Expecting The Possible!!

This weekend I did some testing with a player who was presently playing lightweight steel iron shafts – about 95 grams raw weight – and we were looking to see if a different type of steel shaft would get better results. He had pretty high swing speed, and he has always played steel iron shafts.

At the end of the tests, we also did some tests with a few 75 gram graphite shaft types – and there was a large jump in shot distance – more than 10 yards, sometimes 15. Admittedly I did not expect that this would happen – but I was glad we did not eliminate the possibility of using lightweight graphite shafts.

These results reminded me of something that is really the difference between great club fitting and just so so fitting. Fitters all have some preliminary ideas on what shafts might work best and what flexes and weight profiles might work best. But it is better to be open to testing across a range of possibilities of types of heads, shafts, flexes, and weights and determine what is the best fit based on performance. Preconceived notions on what will work can be a starting point, but having a wide group of test clubs to work with and test can sometimes yield results that are surprising and maybe even better than expected!

Tony