For those that can't hit well with a TM stock shaft

Ya bro, let the man do his job

I am ready to go Florida but I am shortage of 2 important items - Time and money
Hey, I should have born there! I will live longer and happier if I live in there.

sorry i was swarmed with work yesterday....

now for some insights...there are shaft evaluations and there are shaft evaluations. it all depends how much showmanship you want to put in there.

starting from SST, its an expensive system that helps you find the spine (natural bend point) of a shaft. if you have seen how shafts (steel and graphite) are made you will know that the system is an expensive way to find out what the common ball bearing roller can do. of course the SST also allows user to profile a graphite shaft by measuring the shaft bend and torque at 7 inch interval. that is more for the manufacturer than for the club fitting operations to have.

coming back to SS question of FLO and Spine. its a question of understanding how each brand manages their Optimal Flex Line (OFL) at production. the more expensive shafts are marked at production stage for the sheet joint and most brands like diamana or fujikura uses the neutral line for target optimisation. they can do that because the prepeg is set in a way to support the OFL. A good shaft can have anything from 24 to 30 something micron sheet wrap to ensure that the end result is a light weight yet controlled flexibility, firm at impact and consistent quality throughout their production.

On the other hand a lower grade shaft will have anything from 8 to 12 wraps, thicker micron layers and less prepeg (if any). the difference is feel, higher torque and consistency in quality.

i have several customers who ordered their aftermarket Motore from the US to fit into their driver and they all come marked with Flo lines option 1, 2 and 3. guess what, its a loss cause because the OTL 1 is where the logo is facing down for right hand and up for left hand. hence for diamana and fujikuras, the rule of thumb is to install it logo down for right hand, we do not use the spine cos its not strengthen for that direction.

good graphite shaft (in the 90s) used to be made using boron but advanced manufacturing methods have it possible by using layering and prepeg. in the market today, the prepeg has gotten "smarter". it is not possible to achieve quadriaxial multidirectional to strengthen the shaft where it should and maintain flexibility for maximum impact.

when we first got the prototype Kajiki (using the S series platform), Rex and I experimented with different spine lines and the best is still set at the manufacturer's OFL.

so at the end of the day, just tell me if you prefer draw or slight fade and let me do the rest.

DGman

PS i have been to one club fitter in Thailand and he has 6 or 7 shaft evaluation devices in his shop. they all do the same thing and most of it is irrelevant. when it comes to club head and ball speed monitor, he only use a $99 shadow motion measuring device which is not very accurate and his wife does the installation. so much for spending all the money at the wrong places.

Great info.

Like I said, I leave the clubfitting to the specialists in the field and just concentrate on the swing. This kind of info is great to know so that you will be aware of whether your clubfitter knows his stuff or not. Not just in the skill of changing grips, shafts and bending lies and lofts.

Hi Eric,

Does it mean that the FCT or those so-called adjustable club face tech, may not optimize the shaft performance when we change the orientation?

yup....thats why we get our customers to get the right setting then extract and reshaft to OFL.

its also the reason why a lot of golfers get a funny feel when they tweak the shaft...

DGman

Haha.... When I got the club that suit me, I don't even dare to change the grip to another type. The feel can be so much different

damn... i immediately regretted asking the question after i pressed "send"...