Appreciate the kind words. Thanks for the support!

I’m 63 years young and I bought a 64 gram shaft for my F9 online doing my own research and I tested it against a 55 gram shaft to reinforce my purchase decision and concluded that anything under 60 grams wouldn’t work for me but maybe in 10 years that will change.

Thanks Dave. Definitely seems that torque these days is more about a "feel" then it used to be. Better high end composite materials seem to cover today what torque did then. Thanks for the support!

Thank you. I have some putter videos planned like what you described so stay tuned.

Thanks for the support!

Good to know. I had some more on the topic included in this video but ended up on the cutting room floor because of time. I never saw any of the .370 wood shafts in person but there are some unique ones out there. Thinking Wilson Fat Shafts!

You covered the topic perfectly. And so odd that when i found out it was .370, i thought maybe it was a fake diamana, but apparently they made some exclusively for cleveland in the .370 spec and were indeed real. I would like you to do a video talking about differences in stock shafts vs aftermarket, china vs made in japan or usa, and what is your opinion, and are they worth it for some golfers and maybe not others? Would be a good topic

@@landonvanhorn592 Planning on doing more shaft videos going forward. Hoping to have a good one ready for next week!

Torque is hard to isolate since it's almost always tied into weight, flex, and profile. Only shaft I know of that ever did a pure torque variation was the old UST VTS. I've had one person tell me they really worked but never tried it myself. Thanks for the support!

Maybe try the shemale shaft. Best of both worlds.

@@gisellesbikeseat ahhh ha ha ha… may the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits!

I've never tried it on a standard bore club. Did it all the time when reshafting old Callaway bore thru irons. Man, were those a pain!

@@EFGMC oh yeah. That sucked, because it was every iron they made and everyone wanted to play them. It totally works on a standard bore head. And it’s easier than reaming out a whole iron set. Plus it’s easy to ream out a head off center.

Shafts are the hot commodity now. Just look how many different shafts those companies release each year. Used to get maybe one shaft every few years, now it's multiple each year. High end fitting companies and internet are driving it. I have serious doubts, the new shafts are that much better.

@@EFGMC Yep, their marketing has definitely got more aggressive over time for sure

You can get to the same SW in either case, however the static weight of the club will be different. Each golfer will be a little different in how they react to that weight change.

The Evenflow blue would on paper fit what you describe. They are also cheap at this point so it would be good to experiment with.

Thanks Sean!

Welcome to the channel. I'm in Atlanta.

@@EFGMC ah too far from the west coast unfortunately. Would you recommend going to a pro shop or golf store for getting a shaft put on? Thanks for what you do!

@@Dhobby517 It's always going to be a gamble taking clubs somewhere like a big golf retailer or pro shop. I would ask some golf buddies if they have any recommendations. If it's just basic assembly, most places should be able to handle it. You might just need to be very specific about what you want.

@@EFGMC perfect, thank you

I had that shaft on my old xhot pro driver. I now have a new driver and am debating between that shaft and adila tour green shaft. Both in stiff. Reason for choice is my 3 wood had adila tour green in 75g and i love it. Any thoughts???

I think those were similar to a Dynamic Gold S300

1 inch tipped off a wood shaft increases the flex by about 1/2 so a stiff shaft with 1 inch tipping would play right between stiff and X stiff.

@@EFGMC thanks for the answer with that in mind I’m going with half inch to start play few rounds and see how it plays can always trim the full inch if required once again thank you very much for your quick response

I would look for something else with a high balance point. Also I prefer my fairway woods to be slightly heavier than my driver shaft. The Evenflow Riptide CB is a shaft I have worked with a good bit. It's discontinued now but you can find them on eBay if you want a cheap experiment.

There are many reasons you may hit your 3 wood further. A heavier shaft might help, it might not.

I think you might look at something in the sub 50g category. Obviously you could go longer on shaft length to get some more speed, or lighter in head weight as well.

Makes no difference in my book. Weight, launch profile and flex are what matters most.

Maybe. Won't know unless you try it. That being said I've never really seen major changes coming from just swapping shafts unless you are making significant weight or length changes from it.

@@EFGMC The Taylor Made was a good one that I had built custom and pured a number of years ago. Just thought I might try. If not I’m going to buy a PXG 0811X after I get fitted for it. Need more confidence in putting the ball in play. My 3 woos=d is a PXG 0341X with Diamana 60 S reg shaft and it is awesome even after setting it to 13.5 loft..

@@roncarlton1882 It's a cheap experiment with no down side so I say try it and see.

Putter shafts will always be cut from the butt end. Once you do that, the head feel will be much lighter. Usually are going to need to add at least 10g to the head for each inch you take off. Best way to do it is cut the shaft and then go to the putting green with some lead tape. Start adding a couple 2 inch strips at a time until you get the desired feel and result. Then you can decide if you want to keep the tape on there or switch to a different weighting method (screw in weights, tungsten powder, shaft tip weight, etc).

Have not done a video yet. I honestly think most golfers won't see any difference. Only for the golfers who are swinging very hard and fast and need added stability from more exotic materials, or golfers looking for extremely light weight composites (ie under 50g) with stability and consistency.

Jim, do yourself a favor, visit TXG on youtube if you want some accurate advice of stock vs. aftermarket shafts. (Or anything else under the sun) There's a reason why specialized club fitters have 150 + shafts on the wall. The shaft is the "engine" of the component... crap shaft, crap results.

@@dzaino1986 Going to disagree with a good bit of this. TXG is entertaining and informative, however they are at the end of the day a business based on fitting and selling golf equipment. Because of that, everything they do needs to be viewed through that lens. Also the shaft is not, can't stress this enough, the engine of the golf club. The shaft does not provide any power, energy, whatever to the ball. The golfer is the engine. The most the shaft can do is help the player return the club head to the ball in the correct position consistently.

Appreciate the replies as well as the back-and-forth on this question guys! Mark Crossfield provides a number of great shaft videos where he consistently demonstrates that shafts don't make a huge difference regardless of flex, stock, aftermarket, etc. He posits that it all comes down to what you prefer in terms of feel and what gives you confidence over the ball. Unless you're an elite player whose game might benefit from the marginal gains a fancy shaft might offer, there's not much reason to shell out big money on a shaft. Here's a good example of one of his videos: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ebGaiqmQmc2lpYU.html Thanks again for the conversation. AJ, thanks too for the great content!!

@@EFGMC I’ve heard some fitters, TXG being one of them, say that a properly fitted club will result in more distance for most people that have never been fitted. They quantify this by saying a player’s total distance (carry and roll) normalized on a GC Quad should be 2.7 times club head speed. I’m curious what you think about this? I’ve seen a lot of videos where players certainly meet this threshold, even while I’m 20 to 30 yards short. 2.7 x club head speed is a bold claim to make. Are you able to provide this for your clients?

No way to give a blanket answer. Some golfers will see improvement from heavier head, some will see a benefit from counter balancing. Some golfers will only see it go down. Other option is to just make the head lighter. That can boost speed but accuracy can suffer.

how would you make the club head lighter?@@EFGMC

@@GhostWarrior2366 If the driver has moveable weights, you can remove or replace with lighter ones.

This is where we get into the shaft tricks that some manufacturers use as that Speeder 665 was a "made for" Callaway shaft, and had little to no real resemblance to the actual 661 Speeders that cost $400. The Motore F1 in a similar weight will be closer to the Smoke, however if you like the Smoke Black 60 I would go with that as it's an excellent shaft in my opinion.

@@EFGMC thanks a million, will do that.

Staying in the Fuji line, you could go with the Motore F3 5 in the R2 flex. That would be pretty close, a touch lighter. Ventus Blue 5 R2 would be another option.

@@EFGMC thank you

I wouldn't worry about premium shafts. Lighter could help with club head speed but not every golfer responds the same to weight changes. The other piece is making sure the lighter club improves your strike pattern and doesn't make it worse. Ideally your ball speed would be around 120 for an 80mph swing. If you are at 100, solid contact is an issue. I would say try something lighter and see if you notice an improvement. Might also suggest trying a shorter length driver as that can help with both solid contact and slice issues.

@@EFGMC Thank you for your response. You are correct I do not make solid contact. Do you offer consultation services outside of KZfaq?

@@jzm5014 You can email me if you have more questions. aj@smartstake.com Might want to also check out this video I did discussing getting the most from your current driver. People seem to find it helpful. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mL6XlLh0xNqvc6s.html

You could and some .335 hosels are actually bigger than what they say so it might not take much sanding. You will be weakening the shaft tip though and especially if you are using a lighter weight shaft, it could lead to a break.

@@EFGMC Thank you AJ. I’m experimenting. I have an old Proforce graphite shaft. I’ve ordered a Taylor made M5 tip which is .335. ID.I’m trying to lengthen my M5 - 5 wood without extending the original shaft. Callaway has come out with a Heaven Wood which is actually that. A 20degree or 21 degree head on a three wood length shaft. I could not be cheap and I could get a new Proforce shaft from Golf Town for $90 CAN$. Thanks again. Big fan, John.

@@EFGMC Hi AJ, I had used calibres to measure the diameter of the pre-finished shaft I wanted to use. I gently removed the paint, sanding just down to the bare shaft. After removing the gold paint, the shaft fit without having to diminish the integrity of the shaft. Thank you for your guidance. A) you are a great help and , B) extremely knowledgeable. Thanks again. Big Fan.

Different shafts use a combination of different carbon fiber materials. Some have particular attributes that make them desirable for a shaft designer but are also more expensive. More expensive shafts in theory have more expensive fibers used in them. That said, marketing is also a big part of where these shafts end up on the price scale.

@@EFGMC Thanks for the reply and info. From what you have said here, I presume these expensive shafts would apply more to drivers, where a designer is trying to achieve a particular response from the shaft, than say a set of graphite shafts for a set of Irons.

@@grahamwiggett9641 Always comes down to weight. You can make a shaft with certain specs and cheaper materials but it gets heavy. More expensive materials are stronger and lighter. Iron shafts are heavier to start with so it's less of an issue.

In most cases it will be Regular or Light flex. Will depend on how quick they swing and how they respond to the loading feel. Some golfers try and over swing at the top when the shaft feels too stiff. This results in a loss of speed at impact and often a loss of control. General rule I have always used, is when in doubt, go with the softer flex.

Got that video coming up!

Often people will use a lighter weight shaft in the driver vs the fairways but some will use the exact same shaft in both. Just depends what works for you and what you are looking for.

I have 64 gram Tensei Blue CK shafts (regular flex) in both my driver and fairway wood and it seems to work for me. Tested a 55 gram shaft recently against my 64 and it seems like I had better control, more consistency with my 64. Had to make sure I made the right choice since I bought it online and it is hard to decide what exactly you need since there’s so much out there.

Assuming you can bend them, as Pings are often very difficult to bend, I don't see any issues with the stopping. No different from looking at the stopping from a 8 to a 7 iron for example. You will loose some bounce and increase the offset a bit though.

It's a hard question for me to answer. Some people can feel small weight changes and some can't. I would say 9-10 grams is enough weight that you could feel a difference. I wouldn't put too much stock in the 55g you tested if the head was different unless you know the head weight was the same. Also just be aware of the shaft balance point as this can make as big a difference as a static weight change when moving from a tip heavy shaft to a more counterbalanced one.

@@EFGMC thanks, unfortunately the retailer didn’t have the head tip I needed to test accurately so I had to wing it. Personally I’d like to head over to a larger fitting center to find the perfect shaft for my F9 but we’re in the middle of a remodel and I’d never hear the end of it, so I try to take an accurate shot in the dark.

@@kevinwood1722 Might want to try the a 55 to 60 with a bit of lead tape available to move the SW higher by a bit.

All trained fitters no these things and more.

I’ve been fitting since 95’ when I was 21 before launch monitors . I don’t consider anyone a competent fitter unless they know this or knows just enough to make proper recommendations. If they don’t they won’t be around long. And yes it does change with a players handicap. It just gets more detail oriented and the subtle changes in shafts become obvious due to the increase in consistency of the player. You can see 1-2 deg launch changes and 200-300 rpm’s of spin and half club distance and dispersion changes. Just remember, the progressively worse the player the less nitpicky you have to be because some players can’t make two of the same swings if their life depended on it. My order of operations with shafts with all players is weight then bend point then flex. Trust me. I have 25+ years experience and have heard fitters from the tour departments of Callaway, Titleist and TM, who are all here in Carlsbad,Ca tell me the same. All specs have their own level of importance and none are unimportant.If you get those right in that order, fitting is easy.

There are good fitters, and there are not good fitters. Some don't actually know this stuff, some maybe do but are motivated to put you into certain equipment that helps them. Trick is finding ones who both know it and apply it. As far as handicap being the determining factor, hard to say. Some golfers will be able to notice different spec changes more than others. The big difference is a lower handicap golfer will have more consistent results so it should be easier to identify changes in the results based on spec changes.

​@@EFGMC - The fitters that go through a certification program is taught this stuff. But, you kind of touched on it when you talked about doing things that help them. Remember, fitters that do it for a living are in business to make money. They will share information and recommendations, but at the end of the day, they will mostly sell the customer what they requested. I remember after Tiger won at Torrey Pines, a young man walked into our shop with a piece of paper in his hand. On the paper was everything Tiger had in his bag. He paid us to order/build every one of those clubs... down to the 7.5 degree driver. Could he hit them? Probably not. But satisfaction for him was his buddies, on the first Tee, looking into his bag and complimenting him of his clubs. And he, with exuberance, announcing that it's the setup Tiger won with at Torrey Pines. He probably didn't care if he when on to shoot a 98, it was all the satisfaction he wanted. The guy wrote us a check... we wasn't about to turn him away.

What shafts are you using that fall into that range?

@@EFGMC Tensei Orange AV 55 Stiff. Aldila Ascent Red 60 S. Tensei Blue AV 65 FW in R.

@@xavierperez9725 Have you tried lower torque in the lighter mid high launch shafts? Not arguing with your observations, just trying to understand the difference.

@@EFGMC During the fitting that landed me in the Ascent Red they put me in a Ventus Red 5 S. Was ok for two shots then distribution was all over the place and my comment to the fitter was I can’t tell where the head is. I am open to suggestions it’s totally a feel thing for me? Driver swing speed at 108. In my three wood I went with the regular flex on the Tensi Blue because the feel was better?

@@xavierperez9725 I think the Ascent is a softer flex shaft also so I don't know if that played a part. The shafts you mentioned have a design that you will feel the shaft loading as you start the down swing. Ventus Red has a more active tip section, but stiffer mid and butt so you don't get that same feel.

Why would you add a foot long wood dowel to a ladies shaft and add all that weight when light weight is the most important thing for slow speed players. Try installing an old shaft a foot down the butt as you would an extension. The shaft tapers out and doesn’t leave an edge for the shaft to break from the inside . Or sand down the dowel so it tapers to remove the edge. The dowel or shaft gradually separates from the inside of the original shaft. It will never break with a shaft down there. Extended a few clubs for a 7’ tall dude and the pre made extensions, at 3”, aren’t long enough and they break off flush at the butt of the shaft because they’re plastic. Using an old shaft as the extension is an old method but I can let the shaft go 4-5 inches inside to stabilize a 3+” extension and they never break. Plus with the old shaft inside it will unavoidably firm up the butt, especially if that old shaft was butt stiff originally. Or just cut 5” off the original shaft and extend it out 5” with that method.

Most of the mid bend, blue board type shafts have a stiffer handle section compared to other shafts. I've had this question before with the dowel and I suggested tapering the dowel tip and covering in foam to reduce and spread out the stress point. Never heard back though if that actually worked.

65 mph of club head speed really limits how much distance can be gained with equipment unfortunately. To max out distance you try to play the lightest shaft you can control. The Callaway Epic Max line offers a forty gram and some shaft companies make sub 40 stuff. After that it’s all about launch and spin. Best bet for distance is lighter, reduce loft, and don’t fade the ball. Draws have less spin and always go farther than higher spin fades.Max draw the Flash with the weight and a D setting on the adjustable sleeve. If you draw it already, it’s lighter weight or take some steroids. Sorry, bad joke there. Good luck.

So you would need to see what your ball speed is to really make that call. If your ball speed is 1.5x your club speed then that's about all you can ask for. After that your options will come down to club head speed and launch angle. There are lighter shafts out there but not sure how much you would get from that. Other option would be a counterbalanced shaft as you can either make the club length longer (which might give more speed), or just makes the head feel lighter (which might or might not add a little speed depending on your timing and swing sequencing). Only other thing would be to make sure you have enough driver loft to give maximum distance for your speed.

Torque is measured in degrees as a description of twist but that’s not how you use it. There’s a reason x flex shafts are low torque and senior and mor flexible shafts are high torque. Torque is the potential activity or ability to load and unload energy. The twist is a side effect of this. The lower the torque the stiffer the shaft is in the range of the shafts flex. Higher, more flexible in the range. Never use torque to fix dispersion based on twisting. You give a low torque shaft to all mid and slow swingers who hit it crooked they will all need an s or x flex. Go ahead and try to find a sub 3 deg torque shaft in r flex. It doesn’t exist for a reason. The shaft manufacturers already make the flex and bend profile the appropriate torque.

@@danwhitehurst9592 ... you missed the key factor if all the other items are dialed in. Torque can be a very good tweak to dail in a club. Gotta get beyond what's going on traditional wise and old mantra, that's why no one is improving and oems are just rakingn in the cash. Yes, low torque is associated with stiffness... but that can be tweak as well. The most important thing is ei profile fitting to a golfers swing character beyond just speed. Pay close attention, and you will see why this new auto flex shaft is taking off, you will see why there are more Japanese products in players on tour hands. Some are even playing high launching shafts, that can get up in torque, but they are tipping shafts to the parallel points. Trust, torsional impact twist is keen to fix a dispersion attribute. The face will always twist at impact , how much is based on torque. How much itll droop and deflect is flex and bend point.

If you look at modern golf shafts, you will find that the overall torque numbers have actually gone up not down. Obviously manufacturers could have made the torques lower, but they didn't. They know what they are doing. If you need a 75g x flex shaft, you probably need lower torque and guess what. The torque on that shaft will be under 3. If you need a 50g R flex, you don't need or want that low torque as the feel will be sharp and unpleasant. There the torque will be 4.5 or more. I wouldn't say you should disregard torque, but if you have the weight and flex right, the torque will be where it needs to be, at least in my experience.

@@kingshark5938 I’m sorry. I’m just more realistic in what I see working. If you reduce torque by 2 deg( which is a lot) it’ll at most reduce 1 deg in each direction( open or closed. Most players who are inaccurate at so inconsistent the might have a 10 deg spread in dispersion. And most players are in that category. If shafts were 8-10 deg of torque then change to 2 then yes. It’s the same mindset as trying to fix a problem that’s 5 times worse than the adjustments on the head.

@@kingshark5938 I do very much appreciate your point of view. I love talking swing, fitting and club building theory.