Shaft Flex: The Great Misconception (May 2007)

By
NATHAN HAUSER

Most golfers believe that they know which shaft flex is suitable for their clubs. Furthermore, they are led to believe that there is a universal flex rating, i.e. S (stiff), R (Regular) and A (Amateur or senior-flex).

But unfortunately, the real truth is that all the brand manufacturer’s shaft flex ratings are not universal and they perform very differently. Did you know that one company’s stiff flex could be another’s Regular flex, or even as soft as a Ladies flex? Confusing isn’t it? A professional club fitter can solve this mystery quite easily with the use of a frequency machine.

HOW?
Firstly, the club fitter will perform an assessment on your golf set with the use of a frequency machine. The frequency machine gives a digital readout of the oscillation patterns on each individual golf shaft of your clubs. Then, the whole set will be plotted onto a graph to show you the flex of every shaft in your set. Most golfers have very inconsistent flexes throughout their set as shown in the diagram.



Flex ratings chart
2.5 = Ladies flex
3.5 = Senior Flex
4.5 = Regular flex
5.5 = Firm flex
6.5 = Stiff flex

Once your clubs have been tested, the clubmaker will then measure your club head speed, ball speed, ball launch angle, ball spin rates and then observe your swing mechanics to look for things like your tempo, how much force you use to start the down swing, and where in the downswing you release your wrist cock. He will then ask you other questions regarding how high or low you prefer to see your ball fly and other performance queries that you may have. This helps greatly to determine what you prefer to achieve that is associated with the shaft’s performance. He will then be able to narrow down what shaft flex and shaft design is required for your club head speed and playing characteristic. Retail golf stores will tell you that they offer the service, but put it this way, can your General Practitioner (Doctor) perform Brain surgery or does he send you to a specialist?

Unless you work with a professional Club maker to make your shaft selection, you will have a lot of trial-and-error buying new clubs, changing shafts, and just simply wasting a lot of hard earned money.

25 January 2007