Engine of the Club: Shaft or Head? Golf Information (Video) - by Pete Styles
Engine of the Club: Shaft or Head? Golf Information (Video) - by Pete Styles

If you speak to any qualified club fitter about the clubs that you're going to buy they'll often talk about how the shaft is the engine of the golf and that's really quite important statement. It really means that the shaft of the golf club is a bit that provides the power, so this bit is the bid that does the hitting we all know that, but actually that bit is a very important part of the shaft.

And for most people I'll pick the shaft that they're going to buy for their golf club because it looks nice, but I wanted the pink one like Bubba Watson. I wanted the white one like Ian Poulter, but actually this is massively underrated part of the golf club. So when you're getting fitted consider the shaft that you're betting and the reason why this is important is because the shaft will bend quite a lot during your swing. If you ever seen the guys on TV playing in slow motion, you'll see quite a lot of bending during the swing. Now that's going to actually affect where the golf ball goes.

And the shaft bends in two different ways. During the top of the back swing it will effectively load up which is bending this way and enjoying the down swing that will unload as the head comes back to try and lineup with the shaft. Then there's huge centrifugal force going on in the downswing. Club had might be traveling up with hundred miles an hour so if you're playing with the wrong shaft it can really feel awkward if its too soft or too loose for you, it will feel like it’s a liquor stick like you got no control of it.

But likewise if you go the other way and go too stiff, the shaft will feel dead. It will feel unresponsive, and it will feel quite harsh when you hit the ball, and it won't maximize the distance that you're hitting the ball. So you'll swing speed and also your swing tempo is quite important to get that matched correctly when you go and get your clubs fitted, so spend some time with a qualified club fitter working at your swing speed, working at your shaft flex and make sure that you got the right engine in your next golf club.

 2013-09-13

If you speak to any qualified club fitter about the clubs that you're going to buy they'll often talk about how the shaft is the engine of the golf and that's really quite important statement. It really means that the shaft of the golf club is a bit that provides the power, so this bit is the bid that does the hitting we all know that, but actually that bit is a very important part of the shaft.

And for most people I'll pick the shaft that they're going to buy for their golf club because it looks nice, but I wanted the pink one like Bubba Watson. I wanted the white one like Ian Poulter, but actually this is massively underrated part of the golf club. So when you're getting fitted consider the shaft that you're betting and the reason why this is important is because the shaft will bend quite a lot during your swing. If you ever seen the guys on TV playing in slow motion, you'll see quite a lot of bending during the swing. Now that's going to actually affect where the golf ball goes.

And the shaft bends in two different ways. During the top of the back swing it will effectively load up which is bending this way and enjoying the down swing that will unload as the head comes back to try and lineup with the shaft. Then there's huge centrifugal force going on in the downswing. Club had might be traveling up with hundred miles an hour so if you're playing with the wrong shaft it can really feel awkward if its too soft or too loose for you, it will feel like it’s a liquor stick like you got no control of it.

But likewise if you go the other way and go too stiff, the shaft will feel dead. It will feel unresponsive, and it will feel quite harsh when you hit the ball, and it won't maximize the distance that you're hitting the ball. So you'll swing speed and also your swing tempo is quite important to get that matched correctly when you go and get your clubs fitted, so spend some time with a qualified club fitter working at your swing speed, working at your shaft flex and make sure that you got the right engine in your next golf club.