One of the most common
posts I see is when one golfer asks other golfers for a shaft
recommendation. These posts seldom say anything about a golfer’s swing
characteristics other than his or her handicap and sometimes a clubhead speed.
Invariably, many different shaft recommendations follow, rarely a follow up
question to ask the golfer anything more about his or her particular swing
characteristics.
Shafts do not perform the
same way for all golfers. Shafts perform differently for different swing
characteristics because different swing characteristics make shafts bend and
twist differently. Most golfers are aware that their clubhead speed has
relevance to what shaft they should play. But in addition to the clubhead
speed, there are several other swing characteristics which determine how different
shafts can and do perform differently for different golfers.
Shafts are in essence,
“dumb animals.” There is absolutely NO magic to the performance of a
shaft – they ONLY do what their owner’s swing characteristics ordain them to
do. For some golfers, there is some additional performance contribution from
the center of gravity location inside the clubhead. However, there are a lot of
different variations in how golfers swing the club with respect to the specific
swing characteristics that dictate how a shaft will perform. The whole
idea of analyzing the swing characteristics which are pertinent to shaft
performance is to allow me to have a way to systematically ELIMINATE shafts
from consideration for a golfer, so what is left would be a smaller, manageable
number of shafts with which each golfer could play.
The KEY elements of the
golf swing in shaft fitting are:
1.
Clubhead Speed
The clubhead speed affords
a basic, rudimentary, BEGINNING indication for the approximate overall amount
of bending force a golfer may put on a shaft. However, it is very common for
two golfers with the same clubhead speed to put totally different amounts of
bending force on a shaft. It is also common for two golfers who put
the same bending force on a shaft to have different clubhead speeds. This is
why a good shaft fitter has to analyze other characteristics of the golf swing
to get more of an idea of how much bending force the golfer is putting on
the shaft for his/her swing speed, when that bending force is being applied
to the shaft and where on the shaft is the most bending force being
applied. Clubhead speed gives us a starting point to help us begin to
narrow the choice of possible shafts for a golfer in the fitting process. But
it only tells us a part of the story.
2.
Downswing Transition Force
The force with which the
golfer starts the downswing determines the initial bending force on the shaft.
In other words, how much the shaft is initially “loaded” is chiefly determined
by the golfer’s transition force to start the downswing. Of two golfers with
the same clubhead speed, the one with the stronger, more forceful transition
will need a stiffer shaft (a shaft with a swing speed rating that is higher
than the golfer’s swing speed). Of two golfers with the same clubhead speed,
the one with the smoother, passive transition will need a more flexible shaft
(a shaft with a lower clubhead speed rating than the golfer’s swing speed).
In addition, a golfer with
a stronger transition typically is better fit into a HEAVIER weight shaft. A
strong/forceful transition with a very light shaft can result in a swing tempo
that gets too fast and too inconsistent, although it can be possible to use a
higher than normal swingweight to allow a golfer with a strong transition to not
get too quick when using a very light shaft.
3.
Downswing Tempo/Downswing Aggressiveness
I said the transition
force determines the INITIAL loading of the shaft. The downswing tempo
determines how much that initial loading may change during the rest of the
downswing before impact. Tests have been performed with special sensors on
the shaft reveal that it is extremely rare for a golfer to increase the loading
of the shaft during the downswing. It is not very common for a golfer to
maintain the same load on the shaft during the downswing, either. Almost every
golfer loads the shaft the most at the beginning of the downswing, after which
the loading on the shaft begins to decrease from the moment the transition
turns into the downswing.
A good shaft fitter will
analyze the downswing tempo to estimate if the golfer is maintaining their
initial loading of the shaft, slightly losing some of the loading or
substantially losing it. In more recent research, I have come to the belief
that the transition and tempo blend together in terms of the
golfer’s ability to put a bending force on the shaft and maintain it or not to
the point of release. Hence the good shaft fitter will analyze the
transition/tempo together in one overall observation to decide whether the golfer
is an AGGRESSIVE HITTER, a SMOOTH SWINGER, somewhere in between or variations
of each extreme. It really is not necessary to split the hair too fine on
this evaluation. Good fitters chiefly think in terms of HITTER, SWINGER or
AVERAGE when it comes to evaluating the effect of the transition/tempo on the
golfer’s ability to load the shaft.
How is the analysis of the
golfer’s transition/tempo used to help narrow down the shaft
recommendation?
The more forceful and
aggressive the golfer’s transition/tempo, the more the shaft would be selected
to have a swing speed rating that is a little higher than the actual swing
speed of the golfer. Vice versa, the more passive, smooth and easy the golfer’s
transition/tempo, the more the shaft would be selected to have a swing speed
rating that is a little lower than the actual swing speed of the golfer.
For example, let’s say we
have three golfers, each with a 100 mph clubhead speed. Golfer No. 1 has
a short, three-quarter length backswing with a fast, forceful transition and an
aggressive downswing. Golfer No. 2 has a normal backswing length with some
sense of transition force and downswing aggressiveness but not nearly as much
as Golfer No. 1. Golfer No. 3 has a smooth, rhythmic, almost passive transition
and tempo that identifies him as far more of a “swinger” than a “hitter.”
For basic fitting, Golfer
No. 2 would be advised to look among shafts that have a 95-105 mph swing speed
rating because his swing characteristics are putting an average amount of
bending force on the shaft for his 100 mph clubhead speed.
Golfer No. 1
(strong/forceful transition and tempo) would be advised to look among shafts
that would have a 100-110mph swing speed rating because his swing
characteristics are “loading” the shaft more from him putting an ABOVE average
amount of bending force on the shaft for his 100 mph clubhead speed. And Golfer
No. 3 (smooth, passive transition and tempo) should choose from shafts that
have a 90-100mph swing speed rating because his swing characteristics are
“loading” the shaft much less for his speed and put a BELOW average amount of
bending force on the shaft for his 100mph clubhead speed.
In short, as the golfer
puts more bending force on the shaft due to his Transition and Tempo, the swing
speed rating of the shaft needs to increase higher than the golfer’s actual
clubhead speed. And as the golfer puts less bending force on the shaft due to
his Transition and Tempo, the swing speed rating of the shaft needs to decrease
lower than the golfer’s actual clubhead speed.
But what’s next after
finding the shafts which have a swing speed rating that corresponds to the
golfer’s clubhead speed and adjustments for the golfer’s transition and tempo?
4.
Point of Wrist-Cock Release During the Downswing
The key swing
characteristic which good shaft fitters analyze to determine the correct TIP
STIFFNESS design of the shaft for the golfer is the point the golfer unhinges
their wrist cock release on the downswing. In swing mechanics terms, the action
of unhinging the wrist cock angle is called the RELEASE.
The point when the golfer
releases the club is what determines WHEN the shaft goes from being “loaded” to
being “unloaded.” The point when the golfer releases the club determines
when the shaft moves from a “flexed back” position into a “flexed forward”
position. The point of release also determines when the clubhead achieves
its highest speed.
Once the golfer unhinges
the wrist cock angle, the arms immediately begin to slow down while the
clubhead speeds up. If the golfer releases the club too early, the clubhead
reaches its highest speed well before it gets to the ball. With an early
release, by the time the clubhead gets to the ball, the clubhead speed has
slowed down. This slowing down of the clubhead before impact even happens for
golfers who release the club midway on the downswing – though not as much as
with an early release.
The only golfers who
achieve their highest clubhead speed right when the clubhead meets the ball are
golfers with a late release. Hence this is another reason why a late
release is such an important swing skill for golfers to achieve to be able to
play to the best of their physical skills.
In shaft fitting terms, the
later the golfer releases the club, the more tip stiff the shaft COULD be. And
conversely, the earlier the golfer releases the club, the more tip flexible the
shaft should be. Because the actual point of release can vary all the way
from the start of the downswing to the very end, so too the tip stiffness
design of the shaft is chosen to correspond. Early release = most tip
flexible; Latest release = most tip stiff; Release in between early and
very late = tip stiffness in between.
You can now start to see
why we need to have quantitative stiffness measurements of shafts so we can
choose the right level of stiffness for golfers with varying levels of
transition/tempo force and different points of release. With only letters for flex
and generic terms for tip stiffness or bend point, shaft fitting is little more
than a trial-and-error guess.
5.
The Qualitative Side of Shaft Fitting — The Golfer’s Perception and Preference
for the Shaft’s BENDING FEEL
Talk about something that
can throw a monkey wrench into all the logical things that we have taught so
far about shaft flex/bend profile fitting! If you want to know why some
golfers play well with shafts which are “on paper” considered to be too stiff,
too flexible, too tip stiff or too tip flexible for their clubhead speed,
transition/tempo and point of release, this is the reason why.
If a golfer has developed a
specific preference for a type of bending feel of the shaft during any point in
the swing, that feel preference has to be THE GUIDING FACTOR in the shaft
fitting process. During the fitting process, the smart, experienced clubfitter
knows to interview the player and ask questions to assess the golfer’s level of
perception for the bending feel of the shaft and whether they have acquired
specific “likes and dislikes” for various aspects of the shaft’s bending feel
during the swing.
The very best way to
incorporate a golfer’s preference for shaft feel in the shaft fitting process
is to have the golfer reveal specific shafts they have either liked or disliked
in previous or current clubs. If these shaft models/flexes are searched in the
Bend Profile Software we created, the stiffness measurements of those shafts
can then be referenced against possible future shaft recommendations to
determine if the new shaft selection may or may not satisfy the golfer’s shaft
feel preferences.
One of the myths about
shaft flex/bend profile performance is when someone states that this or that
shaft is designed in a way that can actually increase the bending velocity of
the shaft to offer a golfer a higher clubhead speed. This is impossible
because of the physics of tube design and performance. However, it is
very possible for a golfer to change to a different shaft flex/bend profile
design and experience a measurable increase in clubhead speed.
How this happens is how the
new shaft falls into the golfer’s preference for the bending feel of the shaft.
Give a golfer a shaft that feels perfect in terms of how much it bends, when it
bends and where it bends in relation to the golfer’s acquired preference for
bending feel and that golfer will achieve his most free, most unrestricted and
most fluid release through the ball. And it is from this – having a shaft
that feels perfect in every way to the golfer – that they are able to achieve a
higher clubhead speed.
On the other hand, put the
golfer into a shaft that demonstrates a feeling of being too stiff or too
flexible in some way compared to the golfer’s preference for bending feel and
they most typically will begin to change their swing to make the shaft perform
and feel as they prefer. Manipulating the swing means a lack of free
motion, free unrestricted release and a lower clubhead speed with less swing
consistency.
Again, to not have a truly
quantitative way to analyze shafts, trying to turn a golfer’s feel preferences
for the shaft into a valid new shaft recommendation becomes a trial and error
process.
6. Putting It All
Together
The higher the golfer’s
clubhead speed, the more forceful/aggressive the transition and tempo, the
later the release, the more the flex and the bend profile of the shaft become a
contributor to the launch angle, trajectory and spin rate for the
shot. The lower the clubhead speed, the more passive the transition
and tempo, the earlier the release, the less important the shaft’s flex and
bend profile are to performance. But for ALL golfers, the WEIGHT of the shaft
is an important part of the shaft selection process.
The higher the golfer’s
clubhead speed, the more forceful/aggressive the transition and tempo, and the
later the release IN RELATION TO THE SWING SPEED RATING and TIP STIFFNESS OF
THE SHAFT, the more the shaft can increase launch angle, trajectory and spin.
The shaft only just begins
to contribute to launch angle, trajectory and spin in a gradual increasing
manner as the golfer has a midway to later to very late release. Midway
release, the flex and bend profile begin to matter a little. Very late release,
the stiffness design of the shaft matters a lot more. For golfers with an early
to before midway release, the flex and bend profile of the shaft do virtually
nothing to the launch angle, trajectory and spin of the shot. The
shaft’s WEIGHT becomes the only key shaft fitting factor for golfers with an
early to before midway release.
The ONLY ways the shaft can
lower launch angle, trajectory and spin is:
i.
if the shaft is either more stiff overall than the golfer’s previous/current
shaft, OR,
ii.
if the tip section of the shaft is more stiff than the tip section in the
golfer’s previous/current shaft.
Just because a shaft is
said to be tip stiff will not reveal whether it is a lower spin shaft than what
you play now. A shaft has to be more stiff overall and/or more tip
stiff than what you play now to have any effect on lowering launch angle,
trajectory and spin.
The golfer’s preferences
for a specific bending feel of the shaft overshadow the stiffness and bend
profile fitting analysis compiled from the clubhead speed, transition/tempo and
point of release. In all cases for all golfers, you do go through the stiffness
and bend profile fitting analysis compiled from the clubhead speed,
transition/tempo and point of release, but you listen hard and consider
modifying the recommendation when the golfer says they have a specific
preference for the bending feel of a shaft.
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