expectation for driver a driver dispersion pattern?

Not sure but don't play on many courses with 60 yard wide fairways.

[azstu324]

Just now, AzRoger said:

Not sure but don't play on many courses with 60 yard wide fairways.

I guess the question might need to be "what was your dispersion before?". If it was tighter before, then that begs to question if this is working, or at least if a more improved result can be found. If it was worse or the same before and he's finding more distance, then these are good results. 

[cnosil]

11 minutes ago, AzRoger said:

Not sure but don't play on many courses with 60 yard wide fairways.

Here is a reference that notes that most PGA pro and scratch players have a 60-70 yard wide dispersion off the tee. 

https://practical-golf.com/good-golf-shot/

There are other sources that will indicate the same dispersion patterns.   

[AzRoger]

18 minutes ago, cnosil said:

Here is a reference that notes that most PGA pro and scratch players have a 60-70 yard wide dispersion off the tee. 

https://practical-golf.com/good-golf-shot/

There are other sources that will indicate the same dispersion patterns.   

Interesting, thanks. But I do think those numbers show the outside limits, not the average dispersion.  If I recall the tour average for fairways hit is~62%, for ~30 yard wide fairways

Edited December 24, 2022 by AzRoger

[azstu324]

6 minutes ago, cnosil said:

Here is a reference that notes that most PGA pro and scratch players have a 60-70 yard wide dispersion off the tee. 

https://practical-golf.com/good-golf-shot/

There are other sources that will indicate the same dispersion patterns.   

Damn! So basically @vandyland has found the dispersion and distance of a PGA Pro with the OttoPhlex in play? 

I'll DM you my address so you can start sending me my cut of your winnings

[vandyland]

1 hour ago, AzRoger said:

Not sure but don't play on many courses with 60 yard wide fairways.

That is pretty standard dispersion for me. I’m not a very good driver of the golf ball. I had that same dispersion when I was only carrying it 250 so I take this as a win.

Edited December 24, 2022 by vandyland

[AzRoger]

1 hour ago, vandyland said:

That is pretty standard dispersion for me. I’m not a very good driver of the golf ball. I had that same dispersion when I was only carrying it 250 so I take this as a win.

That is an excellent distance increase.

[Bang60]

8 hours ago, Bobbers said:

I woke up to -13F temps (didn't bother to check the wind chill) yesterday with 40 mph winds.  Today is a balmy -3F and the bit of snow we did get is drifting. 

I'm sorry you had a bad day at the course but at the same time I envy you the opportunity.  Merry Christmas.

Thanks appreciate your kind words, I do appreciate that I have a good life baring life's challenges I face from time to time as we all do.

Merry Christmas to you and yours and all members of MGS...

[cnosil]

4 hours ago, AzRoger said:

Interesting, thanks. But I do think those numbers show the outside limits, not the average dispersion.  If I recall the tour average for fairways hit is~62%, for ~30 yard wide fairways

 

Average fairways for a PGA pro was about 59% for the 2022 season.   Here is a study that illustrates that the ball will land anywhere within that dispersion pattern.  

 

[Bang60]

2 minutes ago, cnosil said:

 

Average fairways for a PGA pro was about 59% for the 2022 season.   Here is a study that illustrates that the ball will land anywhere within that dispersion pattern.  

 

Love seeing the Pro's and Am's having BAD shots too, my fir was 10% yesterday but I count the first cut as fairway as it's only 2inches while the rough is 12inches and thick. 

[cnosil]

12 minutes ago, Bang60 said:

Love seeing the Pro's and Am's having BAD shots too, my fir was 10% yesterday but I count the first cut as fairway as it's only 2inches while the rough is 12inches and thick. 

I don't really consider them "BAD" shots; that is just how wide a good players normal shot pattern is.   I prefer to separate good and bad based on whether I have chance to advance the ball in a manner that I would if I were in the middle of the fairway.   Based on my stats, I hit 56% of my fairways and pattern is 60 yards wide.  Even when I miss,  I am generally able to hit advance the ball to try and hit the green.

 

With OttoFlex,  should be looking for same dispersion with longer distance.