What does shaft torque mean?

[clearwaterms]

What effect on ball flight does the torque of a shaft have?

[Big Earn]

The lower the torque, the stiffer the shaft. In general, lower torque shafts produce lower ball flight. But, the ball flight also depends greatly on the "kick point" of the shaft. A HIGH kick point will produce much lower ball flight where as a LOW kick point provides a higher ball flight.

[misty_mountainhop]

  Big Earn said:

The

For a given shaft. They're different things though really I think. Torque ratings measure resistance to torsion (higher = less resistance) whereas the shaft's flex is a measure of it's resistance to flexing at 90° to the direction of the shaft. I suspect that these days you could probably get, say, a low torque regular and a high torque stiff shaft if you wanted. Maybe not though

. As for trajectory, don't forget the tip stiffness which can have quite a big effect.

[grantc79]

The lower the torque number the harder it is to TWIST a shaft. This is important depending on club head size and weight. The heavier it is the more the shaft will want to twist during your swing.

The stiffer the shaft the harder it is to BEND it.

It is two very different things.

[iacas]

  grantc79 said:

The lower the torque number the harder it is to TWIST a shaft. This is important depending on club head size and weight. The heavier it is the more the shaft will want to twist during your swing.

Yes.

And you may think that low torque is "better," but if you get a shaft that's got too low a torque rating then it'll feel boardy and will not help your mis-hits at all. In other words, lower torque doesn't necessarily mean "better" just as "stiffer doesn't always mean better."

[Shorty]

  iacas said:

Yes.

I think this may help me understand a shaft issue I had. I was playing Proforce V2 stiff shafts in driver and hybrids and found them to be sensational when hit squarely, but very dull or "boardy" on mishits. I am guessing that the V2 is a low torque shaft.

[iacas]

  Shorty said:

I think this may help me understand a shaft issue I had. I was playing Proforce V2 stiff shafts in driver and hybrids and found them to be sensational when hit squarely, but very dull or "boardy" on mishits. I am guessing that the V2 is a low torque shaft.

It's also a stiffer tipped shaft... the torque's a bit lower than most shafts. So maybe that was part of it.

[clearwaterms]

so is it safe to generalize that higher torque = more forgiving, but lower torque = more accurate?

[clearwaterms]

well I found this article online. It was written by Tom Wishon.
http://golf.about.com/od/faqs/f/torque.htm