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Choosing Shaft Weight

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Graphite has become the standard in many shafts for a while now and we wanted to explore the subject of weight. How heavy is too heavy? Can light weight help golfers? How do you choose?

Equipment expert Michael Vrska broke down the weighting myths and discusses weight for golfers and how they can find the best piece of equipment for them.

 
Great information as always. I’m one who hasn’t really given anything lighter that 60 grams in a driver shaft much of a chance. Michael’s expertise makes me want to revisit that this spring. Has anyone here found a 50 gram or lighter shaft that is low spin and mid to low launch? The Aldila Rogue 70 I/O was the best shaft for me at my last Trackman fitting.
 
I will need to watch this later as about to go into a meeting, but have a question (that may well be answered in the video when I watch it) due to my lack of knowledge on the subject

Is choosing a shaft by weight the only thing to take in to consideration, or does swing weight play a big part in this as well?

I am just trying to understand if it is possible to have a club setup where the swing weight is the same regardless of whether the shaft weighs 45g or 85g (extreme differences just to make my question clearer)

As I am looking at a new driver, I am wondering if going with a lighter shaft, but still feeling like I have the control of my current setup, might give me more club head speed that I can use effectively to increase my ball speed and hence get more distance?
 
Vrska is the man. So much knowledge from this guy! Although i'm a self admitted club junkie, I am way behind in my golf shaft knowledge. I just generally play whatever comes with the head. I think that needs to change!
 
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TheDoctor said:
I will need to watch this later as about to go into a meeting, but have a question (that may well be answered in the video when I watch it) due to my lack of knowledge on the subject

Is choosing a shaft by weight the only thing to take in to consideration, or does swing weight play a big part in this as well?

I am just trying to understand if it is possible to have a club setup where the swing weight is the same regardless of whether the shaft weighs 45g or 85g (extreme differences just to make my question clearer)

As I am looking at a new driver, I am wondering if going with a lighter shaft, but still feeling like I have the control of my current setup, might give me more club head speed that I can use effectively to increase my ball speed and hence get more distance?
Click to expand...

Swing weight can be manipulated with head and grip. Both lighter weight shafts and heavier weight shafts can have the same swing weight.
 
I overheard one of the mad scientists coming out of the stroke lab talking about how great the #14 is. Having not gone through the experiment, I'm not sold yet but something to add to the consideration.

Shafts, weights, and getting the proper fit is something I plan on doing this year. I'm one of those "DG" guys, because I'm older and that's what I've used forever but I'm running out of excuses for not looking into all the modern options. This was a valuable video.

One of my main questions or concerns I have currently is with overuse injuries (tennis/golfers elbow). As I'm returning to this game, I have started to address this issue from the past with exercises/stretches as prevention (aka. Theraband). I've heard talk about the benefits of graphite shafts on this overuse issue and wonder if this talk is directed more towards the material or the weight. Would a solution be as simple as using a sensicore type steel shaft? Also, the sensation of hitting the golf ball is a big part of why I play the game. Sure getting outside and experiencing the results is a bigger part of my enjoyment, but I'm a range rat and I just love hitting golf balls. I don't want my irons to be muted down like the headcover'd sticks have gotten. While I love seeing a ball carry distance and can't deny the results, I look forward to full iron shots the most. Having never fully opened my eyes to graphite, I likely don't know what the heck I'm rambling on about. But, it has been amazing seeing the changes and the lightweight designs creeping into the steel shaft industry and worth my investigation this year at least.


This was good content, thank you.


Edit: "muted down" was poor wording. I wasn't referring to sound (which is a big part of feel also), but the other sensations.
 
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Awstyn said:
I overheard one of the mad scientists coming out of the stroke lab talking about how great the #14 is. Having not gone through the experiment, I'm not sold yet but something to add to the consideration.

Shafts, weights, and getting the proper fit is something I plan on doing this year. I'm one of those "DG" guys, because I'm older and that's what I've used forever but I'm running out of excuses for not looking into all the modern options. This was a valuable video.

One of my main questions or concerns I have currently is with overuse injuries (tennis/golfers elbow). As I'm returning to this game, I have started to address this issue from the past with exercises/stretches as prevention (aka. Theraband). I've heard talk about the benefits of graphite shafts on this overuse issue and wonder if this talk is directed more towards the material or the weight. Would a solution be as simple as using a sensicore type steel shaft? Also, the sensation of hitting the golf ball is a big part of why I play the game. Sure getting outside and experiencing the results is a bigger part of my enjoyment, but I'm a range rat and I just love hitting golf balls. I don't want my irons to be muted down like the headcover'd sticks have gotten. While I love seeing a ball carry distance and can't deny the results, I look forward to full iron shots the most. Having never fully opened my eyes to graphite, I likely don't know what the heck I'm rambling on about. But, it has been amazing seeing the changes and the lightweight designs creeping into the steel shaft industry and worth my investigation this year at least.


This was good content, thank you.
Click to expand...

Sensicore reduces some vibrations.
Graphite and steel are not manufactured the same way. You can change weight and flex independently in graphite, you cannot (generally speaking) in steel.
 
I have been stuck in the belief that I need a 70g driver shaft. In truth, I just need the feel of stability with the ability to pick up speed - and there are plenty of options in the light weight category to get that done.

Thanks for the video!
 
Another great video with awesome insights and information, hearing him talk about being ok to be light weight in the driver, but still typical weight in the rest of the clubs, or especially the irons, really has me thinking about weight ranges across all clubs, not thinking consistency but more fit.
 
H8tobogie said:
I have been stuck in the belief that I need a 70g driver shaft. In truth, I just need the feel of stability with the ability to pick up speed - and there are plenty of options in the light weight category to get that done.

Thanks for the video!
Click to expand...

I've been fit into 70g shafts pretty much everytime I do some sort of fitting. I really want to try a lighter option in the future.
 
Love this video. The expertise is amazing and very easy to follow and understand. Currently having my first experience with a shaft in the 50 gram weight class and have been quite impressed thus far.
 
M2Giles said:
I've been fit into 70g shafts pretty much everytime I do some sort of fitting. I really want to try a lighter option in the future.
Click to expand...

How do you like the Atmos TS 7X with the Cobra F9? If I placed my order today that is the combo I would go with in a 45" setup. Now I am thinking of a lighter, more counter balanced shaft that would allow me to weight the head in the D4 range.
 
H8tobogie said:
How do you like the Atmos TS 7X with the Cobra F9? If I placed my order today that is the combo I would go with in a 45" setup. Now I am thinking of a lighter, more counter balanced shaft that would allow me to weight the head in the D4 range.
Click to expand...

Haven't received it yet. During fittings its produced good numbers for me, but I'm not particularly fond of the reinforced handle.

To me the shaft feels stiffer than it plays. If you look at the profile of the Atmos TS Black (can find here: https://fujikuragolf.com/ventus/) you can see what I mean.
 
Michael is jammed packed full of useful information!!! Thanks!!
 
RNG said:
Michael is jammed packed full of useful information!!! Thanks!!
Click to expand...

Thanks and I agree. So much great content from a very smart man with years and years of experience.
 
Just watched on my phone. I like the way he explains things, easy plain and simple. Lots of knowledge.
 
That was insightful. I think I've always gravitated towards heavier shafts, but will see what's out there when I put my foot down for a new driver

The DG 105s in the ft worths are much lighter than my px in the Apex pros, will take come getting used to but they felt good

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
This is great info. I've always been around 60g - high 70 in the driver. But something I rarely think about is the full iron set. It'll be interesting as I'm now trying the AMTs.
 
TheDoctor said:
I will need to watch this later as about to go into a meeting, but have a question (that may well be answered in the video when I watch it) due to my lack of knowledge on the subject

Is choosing a shaft by weight the only thing to take in to consideration, or does swing weight play a big part in this as well?

I am just trying to understand if it is possible to have a club setup where the swing weight is the same regardless of whether the shaft weighs 45g or 85g (extreme differences just to make my question clearer)

As I am looking at a new driver, I am wondering if going with a lighter shaft, but still feeling like I have the control of my current setup, might give me more club head speed that I can use effectively to increase my ball speed and hence get more distance?
Click to expand...

When I did my club tech training, our instructor had 2 clubs. One with lead tape all up and down the shaft of a heavy, 130 gram shaft and one with a 40 gram shaft. The 40 gram shafted club swingweighted at D9 and the heavy shaft swingweighted at B3.

Total weight makes no difference as long as the ratio of weight placed at the grip end and head match up.

To change swingweight by 1 point:

9 grams of shaft weight higher or lower. Higher = heavier SW
4 grams of weight higher or lower in the grip end. Higher = heavier SW
2 grams of weight higher or lower in the head. Lower = heavier SW

So if you have your driver at D3 with a 68 gram shaft. In order to play a 50 gram shaft, you'll need to add 4 grams of weight to the head, take away 8 grams of weight to the grip end or some combination of the two with 8 grams to the head and 8 to the grip end. You add 8 in the head to go over your target by 2 SW points and then another 8 to grip to bring it down 2 SW points to meet your target of D3.

As long as the ratio's line up, you can dial in total weight to your liking. Have it be 8 head and 8 grip, 6 head and 4 grip, 10 head and 12 grip.
 
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Awesome video.

Even when I preferred a heavier driver shaft, I was never shy in trying lighter weight shafts. My earliest recollection trying light was with the Apache Micro 58.

Yet with irons, while not locked into any firm belief as to weight, I was biased against graphite in irons. I was that 1989 mentality that he referenced in the video. I was turned off by their inconsistency once upon a time and the seeming need to build them longer at the time.

But I was never adamant enough in my stance to go tone deaf. Once I read all of the glowing feedback of the Recoil and Steelfiber shafts, among others, I knew I'd try eventually.

I dove in with Steelfiber i95 shafts, really a fairly enormous departure from all else I'd ever known, DG or Rifle shafts for the 20+ years prior.

Never missed a beat. Zero adjustment. They performed consistently with fantastic stability right from the very start. Better, actually, than my tried and true Rifle and Flighted Rifle 6.0.

As said in the video and I'd wholeheartedly agree, nobody should lock themselves into any preconceived notions as to materials, flex, weight, whatever. Try it all, getting fit being the best path for most. For me, I did not yet I took the plunge anyway and the gamble paid off in a big way.
 
Interesting.

I was out on the range the other wek with the wife, she has a TM 45g L Shafted 2017 M2 and I have an R15 and decided if my 57g stiff shaft would work with her M@ head. I could hit it but not great, all heal side shots.

Though nothing of it and went back to my regular Titleist 915 60g stiff shaft that I hit better.

Anyway for a few giggles I tired my wifes M2 in her shaft and configuration and boom, better center hits, better flight, straighter and now measured longer.

Now I don't know if its the flex, I'm a 95 mph swing or at that or it's the weight, possibly both, but basically it's mine now :D
 
Glad you guys are enjoying the info.
 
Great information! Thanks for posting.
 
Something I am considering right now as I am looking at new shafts
 
Really great video and a lot of great points! Have dropped down weight from my original shaft years ago as the materials became more stable in the lighter weights.
 
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