Different Shaft Weights

[nickyj4]

I have been toying with the idea of changing the shaft in my driver to either something heavier or possibly a stiffer regular shaft as I dont think I have the swing speed for stiff , what difference would putting a heavier shaft onto your driver make?

Obviously its all about personal preference but any info on the mechanics of it would be good?

 

[Alex1975]

It will be harder/slower to swing and might/should bring the flight down..

This is a round about answer as there is no one answer.

 

[shewy]

I'll tell you at the weekend, I'm fitting a proforce v2 75 reg into my burner.

 

[duncan mackie]

what difference would putting a heavier shaft onto your driver make?

everything will depend on your existing swing mechanics, and how they interact with the heavier shaft and the impact the heavier shaft has on the swing weight (if any).

whilst it's generally true to say that a stiffer shaft will lead to a lower dispersion and a tendency to lower and fade it's much more difficult with shaft weight.

as a simple example, if you have a good strong slow smooth shoulder turn you will see a different set of symptoms when switching to a heavier shaft than those of a pick it up and hit it with the forearms and wrists swing (all else remaining constant) and then there's the huge issue of initial impact and 1000 range balls later ......

 

[the_coach]

I have been toying with the idea of changing the shaft in my driver to either something heavier or possibly a stiffer regular shaft as I dont think I have the swing speed for stiff , what difference would putting a heavier shaft onto your driver make?

Obviously its all about personal preference but any info on the mechanics of it would be good?

Curious as to the reason your toying with the idea of a heavier shaft? Whether it would be worth it results-wise would be down to how you stress the shaft & at what stage in the swing this is happening plus what the SS is to start with.

As a generalization it would be harder to swing at the same speed you swing the shaft you have in now, so potentially wouldn't transfer as much energy to the ball at collision, unless you could do that, so less distance, so if it's a shot that's on line or off line neither would travel as far.

It would depend whether the heavier shafts profile matched the swing profile in a ways to have more, (or less) centered strikes, as to whether the dispersion was the same, better or worse than the current shaft.

Likewise depending on how the clubhead & face is delivered to the ball in both swing path, swing direction through impact, & the AoA in relationship to the dynamic loft, as to the launch angle & spin loft, so spin rate so height & distance.

If the swing with the heavier shaft transferred less energy to the ball it might still start as high but would fall to ground sooner. It would depend on swing path etc. face angle at address (takes more effort to 'square' a heavier shaft, club) & importantly where on the face contact was as to whether start or finishing direction was any better.

 

[nemicu]

As general rule of thumb too, shaft weight can be used to control tempo in the swing. A stronger, faster swinger would perhaps benefit from a heavier shaft to enable better control during the swing. A heavier shaft is generally stiffer due to the shaft construction in most shaft models of the same range, but modern ply technology can also produce stiff shafts at a much lighter weight than previously possible.
A lightweight shaft generally becomes easier to swing because of reduced overall heft and this leads to greater swing speed - an advantage to the weaker player with a reduced swing speed. Conversely, it's still possible to make a heavy shaft with a weak flex, but as pointed out by coach - why would you want to do this? From my perspective, getting the right weight in your shaft (in conjunction with the length and flex) will make hitting the sweetspot much easier simply because of the enhanced control. But that doesn't mean you will suddenly yield better results simply by randomly picking an arbitrary weight on a whim. Weight needs to be fitted just as accurately as anything else to achieve the best chance of hitting consistently - it's certainly not the aspect of fitting that requires the least attention.

 

[nickyj4]

Cheers for the advice guys, just been struggling keeping driver from going right and wondered if heavier shaft would help me keep it under control. After the advice on here and getting someone to look at swing last night ive decided to stick where I am and work on the issues with my swing path