AutoFlex Dream7 Driver Shafts - 2024 Forum Member Review

[Jean D]

3 hours ago, chisag said:

 

... Don't believe the hype. This is TOTAL driving distance and 69% hit their driver less than 250yds. Carrying your driver 260 yds puts you in very rare company. That said, I certainly hope you get there. 

"Driving distances, where do you rank? Do you hit it further than an average amateur golfer? These days there is so much emphasis on distance off the tee, more so in the professional game, but is it really all it's made out to be? Standard amateur golfers have little information or statistics available to see how far a typical amateur golfer hits the ball. Shot Scope have a database of over 200 million shots around the world and have produced statistics on the average driving distances, for amateur golfers. You might be surprised at this"

Replace CARRY with TOTAL... ooooops!!!!

[Jean D]

Great range session tonight  As I enter my 3rd week of testing, my speed and distance continue to go up and the shaft is starting to feel more natural (ish) for my new, slightly smoother swing.  Still figuring out the wicked slice, but dropping the loft to 8 degrees on my Qi10Max head helped me get much straighter and farther for my final 4 shots... go figure! My best friend and golfing partner witnessed by two best shots of the evening- straight and far... but the Rapsodo didn't capture the data. We were both staring at my phone to see the results... and nothing.  Dang it!!!!

As I've said from the start- I am putting everything here.  Good and bad shots.  My goal isn't to look good in my posts, but to show what a truly average golfer's results are.  Hope they are helping everyone reading through all our testing posts!

Average Carry: 212.5 yds/ 194m

Average Total: 232 yds/ 210m

Average Club speed: 99.2 mph/ 159km/h

Average Ball speed: 140mph / 225km/h

To close out for the evening- a screenshot from the Rapsodo MLM2 Pro video of my best (captured) shot of the evening. Very happy with the numbers  

 

Edited May 16 by Jean D
Data Chart and sizing

[KC Golf]

Still waiting for the lighter head weight from Titleist, but went out and played 18.  Had a ton of fun with the AutoFlex Dream 7!

I managed to drive the ball pretty well.  It’s a learning curve, but I am liking what I am seeing.

Highlights: My AF equipped driver hit 5 of 7 drives.  (my other drives were with 3W). Drives with 1W ranged from 256 - 267 yards.  Ball flight was straight or slight fades on those 5 drives.  Could load and release it with decent power and head speed.  Was really happy with the trajectory.  The flight trajectory was a bit higher today than my other sessions on the course.  It sounded great and felt really solid.

I find my misses are still left (24%] and right (34%) overall.  But they are mostly narrow misses off the fairway so are generally playable.  My ball has been much straighter on my misses in general.  Ended up shooting 82 with a decent amount of FIRs and GIRs.

Here are some Arccos stats.  Please note the drives today are Arccos adjusted which are supposed to negative altitude, wind, slope, etc.  I found it relatively iffy, since prevailing wind is nothing like the actual reality of what’s happening.

Here are some on course, selective hole highlights:

 

[BallsLeon]

Getting caught back up after my trip, and trying to pack as much golf into this week as possible. Hit the sim tonight, GolfTEC lesson tomorrow, tee time after work Friday, and tee time Sunday morning. 

Tonight, I brought the autoFlex and my two other shafts to the sim to try to establish some baseline numbers for my review. Hit about ~10 shots to warm up with the autoFlex that I did not include on the report, and then I swapped in the Tensei White shaft.
All shafts are set on the same 10.5° Neutral adapter setting, using the same height tee, and same ProV1. Due to mishits/data not being captured more than 5 balls were hit for each shaft, but the best 5 were selected for each (Tensei White had the most attempts with 9).  Full Report Here.

Shafts:

• Tensei White 65g - Stiff flex - 45" (listed incorrectly on report)
• Tensei Blue 55g - Regular flex - 45"
• autoFlex Dream7 - SF405x flex - 46"

The first thing that jumped out to me in these results was how close my Club Speed was between shafts. The difference here is that I am swinging out of my shoes with the Tensei shafts, but holding off with the autoFlex.
Performance wise there is a clear winner so far with the autoFlex, but I have a ways to go before competing with the dispersion of the Tensei White. I will chalk some of this up to the extra length of the shaft, but I managed to close the club face on those two shots to the left.

[chisag]

1 hour ago, KC Golf said:

 It’s a learning curve, but I am liking what I am seeing.

 

... I had my initial round with my AF today. I was gonna just step to the first tee and give it a rip and see how it performed. But I had a chance to warm up with about 15 balls and sooooo glad I did. First 5 ball were a disaster but by the time I got to the last 5 I was hitting it solid. First drive on the course was long and straight. "learning curve" is so accurate because basically everything is different with this shaft. Soooo much lighter, soooo much more flexible and suuuuch a different feel. As a feel player I can usually adjust very quickly but after 18 holes I am not exactly sure how to describe the feel. 

... I'll say this. I hit it a little lower than my Ventus Red. Spin is definitely not a problem. The one thing that did take me by surprise is how straight it was. I did not miss a fairway. So I think the Dream 7 has some serious potential. I will have more to share after getting in several more rounds.   

[Harry Pearson]

On 5/10/2024 at 3:49 PM, ZMendle10 said:

Big time fan of the counterbalanced effect. Plus for me mentally something about knowing I'm closer to the ball makes it feel like its easier to hit a better shot. Most Par 3's I club up, choke down 1/2 in and play it as a knockdown shot and the left to right dispersion just goes away.

Wow. The apex of your drives is amazing. Never seen numbers like that. Would like to know what the descent angle is. I’d imagine that’s where your playing partners have more roll out. It must be a lot of fun to hit it as far as you do.

carry on!

 

[chisag]

... These shafts are pretty noticeable as not really looking like any other shaft on the market. Not a bad idea since they don't play like any other shaft on the market. I love the mat black finish with the orange flair. My playing length is 45.25" and swing weights at C9 so right where Autoflex recommends. I was able to install a Lamkin ST + Hybrid grip just like all my other clubs. 

[skraeling]

If anything.... these shafts do look damn nice from an artistic point.

[Preeway]

Caddied for a guy last weekend that had a AF shaft on his driver. Early 60s and rocked his drives all day long.

[BallsLeon]

Lesson at GolfTEC tonight that was pretty helpful!

As I’ve mentioned before in this thread, I struggle with heel strikes on the driver. I’ve been experimenting with some of the suggestions you all have given me, primarily hovering the driver head to line it up. I can tell this is helping, and feeling myself inch towards center/drop heel spin.  However, my GolfTEC instructor noticed something else on my downswing. I am throwing my hands away from my body towards the ball that is shifting my impact location pretty dramatically.

We focused on setting up to the ball more closed, and with my right foot slightly back from my left. He also echoed similar sentiments as my fitter about staying over the ball longer. After making these tweaks I was really hammering the ball with a draw flight and spin in the 2300-2800rpm range. Also, according to Foresight I hit two balls to 300yds! Definitely a first for me, and not sure I even entirely believe it . 

Edited May 16 by BallsLeon

[Josh Parker]

12 minutes ago, BallsLeon said:

Lesson at GolfTEC tonight that was pretty helpful!

As I’ve mentioned before in this thread, I struggle with heel strikes on the driver. I’ve been experimenting with some of the suggestions you all have given me, primarily hovering the driver head to line it up. I can tell this is helping, and feeling myself inch towards center/drop heel spin.  However, my GolfTEC instructor noticed something else on my downswing. I am throwing my hands away from my body towards the ball that is shifting my impact location pretty dramatically.

We focused on setting up to the ball more closed, and with my right foot slightly back from my left. He also echoed similar sentiments as my fitter about staying over the ball longer. After making these tweaks I was really hammering the ball with a draw flight and spin in the 2300-2800rpm range. Also, according to Foresight I hit two balls to 300yds! Definitely a first for me, and not sure I even entirely believe it . 

Great job!  It's amazing what lessons can do. Then it's up to us to keep practicing and perfecting it. 

[chisag]

3 minutes ago, Josh Parker said:

Great job!  It's amazing what lessons can do. Then it's up to us to keep practicing and perfecting getting better at it. 

 

... Fixed it for you Josh. 

[Josh Parker]

1 minute ago, chisag said:

 

... Fixed it for you Josh. 

Haha!  Love it!  Thanks for the correction.  

[ZMendle10]

Played Mattawang again today and it was a little bit of good bad and ugly. 

The Good                                                                    The Bad                                                                      The Ugly

             

There were far more bad drives than good ones today but the conditions were windy and the high flight of the Dream 7 was not ideal. The 10th hole was dead into wind and a weak heel strike only compounded that error. This shaft while it does bring consistency in flight it does not fix swing flaws as shown in the 14th hole. This shot had no business being in bounds but when there's 2 more fairways of room you get away with one. 

The ball speed and swing speed for today was much improved compared to fox hollow and much closer to what I was seeing on Trackman. It is for sure encouraging to see such high ball speeds  though but I am still a bit worried about spin being an issue. Overall I am not seeing a crazy increase in distance but how I am getting there is much different than what I am used to. 

Tomorrow I am playing in a charity scramble so I will try to collect more club and ball speed data but there will be plenty of chances to really open the shoulders up for the Dream 7.

[bens197]

On 5/16/2024 at 1:07 AM, chisag said:

 

... I had my initial round with my AF today. I was gonna just step to the first tee and give it a rip and see how it performed. But I had a chance to warm up with about 15 balls and sooooo glad I did. First 5 ball were a disaster but by the time I got to the last 5 I was hitting it solid. First drive on the course was long and straight. "learning curve" is so accurate because basically everything is different with this shaft. Soooo much lighter, soooo much more flexible and suuuuch a different feel. As a feel player I can usually adjust very quickly but after 18 holes I am not exactly sure how to describe the feel. 

... I'll say this. I hit it a little lower than my Ventus Red. Spin is definitely not a problem. The one thing that did take me by surprise is how straight it was. I did not miss a fairway. So I think the Dream 7 has some serious potential. I will have more to share after getting in several more rounds.   

So if I’m reading between the lines here, are you changing your swing & tempo to fit the shaft?

[chisag]

3 hours ago, bens197 said:

So if I’m reading between the lines here, are you changing your swing & tempo to fit the shaft?

 

... Not an easy question to answer with only 12 drives hit so far. I will have a better idea after a few more rounds because this shaft is just so different than anything I have ever hit. I don't think I need to change my swing or my tempo, but I do need to slow down my transition from the top on my most aggressive swings. As a smooth swinger (that could use more speed) I rarely attempt to swing faster. For me at least, that means starting from the top with more speed and swinging through impact with more speed. That simply didn't work for me with the Dream 7. 

... So I do need to change my most aggressive swings to match my "normal" swings, but just with my transition. As long as I start down the same, I can accelerate through impact more than my normal swing but that is basically a new move for me. I don't do it often, just when I am feeling really good and don't have serious trouble if I hit a wayward drive. As many know, sometimes an injury or new shaft forces you to do something just a little different and it ends up being better for you. Perhaps I start too fast from the top or maybe a better description is using too much effort from the top and slowing down just a hair will turn out to be a blessing in disguise. 

[BallsLeon]

Had 0.5in taking off the shaft this morning. Now playing at 45.5", and he told me it's measuring at D1 swing weight now.

Per the recommendations I should be at C9.5-D0.5 swing weight, so I will likely need to come back at some point to shave some more off. Just being cautious with the trim as I can't undo it.

Have a tee time after work to give it a spin, and again on Sunday morning.
 

[chisag]

13 minutes ago, BallsLeon said:

Had 0.5in taking off the shaft this morning. Now playing at 45.5", and he told me it's measuring at D1 swing weight now.

Per the recommendations I should be at C9.5-D0.5 swing weight, so I will likely need to come back at some point to shave some more off. Just being cautious with the trim as I can't undo it.

 

... Two different swing weight scales can easily be off .5 swing weight points. So I wouldn't worry about a D1 compared to a C9.5. I think as always 45.5 and C9 is a starting point since most driver heads from different OEMs, or even the same head from the same OEM can have a slight weight variance. I would suggest letting your performance guide you. If 45.5 and D1 produces good results and you are comfortable at that length, shaving off 1/8" of an inch and dropping 0.5 - 1.5 swing weight points isn't gonna make any difference. Again, put about 20 coins in your hand, close your eyes and feel the heft. Then remove one dime (1 sw point) and do it again and my guess is nobody can feel the difference. 

Edited May 17 by chisag

[BallsLeon]

Appreciate that perspective @chisag! Still learning the ins and outs of this, I wont worry about it then.

[Jean D]

I am playing at D1, 45.75" shaft +head, and finally starting to see some more consistent gains  54 holes planned for this long weekend (Victoria Day)...will see how we do!

[Kenny B]

My initial outing with the AutoFlex Dream 7 SF305X was very encouraging, but subsequent outings… not so much.  I did have a couple of rounds in the 70’s.  I’ve been playing the AF exclusively to get a feel of it, but I think I was so encouraged by the distance gain that I started to swing harder, and as @chisag has said many times, that’s not what you want to do, especially with an AutoFlex shaft.  

Last week I focused on the smooth swings which I normally do, and checked the location of strikes on the head of the Epic Max.  The lowest two shots were my firs two swings and I was using a tee that was a little shorter than normal.

 

These are a little more toward the toe than I’d like, and I suspect that the poor strikes when playing were more on the toe… the shaft vibrated… a lot, and my miss was left.  

On Monday I will be hitting off the par #11 tee using new Maxfli Tour S balls to get total distance for the Epic Max with AutoFlex and Epic Max with the stock Project X Cypher shaft.  In the evening we have leagues going off both nines, and everyone will be past #11 by 6pm.  From the tee I can see if anyone has jumped on #10, and I can move out of the way when they get to the #10 green.

[BallsLeon]

Had every intention of playing at least 9 holes after work, but due to circumstances out of my control (parking lot under construction, no parking available, club being used for graduation party) I ended up playing on the sim. Bit of a bummer, but I’m getting out early Sunday to avoid the crowds.

Played Valhalla from the blue tees (5963yds, Par 72, 69.9/132) with fairways and greens soft like they’re playing this week. Drove the ball pretty well, averaging about 250-260yds but with a couple balls off the crown that only went 200yds. However my favorite drive was on hole 13 where I nearly drove the green with a choked up easy swing (says 3 wood but that was just suggested club). Got rejected backwards by the stones surrounding the green into the rough, but still managed birdie. 

Managed an 85 (39 out/46 in, 84 adjusted) which is pretty solid for me even if I was trying to give it away on the back 9. Average driving distance has ticked up to 212.8yds and 47% fairways hit (up from 209.3yds and 38%, respectively).

Edited May 18 by BallsLeon

[Golfspy_CG2]

Sorry for not being around a lot this week.  Was sick over last weekend and into early part of the week.   Then had four outings this week to run two of them over 200 players.  
 

But among that i got in 18 holes with the AF405 in the PING G430 Max 10K

I dont have any data to show as I used my new V5 watch for the 1st time snd lets say. It was a mess—that’s another thread. 

First impressions   This thing is crazy forgiving and straight in this head.   I hit 11/14 fairways and one of thoe misses was a massive hook when i tried too hard to take advantage of a wide open fairway and strong downwind, definitely got too greedy.

Another miss was in light rough just nesr the cart path but left be far enough down that i had a gap wedge in and a birdie putt

Honestly i didn’t see any 230  plus drives like i have with the OG and Triple Diamond.   But different days and different clubs.  So some direct head to head comparisons will be coming, 

 

[Jean D]

Quick range session this morning- and couldn’t get the MLM2 Pro to sync to my phone for some reason   I seem to have worked out my slicing issue and was hitting decently straight (+/- 80%  would easily have been fairway finders, the other 20% would have been in the rough…)

Speed and distance seemed pretty comparable to my last session( with data,) but I was going 100% from feel and looks today.  I am waiting on my Qi10 LS head to arrive (now slated for Thursday May 23rd according to Canada Post…and really looking forward to see how it compares to the Qi10 Max I’ve been using since the start of testing.

The AF SF405x continues to show me it deserves a solid look for the bag this year…  More data tomorrow as I hopefully get a round in.

JD

Edited May 19 by Jean D

[BallsLeon]

Got back out to the course I was gonna play Friday for an early tee time. Played with three other folks, all riders, that were good company.

Played from the blue tees at Overland Park South/North (6171yds, Par 70, 69.0/127). Ended up shooting an 87 (46 front, 41 back) which is pretty awesome for me. I hit a couple bombs today, but the bigger story is hitting 62% of fairways! Best drive was a 280ish yard drive into the fairway on hole 15 that set me up for a 3 wood in for an eagle chance, but ended up with birdie. 

[Jean D]

Played Stittsville Golf Course today… in 36C (96F) weather….and walked 9.  Had some good drives, had some horrible drives and didn’t play great overall. BUT I did have a blast with my best friend and fellow golf fiend and talked MGS with the course staff who were curious about the website and the AF SF405x   Look at me being sociable and stuff!

[chisag]

... I don't wanna consider the cost with any of my rounds or my review, but it is a factor. The combination of the Qi10 and Ventus Red Velo has produced the longest drives on all holes at my home course where I use a driver. What I would like to see is the Dream 7 have at least some with my longest drives. Not always as easy as it sounds with how I am swinging, finding the sweet spot and wind all factoring in some of those drives with what I would call "outliers" with several 300yd drives when a normal drive would be in the 260/270 range on hard fast desert fairways. I would also like to see improved dispersion, which will be tough because the Ventus is very accurate. 

... So my SF405 has its work cut out for itself, but I have seen some serious potential in the 2 rounds I played it. I figure by the end of this week I should have a really good idea of the performance gains. And the ball really flies in the Phoenix heat. 






 

[KC Golf]

Hoping to skirt the rain and get out for 18 today.  It’s a holiday up here.

So far the added club head speed and draw bias have helped me hit straighter balls and further distance with the AF.  It’s been fun so far.  I am choking down about 1/2 -3/4” to maximize centre strikes.  I have not tried going back to full shaft length yet.

Also will try to pick up a 6 gram weight today.

[chisag]

1 hour ago, KC Golf said:

Hoping to skirt the rain and get out for 18 today.  It’s a holiday up here.

 

... My winter snowbird pard and his wife (Oct-April) are from Kelowna and they love Take A Moose To Work Day.   May the Victoria rains stay at bay and your AF produce long and straight drives today! 

[KC Golf]

1 hour ago, chisag said:

 

... My winter snowbird pard and his wife (Oct-April) are from Kelowna and they love Take A Moose To Work Day.   May the Victoria rains stay at bay and your AF produce long and straight drives today! 

Thank you.  We Canucks love our long weekends… even though it was snowing this morning at the cottage. 3 straight days of snow.  Crazy stuff here.  Fortunately no accumulation on the deck.