The flex in your golf club can affect your game. Flex is your golf shaft's ability to bend when you apply force as you swing your club. Your golf swing can be fast or slow, rough or smooth. It is ideal to be fit for golf clubs by a professional club fitter, but you can use the following guidelines to give you a general idea of what kind of shaft you should be looking at. Golf club shafts are rated according to their flex.

*A club with a shaft flex rating of extra stiff is denoted by "X". If you can drive the ball to 275 to 300 yards, you need a shaft with a flex rating of "stiff".

*A club with a shaft flex rating of stiff is denoted by "s". If you can drive the ball to 250-275 yards, you need a shaft with a flex rating of "stiff".

*A club with a shaft flex rating of regular is denoted by "R". If you can drive the ball 230 to 250 yards, you need a shaft with a "regular" rating.

*A club with a shaft flex rating of senior is denoted by "A" (it was previously called "Amateur"). If you can drive the ball 200 to 230 yards, you need a shaft with a "senior" rating.

*A club with a shaft flex rating of ladies is denoted by "L". If you drive the ball less than 200 yards, you need a shaft with a "ladies" rating.

You should use a club with a shaft flex rating that matches your swing, otherwise, your club face will be angled wrong upon impact. This results in a shot that goes way off. Flex can impact your accuracy and distance.

In order to determnine what type of shaft flex you need for your club, look at your swing. If your swing is smooth and good, or if your drives tend to veer right, a club with a softer flex might work better for you. A stiffer flex would be better if you have a jerky swing or if your drives tend to fly left.