I have a year old BB Diablo Driver which I bought with a stock 55g SR flex. It worked well for me, but I had it checked and turned out that the shaft was too soft for my swing. I then replaced the shaft with a Proforce V2 55g S-flex. Since the change, my drives developed a hook which wasn't there before. The hook isn't due to a soft shaft but rather is due to my right arm helping in swinging the stiffer shaft. I also felt that the club became heavier than before, and I find it more difficult to time my drives. I also lost some 30 yards in terms of distance. I can still swing the driver but it doesn't inspire the same level of confidence as before. Although, I feel that with enough range work, I can learn to control my newly shafted driver.

As a guide, my ss is 95mph, carry distance for my drives reach 250 yards (if I time the drive well). My 7-iron can carry 160 yards.

Question is, should I keep the Proforce shaft and adapt my swing tempo to the stiffer flex by doing more range work, or should I just take the plunge and replace the shaft (again) with a more flexible shaft?

Or should I just get myself a new driver?

TIA

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Driver: Cally BB Diablo 10 deg Proforce V2 55g Stiff
Hybrid:Cally Diablo Edge 3H 4H
Irons:MP-57 NSPro0950 S 4-PW
Wedges:TM RAC TP Black 56 SW, 60 LW, Titleist Vokey 50 GW
Putter:Odyssey 2-ball white hot
Ball: Precept Laddie X, ProV1

your driver shaft should be fine. its your swing buddy . Go to a pro, someone who has video analysis software. 10 hours should do the trick. Also my opinion is that if you can hit a 7 iron at 160, your driver swing speed is below your actual strength. That should clock at least 105 in my estimate.

Couple of things

Did you have the Proforce measured for CPM? The Proforces have been quite inconsistent and usually respond well to spining.

The original stock shaft was a Japanese version (usually so with SR flex)? Japanese products usually play soft to flex, so a jump from Japanese stiff-regular to US stiff is actually a big jump. Could be a full flex. 95mph SS does fall in the stiff range for the Proforce V2 especially in that weight class.



Looking at it another way 250 carry with 95mph swingspeed is very very good.

7iron 160 yards is always a tough call because of today's lofts and lengths. Some people are also terrific at trapping the ball for extra yardage on the irons.

One thing to consider is that CPM only measures butt flex. A certain shaft design could just fit your swing profile better. Don't pay too much attention to butt CPM overall shaft design is more important (aka as shaft profile). If it works then stay with it.

I'm a low ball hitter with a steep swing. Based on SS I should be a stiff but I'm finding out I play better with higher loft and really tip stiff shafts in a lower flex. However I still need the "softer tipped stiffs' in my fws and hybrids to help elevate the ball.

250 yard carry on a 95mph swing speed is optimum. If the original driver worked well for you, who cares what anybody else or any machine says. If you're getting the distance and accuracy, stick with it. Nothing beats actual results. My swing speed is just a shade below yours and I play anything from a regular to senior flex just fine. Like xxio, I actually prefer stiffer tipped shafts with softer flexes and a higher loft head for my drivers.

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Cleveland DST Tour 10.5°
TM R9 3-wood 15°
Kasco Power Tornado 44 19°
MP-68 4-PW
TM xFT 52.09° & 58.12°
Bettinardi C-02h or Odyssey Tri-Ball SRT 33"

Unless you're in high elevation, you're swinging more than 95 if you're getting 250 carry.

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My Bag
PING G15 9° 6Z08
CALLAWAY Steelhead III 3W Blueboard 83X
CALLAWAY X-Tour 5W TP-70LT X-Stiff
MIZUNO MP-33 3-PW X100
TAYLORMADE TP Z 54°
TAYLORMADE TP Z 58°
SC Studio Select Newport 2 Heavy

I don't blame you for looking for more distance.

It's natural to want further distance improvement though I would suggest that working on improving consistency and accuracy would be more achieveable and productive. I've known too many people with length who can't hit their targets. These guys too often end up bailing out in the traps around the greens, or trying to flop the ball on from the nearby rough.

As far as the shaft involved, go with the feel but give it a fair chance. Much of club satisfaction comes from knowing the club and knowing what you can do with it. Any change in club configuration will require a getting to know you period during which you will identify some tradeoffs. You have probably made some swinmg changes to compensate for something that may or may not be there, and that could be your unexpected draw or hook. Get to know your club and your swing before making another change. Just don't lose the old shaft until you are sure.


Shambles

Actually, the ss I quoted for my driver is on the conservative side. I normally play first flight out in the morning so my swing condition at 545AM would probably put it at a very cold and stiff 90-95mph. This is my real world ss for my first few holes. My ss when fully warmed up and ready to rock according to Jake's monitor is around 100mph.

The cpm of the Proforce shaft on my driver is now at 260. IIRC, the SR shaft was Japan-spec Fujikura with a cpm of 212 (est., couldn't recall correctly). Most probably xxio is right, my body is probably feeling the shock from the big shaft flex jump. I figure with enough range time I can tame this new shaft. I'm just concerned that I lost some level of consistency when I made the shaft switch. I'm more bothered by the hook than the lost distance. Luckily, Shambles shed some light on it. I probably just need to adjust and adapt to the shaft profile of my driver. I experienced the same thing with my irons. Made the radical shift from Callie X-22s in R-flex graphites to Mizzy MP-57s in NSPro 0950 steel in S-flex. I struggled hard during the first 4 months with the mp-57s then everything just clicked. With the Callaway X-22s, my 7-iron flies 140 yards. When I switched to the Mizunos, my 7-iron distance dropped to 130 yards. But after finally getting the hang of my irons, I'm now hitting the 7-iron up to 160 yards on a pured shot with an average carry distance of 150-155 yards.

Thanks a lot for the advise you guys gave me. Your words of wisdom saved me the cash I'm allocating for the replacement shaft. Guess I'll just use it for more range time with my driver. Hopefully it would also "click" just like my irons...

_________________
Driver: Cally BB Diablo 10 deg Proforce V2 55g Stiff
Hybrid:Cally Diablo Edge 3H 4H
Irons:MP-57 NSPro0950 S 4-PW
Wedges:TM RAC TP Black 56 SW, 60 LW, Titleist Vokey 50 GW
Putter:Odyssey 2-ball white hot
Ball: Precept Laddie X, ProV1

Just an update...

I'm finally getting the hang of the stiffer shaft. Figured out my problem and am now hitting the driver well. It all boiled down to me thinking that a stiffer shaft needs a stronger swing. Apparently not the case. Turns out, the stiffer shaft needs a faster, more fluid swing. I'm happy I asked PG'ers for advise, since it saved me around 5-6K that would've gone to a new shaft. Now, I am hitting my drives well again, and am now carrying the ball an average of 250 yards with a slight draw bias.

Guess the saying, "it's the indian not the pana" is very true...

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Driver: Cally BB Diablo 10 deg Proforce V2 55g Stiff
Hybrid:Cally Diablo Edge 3H 4H
Irons:MP-57 NSPro0950 S 4-PW
Wedges:TM RAC TP Black 56 SW, 60 LW, Titleist Vokey 50 GW
Putter:Odyssey 2-ball white hot
Ball: Precept Laddie X, ProV1

now that you've got the club working close to satisfaction, I expect you'll need more time to figure out whether you prefer the new to the former. That means you need to work on hitting your targets and that includes with the Driver even to 250 yards or more away.

Good luck.


Shambles

Thanks Shambles.

Just a matter of time and more fairway outings. Hopefully it all ends up well...

_________________
Driver: Cally BB Diablo 10 deg Proforce V2 55g Stiff
Hybrid:Cally Diablo Edge 3H 4H
Irons:MP-57 NSPro0950 S 4-PW
Wedges:TM RAC TP Black 56 SW, 60 LW, Titleist Vokey 50 GW
Putter:Odyssey 2-ball white hot
Ball: Precept Laddie X, ProV1

Nice to hear your driver finally catching up with your 7 iron distance proportion . For the lack of term I could think of, I think this is pretty much what we want with all our clubs. It just that when you hope for decent distance gap between sticks, we all wish for the driver to be consistent compared to other clubs.

Thanks aapgolfer. The shaft change made me go through a "getting to know phase" again with my driver. Just played again yesterday and it's becoming more consistent. Pars are raining again! I was just getting frustrated before and found myself fighting my swing instead of working with it. Now, I don't think I'll be going back to reg flex shafts. Stiff flex is just right for me in terms of distance and control. Dr. Jake Ong is right once again.

_________________
Driver: Cally BB Diablo 10 deg Proforce V2 55g Stiff
Hybrid:Cally Diablo Edge 3H 4H
Irons:MP-57 NSPro0950 S 4-PW
Wedges:TM RAC TP Black 56 SW, 60 LW, Titleist Vokey 50 GW
Putter:Odyssey 2-ball white hot
Ball: Precept Laddie X, ProV1