According to Golf.com experts, golf shafts are important. Really important. Here's what you need to know about them.

 

1. The basics of shaft flex

Jonathan Wall, Managing Equipment Editor: If you’re new to the game, just worry about shaft flex.

 

There are a few shaft manufacturers who choose to use something other than SR, R, S, X, TX, to designate the flex on a driver or fairway wood shaft, but most use the same lettering.

 

The SR (Senior) and R (Regular) flexes are geared for slower swing speeds and golfers who need help getting the ball airborne.

 

As your game improves and you start to generate more speed, you’ll likely find yourself in an S (Stiff) or XS (Extra Stiff) flex. The TX (Tour Extra Stiff) is the beefiest flex on the market and designed for the fastest swing speeds.

 

2. Know the big five

Andrew Tursky, Senior Equipment Editor:  There’s five main points you’ll want to know when it comes to shafts.

 

Length: This is a measurement, in inches, of how long the shaft is.

 

Flex: This measures the ability of a shaft to bend under the force of a golf swing.

 

Generally, slower swing speeds find better performance from more flexible shafts (ladies, senior, regular flex), whereas faster speeds need less flex (stiff or x-stiff flex).

 

Weight: This measures, usually in grams, how heavy the shaft weighs.

 

Kick point: This is the area of a shaft that will bend most during the swing. A low kick point is toward the head, a high kick point is toward the grip, and a mid-kick point is near the center of the shaft. Kick point will influence how the club feels and what trajectory the ball launches at.

 

Torque: This measures, usually in degrees, the shaft’s resistance to twisting.

 

Low torque (around 2-3 degrees) means it doesn’t twist, or torque, much at all, whereas high torque (around 5+ degrees) means the shaft twists a lot. Low torque generally works better for high swing speeds, whereas high torque fits best with slower swing speeds.

 

 

3. It influences the way you swing

Luke Kerr-Dineen, Game Improvement Editor: Your equipment and your golf swing work dynamically together. It’s a relationship, where one effects the performance of the other.

 

This is especially true when it comes to your golf shafts: If the shaft you’re swinging is too heavy for your strength, your technique may suffer as you muster all you can to pull the shaft through.

 

If they’re too long, you swing will probably get longer, too, which could throw off your timing.

 

Getting fit is an easy way around this, but it’s also important that you consult your coach, have a good idea of what your tendencies are in your swing, and that you communicate those with your fitter during your fitting.

 

 

 

Nice info, taa muchly ☺️

Always good to reflect and work on equipment, swing, and headspace.

Club choices that are suited to ones capabilities are really important!

TX on my big dog, XS for 3, 4 and 5 woods, XS on all my short irons with TX on my 1 and 2 irons. I still use peripherally weighted clubs with low centre of gravity (Pings - G400's) except for 1 and 2 irons which are older Ping solid backs - delicious clubs! 

Started with Tommy Armour 845's (a few generations of these) - really nice for me when I started playing in my mid twenties (began on 18 handicap). Armour's were step wighted clubs.

Played with these till I hit a 12 then went to TaylorMade's. Beautiful, beautiful clubs. Like the Pings the T's suited my natural draw on the ball and helped me (especially on low irons. Now I use 'Low Spin' heads on a XS shafts. These helped make more shallow my natural draw which gave me extra yardage. 

I'm lucky to be 6' 2 ½" also have a full back-swing and follow through so naturally generate a fair bit of club-head speed at down-swing (worked hard on breaking wrists (many high handicappers are poor at this very important facet of the swing, and try to steer the ball with their hands to compensate for a poor, partial swing) on backswing at the right spot and releasing the wrists on the downswing which added some solid yards to my shot distance. I don't have a rushed back-swing but I let it go when I uncoil.

I spent years and years watching Greg Normans teaching video's and modelled my swing on his set-up and style before practicing and playing rounds.

I still pull out and watch his teaching stuff. Learnt a lot from watching David Grahams teaching tapes too i.e. simple set up and aiming which I find is repeatable over and over again (Jack Nicklaus uses the same set-up).

Like these fellas I don't steer the ball with my hands as some do. 

These expert golfers say this 'hand-work', except in the hands of a consummate golfer, introduces too many variables and these make the shot unreliable and unpredictable. Been lucky to have a few good coaches in Aussie over the years before my migration to the east.

Tonnes of practice, with solid lessons is the key from a good pro who you click with and - who puts in the effort to teach. Some pro's are very lazy teachers and poor in diagnosing problems in the swing or set-up. I swear by yoga as being super-good for golfing. Adds more 'feeling' of the swing, stability in the legs, far greater balance, and range of movement which results in a much fuller coil and uncoil.

Norman: Low-n-slow on the take away, hands relaxed on take away (don't choke it), eye firmly on the ball all the time and until it is completely gone, get back to (weight in on) and prop on the left side as early as possible at the top of the swing - slight pause at the top - before the down-swing, always swing full appropriate for the club in-hand - natural uncoiling in follow-through, let the swing bring your head through to see the ball flight. Some say there's 90 or so variables in a golf-club swing so it should be easy lol ????????????

All you need to know is that any club that you buy is over-priced and you've  been shafted.