steel shafts

[I KyotE I]

I was just wondering if there is some kind of general industry standard for the stiffness of steel shafts? Just for fun I was using the smart fit on golf smith and I noticed on some of the irons, the recomended shaft is sometimes stff and sometimes x-stiff. I didn't change the swing speed setting, but I was just wondering if someone knows why this would be, and also if that is a decent way of getting more fit clubs. I know it isn't a pro fit or anything but even close would be nice. I just didn't think that x-stiff would be the right one for me as everything else is just stiff.

[glebert]

There really isn't a standard. If you want to really get into shafts I would suggest downloading and reading The Modern Guide to Shaft Fitting that is published by Hireko (free pdf download) that does frequency, deflection, and torque measurements of a variety of shafts and compares them and derives what they call the DSFI, which is an index which they claim is a good way to compare the way that different shafts will play.

[rebby]

There really isn't a standard. If you want to really get into shafts I would suggest downloading and reading

I'm guessing that you're talking about

this ? I'll have to check that out myself...

[microcrayfish]

A club maker I once talked to told me that there's no industry standard for any shafts, steel or graphite. Some maker's stiff may be another maker's x-stiff and they can even vary from set to set of the same model. As for fitting, I'd say you're best off going to a qualified fitter who'll make sure your shafts are the same flex all the way through your set.