Light shaft?  Stiff shaft? Heavy swing weight?  Soft Tip?  There are a lot of options in shaft selection these days.

The proper shaft in your clubs, especially your driver, can increase distance and dramatically reduce shot dispersion. Our proprietary testing recommends the proper weight, swing weight, butt stiffness and tip profile that will give you the best performance for YOUR unique swing.

"Love the new clubs. Irons are great and the re-shafted driver with the MRC Whiteboard is awesome. Have gone from a 5 to a 2.3 index." Todd T., Ft. Worth, TX

Shaft Industry News- August, 2010

Shaft Technology Updates - Hoop Strength

D'Lance Golf is one of a few companies selected by True Temper, Fujikura, ACCRA, MCC MATRIX, and Mitsubishi Rayon Golf (MRC) to install their premium shaft lines. See the new MCC OZIK, XCON, TPHD , Project X graphite, Fujikura Motore Speeder and Motore F3, ACCRA DyMATCH , and MRC Diamana, 'ilima, Kai' Li, Fubuki only at D'Lance Golf Performance Center and on our Fitting Trailer.

We have the largest selection of MATRIX OZIK and MATRIX Studio series shafts for demo in the country. Try all of the great shafts from MATRIX, including the OZIK TPHD, HD, Altus, F7M2, XCON and Code series.

Why we recommend re-shafting major manufacturers clubs.

When we test the shaft characteristics of off-the-rack clubs, the tolerances and quality of the shafts are designed for the average golfer. Most company’s use shafts that are very soft flex and light weight in their entry-level clubs so that the golfer has a better feeling club and the club gets the ball in the air. The problem is that these shafts do not promote a consistent, accurate ball flight. For better players choosing muscleback or higher performance heads the opposite is true. Shafts are usually way too stiff resulting in lost distance, lower ball flight, and a feeling that you have to “work” to get the shaft to perform. The only way to guarantee consistent perfomance is by putting the correct shafts in your clubs with consistent weights, flexes, swing weights, and tip profiles that match YOUR unique swing.

Heavy Shafts or Light Shafts? In the last several years, shaft weights have gotten lighter and lighter. The reason? Lighter shafts are easier to swing and usually give you more distance. In general, steel shafts are heavier than graphite shafts. This is why most drivers and fairway woods have graphite shafts instead of steel. The problem is that if your shafts are TOO light, you will be very erratic and not hit the ball consistently. The smoother your swing and slower your downswing time, the lighter the shaft you can play. Major manufacturer’s usually put only one weight of shaft in their clubs.

Swing Weight versus Static Weight. Those of you that play racquet sports know the difference in feel of a racquet that feels heavier toward the head versus one that feels heavier in the handle. The same goes for golf clubs. The three components of the golf club; grip, shaft and clubhead, make up the total static weight of the club. How those components fit together determines the swing weight or balance of the club. There is a swingweight scale that goes roughly from C-1 (lightest) to E-9 (heaviest) in terms of head-heavy feel. Most golfers cannot tell the difference between 3 swing weights, C-7 versus C-9, for example. However, if you put a light swing weight club (C-7) in the hands of a golfer that is used to swinging a heavy steel shafted club (D-6), they will immediately be able to feel the difference. Also, the heavier the grip (a jumbo Avon Chamois grip), the lighter the swing weight. That is why golfers that change their own grips can completely destroy a great performing set of clubs by putting heavier or lighter grips on them. Heavy grips AND shafts mean high swing weights. This is why when some golfers switch from steel to graphite in their irons it takes them a long time to adjust to the new clubs.

Progressive Weighting. Since golf clubs get progressively shorter from driver (usually 44-45”), to lob wedge (35-35 ½”), the swing weight and feel of the club will change unless the shafts are progressively changed throughout the set. This means your lightest shaft should be in your driver and the heaviest shaft should be in your lob wedge in order to obtain the same feel. This goes for ALL golfers, not just tour players. For example, when Phil Mickelson won the 2004 Masters, he played a 75 gram shaft in his driver, 95 gram shafts in his fairway woods, and progressively weighted steel shafts (115 to 127 grams) in his irons. When Tiger Woods won the 2005 Masters, he used a 75 gram graphite shaft in his driver and a 95 gram graphite shaft in his 3 wood. He actually reshafted his old steel shafted(127 gram) 3 wood because he could not adjust to the extreme difference in weight from his driver to his 3 wood. At D’Lance Golf, we have always used progressive weighting in making sets as this gives the best feel and performance.

What Determines the Shaft That is Right For YOU?

After going through a complete dynamic club fitting, our professional fitters will make recommendations as to which shaft composition, steel or graphite, the shaft flex (SFI) and shaft weight that will perform the best for your swing and game improvement objectives. The old adage, “you get what you pay for” is very true in the shaft business as well, although, when we custom build a set of golf clubs, the extreme variances in shaft flexes are taken out of the equation because we frequency match every set or individual club to your exact specifications.

Do Premium Shafts Actually Perform Better?

Yes, the $300-$450 shafts actually are quite a bit better. First of all, their consistency is far superior to that of less expensive shafts. Also, the quality of materials is substantially better. A Fujikura Rombax shaft will have better accuracy, lower spin rates, and more consistency throughout the entire length of the shaft than the Fujikura Fit-On E series, for example. When comparing premium shafts from Fujikura, ACCRA, Graphite Design, MCC Matrix, Mitsubishi Rayon(MRC), Grafalloy and UST, we look into the very specific weight, launch angle, spin rate, and distance ratings that we determine in our testing to make specific recommendations.

D’Lance Golf carries a wide selection of shafts from the following major shaft manufacturers:

GRAPHITE SHAFTS:

Grafalloy

STEEL SHAFTS:

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D'Lance Golf
14 Inverness Drive East #120A
Englewood, CO 80112
Phone: 303-730-2717
Fax: 303-730-2848
Email: info@dlancegolf.com

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Shaft Technology