Re: Steel or Graphite?

With all due respect, I disagree. It is all about HOW soft the flex is.

Swing a piece of rope (very soft "flex"), and the "shaft" will NOT have bent forwards at the point of impact - not even close.

I am fairly certain that the entire purpose of shaft flex is to find the stiffness that matches your swing speed as perfectly as possible, so that the shafts effort to straighten itself out adds to the clubhead speed as much as possible.
It will not ADD distance per se, since, you load the force into the shaft yourself, anyway, but it will help you avoid LOSING power from your swing, by releasing that force at the right time.

Re: Steel or Graphite?

I'm working on a new theory that I will most likely never be able to quantify.

We all know the golfer who swears by their moveable weight driver. Even though they're only playing with 10g or so, they say that they get a different ballflight because of it.

My theory is that, what with human beings NOT being robots; and having proprioception (the ability to sense where things are in relation to oneself), I think that feel (a shaft flex property) has more to do with things such as the timing of the release. THERE IS NO BUGGYWHIP EFFECT in the shaft. Only in a late release can you have some forward flexing in softer shaft. Mox - the rope analogy is erroneous. You need to put some weight at the end of the rope you're swinging, to make it like a golf club. Then you will notice some forward bend, especially if you flip your hands (ie hands don't lead the clubhead) through impact.

However, I agree with Mox's idea of releasing the force at the right time - and I think proprioception plays a big part of this. If the shaft is too stiff and you can't feel the clubhead, then you may never release the club properly. Likewise, if it's too weak, you may feel as though the clubhead is lagging behind, and change your swing to 'give it time' to catch up.

Re: Steel or Graphite?

It's not the weight at the end of the rope that is the relevant part, but the force applied to a flexing structure by the movement of the hands. Weight at the end will only emphasize the flex.

Apart from that - I agree.

Re: Steel or Graphite?

Strong swingers tend to have heavier shafts for control.

Lightness of the shaft and/or club head is a slippery path indeed, too light speed increases but impact deminishes. Typically slower swingers should always play the lighter shafts because it will add to their club head speed.

With the shaft being the engine of the club--I would guess that it is important to be fitted correctly for ball spin and launch trajectory keeping the shaft as light and as flexible as can be managed/controled without diminishing performance.

Too stiff you tend to get a push, too wimpy and you get a hook.

Feel is important, and many golfers claim that Graphite will reduce golfer fatigue, but I believe that the jury is still out on that one. I personally play a stiff graphite Iron shaft. To me it feels light and promotes a faster smoother swing and I find that I truely enjoy playing with them.

Re: Steel or Graphite?

I prefer steel shafts because you get more feedback on them and also because they take a better divot.. a too light a club takes too light a divot and can lead to topping*(at least for me)

all my irons are steel(Lynx black cats which I love) the old ones erinie els and fredie couples used in the early 90s...However I do have a graphite shaft 5 Iron Bertha Fusion(Wide Sole) and I love it so much.. but I got it cause my performance goes down once I reach past the 6 iron.. I usually rarely hit my 4 iron or 3..Ill usually go with a wood before doing that...

I always have a tendency to worry about breaking a shaft when Im using graphite.. So i got that nagging thought in my head when using them which bothers me.. steel makes me feel more comfortable since I can't break it..

Other than that graphite feels almost too light for me.. I feel more balanced with a steel shaft .. even with the 5 iron Fusion I just can't get used to that feel ,, espesially with the heavier headed irons like the 9 and PW..

However for the Driver and woods I definatly reccomend Graphite because it requires no divot taking and more a "sweeping" swing..The clubhead speed is more important here for that and graphite excels at this


Either way no matter how good your golf clubs are it wont make a difference if your swing isn't up to par.. I believe an investment in good training aids, instruction and books are a much better investment than some 700$ Moveable weight Driver or 1000$+ iron set..Get your swing up to par before you go buying, because you can't really feel a difference in brands if your swing isn't consistant..

Re: Steel or Graphite?

I don't quite follow your reasoning that graphite shafts create shallow divots and make you top the ball, surely that's a flaw in your swing that would happen with any shaft?

Regarding preferences then yes it's an individual choice, it is good to understand some of the facts though. This is a good article:
http://golf.about.com/cs/componentsc...vsgraphite.htm

Re: Steel or Graphite?

Not necessarily. Generally speaking, graphite is 6 SW points lighter than steel.

Now, what Renton should try (to rule out the 'graphite made me do it'), is to move to a superlight steel. 6 SW points lighter, but still steel.

My wager is that the tops and thins return.

Re: Steel or Graphite?


when your used to a heavier steel shaft you become used to the balance that it gives you.. Whereas when I used graphite it feels like im swinging a feather more like and thus I come up from the ball more.. I can feel the head of the club more in my fingers when its steel, instead of feeling like im swinging something too light..