Worth it to reshaft Driver?

[Monty_Ryder]

Hello all,

I've got a question, and I couldn't quite get the answer I was looking for using the search feature (I tried, trust me). Well here's the deal - a relative of mine gave me his 10 degree, draw weighted FT-I driver with a senior flex, and told me that I might need to get it reshafted (He is right, its senior flex). The reason being that his health doesn't allow him to golf anymore.

I went into two separate golf stores to ask about it, and both tried to get me to trade it in and told me that reshafting would give sub-standard results. I told both of them that the club was not mine to give away/sell/trade, and that I would either hold onto it to maybe give it back one day, or that I wanted to reshaft it so that I could use it. In any event, they said I'd be better off holding onto it as reshafting wouldn't work out well.

So my question for you guys is - is this true? I currently use a stiff shafted 9.5 degree adams ovation, and I do slice quite a bit; by quite a bit I mean into the wrong fairway most of the time (I've spent all summer practicing every club EXCEPT the driver because everyone else just hits the driver, and I wanted to learn golf backwards - Oh yeah, I've only been playing since last summer.) I've aligned all of my purchasing decisions around getting clubs that are above my skill level so that I can grow into them and they would force me to get better. I don't know how much of an effect draw weighted drivers have, but if its huge, and I try to learn to hit STRAIGHT, then I feel I'll develop an improper swing. If the bias is only slight, I'd still like to use the club. (Slight being less than 30 yards difference)

I guess in effect my question is twofold - Will getting a local shop to reshaft a driver with a $100 or so shaft produce good/satisfactory/poor results? And is using a draw weighted driver head by a huge slicer who wishes to learn to swing correctly counterproductive, or could I get around it by learning to just hit a draw (meaning I'd hit straight with a normal driver).

[grantc79]

1: If they re-shaft it correctly then its not a problem.

The heads of quality drivers are going to all be good heads and what makes or breaks the driver for most people is the shaft. Now some heads are now draw or fade biased so that makes a difference, but in general anyone with the proper swing can hit any headed driver well.

What makes a difference is the shaft so it could be worth it.

Then again what I would probably do in your situation is get as warmed up as you can and go to these shops and try out as many different types of shafts as possible. Forget the club head at the end of it, just make the same swing over and over again and see how the shaft reacts to you.

Find a shaft you like and then either get that put in or find a club in your price range with that shaft already on it.


2: As far as using a head to fix your slice or just learning how to swing that depends on how much work you want to put into it and how important it is to you.

I'd never use a draw biased club, I would rather fix my swing. But then again I have the time to practice and money for lessons.

[Monty_Ryder]

1: If they re-shaft it correctly then its not a problem.

This directly addresses my initial question, thank you. Any other opinions out there on whether an 'aftermarket installation' of a shaft is of the same quality as the stock?

I'd never use a draw biased club, I would rather fix my swing. But then again I have the time to practice and money for lessons.

I do plan on fixing my swing, so I am wondering, if a robot were hitting a golf ball (and this the EXACT same swing over and over) what would be the lateral yardage differential between a draw weighted and neutral weighted club (all other things being equal). If the answer is 15 yards, than this is so low relative to my poor driver swing (which often yields a drive 50+ lateral yards off my line) that I will still continue to improve my swing, and I will conciously learn to hit it with a 15 yard draw (meaning that my swing mechanics are sound and would result in a straight drive when I switch to a normal driver).

[grantc79]

Honestly, I don't know of anyone who would offer an opinion different than "if it is done right it is fine" with the shaft changes.

You might have possibly gone to a shop that doesn't have anyone who can swap out shafts and such so they are steering you away from it, but who knows.

Point is if its done and done right you'll wait 12 hours or so for it to cure/dry and you'll be just fine.


As far as how much it would change the ball laterally, that's hard to say without seeing your swing and knowing which club you are talking about.

Most drivers are neutral to 1 to degree closed for a slight draw. Draw biased clubs I'd guess start at 1.5 or 2 degrees and go up to 3 or 3.5 degrees? I've never really researched it.

I'm sure a draw biased club will help you (as would an offset headed club), but in the end you'll wanna solve the problem.


A weighted driver might also be the answer like the one from Mizuno, you can pick those up for under 200 bucks on Ebay and the head will remain normal but you can move weights around in it really easily to tinker with your swing.

Its also a hair shorter so that should help you control it a bit more.

[907golfer12]

This directly addresses my initial question, thank you. Any other opinions out there on whether an 'aftermarket installation' of a shaft is of the same quality as the stock?

A lot of the shafts that are stock are "Made For" shafts, which mean that the clubhead company got the shaft company to make a shaft just for their club, and it is not the same as the aftermarket shaft. Although the shafts in the FT-5 and FT-

i are the real aftermarket shafts (which is why the clubs cost so much in the first place) But if you put a good shaft in it and the installation is quality then the club with the aftermarket shaft will be just as good, if not better, then the stock shaft.

[firstcut]

A few quick thoughts.

1. A lot of shops cannot re-shaft the FT-i. I've been told it has something to do with the material of the head. Maybe they are steering you to a new purchase for a reason?

2. Callaway will reshaft the club for you at a reasonable price.

3. If you're slicing the heck out of a stiff shaft, test a few Regular shafts in a shop before getting this one re-shafted.

4. the 10 degree head is closed 1 degree according to Callaways web site. I *think* the draw is induced by weight in the head though.

5. Since you are going to reshaft anyway, you could also play with cutting the shaft down. Cutting the shaft *should* help accuracy and induces stiffness. BUT, it also decreases weight (and messes with balance). So, you have to add weight somewhere (often the head) to even things back up. You can do that with lead tape. This has the unfortunate side effect of slowing down clubhead speed though.. Not too big a deal if you'd rather just be straight.. It also increase flex... It's a tough balance and I'm not sure you could make it all work with a senior flex.. That said, adding weight to the head in the right places coupled with a shorter shaft could give you some interesting and maybe positive results. It has for me.

Please note that #5 is mostly *knowledge* I've gained over the past month monkeying with my own FT-i, talking with guys who monkey with clubs and reading a lot on the internet. I *think* the worst you could do is screw it up so bad as to make it unusable until you re-shaft it. So, use it at your own risk.