How to know if you are suitable to use heavier shaft or lighter shaft ?

DGman wrote:

Jonathan, now you know why i insist on you using the Px 5.5 as opposed to the KBS stiff.

which school do you think your swing is closest?

why 5.5, not 6.0 or 5.0. why PX old school specifically.

next get some impact tape and check how far up you are hitting the balls on the club face (by this i mean the groove).

Next we need to think in context of velocity and acceleration.

In simple club fitting terms, we can think of velocity as distance over time and acceleration as change in velocity. Simply put its club head speed for velocity but acceleration can be a bit more complicated. why are factors that affect acceleration?

1. length of club
2. mass of the golfer (weight)
3. height of the golfer (if swing arc is maximised)
4. ball compression and decompression (striking thats linked to AoA and flex of shaft)
5. Smash Factor
6. Tempo
7. Technique

Meaning if we line up 4 golfers (of above average proficiency) of the same weight, height and give them the same clubs with the same shaft, they are most likely to hit different distances with different degree of accuracy.

Similarly, we can also get 4 golfers (of above average proficiency) of different weight and height and fit them with the appropriate shaft and flex to get them to hit the same distance with the same degree of accuracy.

Having said all the above, the relevance of club fitting is no more than 30% for a new golfer (unless he or she is physically different - height, physical strength and up to 70% for a highly proficient player who demands accuracy, constant distancing and maneuver-ability.

Food for Thought?

DGman

the above are my opinion and from my own experience in club fitting. research in this area is still ongoing and lastly text books from the fitting gurus such as Tom Wishon or Ralph Maltby do not cover them as next technology in getting critical data were not available with a greater degree of accuracy until the likes of TrackMan came about.

Very interesting note.
Question. At which point do one needs to re-look at the specs of the hardware he/she uses?
Is there a guide, or until one realizes that the game is deteriorating?

I struggle with mental thoughts that it's more me rather than the clubs? until someone pointed it out to me that changing will improve my game. (change swing, technique, change equipment)

smallhorse

Master... am i selected to do more than strip grips and clean shafts now?[/quote]

Now you are qualified to clean "The Head"