Many racquet manufacturers include frame stiffness in their specifications that are viewed by the consumer. What exactly does that number mean to you?
Well, very simply, stiffer racquets will provide a little more power because the racquet is not loosing the bending energy, and a less stiff racquet may be a little more comfortable.
As a player there is very little you can do to decrease the stiffness other than bashing the racquet into the court then there is no issue!
However, your racquet technician can make your very own racquet feel “softer”! There is a little used characteristic called “effective stiffness” that I calculate for every racquet I do. I am not going into the formula for that stiffness here but if you go for a lower string bed stiffness it will, obviously, create a more flexible “feeling” unit.
So, if you have a racquet with a stiffness of 70 (RDC) and a string bed stiffness of 65 (RDC) you have an effective stiffness of 32.31 (which is pretty high). Now, if that is perfect for you it can be replicated from racquet to racquet. If you know the racquet stiffness you can arrive at the correct string bed stiffness to yield the desired effective stiffness.
Try it!