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One of the questions we get a lot is about torque in golf shafts and how it is measured. While in the THP Club Lab, we show you how we measure each shaft and compare it to the specs that are given.
Measuring Shaft Torque
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Pretty sweet how torque is measured. That’s for the quick video.
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That is pretty cool. Thanks for the great video.
I really enjoy the how it's done videos such as this one... and love the equipment involved. I can certainly feel the difference between high and low torque but still have no appreciation for it's impact on performance.
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Simple & easy to measure once you have the right equipment.
Now what advantages/disadvantages are there to a shaft that has a lot of torque vs one that has very little torque? (just a general question)
Now what advantages/disadvantages are there to a shaft that has a lot of torque vs one that has very little torque? (just a general question)
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- #6
Depending on who you ask, I am not sure there is any (to either side), but it can alter feel in my opinion, quite a bit.
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Appreciate the video. I’ve been reading about the concept of torque but I’d need the extremes in measurement to feel a difference in low and high.
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- #10
Me too. Also the differences between when it's calibrated and when it's not are wild. Fun machine, not something I really concern myself with when it comes to shaft selection, but something worth showing.
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- #12
exciting isn't it?
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- #13
Haha not really. I was expecting the end to rotate or something. Just lifting the weight was not what I was expecting at all. So why the 2 different readings, meaning why did one side read higher than the other?
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- #14
Technically there is force put on the shaft which is what is being measured.
The two readings are based on how the shaft is put together. Many times they are identical, other times it is orientation, etc. The two numbers averaged are the torque rating. I can tell you that companies like True, PX, Nippon, Aldila, Mitsubishi and UST hit the numbers they publish nearly every time I test. I can also tell you that there are a few other companies that are quite different.
Part of that could be machine they are using. Another part could be something else : )
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- #15
It's wild. Twisting in somewhat of a simplistic way, yet going both ways and meeting in the middle.
And it seems to be quite accurate.
Cool beard Dean! 
Yeah it's kind of funny to me being in an industry where some of the precision measuring tools used are stupid complex, that a simple set of weights hanging from the end of the shaft can tell you the torque value of that shaft. So is the difference from side to side of that shaft something to think about? When they give you the torque rating of a shaft, they give you the average. But it seems to me with something like the shaft used in the example, it would feel way boardier in one direction than the other. I mean 1.9 would be stout. And how important is it to some of the other shaft companies to try to get the side to side numbers fairly close?
Yeah it's kind of funny to me being in an industry where some of the precision measuring tools used are stupid complex, that a simple set of weights hanging from the end of the shaft can tell you the torque value of that shaft. So is the difference from side to side of that shaft something to think about? When they give you the torque rating of a shaft, they give you the average. But it seems to me with something like the shaft used in the example, it would feel way boardier in one direction than the other. I mean 1.9 would be stout. And how important is it to some of the other shaft companies to try to get the side to side numbers fairly close?
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- #17
Cool beard Dean!
Yeah it's kind of funny to me being in an industry where some of the precision measuring tools used are stupid complex, that a simple set of weights hanging from the end of the shaft can tell you the torque value of that shaft. So is the difference from side to side of that shaft something to think about? When they give you the torque rating of a shaft, they give you the average. But it seems to me with something like the shaft used in the example, it would feel way boardier in one direction than the other. I mean 1.9 would be stout. And how important is it to some of the other shaft companies to try to get the side to side numbers fairly close?
No sir. It is not measuring different sides per say, but rather adding weight to both sides independently to create the torque.
To give you an example, if I pull that shaft and re-orient it, the torque rating does not change.
It is though. It means with the same weight used to affect both sides, the shaft twists almost a degree more one way than the other. I understand that if you rotate the shaft it'll get the same result. That just means it consistently twists almost 1* more one way than the other. Just looking at the results, it seems to me that shaft would feel different to a lefty than it would a righty. I know it's impossible to test, but that what it implies to me. I'd love to get a shaft expert's (I see you lurking Don
) opinion on that.
Torque is resistance to twist i.e. a low torque shaft is "stiffer"
I would imagine that one scenario being that in an off center hit the low(er) torque shaft resists twisting and helps keep the club square thru impact. It was interesting to see that one side rotates more (1.9° on the right and 2.7° on the left). I think that is due to the (spiral) direction the graphite sheets are wrapped in the construction of the shaft.
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- #21
Twisting really isn’t as much a concern anymore with the materials being used, torque really has become mostly about feel.
Interesting ... from what I have read since, low torque shafts also seem to have a lower trajectory.
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- #23
Low torque is not necessarily stiffer. Watch Lab Rats episode 1 and 2 and Don Brown breaks it down
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It is though. It means with the same weight used to affect both sides, the shaft twists almost a degree more one way than the other. I understand that if you rotate the shaft it'll get the same result. That just means it consistently twists almost 1* more one way than the other. Just looking at the results, it seems to me that shaft would feel different to a lefty than it would a righty. I know it's impossible to test, but that what it implies to me. I'd love to get a shaft expert's (I see you lurking Don
This is exactly what I was thinking. Kevin's last post is nearly word for word what I was going to post. I wonder if that shaft assembled for a LH and RH player would feel different to each? I guess that's hard to tell since each player would have a personal opinion on what was "high" and "low" torque. I guess the only way to truly test it would be to find someone that played golf from both sides at (relatively) the same skill level. Good luck with that.