Golf Shaftology 102 - Some basics for "wood" shafts
The shafts that are used in drivers and fairway woods, in most cases these days, are graphite shafts. They have a number of characteristics that affect how they perform for different players of different strengths and skill levels. Some of the most important characteristics that can be varied include these:
- Shaft "flex." When companies talk about shaft flex, they are typically talking about the flex of the shaft measured at the end of the club - the "butt flex." This is what R, S, X flexes mean on a shaft. And as many of you know, there is no standard for what a specific butt flex is for a shaft. Most people purchase a driver in a store based partially on the shaft butt flex.
- Shaft "flex profile." The flex of a graphite or steel shaft is not constant across the length of the shaft - if you measure flex 45 inches from the head of the club and 15 inches from the end of the club you will most most likely get different flexes. A shaft that is "butt stiff" and "tip stiff" may work well for a player; but that same player may have difficulty hitting a driver that has a shaft that is "butt stiff" and "tip soft." Many professional clubfitters work to find a shaft for a player with the right flex profile to match how they swing their driver and fairway woods.
- Shaft weight. There are a wide range of shaft weights available for use in drivers and fairway woods. The typical weight range is from about 50 grams to 100 grams uncut weight for graphite shafts - and more and more lighter shafts in the range of 40 to even 30 grams of weight are being developed. The shaft weight has a large influence on the total weight of a driver or fairway wood - and on the golfers swing path with these clubs. Some players actually can get better performance with steel shafts in their drivers, these can weigh in the range of 100 to 130 grams.
Most of the quality driver and fairway wood shafts that can be purchased have 0.335 inch tip diameters, and custom build drivers and fairway woods have hosels that use these tip diameters. A little known fact is that many of the OEM drivers available use 0.350 tip diameter shafts - largely to reduce the possibility that these shafts will break at the tip. The drivers that the PGA tour players use typically are not the same as you can buy in stores - they have hosels designed for 0.335 inch tip diameters.
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2 Days With Dana Upshaw - What I Learned To Help You
In mid March, I got one of the treats of my clubfitting life getting to visit Dana Upshaw - Dana Golf - in Warner Robins, GA. Some of his accomplishments include being the 2002 Harvey Penick Award winner and the 1999 PCS Worldwide Clubmaker of the Year. While with him I got to see him do a fitting and also a golf lesson, asked LOTS of questions, and learned many clubfitting and clubmaking tips.
One of the things I wanted to do is to find out some things that can help golfers in general. Here are some of the tidbits of information I learned that can help you improve your game.
Is YOUR Putter Grip Square? Sounds like a simple thing, but putting a putter grip on exactly square - so that the flat part of the grip is perpendicular to the face line of the putter - takes more than eyeballing. If your grip is not square - and Dana noted that he sees a lot that are not - then you are "adjusting" your stroke to attempt to work the putter square to your line. He has built a small setup using a laser to ensure that when he puts a grip on it is exactly square (I am working to put this setup in place in my shop).
What Loft IS Your Driver? Dana has been collecting data on measured driver lofts against the lofts shown on the clubs. He has found that no more than 20% of the drivers that he measures have the loft shown on the club. If you are launching your drives higher than you think you should, it might be that the loft of your club is not what it says. Something worth checking.
TEST Adjustable Drivers! He mentioned to me that most folks he knows who have purchased a driver where the shaft can be turned to adjust club parameters NEVER do any testing of all of the ways the club can be set up. If you have one of these and have not tested all settings, why not do so - you might find a setting that really works well for you.
It was quite a trip for me, and hopefully some of these tips can help you too.
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Coming Next Month!
Next month - putters! - and some of the important considerations in choosing them to help your game.
If you have any specific questions on golf clubs, shafts, fitting, and clubbuilding, please feel free to email them to me and I promise to address them either off line or within future issues of this newsletter.
The Fit Is IT!
Tony Wright
GAME IMPROVEMENT GOLF
Oak Ridge, TN
tony@gameimprovementgolf.com
www.gameimprovementgolf.com
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