We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Driver Shaft Weight

Nippon Shafts
T

Trevor68

Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2013
Messages
656
Reaction score
3
Handicap
16.5
I was able to spend a good hour at Golf Galaxy trying pretty much every driver on the market and came away with an important discovery: Shaft weight matter a lot!
Hitting a driver has always been my weak point in my 5 years playing the same. Hot one day, cold the next. Since my SS is in the mid to upper 90s, I always alternated between regular and stiff shafts, but never paid much attention to shaft weight. Most driver that I have used until this point have always between between 50 and 65 grams. My miss has usually been on the heel. I tend to hit my fairways and hybrids well.
Tonight, while trying different drivers I came to the realization that the moment I had a 70g+ shaft in my hands my accuracy and distance increased exponentially. Contact improved dramatically as well. Once I tried a stock 50-60g shaft, contact suffered and I was all over the map.
No idea what is the science behind all of this, but I am writing it in case anyone was interested in the topic. I cant believe that shaft weight never crossed my mind before (I even had fittings in the past and shaft weight was never a point of major focus!).
 
Last edited:
I have been finding that heavier shafts are better for me as well. For the purpose of consistency mainly. I lost a bit of distance at first, but gained a ton of stability. It seems to be coming back now though after hitting them a bunch and getting used to the weight, yet not losing the stability.
 
Heavier shaft = joy on my end also...lots of trial and error to figure this out.

The same applies with iron shafts for me as well. I went through many lightweight offerings (75-85 gram) in stock offerings...now I'm in something just over 100 grams and find myself much more consistent.
 
What's interesting, if I remember right, JB and THP did a rough experiment about this . A bunch of shafts with no weights listed. swing speeds ranging from the 80s to 120+. Just about every person was more accurate and longer with the light shaft.
 
blugold said:
What's interesting, if I remember right, JB and THP did a rough experiment about this . A bunch of shafts with no weights listed. swing speeds ranging from the 80s to 120+. Just about every person was more accurate and longer with the light shaft.
Click to expand...

I know I am much better with a lighter weight shaft. Everything is subjective.
 
blugold said:
What's interesting, if I remember right, JB and THP did a rough experiment about this . A bunch of shafts with no weights listed. swing speeds ranging from the 80s to 120+. Just about every person was more accurate and longer with the light shaft.
Click to expand...

You should see me hitting it with light and longs shafts...not pretty.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
blugold said:
What's interesting, if I remember right, JB and THP did a rough experiment about this . A bunch of shafts with no weights listed. swing speeds ranging from the 80s to 120+. Just about every person was more accurate and longer with the light shaft.
Click to expand...
Minds were melted. As usual.
 
Trevor68 said:
You should see me hitting it with light and longs shafts...not pretty.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Have you ever hit a shaft not knowing how heavy it was or its flex?
 
blugold said:
What's interesting, if I remember right, JB and THP did a rough experiment about this . A bunch of shafts with no weights listed. swing speeds ranging from the 80s to 120+. Just about every person was more accurate and longer with the light shaft.
Click to expand...

Yes sir, we did it at 5 different THP Events. Same iron head and did so with 38 golfers (going off memory). Tested both the subjective (feel) and the objective (ball flight) on the launch monitor.

As always #OutingApproved shined through.
Im not saying there is no spot for heavier, as many people like them, but I think swing weight plays a bigger role as does the mental aspect than people realize. Going in blind showed exactly what was happening.
 
JB said:
Yes sir, we did it at 5 different THP Events. Same iron head and did so with 38 golfers (going off memory). Tested both the subjective (feel) and the objective (ball flight) on the launch monitor.

As always #OutingApproved shined through.
Im not saying there is no spot for heavier, as many people like them, but I think swing weight plays a bigger role as does the mental aspect than people realize. Going in blind showed exactly what was happening.
Click to expand...
Did you do it with wood as well?
 
I hit the lighter stuff farther for sure, but I can't say I'm more accurate with it. I still have the XL 270 and it's longer than my current covert tour by 10+yds on average, but I have to remember to smooth out my swing or it gets pretty ugly (my avatar is an example of my miss, if I yank it at all). I guess I have an abrupt transition and need the extra stability I get with a little heavier/stiffer shaft. I haven't tried every lighter shaft of course, and if there is one that can give me the extra distance and stability, then sign me up.
 
I gamed a 40's g shaft for months with a SS of 108, had no dispersion issues at all no matter how much I jumped on it, but everyone is definitely different.
 
Jman said:
I gamed a 40's g shaft for months with a SS of 108, had no dispersion issues at all no matter how much I jumped on it, but everyone is definitely different.
Click to expand...

True that. I think a lot of it comes down to familiarity and feel really, not having a smooth swing, the heavier shafts just feel better to me, and more like what I have always been used to. I really don't think the shaft would matter much if I was a robot and didn't react to different feels while swinging, then I could just go for whatever gave the highest SS.
 
Jman said:
I gamed a 40's g shaft for months with a SS of 108, had no dispersion issues at all no matter how much I jumped on it, but everyone is definitely different.
Click to expand...

I think that the issue with me is that my swing has the worst of both worlds: my swing speed is not particularly fast (mid to upper 90s) and my transition is abrupt (i usually dont wait to get to parallel and swing before fully set). My impression is that the added heft stabilizes my bad transition.
Basically, long and light shows the true colors of my swing (aka a horror show!).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
blugold said:
Have you ever hit a shaft not knowing how heavy it was or its flex?
Click to expand...

I always used stock shafts assuming that they were the right weight and have always assumed regular flex was ok. I found about the weight issue yesterday by accident.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Honest question here.
Do you really think you can tell a difference in swinging between a 65 gram shaft and a 70 gram shaft?
And of course these weights are raw, not including tip adapters for heads and grips weigh different things.
 
BamBooBender said:
True that. I think a lot of it comes down to familiarity and feel really, not having a smooth swing, the heavier shafts just feel better to me, and more like what I have always been used to. I really don't think the shaft would matter much if I was a robot and didn't react to different feels while swinging, then I could just go for whatever gave the highest SS.
Click to expand...
Haha, anyone here who has played with me know smooth is not in my swing vocabulary.
 
Driver Shaft Weight

No, i cannot tell the difference between 5g on a club.
Basically, my drivers up to this point have been 2007 Burner with stock 50g shaft, Cover 2.0 with 50g kuro kage, Callaway 815 with Speeder 55g shaft.
Yesterday, i tried the Aldila Rogue 70g, Ping Tour 80 and matrix white tie 70. I was shocked at how much those weights helped my transition and contact.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
JB said:
Honest question here.
Do you really think you can tell a difference in swinging between a 65 gram shaft and a 70 gram shaft?
And of course these weights are raw, not including tip adapters for heads and grips weigh different things.
Click to expand...
Ill answer for me, definitely not lol. I went from 78g to 67g or so and the launch characteristics may be different (different shafts) but the weight feels the same. I also thought when I went to 78g i was swinging so much better but after dropping back down im hitting it just as well. So for me, that weight difference hasnt change anything
 
Trevor68 said:
No, i cannot tell the difference between 5g on a club.
Basically, my drivers up to this point have been 2007 Burner with stock 50g shaft, Cover 2.0 with 50g kuro kage, Callaway 815 with Speeder 55g shaft.
Yesterday, i tried the Aldila Rogue 70g, Ping Tour 80 and matrix white tie 70. I was shocked at how much those weights helper my transition and contact.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Easy solution then to confirm what you are seeing and make sure you are playing the right shaft. Hit the same shaft (close) in two weights with the same head. Shouldnt be too difficult and you can confirm for yourself if you have the right shaft.
 
when I went to club champion last year for a d/fw/h fitting, I told the fitter not to tell me ANYTHING about any clubs, shafts, flexes, weights, etc that he was handing to me. I didn't want anything to get in my head; I just wanted to put my swing on the ball and see what happened. then we talked about the results. with a high 90s swing, he started out giving me lightweight. my miss got worse. then he gave me heavier, and dispersion was great but launch was low. we ended up with a mid 60s weighted shaft with an active tip, and it's been a great fit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Driver Shaft Weight

I've played a lot of different weighted shafts. Everything from 80's to 40's. Even tried that awful 100g Nunchuk once. 50's, 60's, and even 70's (if they're a high launch shaft) all seem to be pretty equal throughout as far as how my distance/dispersion coincides. 40 gram shafts started to mess with my transition a bit. 80g and above, especially that silly Nunchuk, just seem to toss dead ducks out into the fairway.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I'd like to add that different weight coupled with a different type shaft with different loading point and torque will give you vastly different results as opposed to the same shaft in different weights.

There's a just right amount of load that factors in your swing speed and transition, I'm glad you found the one that works.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top