Custom Golf Clubs

A Few things to know! Part 2

Submitted by Joel on Wed, 09/01/2008 - 16:36.

What You Should Know About Club Shafts

There are a number of shaft manufacturers around. Aldila, Grafalloy, True Temper, UST and Apollo. These are amongst the best producers of shafts and can be seen on most of the top branded clubs. So naturally these are the shafts we offer on our clubs. More on this later.

We find much greater quality differences in graphite shafts versus steel shafts, but the good news is that the quality of graphite has improved significantly over the past ten years. In fact the quality of graphite shafts and their affordability is much better than just two or three years ago.

In our opinion, the shaft is as important as the head of a golf club. In fact, we often find greater performance differences in using different graphite shafts with the same head than we do using different heads (provided the heads are made from the same materials) with the same shaft. Did that make any sense to you? Well, it's the truth. So, the bottom line: SHAFTS ARE VERY IMPORTANT.

For information on golf club lengths, see our guide onCustom Fitting Golf Clubs.

Should I Use Graphite or Steel Shafts?

Strongly consider using graphite shafts in your woods if:

• You are a woman
• You are a senior
• You have joint problems
• You want to play a longer driver
• You have pretty good swing speed tempo and are younger
• You are an average player who wants to play better

Strongly consider using graphite shafts in your irons if:

• You are a woman
• You are a senior
• You have joint problems
• You love having graphite shafts in your woods?
• You have a slower swing and want to add distance

So, what is the logic of our advice? Well, graphite shafts reduce the weight of your club (it is actually quite remarkable to feel the weight difference in an entire set of clubs made with steel versus graphite shafts) — this is good for all players, but especially women and seniors. Graphite shafts weigh from 50 grams to 85 grams, while steel shafts generally start at 120 grams. Graphite shafts reduce the shock at impact — this is good for women, seniors, aging baby boomers and those of us with joint problems. Graphite shafts allow for longer clubs — this is good for distance (but maybe not quite so good for control). Graphite shafts have greater construction alternatives so that they can be designed to affect the flight of the ball to a greater degree than steel shafts.

Who Makes the Graphite Shafts?

There is a much greater quality difference between graphite shaft makers than steel shaft makers. Aldila has been the #1 graphite shaft maker for so many years now. Why take any risk here? We know that with an Aldila graphite shaft we won't have any breakage problems, whipping torques or other quality issues. And, their performance is superb. Enough said. Aldila graphite shafts are used for all our graphite shaft clubs. However, for those of you who like to experiment and have your own favorites, we offer a variety of custom shaft upgrades.

What About Stainless Steel Shafts?

True Temper and Apollo are used on our steel shaft clubs. The reasons are simple. They all make superior shafts, are long recognized as industry leaders, have very compatible steel shafts with each other and are extremely reliable. These shafts manufacturers are used by virtually every golf club manufacturer in the world today.

Ron Williams & Luka Cvrk