Shaft Question

[dant]

I used to have a TM R7 with a Aldila NV 75g shaft. Could not get the ball in the air and kept hitting duck hooks. I just bought last years TM burner 460 and love it. It has 50g fuji shaft and I love it. The only problem ball flight is a little to high. I have some lead strips that weigh about 3g. I might need just a little more weight in the shaft so I was wondering if I was going to place the strip on the shaft what would be the place to put it.
Thanks dant

[LowPost42]

Re: Shaft Question

There's no where you can place that tape to effectively bring your ball flight down - as you pack more lead tape high on the head (to raise the CoG) you soften the shaft and it will kick more through impact.

If you don't like the height, you either need a stiffer-tipped shaft or less loft.

[rotator]

Re: Shaft Question

Hi dant,

As LowPost42 says, it's not practical.

Re lead on the shaft you would have to add 10. 20. 30 gms to see an effect.

The weight added to the head is also not practical, as you'd have to add tons of lead and ideally on the top and close to the face to lower the flight. See the following for explanation.

"Adding lead tape in an effort to change the center of gravity of the head (to make the ball fly higher, lower, more to the right or left) simply will not work. The CG has to be moved at least a quarter-inch for the golfer to notice a flight change in the ball with the same clubhead. To move the CG by a quarter-inch requires no less than the addition of 10 4-inch-long strips of half-inch wide lead tape, all placed in the same area of the head toward which the CG movement is desired."

Ted

[dant]

Re: Shaft Question

Thank you gentleman. Of the two which would be more likely to solve the problem, the stiffer tip or less loft.
dant

[LowPost42]

Re: Shaft Question

Loft effects trajectory much more than shaft stiffness; and a lot of it depends on how you load the club. If you can really hold the lag, a softer shaft will lower trajectory as you can overload the shaft and lower dynamic loft.
What happens is that the shaft never recovers and never kicks through impact. The problem is that this is also inconsistent and will give inconsistent yardages.

Really, the answer is to get in with a reputable fitter with a good launch monitor, and get a driver optimised to your swing. You may even want two drivers - one that's maximised for carry and one that's maximised for total distance (lands flatter to run more).

[rotator]

Re: Shaft Question

Hi dant,

You already have the Burner do you not, so you are stuck with the loft? What is the loft?

The loft has the most effect on launch angle and spin. You can then reduce the spin rate the most by going with a stiffer high bend shaft (if you can handle it, speed and load wise). A stiff tip would help.

A good combo seems to be a higher launch (higher loft) and stiffer shaft to lower the spin, but as noted there are limitations to how stiff the player can handle.

Ted

[rotator]

Re: Shaft Question

Sorry LowPost,

I was typing my reply I guess when you were posting.

I'm glad we had basically the same message.

Ted