What's the Best Shaft for Your Swing Speed?

There was a time when, if you looked in most golfer’s golf bags, there were some common features to the drivers they were using.

The commonality was driver loft - everybody seemed to have a 9.5-degree driver. The other common feature was the shaft flex - stiff in most cases.

Golfers also opted for stiff shafts in their irons. Why did golfers gravitate towards stiff shafts for every club in their bag, bar the putter?

There are several reasons.

The first reason is related to keeping up with the competition. There was a “macho” element that meant that if you opted for a regular shaft, you didn’t have the power to propel the golf ball descent distances and were somehow a lesser golfer.

The second reason is that we simply didn’t have the technology that we have now. This technology helps us analyse our golf games more effectively. The key factor of this technology is that it makes it much easier to marry up the correct shaft flex to your golfing abilities.

Our guide will not only help you understand the best golf shaft for your swing speed but also quickly examine other contributing factors that make finding the right shaft for any level of golfer much more attainable.

To do this, we’ll break things down into three sections:

• Why Shaft Choice is Crucial for Your Swing
• How Custom-Fitted Golf Clubs Improve Performance
• Get Professionally Custom-Fit and Custom-Built Clubs at Nine by Nine Golf

Why Shaft Choice is Crucial for Your Swing

Returning to the introduction, we discussed how golfers gravitated towards using the same shaft flex.

Using the same shaft flex isn’t going to work for every golfer because we all have different swing attributes and athletic abilities. Some golfers will develop a lot of power in their swing, translating into fast clubhead speeds into the ball. Other golfers may not be able to create the same level of power, resulting in lower clubhead speed and less powerful shots.

Focusing on the golf shaft its main role in the swing is storing and transferring energy when needed most, at impact. This is the main reason why the golf shaft is often referred to as the engine of the golf club.

If the golf shaft isn’t right for the clubhead speed we generate, the shaft can’t load and unload properly, affecting the energy transfer into the golf ball.

In its simplest terms, if we are using a shaft that is too stiff, we will struggle to square the clubface up at impact, with the resulting shot likely being a slice to the right (for a right-handed golfer). Because we aren’t generating sufficient clubhead speed, we are also likely see shots with poor carry distances.

If the shaft is too weak for the clubhead speed we produce, we’ll see the opposite happening. The shaft is overloaded and will lead to a closed clubface at impact, with a hook shot to the left likely outcome.

We’ll also experience trajectory issues. If the shaft is too weak, we’ll likely witness shots where the ball is loaded with too much spin, which results in less-than-optimised carry distances.

Poor clubface control is a common factor in both examples, making the shot's outcome pure guesswork.

Matching shaft flex to swing speed will result in better golf shots, so how do we start to understand the relationship between swing speed and the ideal shaft flex?

Many studies and analysis have been carried out to build a a broader understanding of the ideal choice of flex for a given clubhead speed.

Using the driver as an example, we can use the following brackets as a general guide:

Clubhead Speed	Shaft Flex
Below 85 MPH	R2, Ladies/Senior/Light Flex
Between 85-95 MPH	Regular Flex
Between 95-110 MPH	Stiff Flex
Over 110 MPH	Extra-stiff Flex

 

There are always variations of the above theme, which adds to the argument of getting the right flex of shaft comes down to custom fitting, which we’ll look at shortly.

Another important element that can’t be overlooked is the weight of the shaft you use.

Playing with a golf shaft that is too light can lead to erratic golf shots. If a shaft is too light, maintaining clubface control can be an issue resulting in inconsistent shot shapes, trajectories and spin rates.

Using a shaft that is too heavy leads to a lack of feel, which can also be experienced if the shaft is too light. Carry distances aren’t optimised down to the shaft being unable to load and unload effectively leading to poor ball speed, spin and launch rates at impact.

Additionally, you can risk injury as a result of trying to swing faster in an attempt to get the shaft to work properly.

You should never have to compromise any aspect of your setup or swing to adapt to using poorly-suited golf equipment, which is where the process of being custom-fitted to find your ideal golf shaft is so important.

How Custom-Fitted Golf Clubs Improve Performance

The main advantage to going through the process of getting custom golf clubs is that it takes all the guess work and what will or won’t work.

The guesswork is removed for two reasons:

• Launch monitor data
• Working with an experienced club fitter

Launch monitors such as GC Quad are expensive pieces of equipment, but the level of detail they provide is unmatched. In the split instance of the clubhead making contact with the golf ball, the launch monitor can record important data points such as:

• Spin rates
• Launch angles
• Ball speed
• Clubhead speed
• Carry distance

When it comes to isolating how suitable a golf shaft is another important metric is shot dispersion. Shot dispersion looks at how far right or left of your intended target you have missed. It will also cover how far short or long of your intended target you are.

The advantage of working with an experienced club fitter is the ability to convey with them what you experience out on the golf course. When you strike the ball poorly, what do you commonly see in terms of where the ball goes and what the swing and contact feel like.

If you don’t already have a clear objective going into the fitting session, the fitter can help you identify at the outset what would a suitable outcome would be.

As you go through the fitting experience, the fitter will also check with you how the clubhead and shaft combination feels as well as keeping an eye on the launch monitor data.

Once the fitter has a feel for what your game is like in your own words, the next step is hitting shots with your existing set of golf clubs, which allows the fitter to gather a suitable data sample from the launch monitor and they can see what your good and bad shots look like.

When the fitter feels like they have enough data, they can make an initial assessment of the areas that can be improved.

From this point, the fitter can start to make recommendations around the head and shaft combination they feel will start to address some of those issues.

Focusing in on the shaft selection, a fitter isn’t just assessing what shaft flex would be suitable based on the launch monitor data. They are also building a picture in their mind of the ideal shaft weight that would help improve your shots.

Having access to the top shaft manufacturers in the world such as Fujikura, Mitsubishi Chemical, Graphite Design, True Temper, and KBS provides the most comprehensive tour-level custom-fitting options for any level of golfer.

These manufacturers provide the necessary flex ranges and an extensive variety of shaft weights, which makes the job matching up the right shaft to the right player all the more easier.

An additional step in the custom-fitting process ensures that the shaft is cut to the premium length for each golfer, golfers not only have different levels of ability, but they also vary in height, so having shafts cut to the correct length helps to improve performance on the course.

Ultimately, finding the correct golf shaft for your game will allow the fitter to demonstrate three key elements to improving your golf game:

• Improved distance
• Improved accuracy
• Improved ball striking

Imagine the gain in confidence you’ll experience if you could hit the ball further, better, and more out of the middle of the clubface consistently.

Get Professionally Custom-Fit and Custom-Built Clubs at Nine by Nine Golf

If you are looking for a tour-level custom golf fitting, book a session at Nine By Nine Golf.

That might sound like a bold statement, but here’s why we can make that statement.

For starters, we have highly experienced professional fitters who have worked with every level of golfer, from professional to high handicapper. Our fitters will guide you through the fitting process and help you understand the technology being used and how your numbers can be improved.

Our fitter will give you a detailed explanation at the end of the session, giving you every confidence in your decision-making process.

Nine By Nine Golf is an independent custom golf club specialist. This means we choose the best equipment available from manufacturers such as Callaway, Cobra, Mizuno, Titleist, and TaylorMade. We’ve already mentioned that we carry all the major shaft ranges, which we believe are designed to help the broadest spectrum of golfers.

Adding additional customisation options, such as your preferred grip choice, and you effectively have the equivalent of a tour van working for you.

To finish the process, your golf clubs are built in-house by our expert engineers, ensuring your custom clubs are built to the exact specifications needed.

The role the shaft plays in helping you play better golf is undeniable. Using the correct shaft flex for your swing speed helps optimise energy transfer from the golf club to the ball, leading to improved distance. Having the correct shaft fitted can also improve accuracy and ball striking.

A fundamental reason why you might not be getting the most out of your golf equipment could relate to the possibility that you are using the wrong shaft in your clubs.

In an interview with Golf.com last year, top-100 instructor, Joey Wuertemberger, estimates that only 20% of golfers are currently using the correct shaft in their clubs. If he is correct, that means most of you reading this article will be missing out on hitting better golf shots.

If you want to make changes, book yourself in for a custom-fitting at Nine By Nine Golf. You can book a tailored fitting session for any department of your game on the Nine by Nine Golf website, where you can also view the extensive selection of custom-fit shafts we have available.

As always, we’d be happy to assist if you have any questions relating to the benefits of playing with the correct shaft flex for your swing speed, or how custom-fitted golf clubs can improve your game.

Sources:

Golf.com article - Joey Wuertenberger:

https://golf.com/instruction/80-percent-golfers-do-this-wrong/