QUESTION: Hi Mark,
There is quite a bit of hype about shaft puring or spline alignment. Is this really important in the installation of a shaft. If it is so important, why don’t the shaft makers provide shafts with the spline identified?
Thanks, David
ANSWER: Hi David,
You are asking a question that requires a very long answer, so grab a cup of coffee, and sit back. First, in the interest of self discosure, I am involved in many aspects of the clubmaking industry, and I have had a financial interest in a golf shop that is a licensee of Strategic Shaft Technologies, (SST PURE), for several years now.
To answer your questions- here is some background.
Most every shaft maker that is designing and manufacturing models for the premium market is doing a wonderful job. The shaft products on the market today are better, in terms of quality, than at any time in the history of golf.Â
What has also improved is the ability to measure these products. Using computers, load sensors, accelerometers, and the like, shafts are subject to a wider range of detailed production measurements. Combine this with the ability to track and measure the shaft’s effect on the flight of the golf ball, and you have a wealth of information on how a shaft might be adjusted to maximize performance.
Several years back, the USGA wrote into the rule book that a shaft must: “bend in such a way that the deflection is the same regardless of how the shaft is rotated about its longitudinal axis; and twist the same amount in both directions.” This is to basically say that every golf club must have a shaft that plays symmetrical and uniform. The only problem with the rule is that, as the USGA has learned, is that no shafts exhibit the exact same properties as it is rotated…
The SST PURE company petitioned for an exception to the rule, and the USGA agreed that shafts could be installed in a specific alignment, as long as the shaft was installed in a nuetral manner and meeting the spirit of the rule. The current rules will not allow a shaft into play that is intentionally aligned/installed in a manner that will aid in imparting a correcting flight to the golf ball.
So, knowing that golf shafts measure differently in different alignment positions, knowing that the USGA recognizes the randomness of golf shafts, and knowing that computers are capable of measuring various aspects of a golf shaft, the next question is, “does shaft alignment affect the performance of a golf club?”.
My answer is this-
Every golfer is playing with shafts that have more uniformity and less uniformity about the circumference of each model. It only makes sense that a golfer in search of the most uniform performance, will choose a process that aids in finding this uniformity. I strongly believe in choosing uniform shaft alignment versus random shaft alignment.
Does this uniformity produce better results? Everyone acknowledges the variation in shafts, but some do argue that it makes no difference in the shot performance. I have seen, tested and played with enough shafts to know that proper shaft alignment has a distinct performance benefit. On the PGA Tour, the SST PURE Tour Van has been out there for almost 10 years servicing the players, and usually, if something is a myth, it only takes a year or two for it to come and go. There are now SST PURE vans that interact with the Champions Tour, Nationwide Tour, and European PGA Tour. In 2007, both the U.S. Open and British Open champions played with SST PURE shaft aligned golf clubs. Also, Nippon Shaft has had major winners on the LPGA who have had their shafts SST PUREd.
There are many SST PURE licensees that are also Authorized Nippon Shaft Installation Center and there are other shaft alignment methods that some of our other Authorized Centers advocate. I am for any installation method that makes a golf club play better and conforms to the rules of golf.
Finally, regarding your question about why don’t the shaft makers mark their shafts for optimal alignment installation- some of the answers are legal and political, but are mostly cultural, and these changes have a schedule of their own. How come most every putter on the PGA Tour has a loft of 1-2 degrees, but the average amateur golfer is using 3 or 4 degrees of loft? The answer is in the culture of our industry. Many Ping brand putters were 6 degrees years ago, but as computer testing has evolved, and the grasses have become more like pool tables, lesser lofts are more efficient, and slowly, lower lofts are working their way towards the mainstream putters brands. It has taken years for this change to take place, and the shaft culture has a similar schedule of its own.
Speaking for the Nippon Shaft company, we spend all of our time and energy making each and every model as uniform and consistent as possible. The base materials we choose, our world famous heat treatment processes, our razor-thin manufacturing tolerances are all chosen to produce the most consistent product possible. Each shaft is subject to many computers and lasers as it moves from raw material to finished product. Nippon Shaft gives all its energy to making a perfect shaft, and prefers to leave the fitting and installation to the next group of professionals. Nippon Shaft supports any method of installation that gives optimal performance of our products and conforms to the rules of golf.
Best regards, Mark
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