Shafts

[cantputt]

so i dont know much about golf clubs.. i just hit them as best as i can haha. Just wondering about shafts and stuff. I just buy clubs from the shop and just use the stock shaft, is that bad? When i go to tourneys everyone seems to be talking about their custom new shaft they put in or whatever.. makes me feel sad :P

[DDBowdoin]

shafts are a pretty important deal... from your bag you are all set with your iron shafts as they clearly didnt come with 6.5 rilfe shafts stock... here's one of the strangest things with shafts...

there are players and there are insiders, players... are like me, I have to admit to this, who are good at golf and can honestly tell the differences in shafts but also let marketing and aesthetics enter their decision process.. hence my V2 shaft which is badass looking...

but the insiders are the guys at the range who have like a monochromatic shaft, plain silver or just plain black shaft but absolutely kill the ball because they took the time to research shafts and knew the right people who could let them demo such shafts and compare these lesser known shafts on a monitor

if you have clubbuilding friends or someone who is a professional clubmaker then this is the way to go, its solid to be flashy but nothing can beat the look when people think you have a "bad shaft" because its not lime green or yellow and you're 30yards in front of them

[gas_can]

  cantputt said:

so i dont know much about golf clubs.. i just hit them as best as i can haha. Just wondering about shafts and stuff. I just buy clubs from the shop and just use the stock shaft, is that bad? When i go to tourneys everyone seems to be talking about their custom new shaft they put in or whatever.. makes me feel sad :P

Cantputt,

If you're having success with the clubs now, there's no need to change. However, stock shafts are typically made by large manufacturers (fujikura, Aldila, GD Intl) to fit a wide spectrum of amateur golfers in a COST EFFECTIVE manner. Typically these shafts tend to be made to less strict standards and are typically lower kick and softer tip to help get the ball in the air. Thesedays with top shaft companies like Aldila, GD Intl, Grafalloy, and UST making VERY high performance shafts with tight tolerances inexpensively, OEM's are finally wising up and starting to use them stock. It's a much better idea to stay away from stock shafts and pick up a shaft that fits you. However, this introduces a whole can of worms in that there are often six to eight shafts available in a single club. . . How do you know which one is right for you? The answer is something called bend profiling where you pick a shaft that is stiff in some sections and flexible in others based on your swing characteristics and tempo. You can read some more about it here from the master himself Tom Wishon http://golf.about.com/od/faqs/f/bend_profile.htm If you have any questions about a particular club or shaft, please ask away and I will do my best to answer!