“Shaft Stiffness”
Reader Question: “Will it help my game if I drop a Viagra pill down my driver shaft?”
Answer: Thank you for that question. My advice is to wait until the turn to make that decision. You really should visit a clubmaker to be sure.
What are the flexes of your golf clubs? Are they “A”, “R”, “S”, or even “X”? Did you know that shaft companies do not adhere to an industry standard? That means one company’s “S” flex might be the same as another’s “R” flex or worse. That can raise concern especially if your woods are a different brand than your irons. So how can we tell what the true flex is? Most reputable clubmakers will have a frequency analyzer in their shop. This is a machine that measures the CPM or cycles per minute when the shaft is “twanged” or oscillated. This frequency compared with club length is used to determine the actual shaft flex of the club.
The golfer’s swing speed, tempo and release point can then be analyzed to determine the shaft flex which provides the best fit. Higher swing speeds, faster tempos and late release points (where the wrists unhinge) are contributing factors for stiffer shafts and vice versa. Your clubmaker can use this information in building new clubs or checking to ensure that your current clubs are a good match.
Another excellent application using shaft CPM arises when a shaft is broken or a club is lost. Have you ever had a club reshafted and it just didn’t feel right? It is possible that the new shaft flex was not in line with the other clubs. A frequency analyzer helps avoid that problem. Suppose you lose your 7 iron or break the shaft. In my shop, I will check the CPM reading of the 8 iron and 6 iron and extrapolate a CPM value at which the 7 iron can be reshafted or replaced for identical feel.
In most sets of irons, as the clubs become shorter the CPM value goes up. But as irons decrease in length the heads increase in weight so they don’t feel stiffer. This progression of the CPM rising with the length decreasing is called a frequency slope and can be charted. Although different golfers require different slope gradients (degrees of steepness), there should always be a consistent change in CPM from club to club. If some of your clubs feel stiffer or softer than the rest of the set, the reason may be that these clubs have CPM values that don’t follow the slope. The only way to be sure is to have your clubs checked on a frequency analyzer.
So whether you want to compare the flex of your woods to your irons, replace a lost or broken club, check the slope of your set for outliers, or duplicate a lost or broken club (or your buddy’s club that you covet), see a clubmaker with a frequency analyzer and get the job done right!
Patrick Blair
Blair Golfworks
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