Is it the head that matters or the shaft?

[kds857]

I rotate between 3 drivers:

1. Bridgestone Tourstate X-drive 8.5 with a graphite design IZ-70M (x) 44in.

2. Titleist 983E 8.5 with Fujikura 660TR (Stiff) 44 in.

3. Alpha Reaction V2 with Fujikura Speeder 569 44 in.

 

All 3 are cut down to 44 inches for the sake of consistency, and I haven't lost any distance from when they were 45 or 45.5 inches.. i'm assuming its because i hit the sweetspot more often. (those of you with ALPHA drivers, they are great, b/c they leave an impression of the ball on the face, so you can always see where you hit, and you can just 'wipe' the impression off with your fingers each time)

 

Some people say its the head design that is the most important, and others swear that the shaft is the 'engine' of the club, and that proper shaft fitting is much more important than head design.

 

If there are any experts out there, please give me your insight, for I am pondering pulling my Fuji 660TR shaft or my IZ-70 (does anyone else play this, this is a great shaft from Graphite design, orginally designed for Toshi Izawa of the Japan PGA tour) and sticking it on a "modern" head like the callaway fusion FT3 or a similar head where you can really feel the ball exploding off the face...

 

i am writing this because the 983 and the bridgestone have a very dull 'whack/thud' sound when you hit it as opposed to a 'trampoline-ish' sound like the FT3 or cobra head.

 

Just for reference, my SS is 95 with a 5 iron, 114 with 44 in. driver. and yes, i hit it far, but my short game stinks.

 

thanks!

[Johnny]

it's kinda both.. but I put more weight on the shaft (it's the engine)..

 

25% head...75% shaft

[The Boom Bapp]

The ink is what gives a pen its potential to write!

 

The shaft is what gives the clubhead its potential to perform.

 

As stated, it is the ENGINE.

 

Get optimized (fit) for a shaft ASAP, $100 will get you a 3 hour session allowing plenty of time for the fitter to find a well suited shaft for your swing type and head of choice.

[ACF]

All components of the golf club have to work together, and be fitted properly for your swing. I give the nod to the Shaft as it is the engine, and needs more "fine tuning" to make the club perform to it's fullest potential.

[idrive400yards]

i agree with everyone about the shaft being the engine, after going through a driver fitting, my consistancy, launch angle, spin rate all improved just by switching shafts with no loss to distance, it actually helped out distance as the ball goes much straighter now.

[Yellow Jacket]

Every single pro will tell you the shaft makes the biggest difference. You still need a head/shaft combo that fits you, but a good shaft with a bad head will go much further (pun intended) than a bad shaft with a good head.

[Twiggy]

Another vote for the shaft. I've seen very different results with the same driver head just by demoing different shafts. Finding the right shaft for your swing is crucial to making any driver head perform to it's full potential.

[taylormadefan]

I'm firmly fixed on the fact that both are equally important.

 

The head's job is to dictate the desired launch, spin, and ball speed conditions while the shaft is there to deliver the clubhead in the proper geometry with respect to your swing.

 

It's a bad idea to try and rewrite launch conditions by using ill fitted shafts or clubheads.

 

So, to me it's a 33.3% shaft, 33.3% head, 33.3" swing and .1% luck :cheesy:

 

Get fit, it's the key to knowing what combo suits you and your swing.

[clint6760]

I got a question. Where can I find where to get fitted for a driver is. I live in Arkansas and I don't know of anybody who has everything. Anybody know anything?

[Ascan]

Most definitely the shaft -- especially when it is partnered with the right clubhead!

[sfdoddsy]

After trying out literally dozens of drivers and shafts over the past few months, I've come to the obvious conclusion that it is both.

 

In my testing the head seems to the greater influence over the basic shot shape, ie fade, straight, draw. In other words, with an R7 I tended to hit the same kind of shot (slight draw) no matter which shaft I used whereas the HiBore produce a slight fade no matter which shaft I tried.

 

The big difference was how far or high said draw or fade went. With my old R7, one shaft (Speeder 757) would allow me occasional hits over 300 yard shots with ideal trajectory, then another would produce high flyers (UST V2), and still another knuckle balls 50 yards shorter (Diamana). And all these shafts have similar specs.

 

But of course the wrong flex might also send balls astray.

 

This is why I wonder how on earth the average player gets to check out whether a driver is right for them. How do you know if the head is right and the shaft wrong or vice versa?

 

I've now found a head (I think) that gives me the shape I want and I'm going through a process of elimination get the right shaft. I strongly suspect I'll end up with another 757.

 

But how can you check out an original R7 when it has that floppy MAS in it? How many head/shaft combos will the average punter go through? Two?

 

Most of the people I play with, even the low markers, have no idea how the head and shaft can affect their swing. Most don't even know the simple physics of why their ball goes left or right. Most insist they fight a hook whilst continually finding their ball in the right rough.

 

And yet of course here we obsess over minor differences. Go figure.

 

Cheers

 

Steve