Today, let’s have a shorter discussion today. Let’s talk shafts. 

Ever wonder how the “H-E-double hockey sticks” do I select the right shaft for this player among the thousands that are out there? If you have, you’re not alone. I’ll simplify things for you. Shaft companies utilize “player profiling”, much like club head manufacturers do. Sounds creepy, right? What we do is we look at a specific player segment and say this player needs a head that does X, Y & Z. It needs to look like this, etc. We will build it a target that small segment. Versus the old days where we would have 3 heads and figure “one of these” will work for everyone. Now, overall head weights are different, lofts are adjusted, biasing is adjusted to create a much better match for a certain player group. For example, Paradym and Rogue Max OS Lite both fall under the distance category, but one is a players distance club, and the other is a forgiving distance club designed for slower swing speeds. Each one works very well for their designed target player group, and each one would not work well for the other’s target player group. Make sense?

Shaft companies do the same thing. Shaft companies target certain player segments with each of their offerings. In the old days, they would have a few shafts and trim them differently to achieve results as close as possible (which wasn’t that close) to the desired result. Nowadays, they make a shaft specifically for that player. Need a high launch, high spin shaft? They have that. Low launch, mid spin with a softer feel? They have that. And so on. It get’s better… In player profiling, they learned that a Lite flex player needs something different from what a Regular flex player needs, so they change the parameters of the shaft within the same family. In other words, a lite flex Project X Cypher shaft is very different from a Regular flex version of the same shaft. You can not simply say “this looks a little to stiff, let’s just order the lite flex and call it a day.” GONG!! You have to start the process over. (A better way in the scenario is to either soften or stiffen (via trimming options) the shaft the player almost hit great). Do you remember a few weeks ago when I said we start with the least amount of variability first when we start a fitting? Start with the head, then move to the shaft flex, then the shaft…

Still with me? Here’s where it get’s easier for you. ALL the shaft companies ALL use a similar profiling system. They ALL target the same groups. Because of this, they all essentially have their version of a shaft that works best for player type A, B or C. If we carry shaft from 3 companies, this means once you identify what type of player you’re working with, and you estimate what type of shaft you think will work best for that player, you have narrowed the list from thousands to 3 – one from Project X, one from Mitsubishi, and one from Aldila, for example. Each will have their nuances, so it is worth a few swings for a player to hit a few shots with each. You’ll see clear advantages when you find the right one.

In the first column on this, I spoke of how many good swings a player has. I mentioned 30. If it takes you 2 head tries or 3 swings each, you have 24 swings left (eight different shafts to try with three swings each). If you do your homework before you have him hit any shots (watch him while he warms up, identify anything in his setup/ swing that will influence shot results, and talk to him in the pre-fit to find out what he wants to achieve), you should be able to narrow the head options to a couple right away. If you look at what he’s currently playing and what the launch monitor tells you, plus ask what shafts in his bag he loves (or hates), you should be able to get pretty close with your first try. 

Not sure where to start? Use your own clubs as a baseline. Here’s an example:

I look in has bag. He loves his driver. It has a 6 series (60 ish gram) stiff flex shaft in it. Have him hit a few shots with it when he warms up. If he likes it, I want to see how he hits it. He hits it good. Remember, Driver shaft weight doubled and subtract a little gives you iron shaft weight. (60 times 2 is 120, less a little is 110-115 grams is probably right). Does his swing look at all labored? If it does, start him a little lighter. I play the Nippon 120 stiff flex shaft. He needs something higher than me and probably lighter than me. I’m thinking Elevate (if it’s not Elevate, I’d also try Nippon Modus, or possibly KBS Tour). Perhaps the same weight, but maybe lighter. Let’s try Elevate 95. Thinking I may head to Elevate 115 next. If I need to get in between, the Nippon Modus 105 could be a really nice option. Next, he’s a good ball striker, likes a small head and wants a little distance. Apex or Paradym? I’d try Apex first. The distance gains will be less. If he likes that it’s always easier to say “Try this, you may hit this one a little longer.” instead of “try this, it might not go as far, but it will feel different to you.” Start him with Apex in Elevate 95, but thinking I may work my way to Paradym and Elevate 115. Do this in stages. Don’t change the head AND the shaft at the same time. You can pinpoint which variable was responsible for the change. ALWAYS give yourself an out, and ALWAYS plan your next move if this one doesn’t work out.

I hope this helps!! Happy Fitting