Golf Shafts – Some of the basics….

Since golf shafts connect “you” to the golf club, they have an important affect on how well you can play golf. Here are some basic golf shaft facts – to hopefully help you make more informed decisions on the golf shaft that can be the best for your game.

TWO MAJOR TYPES OF STEEL GOLF SHAFTS – The two major types of steel golf shafts are Taper Tip and Parallel Tip. Taper tip shafts increase in diameter from the tip of the shaft to a defined distance from the end of the tip; parallel tip shafts have a constant diameter section from the tip for a specific length depending on the type of shaft. Most golf clubs that you will purchase in golf stores have taper tip shafts in them.

There are, in fact, some manufacturers who make taper tip graphite shafts for use in irons. I am not aware of any taper tip shafts being used in woods.

So What? – Parallel tip shafts are designed so that you can increase the stiffness (flex) of the shaft by cutting some of the parallel tip section. Taper tip shafts are not specifically designed so that you can alter the flex of a club. There are some “tricks” that you can use with taper tips to alter the shaft stiffness for a given club – but in general it is easier to achieve a specific shaft flex with a parallel tip shaft.

Most clubs that you would purchase in golf stores are designed to accept taper tip shafts. However, these clubs can accept parallel tip shafts if their hosels are bored out to a constant diameter.

TWO MAJOR SHAFT MATERIALS – No surprise here – steel and graphite. These days irons can be purchased in golf stores with either steel or graphite shafts, and woods usually have graphite shafts.

So What? There are now a wide variety of weights of both steel and graphite shafts for irons. You can find graphite shafts that weigh as much or more as some steel shafts, and can also find some high quality very lightweight steel shafts. Typical iron steel shafts weights are between about 95 to 130 grams and there are some that weigh as little as 75 grams. Typical iron graphite shaft weights are between 60 and 100 grams, and you can find some that weigh more or less tha these normal weights. You can find wood graphite shafts between about 45 grams up to in the range of 100 grams.

Shaft weight is a very important variable in club fitting. Weight can obviously affect the feel of the club for a golfer. Weight can also influence the golfer’s swing path and the normal flight (pull, push, etc.) of the golf ball for that golfer.

SHAFT BALANCE POINT – If you take a raw shaft and find the point along the shaft length where the shaft will not “tip,” that is the balance point of that shaft. The balance point of a shaft is a measure of the weight distribution along a particular shaft.

So What? – Shaft balance point can influence the feel of a club for a golfer. Shafts with higher balance points can have lower swingweights and so feel lighter. In some cases, this improved feel can result in improved confidence and performance.

SHAFT FLEX AND SHAFT FREQUENCY – A Frequency Gauge is used to measure the stiffness of a given golf shaft for a given club length. Usually, measurements of club frequency are made without a grip on the shaft, and with the end of the shaft extended to the back end of the frequency gauge. The basic measurement made is of the cycles per minute – cpm – that the shaft vibrates with the clubhead connected on the tip end of the shaft. When the club frequency is measured with the butt end of the club at the back end of the gauge, this frequency is called the “butt frequency” of the club.

Shafts in golf clubs purchased in golf stores typically have “flexes” noted on the shafts like A, R, S, X – or sometimes notations like 4.0, 5,0, 6.0. These numbers are letters refer to “flexes” of the shafts – flex is a measure of the stiffness of a shaft For A Specific Length Of Club.

So What? – There have been some standards on club flex developed – specifically originally by FM Precision the inventors of Rifle Shafts, and elements of this standard were adopted by the Professional Clubmakers Society – for what A, R, etc. and 4.0, 5.0, etc. flex shaft flexes mean. However, these standards have not been adopted by the companies that sell golf clubs in stores. So a buyer has no way to know if for example the “A” flex of a club from one manufacturer is the same as the “A” flex from another (well, there is a way to compare these, have a professional clubmaker measure the flexes of the different clubs).

SHAFT FLEX PROFILE – Shaft flex is complicated by the fact that golf shafts do not have a constant stiffness (flex) across the length of the shafts. Some shafts, for example, can have very stiff tip sections relative to their butt stiffness, while others can have very soft tip sections relative to their butt stiffness.

So What? The shaft butt flex has always been recognized as one of the key clubfitting parameters for effective iron and wood fitting. However, it is now also well known that shafts with different flex profiles can perform significantly differently for golfers. This is because different golfers swing the golf club differently. For two golfers with, say, a 100 mph driver swing speed, one might release the club (uncock his wrists) late in his swing while the other release the club much earlier in his swing. These two golfers will need shafts with different flex profiles to each get good performance results. The same principle holds for iron shafts – they can have vastly different flex profiles and so perform differently for different golfers.

Well, there are a few basics on some of the key elements of golf shafts. Shaft flex, flex profile, shaft weight/type/balance point can all have important influences on golf club performance.

Tony