Aftermarket Putter Shafts: Worth it?

[nitram]

5 minutes ago, nosil said:

 

 

Nice to see those kind of numbers to compare shafts, thanks for the post.    I personally would disagree with both of your assessments that the results weren't better.   Setup was the same and path was the same.  While the dispersion/proximity to the hole was slightly better with the steel shaft,  your face control was better with the Accra.  IMO, the more consistent face angle at impact indicates that you have a little better face control and thus would over the long run make more putts which is what your results showed.  Your 120 putts is roughly equivalent to about 4 rounds or basically a tournament and in tournament play,  I would be players would be happy to save 2 strokes over the course of their 4 rounds.   

 

Everyone needs to make their own assessment and what they consider to be "improvement"   Thanks again for posting the results of your experiment. 

I don't disagree with your assessment. In fact, this morning I had a phone conversation with a putting manufacturer/guru on the same subject you broach in your post. I just don't want folks to think they are going to become Faxon or Crenshaw by putting an exotic/non-steel shaft in their putter. It may improve your scores incrementally, and yes, if I were still playing in the money games I used to, those two strokes would be worth a lot of cash, and every tour pro would sign up for one immediately.

 

As an example, I've attempted 308 putts over my last 12 rounds on 4 different courses with the Accra shafted putter. In those 12 rounds I holed 18 more putts than my average. That's a 5.84% increase in putts made. Any pro on tour or trying to make the tour would kill for half that percentage increase.

 

Although it's purely anecdotal, it tells me that something is working better than before, and I play year round. The only thing I've changed is the shaft. Maybe I'm on a hot streak right now, but I'll keep using it until it stops working.

 

Bottom line is a shaft or a whole putter change won't help if you don't have a consistent, repeatable stroke. And folks buying these shafts trying to circumvent that important detail won't see much improvement, if at all. Work on your stroke.

[captwilks67]

4 minutes ago, nitram said:

I don't disagree with your assessment. In fact, this morning I had a phone conversation with a putting manufacturer/guru on the same subject you broach in your post. I just don't want folks to think they are going to become Faxon or Crenshaw by putting an exotic/non-steel shaft in their putter. It may improve your scores incrementally, and yes, if I were still playing in the money games I used to, those two strokes would be worth a lot of cash, and every tour pro would sign up for one immediately.

 

As an example, I've attempted 308 putts over my last 12 rounds on 4 different courses with the Accra shafted putter. In those 12 rounds I holed 18 more putts than my average. That's a 5.84% increase in putts made. Any pro on tour or trying to make the tour would kill for half that percentage increase.

 

Although it's purely anecdotal, it tells me that something is working better than before, and I play year round. The only thing I've changed is the shaft. Maybe I'm on a hot streak right now, but I'll keep using it until it stops working.

 

Bottom line is a shaft or a whole putter change won't help if you don't have a consistent, repeatable stroke. And folks buying these shafts trying to circumvent that important detail won't see much improvement, if at all. Work on your stroke.

Shhh. Everyone knows that buying more gear will make you a better player. Duh… 

[croy203]

I was fit for a Mezz1 and the accra shaft didn't offer enough to justify the up charge.

[T_Golf_23]

10 hours ago, captwilks67 said:

Ended up ordering a EVNROLL ERV5.2 with a short slant and a BGT Stability tour Fire shaft. Should look sick and I’ll be able to test out the difference. Got a gravity grip as well. 

Gravity grip is awesome. The fun thing about the V series putters is you can get a couple hosels shafted up and keep switching between putters. 
 

I have  mine with various steel and composite shafts…. Easy to self fit. 
 

Good luck. 

Edited February 26, 2023 by T_Golf_23

[BHI 99]

Not a chance for me. 

[UnderPar18]

KBS CT Tour shafts have been fantastic for me. They feel awesome and I love the weight (no too light and not too heavy). Also the matte black finish is great. For $50 a no brainer for me.

[KodakkuSensei]

Installed a fujikura MC X-firm on my sik pro. Feel wise it is a lot better than the stock steel CT putter. The CT just felt a lot more punishing when I mishit the putter whereas the fujikura just feels a lot nicer even though fujikura is supposed to be even stiffer than CT. Don't know if the technology works or the tolerance of my putter face is lower but feel wise a definite improvement. 

[T_Golf_23]

20 hours ago, KodakkuSensei said:

Installed a fujikura MC X-firm on my sik pro. Feel wise it is a lot better than the stock steel CT putter. The CT just felt a lot more punishing when I mishit the putter whereas the fujikura just feels a lot nicer even though fujikura is supposed to be even stiffer than CT. Don't know if the technology works or the tolerance of my putter face is lower but feel wise a definite improvement. 

I have been playing around with a bunch of these lately… 

 

all the different graphite options allow you to customize the feel and balance point of the putter. Steele is steele…. It is what is…. For example, I had a kbs ct in my ER11V…. Could not get distance control for anything… putter just felt off… almost dead…. Swapped the hosel for one with a Fuji 115 firm… and suddenly it came to life. 
 

It’s just like all these other tweaks in The game…. It’s one more way to dial in feel… for me though…. It’s night and day vs Steele. 

 

Probably would still not spend hundred on these, but there are enough floating around in the second hand market… 

 

It’s going to be a very personal thing. 

 

 

Edited March 4, 2023 by T_Golf_23

[ForTourUseOnly]

On 2/25/2023 at 11:39 AM, Phabs said:

You shut your mouth.   They’re all marketing BS 🤣

Guess you fell for the marketing based on your signature??

 

Whagt made you experiment/change to a different putter shaft?

[Phabs]

1 hour ago, ForTourUseOnly said:

Guess you fell for the marketing based on your signature??

 

Whagt made you experiment/change to a different putter shaft?

My statement is based out of sarcasm.   I have 5 LAGP shafts in putters currently.  Prefer how they feel versus steel and went through a 2 hour quintic fitting that proved that they help the roll dynamics with my stroke. 

[5hort5tuff]

I think anyone who says it's just marketing is just being stubborn. It's science.  Torque...it's not fake. 

 

Now...are they worth it? That's up to you. Is $300 worth sinking 1 extra putter per round? 2? 

 

The M16...the KBS CT...shafts that are $100 but actually reduce torque are very worth it imo.  If you have a few extra bones...the BGT is excellent too 

Edited March 20 by 5hort5tuff

[chinaski]

13 minutes ago, 5hort5tuff said:

I think anyone who says it's just marketing is just being stubborn. It's science.  Torque...it's not fake. 

 

Now...are they worth it? That's up to you. Is $300 worth sinking 1 extra putter per round? 2? 

 

The M16...the KBS CT...shafts that are $100 but actually reduce torque are very worth it imo.  If you have a few extra bones...the BGT is excellent too 

Those CT shafts are nice but the butt end is thicker than typical shafts and distorts the feel of the grip. I couldn’t use them. 
 

I still prefer the feel of stepped YSC steel over any of the higher end shafts. I also didn’t see any difference in consistency on SAM testing, but wasn’t trying different shafts in the same head.

 

Also if you were really making 1-2 putts more a round every single person on tour would be using them. 

Edited March 20 by chinaski

[5hort5tuff]

29 minutes ago, chinaski said:

Those CT shafts are nice but the butt end is thicker than typical shafts and distorts the feel of the grip. I couldn’t use them. 
 

I still prefer the feel of stepped YSC steel over any of the higher end shafts. I also didn’t see any difference in consistency on SAM testing, but wasn’t trying different shafts in the same head.

 

Also if you were really making 1-2 putts more a round every single person on tour would be using them. 

 

I didn't talk about feel. I talked about science.  The fact that you don't like the way a grip feels doesn't mean the shaft doesn't work. 

 

Also, on SAM testing did you roll any longer putts? 20...30 feet?

[MattM97]

I put a BGT Tour on my PLD recently because why not, since I've installed it I've hit several hundred putts in my basement. Have I noticed a difference from steel to this? Yes it's definitely much stiffer, where some steel shafts I can feel the head move more in the stroke, this if stroke is on point it's a great timing feel but if just off it can hurt. I could definitely see and feel when I rushed it what happened.

 

What about when I had a rushed or jerky stroke with the BGT? I could also see and feel how the ball rolled different but I don't know if worse or better with the eye test. I just didn't react as bad so maybe that window of error is smaller.

 

Obviously these shine on longer putts and some steel shafts I have I can feel whip and I know would not lead to good putts, I'm not considering my current backup to get a BGT as well cause it's a very whippy shaft.

 

Are these magic? No but if they reduce the chance of error or miss hit by a bit I'm sure over time that will add up.

[chinaski]

11 minutes ago, 5hort5tuff said:

 

I didn't talk about feel. I talked about science.  The fact that you don't like the way a grip feels doesn't mean the shaft doesn't work. 

 

Also, on SAM testing did you roll any longer putts? 20...30 feet?

I was talking about feel and why I didn’t like it. 
 

On SAM I was only putting between 6-12’, but from real world experience I did better with stepped steel and stroke lab for longer putts. 

Edited March 20 by chinaski

[5hort5tuff]

21 minutes ago, chinaski said:

I was talking about feel and why I didn’t like it. 
 

On SAM I was only putting between 6-12’, but from real world experience I did better with stepped steel and stroke lab for longer putts. 

 

Sounds like you have your mind made up.  Likely no better shaft out there for you than your stepped steel shaft. 

[woods991]

Oh that tpt upgrade is so worth it, haven’t felt anything close to it.

[MattM97]

1 hour ago, chinaski said:

I was talking about feel and why I didn’t like it. 
 

On SAM I was only putting between 6-12’, but from real world experience I did better with stepped steel and stroke lab for longer putts. 

 

Stroke LAB isn't an upgraded shaft like the others in stiffness, it's more for weight and where it's moved. 

 

If you like more of a feel in the head the Fujikura MC Smooth is the fancy shaft for you. 

[Boognish]

Nope.

[chinaski]

7 hours ago, 5hort5tuff said:

 

Sounds like you have your mind made up.  Likely no better shaft out there for you than your stepped steel shaft. 

I didn't dislike the firmness in the CT tour I tried on my Toulon. I used to have a real jabby/quick stroke and the CT tour did help with that. I am just extremely picky with grips and hated how it changed the shape. It was a deal breaker for me.

 

Have since really worked on smoothing out my putting stroke and have seem a lot of improvement. Longer putts were one of the worst parts of my game. I've improved dramatically, mostly with stroke and focusing more on speed than obsessing over line. More than anything, just putting dedicated practice in. Something I had neglected. Putting is far more art than science. 

 

6 hours ago, MattM97 said:

 

Stroke LAB isn't an upgraded shaft like the others in stiffness, it's more for weight and where it's moved. 

 

If you like more of a feel in the head the Fujikura MC Smooth is the fancy shaft for you. 

 

I'll give the MC Smooth a try. Sounds like an 80's rapper, haha. 

[nosil]

2 hours ago, chinaski said:

Putting is far more art than science. 

 

Putting is all science and physics.   You predict the balls curve, you measure green speed,  you establish ball speed,  you measure green slope,  you calculate how long of a stroke to make with your tool to generate the established ball speed. 
 

you may not think you are doing math,  it your brain is doing tons of calculations to help you accomplish your goal.  
 

😁

[chinaski]

1 hour ago, nosil said:

Putting is all science and physics.   You predict the balls curve, you measure green speed,  you establish ball speed,  you measure green slope,  you calculate how long of a stroke to make with your tool to generate the established ball speed. 
 

you may not think you are doing math,  it your brain is doing tons of calculations to help you accomplish your goal.  
 

😁

 

Math can be an artform. I like to approach putting athletically using feel and instinct. The more analytical and mechanical my approach or stroke is the worse off I am. 

[nosil]

27 minutes ago, chinaski said:

 

Math can be an artform. I like to approach putting athletically using feel and instinct. The more analytical and mechanical my approach or stroke is the worse off I am. 

Math is a calculated methodical way of doing things….or we could say mechanical.   We could debate this in circles forever.   You call it feel and instinct and I say it is your brain doing calculations to accomplish specific body motions based on historical performance.  Neither of us is wrong we are just classifying something in a way we need to.  
 

if we look at aftermarket putter shafts or any golf shaft, the feel crowd will swing the club, look at the results and judges how it feels.   The mechanical crowd swings, looks at results, and judges their ability to do specific things with the club.  Both are fundamentally the same. 

[Honman]

Had anyone tried the new Diamana putter shaft?

 

Has anyone done a good comparison between the different models?

 

I've used a stroke lab and a M16. The M16 is very stout. I actually think it would pair up well with an odyssey white hot insert to counteract how stiff it feels. 

Edited March 20 by Honman

[KGolfCT]

I've been test driving a KBS Tour GPS and have been liking it so far. Good feel. Not crazy expensive. Noticeably improved stability on long putts versus steel shaft, which is giving me better consistency. My 3 putt avoidance is very good in general, so maybe this will save me a shot every couple rounds. Either way I'll keep gaming it until the next magic bullet hits the market.

 

[Zach.buckler23]

Huge waste of money. Not paying $350 for a putter shaft, all a myth 

[metaldog]

I think the difference is there for longer putts, shorter putts meh

 

thats why I’m willing to fork over 65 bucks for a steelfiber 125 putter shaft, super stiff and doesn’t break bank

[pjl1959]

I have never putted with a premium shaft. That said, I don’t see many tour players (with conventional putters) using premium shafts. My thought is that if they were so good, every tour player would be using one. I can see how a premium shaft might be advantageous in a broomstick, but probably not in a 34-35” putter. 

[SwingMan]

3 hours ago, pjl1959 said:

I have never putted with a premium shaft. That said, I don’t see many tour players (with conventional putters) using premium shafts. My thought is that if they were so good, every tour player would be using one. I can see how a premium shaft might be advantageous in a broomstick, but probably not in a 34-35” putter. 

 

Don't know about that ... tour players tend to hide cosmetics if sponsored by another company.

 

And then you might have a 30-50 footer where you may need that perfectly round to spec shaft - the only putter shaft that is machine made is the TPT. Worth it? That's up to the golfer.

[Cameron Circle T]

16 minutes ago, SwingMan said:

 

Don't know about that ... tour players tend to hide cosmetics if sponsored by another company.

 

And then you might have a 30-50 footer where you may need that perfectly round to spec shaft - the only putter shaft that is machine made is the TPT. Worth it? That's up to the golfer.

Harder to hide when they're overwhelmingly playing steel shafts.  I'm sure many have the CT Tour in their putter.  But you only see a handful of all graphite—Morikawa and some others using various ones.  And I don't think I've seen any BGT shafts.  That other website's own data showed that one didn't do much.