Driver Shaft Price Difference

[Sammydreep]

I’ve recently bought a new driver and three wood head, updated to the latest Ping models.

My current set have Fujikura shafts, and they would fit the new models, but I thought I might buy shafts and sell the older ones complete. 
A quick search on eBay shows prices ranging from US$50-US$500, so my question is what is so different to justify those prices. ?

There are plenty around the $100 mark, what if anything is there to gain by buying such an expensive shaft?

Just for information only ,as there is no way I would pay that for a Golf shaft , but also I would be staying away from the cheapest ones .

Normally, you get what you pay for, and in this instance, I’m not sure exactly what I am paying for  .

 

Thanks

Thanks

 

[iacas]

Are you asking why some shafts are more expensive than others?

• Marketing.
• The market.
• Materials.
• Design.
• Construction.
• Feature set.

[Sammydreep]

43 minutes ago, iacas said:

Are you asking why some shafts are more expensive than others?

• Marketing.
• The market.
• Materials.
• Design.
• Construction.
• Feature set.

I am more asking, is there any significant advantage to me buying an expensive shaft?

[RayG]

Those 3,4,5 hundred dollar shafts are 'usually' precision made with the highest of tolerances regarding materials, weight, trueness, kick points, etc... and are usually meant for the elite players who can tell the difference. A fitting tech who works on commission might try and upsell out of a stock shaft by showing those extra 2 yards you get with the $400 shaft instead of the stock one. 

For 99% (or more) of golfers, one of the 3 or 4 stock shaft choices will work just fine. 

[phillyk]

For shafts, as the stiffness increases (torque decreases), the weight increases. Elite shafts, more money, give option of keeping weight low with the lower torque. It certainly isn’t always the case. But if I want to keep the weight around 62g and find torque around 3.0, there is basically nothing unless you want to spend $300.

Most people would never need an expensive shaft. The $50 ones are just fine. As skill and driver distance goes up and you want to get the right launch numbers, you may have to buy a more expensive shaft that fits you best.  

[klineka]

On 1/30/2024 at 9:12 PM, Sammydreep said:

I am more asking, is there any significant advantage to me buying an expensive shaft?

It's pretty much impossible to answer this question without a proper fitting. 

The answer is going to be different for every person.

Most of the high end shafts are "better" shafts in terms of materials used, tolerances, etc, but whether that "better" shaft is better for you can't be answered by strangers on the internet.

[Sammydreep]

I replied to this earlier, but it seems to have disappeared. 
Thanks for your replies folks, I would say you’ve confirmed what  I suspected  .

I’ve just swapped shafts from the old club at the moment, what a mission to get the shaft out of the head.

The G 410 was a 14°, the G430 a 16° .

I am hitting it way higher than I thought with a 2° difference , and I’ve had to tee it right down. The bonus is, I appear to be hitting it a little bit further  ;-)

 

[jsgolfer]

I was fit for my driver and hybrids many years ago, but went back in to see how much had changed over the years (as I just got fit for new irons). As I've gotten older (turning 60 this year), my swing speed was down almost 7 mph from when I got fitted before (5 years ago it was 100 mph and now it was down around 92-94).  So I hit 4 shafts and 2 were really close to each other, but the differences were pretty negligible. One shaft was their stock shaft and the other was a $400 higher-end one.  They were both way better then my current shaft, so I'm switching to the stock lighter stiff shaft ($150).  And it gained me back about 4 mph, and then tweaking the hosel setting, it made the dispersion even better. 

Now I just need to get my clubs back and see how it goes on the course.