rollin
"Just playin golf pally"
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In light of derailing a different thread where this topic came up and seemed to take off on its own I thought it would be worthy of its own interesting thread. Perhaps this has been discussed in the past but times and info change so here it is fwiw. And its not just so simple imo. In the other thread we were discussing iron shafts but Id assume any club shafts would fit the topic. Honestly I have found all different opinions on this and is quite confusing and even contradicting info at times.
A first impression logic would pretty much suggest (in line with general physics) that the longer something is (in this case a golf club with a head at one end) the more leverage it will have being further away vs closer in. Leverage adds weight which is force which can make the "longer" shaft flex more. To exaggerate lets hold a 3 foot shaft and then a 15 foot one. The 15 foot one would certainly flex more. The leverage of the head weight way out the far end would simply be a lot.
But swing weight is not that simple because its a difference between weights at one end vs the other. Just add a mid or full size grip to a club that use to have a standard grip and in my experience it certainly does make the head (swing weight) feel lighter via placing more weight in your hands to counter the head weight at the other end.
So with all that Im hearing (or technically reading) it all depends on many factors. Like where is the shaft shortened or lengthened? Is it the tip end or the butt end or possibly both. Adding length to an existing shaft vs ordering a club from the maker in a longer length can be two very different things. For this topic and my interest I was concerning with ordering longer shafts from the maker. Just how it is made longer I think is buy leaving more of the butt end intact but I could be wrong there. But we can discuss all types of lengthening/shortening. whatever you like.
And so to continue....leverage imo can be enough to counter and overtake swing weight. In other words having more butt end may lower swing weight resulting in less flex but being longer may add more leverage to the other end therefore canceling each other out. In the end I think (at least logically) that leverage would usually win out regardless and help create more flex.
Also we can add speed. assuming the player can swing the longer shaft at the same speed (from our pivot point) as they do the shorter one, then the club head will move faster via being further from center pivot. Again just basic physics there. But that extra speed will add extra force and momentum leverage at the swings transition from backwards to forward which should also result in the shaft flexing more.
So there two things working towards suggesting that longer will generally mean more swing weight and more flex. leverage of the head being further out, and speed adding even some more leverage via momentum. While at the butt end only shaft weight is added to offset some of that swing weight.
Then some suggest that the butt end is stiffer so having it longer would be adding stiffness. But just to question that.......if the rest of the shaft is still the same yet further way there is still going to be the leverage issue as well as the speed issue.
So you can see the info can be much more complicated than simple logic might dictate. Just what is correct Im not really sure. And I know that when we talk of lengthening shafts a tad we are not talking like its different worlds apart for this topic. But still when talking club fitting in general nothing is really worlds apart yet we do get fitted (fine tuned) for these little varied factors so while very small are at the same time in a sense meaningful. And if nothing else...understanding things better is always something worthy imo and this has me curious.
A first impression logic would pretty much suggest (in line with general physics) that the longer something is (in this case a golf club with a head at one end) the more leverage it will have being further away vs closer in. Leverage adds weight which is force which can make the "longer" shaft flex more. To exaggerate lets hold a 3 foot shaft and then a 15 foot one. The 15 foot one would certainly flex more. The leverage of the head weight way out the far end would simply be a lot.
But swing weight is not that simple because its a difference between weights at one end vs the other. Just add a mid or full size grip to a club that use to have a standard grip and in my experience it certainly does make the head (swing weight) feel lighter via placing more weight in your hands to counter the head weight at the other end.
So with all that Im hearing (or technically reading) it all depends on many factors. Like where is the shaft shortened or lengthened? Is it the tip end or the butt end or possibly both. Adding length to an existing shaft vs ordering a club from the maker in a longer length can be two very different things. For this topic and my interest I was concerning with ordering longer shafts from the maker. Just how it is made longer I think is buy leaving more of the butt end intact but I could be wrong there. But we can discuss all types of lengthening/shortening. whatever you like.
And so to continue....leverage imo can be enough to counter and overtake swing weight. In other words having more butt end may lower swing weight resulting in less flex but being longer may add more leverage to the other end therefore canceling each other out. In the end I think (at least logically) that leverage would usually win out regardless and help create more flex.
Also we can add speed. assuming the player can swing the longer shaft at the same speed (from our pivot point) as they do the shorter one, then the club head will move faster via being further from center pivot. Again just basic physics there. But that extra speed will add extra force and momentum leverage at the swings transition from backwards to forward which should also result in the shaft flexing more.
So there two things working towards suggesting that longer will generally mean more swing weight and more flex. leverage of the head being further out, and speed adding even some more leverage via momentum. While at the butt end only shaft weight is added to offset some of that swing weight.
Then some suggest that the butt end is stiffer so having it longer would be adding stiffness. But just to question that.......if the rest of the shaft is still the same yet further way there is still going to be the leverage issue as well as the speed issue.
So you can see the info can be much more complicated than simple logic might dictate. Just what is correct Im not really sure. And I know that when we talk of lengthening shafts a tad we are not talking like its different worlds apart for this topic. But still when talking club fitting in general nothing is really worlds apart yet we do get fitted (fine tuned) for these little varied factors so while very small are at the same time in a sense meaningful. And if nothing else...understanding things better is always something worthy imo and this has me curious.