How Important is the Torque Rating on a Driver Shaft?

[Cahal]

I have been looking for quite awhile for a new driver upgrade. I was fitted on a launch monitor and found that my current regular flex was causing me to spin the ball way more than the ideal and told that a stiff flex would help bring that number down.

I have been looking and reading a ton about drivers and their shafts and see all kinds of different info but the most confusing for me has to be the torque ratings. I hit the 2008 Cobra Speed LD F today and really liked it so thought I'd get some info on the shaft by Graphite Design. I know its supposed to be an exclusive for Cobra but the ones I can see on their website that look close seem to have really high Torque ratings (4.7??). Thing is I didn't find it to be twisting or anything more than other shafts I've hit with lower numbers and seemed to be quite accurate.

Does the rating mean all that much and will you normally be able to tell the difference? Your help on this would really be great, thanks!

[Supermariodave]

Few golfers will feel the difference between say 2 and 5, but its fair to say that unless you swing the club relatively fast then the really low ratings, 2 or under, will feel very boardy. Its more about feel than anything. Torque used to be around 10 and above.

[DJYoshi]

i don't swing amazingly fast...around 105 and I'm more than happy with my white board shaft..it's really help to control trajectory and fall flight...it's got a nice stiff tip that helps me to keep and feel like i'm in control the entire swing from back to follow thru.

i went from swinging a YS-6 stiff which has mid kick point and a torque rating of 3.5

to the white board that's got a high kickpoint and torque rating of 2.8 - 3.0 I believe..and I really feel the difference.....it's a positive feeling like i'm more in control of the club....try it..it's a life changing experience!

[golf_junkie27]

You will feel the difference almost immediately. I had an Aldila NV Stiff shaft before I made the switch. The torque on my current driver is 2.0 and it feels balanced, as if the shaft is always with me throughout the swing.

[Cahal]

Do you guys feel that you lose any performance if you use a higher rated torque on the shaft or is it more of a feel thing?

I know when I got fitted before I was trying the UST Proforce V2 which I understand has a low torque rating and while I hit it quite well and got good numbers on the launch monitor it did definitely feel more "boardy", it felt really stable and accurate but not as smooth a feeling as I've had in the past.

I guess my worry is that if I got with a higher number that feels smooth and good to me that I might end up sacrificing accuracy because of it.

[Supermariodave]

Its feel. AS I said earlier, some low torque shafts may feel boardy to some players with low swing speeds. Pros have been tested on several occasions and despite what a lot of posters write on forums, feeling the difference between around 2 and 5 is impossible. Under 2, some players can definately get a sensation of bordiness.

[Cahal]

Thanks a ton Supermariodave for the info! I definitely felt what you were talking about but couldn't notice any loss of accuracy so I was getting confused by the ratings but looks like I was just overthinking things as per usual. Thanks!

[golf_junkie27]

Do you guys feel that you lose any performance if you use a higher rated torque on the shaft or is it more of a feel thing?

For me, it felt completely different for a few reasons. One, the shafts were from different makers and two, the torque and weight were completely different.

I'll try using a comparison. Have you ever played baseball? If so, have you ever swung an end-loaded bat compared with a balanced bat? You'll definitely feel the difference. Same with this type of shaft. Again, though, for emphasis, it really depends on the maker of the shaft.

[Supermariodave]

No offence but that comparison is more about swingweight, or even static weight, its got nothing to do with torque

[MrKadash]

I went from the stock MAS stiff shaft (3.2 torque) in my TM R5 driver to a UST V2 75 stiff (2.2 torque) and the feel and performance difference was instantaneous. A bit boardy but control was much better. The torque rating is directly related to the way you swing the club - not necessarily how fast you swing, but how it's released, or so I was told.

[Supermariodave]

But again, the difference you felt will have a hell of a lot more to do with the tip, the weight, the overall profile, the MAS and the V2 are miles apart spec wise, these things do not have to attributed to torque! The torque differences between the two will have had little or nothing to do with how they felt. I'm sorry but no way in a million years will you have felt the difference between a 3 and a 2 torque rating shaft across brands.

[MrKadash]

But again, the difference you felt will have a hell of a lot more to do with the tip, the weight, the overall profile, the MAS and the V2 are miles apart spec wise, these things do not have to attributed to torque! The torque differences between the two will have had little or nothing to do with how they felt. I'm sorry but no way in a million years will you have felt the difference between a 3 and a 2 torque rating shaft across brands.

I beg to differ.

[Supermariodave]

Science and common sense is against you I'm afraid, but what evidence have you that its torque and nothing else that you can feel between a MAS and a V2? I can only be blunt and say this is the sort of the thing that gets posted on the internet and its just totally wrong. You only need to speak to experts such as Tom Wishon to understand this. What you felt was not the difference in torque, certainly not the difference between 3 and 2. Why would you think one shaft with a stiffer tip that feels different to another, feels different because of torque, ie resistance to twisting, and not the tip itself? Its just basic understanding of how a golf club works and yet another myth grown out of internet forums.

[allin]

Science and common sense is against you I'm afraid, but what evidence have you that its torque and nothing else that you can feel between a MAS and a V2? I can only be blunt and say this is the sort of the thing that gets posted on the internet and its just totally wrong. You only need to speak to experts such as Tom Wishon to understand this. What you felt was not the difference in torque, certainly not the difference between 3 and 2. Why would you think one shaft with a stiffer tip that feels different to another, feels different because of torque, ie resistance to twisting, and not the tip itself? Its just basic understanding of how a golf club works and yet another myth grown out of internet forums.

I agree, but there can be a difference in how easily club squares, thats why clubs aimed at low handicappers usually have a low torque rating. It is often overstated and was more relevant 20 years ago when graphite shafts were new, and is part of the reason some feel graphite irons are less accurate, again probably overstated. In the old days to get a low torque lots of extra layers were needed, this dampened feel and increased the boardy feeling, things are better now, also since higher torque shafts are usually combined with softer tips, lower flex points and softer flexes, because they are aimed at slower swingers they will have a different feel, but again you are right its the combination.

[wigolffan]

supermario or what ever is dead right. It is all about feel. The mas shaft is a piece of you know what. So of course you noticed a difrence when you went to a better quality shaft. I do a lot of club building and it all falls to personal preferance. The less torque the stiffer it FEELS. I saw an interview with the President of Aldila who said some of their tour pros are playing with torque as high a 5. Do you realy think a tour pro would sacrifice distance or control?