All shaft stiffness equal?

[bames]

I would like to put a new stiff shaft in my Titleist 983K. I'm looking for something on the more flexible end of the "stiff shaft spectrum". For example I've read that the Graffalloy ProLaunch is stiffer than others and just the opposite about the Aldila. Also any info on the Harrison shafts?

[Rockford35]

The moniker "Stiff" is just a label. Every group has their own version of "stiff". Some shafts have stiffer tip sections which make them play more boardy (Grafalloy Blue, ect) while others have a more active/softer tip to make them play with a bit more feel (Aldila NV, UST V2, ect).

Depending on your swing tempo and speed, the "stiff" shaft that you require can be one of many. From my journeys, I've read that the Speeder and the Diamana Blue are good combos with this head. Pricey, but good feeling shafts in this combo. Cheaper options are the YS-6+ from Graphite Designs and the NV from Aldila. If you want a higher ballflight, the NVS or the ProLaunch would be a good choice as well.

Here's my personal choice. Cheaper and great performance for the price.

GrafalloyProlite35

Good luck,

R35

[Davebud]

I figured out that torque was real important too, I thought my last shaft for driver was not stiff enough and while that might have been so, club pro told me I needed a shaft that didn't twist as much, more so than a stiffer shaft.

[bames]

Thanks for the info. I just feel as though my game is to the point where I can fairly consistently swing with some gusto and when I do hit it well, they hook on me and it seems the clubhead is lagging too far behind. Have you ever heard that one might gain accuracy but lose 10-15 yds with a stiffer shaft?

[Davebud]

But it didn't happen, all I got was more consistent distance and no slice.

[bames]

Sounds like a risky tradeoff,... I'll have to think about it and tell you tomorrow that I'm switching shafts.

[Rockford35]

I figured out that torque was real important too, I thought my last shaft for driver was not stiff enough and while that might have been so, club pro told me I needed a shaft that didn't twist as much, more so than a stiffer shaft.

Dave,

Food for thought from Wishon:

"In the 1980s shaft torque was talked about a lot as a factor for shaft fitting, while now it is rarely mentioned. Is the torque of a shaft important anymore in shaft fitting?

Not nearly as much as we all were led to believe in the 1980s when shaft makers developed the ability to greatly change the torque properties in graphite shafts. Fortunately more testing followed those early claims about extremely low torque being a positive design property on shafts so that we now know that torque plays a far less important role in shaft fitting. Perhaps one of the most common sense points to support this point is that the vast majority of the players on the world professional tours use graphite shafts in their drivers which fall between 3 and 5 degrees, which also happens to be the torque range that most shaft makers create in their shaft designs.

However, there are a few points that clubmakers do need to keep in mind with regard to torque as a factor of fitting:

While on its own a torque of >5 degrees will not cause vast miss-direction problems for very strong high swing speed golfers, it is still advisable to keep any golfer with a swing speed over 95mph who also pulls the club down with great initial downswing force away from shafts with torque over 5 degrees. The sudden application of a high downswing force could cause the head to exert a greater twisting influence on the shaft of the torque is higher than 5 degrees.

Golfers of low strength and low swing speed are best advised to stay away from shafts with a torque lower than 4 degrees. Again, if other more important shaft fitting factors such as shaft weight and an accurate match of the shaft's overall flex (butt and tip section stiffness both) are performed for these golfers, the torque alone will not cause shotmaking problems.

Torque is still considered a contributor to the feel of the shaft such that lower torques may feel more firm overall to the player or higher torque may feel a little less firm. However, the shaft weight, shaft butt flex and tip flex are still the predominant factors that control the feel with torque standing as a modifier to that overall flex and weight feel for the player.

Very large woodheads will put more torsional stress on the shaft because the CG of very large heads is farther from the shaft, and thus will exert more twisting force on the shaft. While this effect is small, it is there so for medium strong players to stronger players, once the shaft is chosen for weight and flex fitting to the golfer, choosing the ones from that group that are slightly lower in torque would help to eliminate just one more little variable of possible miss-direction for the player."

R35

[AaA]

Bames,

I started a similar thread in the equipment forum which nobody has responded to yet :(

But I'm in the same boat. I've got the 983K and looking for a not so stiff, stiff. Rockford posted about the Grafalloy ProLite. I mentioned in my post that I hit this fixed on 983 in the shop and it felt great, although I don't recall if it was the 35 or the 45. I'm also looking into Harrison shafts as well. Have you made up your mind on anything yet? Let me know how it works out for you.

Thanks.

[bames]

AaA, I just went to the golf shop and swung different shafts on the computer. I've also played the Harrison Striper Tour, but felt it was a little too stiff for my particular swing (key words, "my particular swing"). The tech felt that the ProLaunch was a great match, as did I. I just put a ProLaunch on my Ping G5 hybrid and noticed immediate accuracy and better ball flight. In short, I'm going to go with the ProLaunch.

[emc]

How stiff is the S flex Grafalloy Blue? I have an SS of 110, would it still be 2x4 stiff?

[Rockford35]

How stiff is the S flex Grafalloy Blue? I have an SS of 110, would it still be 2x4 stiff?

It's tip stiff, so it has less "feel" than say an Aldila NV.

I play a Stiff in both my drivers, and i'm about 100 as well.

Is it going into a bore thru?

R35

[emc]

No .It's factory installed on my r7