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Equipment Mail Bag: Choosing the Right Shaft

Nippon Shafts
JB

JB

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Albatross 2024 Club
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I use different flex shafts in different clubs. I have a "modest" driver speed that screams regular flex shaft.
I hit it straighter and longer with a stiff shaft though. I just have to try out different shafts.
 
Shaft choice going to be based on launch, spin, and feel. So I’d think different heads might call for different shafts, and different flexes just to get the desired results, no?
 
No industry standard with shaft profiles, interesting. Do fitters know this? That’s a lot of information to have in ones head.
 
Equipment Mail Bag: Choosing the Right Shaft

Tadashi70 said:
No industry standard with shaft profiles, interesting. Do fitters know this? That’s a lot of information to have in ones head.
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I’d think so, I’ve seen that referenced in a lot of articles/books/posts about the importance of getting fit. You can’t just walk in and grab an S flex off the shelf and get the same performance off the shelf as a custom fit set. Of course thats exactly what a lot of folks do.
 
dazeedmonds said:
I’d think so, I’ve seen that referenced in a lot of articles/books/posts about the importance of getting fit. You can’t just walk in and grab an S flex off the shelf and get the same performance off the shelf as a custom fit set. Of course thats exactly what a lot of folks do.
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I’d love to know for sure. To know the profile of 100s of shafts is a lot of info. I’m sure Danny knows all about UST shafts and Chad about Fujikura. But does Bill the fitter know the profiles of those two brands and how they perform or can help someone’s game? Add Oban, True Temper, Mitsubishi, VA composite, kBS, Matrix and others. That’s a ton of info to know and to apply to Joe golfers swing.
 
Nothing Danny said surprised me but it certainly goes to show how important it is to receive a comprehensive full bag fitting to achieve optimal results.
 
nu720 said:
I use different flex shafts in different clubs. I have a "modest" driver speed that screams regular flex shaft.
I hit it straighter and longer with a stiff shaft though. I just have to try out different shafts.
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Same here. I use stiff shafts for accuracy. My old PGA Teaching Pro aways said to play the softest shaft you can control. My SS says regular, but I'd rather have the accuracy that comes from stiff shafts, so that is what I play all the way down to my wedges.
 
Tadashi70 said:
I’d love to know for sure. To know the profile of 100s of shafts is a lot of info. I’m sure Danny knows all about UST shafts and Chad about Fujikura. But does Bill the fitter know the profiles of those two brands and how they perform or can help someone’s game? Add Oban, True Temper, Mitsubishi, VA composite, kBS, Matrix and others. That’s a ton of info to know and to apply to Joe golfers swing.
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I’d very seriously doubt most fitters know all the different shaft profiles on the market, but I’d suspect most good fitters have a selection of shafts that should cover most swings. I’d hope so at least......

Also, that’s what launch monitors are for right?
 
dazeedmonds said:
Shaft choice going to be based on launch, spin, and feel. So I’d think different heads might call for different shafts, and different flexes just to get the desired results, no?
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Dave's back!!! Hey buddy!

We talked about this a little when I was down at UST HQ for #ShaftUp. You're correct, different heads can definitely call for different shafts and the shaft manufacturers follow club makers trends and engineer their products around that. They've had to change the launch/spin characteristics of their products to be able to fit the newer heads on the market.
 
I agree that the shaft variations from one manufacturer to another forces you to get fitted if you want to optimize your results.
 
dazeedmonds said:
Shaft choice going to be based on launch, spin, and feel. So I’d think different heads might call for different shafts, and different flexes just to get the desired results, no?
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Definitely, although loading feel could still be the same.
 
I would be nice if the industry adopted some kind of standard like Miyazaki's flex code so you could compare on your own a little easier.
 
Thanks to everybody that tuned in for this one. We are going to have some more THP Mailbags coming soon.
 
Great video by Danny! Crazy how many variables go into picking each shaft.
 
Howzat said:
I would be nice if the industry adopted some kind of standard like Miyazaki's flex code so you could compare on your own a little easier.
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That would make things much easier, especially if the measurement methods were standardized. I like the Matrix Red Tie shafts for my woods. If their current situation becomes permanent, I'll either have to buy some shafts for future stock or find a similar replacement when it's time to change clubs. If the International Flex Code was standardized, I'd be less interested in following the Matrix thread.
 
Being new to this I wonder how important shaft selection is to someone who is finding his/her swing? Probably the more relevant question is - at what point should a improving golfer start considering full bag fittings?
 
Dave G said:
Being new to this I wonder how important shaft selection is to someone who is finding his/her swing? Probably the more relevant question is - at what point should a improving golfer start considering full bag fittings?
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That will come in time. My take away is if its something one decides to do, have a repeatable swing.
 
Dave G said:
Being new to this I wonder how important shaft selection is to someone who is finding his/her swing? Probably the more relevant question is - at what point should a improving golfer start considering full bag fittings?
Click to expand...

What JB said. A swing speed that isn’t constantly in flux is also part of a consistent swing. A fitting is done against a snapshot of your swing. If that snapshot changes enough, the shafts may no longer be the best fit. My experience is an example of that. When I was new, I got fit. It was great and my clubs fit me for a short time. The fitter put me into a properly fit shaft but cautioned me that I’d probably need something new within a year. It was closer to 3 months. My snapshot changed too much.
 
Even in the same company the stiffness is not the same across all lines. That explains a lot when testing clubs.
 
Thanks guys. That makes sense.
 
Great video. Until infound THP I had no clue different companies offered different flex profiles.
 
I would hope a fitter would get the cpm of every shaft he has in stock. I imagine the ones who charge a decent amount do, hopefully.:alien:
 
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