Head first, got it.

A few weeks ago, I was doing a fitter training. I asked the question, “Which is more important, head or shaft?” The fitter said “I know you’re going to say head, so Head.” I said let’s try and experiment. I hit a couple shots with an Apex head on an AMT Black R300 shaft. 83 mph club head speed, 114 mph ball speed, 5800 rpm spin, good launch and apex height. A good shot. I said “Let’s remember those numbers and tinker.” I selected a Dynamic Gold X100 shaft to put in the same head. I asked “What is going to happen?” He said it has to go lower. Club head speed should go down because the shaft is 20 grams heavier.” I asked “What about spin or distance?” He said “lower and shorter.” I would agree that this was a pretty good guess.

First swing was 85 mph club head speed with 116 mph ball speed. Spin rate was 6000 rpm. Apex was higher, carry and total were both longer. I hit 2 more shots with this set up and they were similar. Very interesting, don’t you think? Let’s go the other way…

I tried a 50 gram senior flex graphite. Club head speed was the same as the AMT Black Regular flex. Balls speed and launch were too. Spin was up a little, and the total distance was about the same. Lets try Ladies flex. The club was 1″ short, but the results were similar.

I play a Nippon Modus Pro 120 in a stiff flex. I tried that. Guess what? It was the same too.

So in this test, not only did I try different flexes, but different weights too. I made normal swings. I didn’t try to hit anything soft or hard – despite knowing what was in there. As I fiddled with the two softer flexes, I found the ball curved more easily. The distance, however was pretty consistent. I think as players have swings that slow down, or strength that wanes, shaft selection will matter more. This test for me was basically going softer and lighter from what I normally play. If the player was going heavier and stiffer than what they play, I think the results would be terrible.

What is the takeaway?

If Shaft flex doesn’t matter as much as many players think it does.

• If a player is 75 mph Club head speed with a 7 iron and they want to play stiff flex – try it. It might not matter.
• A player isn’t “in between” flexes. He could be Stiff or Regular, Light or Regular…
• The difference of 5 grams between shafts won’t make that much of a difference. It may feel better or worse. If it feels better and the results are good, that is the right shaft.
• Keep your biases or thoughts out of the equation. If a player hears you say how great of a shaft this one is, or this has been the best combination we’ve seen BEFORE he hits it, it WILL sway his judgement. Resist that temptation to add your two cents until afterwards.

I enter orders from accounts and fitters from all over my territory. Is it weird that one place will fit everyone into KBS Tour lite, while another place right down the street will fit everyone into Elevate or Nippon? No, it’s not. The fitter is comfortable with that brand, and confident that THAT combination is the best for that player. The player likes it and orders it. The truth is that any of them would probably be OK for the player, but if the fitters show his passion for the results to the player, the player will be excited about the fit and about the set. That makes it a good fit.

Don’t be afraid to try different things. When I fit for Iron shafts, I typically start in the same flex and weight that the player currently plays unless I see something when he is warming up that indicate we are way off. I will go up (or down) in 10 gram increments until I find a weight that the player can handle well. I may tinker with flex just to see what happens. Once I find a weight and flex, I will tinker with manufacturers – If it’s Elevate 115 stiff, I’ll try AMT Black, Nippon 115 and 120, maybe a Project X. We focus on feel and how straight he hits it. I don’t tell the player what I’m doing. “Here you go, lets see a couple with this one… Thoughts?” Once we find it, I will check for lie angle and grip before talking about set make up.

No need to over complicate things. Sometimes, close enough is close enough.

Until then, happy Fitting!!