Confused About Shaft Weight...

[SVTGolfer]

How exactly does shaft weight work?

Im looking at getting a new 3 wood, and the one I want does not come with the shaft I like. Consequently the shaft I like does not come in the same flex as the stock shaft options. HOWEVER, I do have an extra shaft that I could possibly use so long as it wont screw up everything. My driver is a 60 gram shaft, and I have a 70 gram collecting dust that was in an old driver. The 3 wood I want comes with a stock option shaft of a 75 or an 82 gram, depending on which shaft you get. I guess my question is what will it do to affect the mechanics and balance of the club? Will a 70 gram be ok in a fairway wood or would an 80 gram be better?

Thanks

[moparman426]

Typically, the FW shaft is heavier than the driver shaft, but not in all cases.  The Superfast clubs came with 48g shafts.  I pulled the SF shaft out of my 5 wood, and replaced it twice so far.  First with a fuji Speeder 686 (68g) and then a UST Proforce V2 that weighed in at 86g.  The V2 was a bit heavy so I just recently went back to the Fuji, as it seems like a nice balance.  Although the static weight of the club decreases  going from a 75g to a 70g, it would theoretically decrease the swingweight by only half a point, but it all depends on where the neutral balance point of the replacement shaft is compared the one you pull out.  This can easily be offset by going with a lighter grip in this case.  Usually, a 9g difference in shaft weight = 1 SW.  Honestly, I don't think half a point won't even be noticeable to most people.

Just make sure the tips are the same (ie. 335 vs .350).  You will need to shim it, if your shaft has a .335 tip and the hosel of your FW is a .350.  They would also be trimmed differently, so it would be good to look up your shaft trimming instructions and try to determine how much was already removed.

[SVTGolfer]

That makes sense, but how does shaft weight affect the club?

[moparman426]

A lighter shaft generally helps improve swing speed.  The torque, flex and kick point would have more of an effect than weight alone...

[WUTiger]

Other tidbits on shaft weight:

• A lighter weight shaft will increase useful clubhead speed, up to a point. It the shaft is so light you can't feel the club, this can lead to overswinging on takeaway and wild swings. Physically stronger golfers often have heavier shafts to maintain good swing tempo (feeling some resistance).
• Heavier shafts will make the golfer get tired faster. If you have heavy shafts, and hit lots of range balls and play 18 two days in a row, you may be feeling pretty tired by that last nine each day. Fatigue leads to more wayward shots.
• Some players have tried butt-weighting - put a lead weight in the butt end of the club to quiet the hands and encourage hand drop. Since the butt-weight is focused on the grip end, it functions differently than overall shaft weight.