Which Golf Shaft to use

I know that there are many brand shafts on the market and the shafts are basically categorized into Regular , Stiff , and so more..


My question is how to determine what kind of shaft suit me ?

see Dr Ng at his clinic.... tell him a leftist referred you...

pratat wrote:

I know that there are many brand shafts on the market and the shafts are basically categorized into Regular , Stiff , and so more..


My question is how to determine what kind of shaft suit me ?

Not on a forum definitely. Nobody here can determine without looking at your swing or stats. Only way is to go to a clubfitter.

Right... based on theory... What should be the right way?

faster the swing speed, the stiffer u want to be...

the more hitter you are, the less torque you want it to be...

then shafts also have different weight...

then also you have the different shaft technology. quad weaving, etc, etc.

then you also have the different brand and your 8 character compatibility...

then you also have the colour preference like how MT wants pink shaft or bling bling shaft...

then you also have budget constraints....


then ...

then...




i think u better go to a clubfitter...

There is no theory mate. It all starts with trial and error and trying extensively at the clubfitter's.

I know someone who swings it 100-105mph play Reg flex shafts. I also know 95-100mph swingers play Stiff flex shafts. Both are quite decent golfers.

Only a fitter can tell you extensively what suits you using launch monitor systems, outdoor and course trials. So many factors to consider like launch angle, dispersion, spin rate, smash factor, ball speed etc.

Those 5c 10c 'advice' that everyone seems to pick up from friends are probably going to be wrong 90% of the time. It all equates to time and money wasted listening to them.

Like we told you, go to a clubfitter. Free advice is only worthwhile at BFG, not here or the driving ranges.

right.. Got it.. lesson learnt

Just to share my boring experience.. regarding club selection for "true" beginners.

The problem I faced when I started golf was the question, "what's my potential?". I believe there are a few. like myself, believe in getting reasonable intermediate level clubs so that I can hopefully train towards that and avoid replacing them when we outgrow them. When I started, I couldn't swing consistently, and have a rather jerky and slow swing, but yet I was looking for advice on what clubs to buy in order to train seriously with them. we are the kind who let the gear define our swing, (the lie of the club determines our stance...). I didn't expect the advice to be perfect, but had appreciated any reasonable advice to make my decision as my knowledge on clubs was NIL (NIL 1 yr later as well..).

then, came my Pro, he saw my large size, threw his steel shafted 7 iron at me and asked me to dump those borrowed graphites. The steel shaft weighed a ton to me at that time, and I couldn't even swing it. Eventually during the weekend, I placed my trust on his advice, and bought my first set of irons to train with. Did I regret that buy? Nope, no regrets...except that.....my pro could have side-tracked abit and introduced me those purer Mizuno MBs...grrr. :>

I suggest going to your pro, or the friendly clubfitter, for some basic advice to start this trial and error process of buying clubs. The advice may not be perfect, but its a start. Its a kind of chicken and egg event. But if you've already got a permanent consistent swing that can be tested on the launch monitor etc, then that's a different story, visit the clubfitter...

Perhaps someone can provide a layman's description to the different kind of shaft specs here? to teach us noobs?

I too had the same concerns and questions. I did some research of my own and sadly, ended up more confused. Decided to pay Eric a visit. He analyzed my swing, calculated my swing speed and had a frank discussion of my capabilities. He showed me a couple of samples and helped describe what would sort of shafts would suit my type of swing. Finally, I went for the Graman BF #5 and I love it. It makes the club feel more solid and the swing more complete (but, again, this was intended to suit my swing).

In short, it's difficult to assess what sort of shaft to use. It is possible that the standard shaft which comes with your club may be perfectly fine. However, it may not be. Many a time, I think that there's room to finetune your gears and this is one of them.

I will say, however, that it's a good investment. As and when I want to upgrade my driver again, I'll keep the shaft for my new driver... unless my swing has changed in which case, there may be a need to move ahead in that shaft department too.

What I do know is that it's best to consult a pro like Eric first before making any decisions. I believe Eric is happy to help without obligations. Great guy!

I would only list to the pro if I knew his background. e.g. where did he pick up his knowlege on clubfitting; how did he get his teaching pro cert.

I'm not a pro, and have limited knowledge but I think there are "pro"s out there whose clubfitting "knowlege" seems to have been picked up from hanging out at the driving range and listening to "urban golf myths"... 8)

Hope I didn't offend anyone...

I'm biased; but I would recommend googling "Wishon 12 myths; search for the perfect golf club, etc) or visit a good clubfitter.

Ssquirrel wrote:

I would only list to the pro if I knew his background. e.g. where did he pick up his knowlege on clubfitting; how did he get his teaching pro cert.

I'm not a pro, and have limited knowledge but I think there are "pro"s out there whose clubfitting "knowlege" seems to have been picked up from hanging out at the driving range and listening to "urban golf myths"... 8)

Hope I didn't offend anyone...

I'm biased; but I would recommend googling "Wishon 12 myths; search for the perfect golf club, etc) or visit a good clubfitter.

peace.

I agree too, accepting advices from unknown credibility comes with risk. and accepting someone's evaluation of your future capabilities sounds even scarier. I believe there are maybe no honest experts around here willing to suggest shafts for a total beginner for the sake of reputation. :> therefore, googling is a good idea.

sniffydog wrote:

I believe there are maybe no honest experts around here willing to suggest shafts for a total beginner for the sake of reputation. :> therefore, googling is a good idea.

I agree with SS on the fact that not all pros know about clubs either. Thats why a clubfitter and a pro are 2 different jobs.

I don't quite agree with the mention that no one giving opinions is 'for the sake of reputation'. Rather, there is no general guide for what suits the individual but we all would have gone thru Reg flex shafts from the beginning to have a benchmark on suitability.

I think most of the beginner still don't dare to go to BFG because they are afraid of showing their swing to others. And most believe their swing is not yet stable and just want some basic and simple guild to what kind of shaft to choose.

@#$% this is supposedly to be the job of a golf salesman, they shall explain it to you before they sell you a club but nowadays you can only find salesman telling the customer how far can this club hit -- "this one hit very far, very good" When you ask him about flex, they will tell you, "take stiff, stiff better" without knowing your swing speed and tempo.

Here is some basic about shaft flex in case you don't know,

L (Ladies) This is for slow swing speed ladies and man (if u don't mind) too
A(Senior) For senior player without the swing speed but don't want to use a L
R(Regular) For majority of the golfers but majority of the golfer don't want to be regular
S(Stiff not steel) For faster swing speed but it's the most popular among golfer of all level
X(eXtra-stiff) For those super fast swing players.

And flex also separate into US spec and Japanese spec. Japanese Flex are say to be 1 flex softer than US flex.

Still confused? Stop worrying and check with BFG. The most, DGman will tell you to look for a coach first

Thx, JC. What about S-80?

Yes,... Eric told me to come back when i'm ready....

As what JC said, go see Eric at BFG...

S-80 is probably Stiff flex with a shaft weight of around 80g but I am just guessing. It maybe just the model number of the shaft. A picture will tell a thousand words.

jimmychoo wrote:

I think most of the beginner still don't dare to go to BFG because they are afraid of showing their swing to others. And most believe their swing is not yet stable and just want some basic and simple guild to what kind of shaft to choose.

I agreed on the above point. For myself, my swing aint stable yet and i am trying to test out which to use.

i have been to a few club fitters but the feedback i got was always different Mainly they wanna sell their products.

seem like BFG is the person that i can turn to

i not pro lah....just a club fitter who have seen enough pro and pros.

swing tempo determines the weight type. the faster the swing tempo, the heavier should be the shaft and vice versa.

what is regular and what is stiff. never read whats printed on the shaft. we will not know until we put it on a frequency analyzer. then there is the co-relationship between club head speed and flex selection and fune-tuning what is comfortable for the golfer himself. its just like a golf grip. the size of your hands does not mean that the grip size recommended is right for you. you have to be comfortable.

we also have to address kick point. if you tend to hit the ball high, a mid to high kick will be more suitable than a low kick shaft. last but not least based on the golfers preference for feel, the question of torque is to be address.

the process of fitting starts with a swing analysis and club evaluation. please PM me for appointment and we should be able to advise whether its a swing coach you need or new shafts.

FYI....for every 10 golfers we see, we probably end up fitting no more than 6. the rest we point them to what they should do to get the swing going.

DGman

Which reminds me DGMan: time to fix those holes in the net.

and.... recover the ball above the netting.. it went in through the hole on the top right.... sorry i hit it too high...

Ok, let me further explain DGman "technical term"

Swing Tempo - The time you take to execute a swing
Frequency analyzer - Is a machine that measure the frequency of a shaft flex with the intended head weight. Using CPM (cycles per minute) as unit
Kick point - the point where the shaft bend the most
Torque - The twisting index of the shaft

Hopefully I am correct. I am again guessing

Lamts18 wrote:

and.... recover the ball above the netting.. it went in through the hole on the top right.... sorry i hit it too high...

One of my early practice swings almost took out one of Eric's lamps in the ceiling. Luckily it didn't. Be warned... before you swing... make sure you know what's around you.

Disclaimer on behalf of everyone here - We are not employees of DGman. Period. The reason why we in general speaks so highly of him is because he does not fit a person for the sake of fitting. His policy is that he will only fit you if he thinks that he can make some improvement to your game. Of coz, pls do not expect him to improve your game by 5 or 10 strokes just by fitting your club. The only way to improve is ... practice more

Btw, the Graman 5 is really pi and qi... its machiam like paying a corolla price but getting BMW's performance:)

siaw8 wrote:

Disclaimer on behalf of everyone here - We are not employees of DGman. Period. The reason why we in general speaks so highly of him is because he does not fit a person for the sake of fitting. His policy is that he will only fit you if he thinks that he can make some improvement to your game. Of coz, pls do not expect him to improve your game by 5 or 10 strokes just by fitting your club. The only way to improve is ... practice more

Btw, the Graman 5 is really pi and qi... its machiam like paying a corolla price but getting BMW's performance:)

I wanted to work there but he don't want to employ me.....

Coz u r too expensive liao lah... haahaa... i am sure if u r willing to work for free, he will definitely employ you:)