Do you agree with Tom Wishon?

[Imurg]

If you use, say, the Cally X20 head on a TTX100 shaft you will get comparable results to using a Cally X prototype head with the X100 shaft - not exactly but you will get results because the clubhead will come back to the ball in a similar position.
Use the X20 head with a TT Senior flex and another with the X100 and you'll be lucky to get them in the same postcode with the same swing. Changing your swing to suit a club is surely the wrong way to go about things..?

 

[MashieNiblick]

If you use, say, the Cally X20 head on a TTX100 shaft you will get comparable results to using a Cally X prototype head with the X100 shaft - not exactly but you will get results because the clubhead will come back to the ball in a similar position.
Use the X20 head with a TT Senior flex and another with the X100 and you'll be lucky to get them in the same postcode with the same swing.

Might be a good item for the mag. Get 4 golfers of varying abilities and try different head type and shaft flex combinations on trackman/flightscope and see the results.

 

[EZprophet]

It seems to me like only one person who replied above has actually read/understood Tom Wishons point.... but anyways....

I have no idea whether he is actually right or not but I know that I definitely change my swing depending on what shaft I am swinging with, meaning theres certainly a chance that he's right imo.

Please elaborate.

If you change your swing based on the shaft, surely that disproves his point?

Sorry looking back on my post I wasn't very clear. What I should have said instead of "I change my swing" is "my swing changes" depending on the shaft.

I don't change my swing consciously, but depending on where I feel the clubhead is in my swing (due to the flex/torque of the shaft or whatever) I will react and do whatever is necessary with my swing to get the face of the club on the ball. For example, I hit balls with my mates regular flex shafts all the time, and can hit them pretty well, but theres no way Im putting the same swing on their clubs as I do my own, as if I did the clubhead wouldnt get to the ball properly.

I've been for two driver fittings and both times, after hitting a few with my own driver to get a reading, the fitter has handed me X-Flex shafts (my avg swing speed is 118, high ball flight etc). Both times after hitting a few drives, I've been handed the S flex versions, and got much better results. (probably because I've used S flex shafts since I was a kid, so they feel right to me...)

Now if you programmed a machine to replicate my swing and put an X flex in my hands, I reckon the machine would probably get good results. But put an X flex in my actual hands, and I get pretty average/poor results. I just dont like it, they feel like boards to me. I cant feel the club head, and the lack of movement in the shaft just doesnt feel right, and I have no doubt that this affects the way I swing the club.

Whether this proves or disproves what he's saying, I don't know, but I think he could well be on to something.

Changing your swing to suit a club is surely the wrong way to go about things..?

It definitely is the wrong way to go about things, but I think it can't be helped. I think you naturally adjust the way you swing to get the club head on the ball. Thats why finding a good shaft for you is important, whats up for debate is whether that is because certain shafts launch the ball properly when matched with certain swings or whether certain shafts "feel" right to certain players, allowing them to put good swings on the ball.

 

[CrapHacker]

I've been for two driver fittings and both times, after hitting a few with my own driver to get a reading, the fitter has handed me X-Flex shafts (my avg swing speed is 118, high ball flight etc). Both times after hitting a few drives, I've been handed the S flex versions, and got much better results. (probably because I've used S flex shafts since I was a kid, so they feel right to me...)

Now if you programmed a machine to replicate my swing and put an X flex in my hands, I reckon the machine would probably get good results. But put an X flex in my actual hands, and I get pretty average/poor results. I just dont like it, they feel like boards to me. I cant feel the club head, and the lack of movement in the shaft just doesnt feel right, and I have no doubt that this affects the way I swing the club.

Surely that argues against his point

You use the shaft that is right for you, and if you use the stiffer shaft with less feel, you get worse results?

So the shaft is the all important ingredient to your personal success.

 

[Ethan]

If you use, say, the Cally X20 head on a TTX100 shaft you will get comparable results to using a Cally X prototype head with the X100 shaft - not exactly but you will get results because the clubhead will come back to the ball in a similar position.
Use the X20 head with a TT Senior flex and another with the X100 and you'll be lucky to get them in the same postcode with the same swing. Changing your swing to suit a club is surely the wrong way to go about things..?

Exactly.

Obviously the head makes a difference, but the right shaft and the wrong head is better than the converse.

 

[EZprophet]

I've been for two driver fittings and both times, after hitting a few with my own driver to get a reading, the fitter has handed me X-Flex shafts (my avg swing speed is 118, high ball flight etc). Both times after hitting a few drives, I've been handed the S flex versions, and got much better results. (probably because I've used S flex shafts since I was a kid, so they feel right to me...)

Now if you programmed a machine to replicate my swing and put an X flex in my hands, I reckon the machine would probably get good results. But put an X flex in my actual hands, and I get pretty average/poor results. I just dont like it, they feel like boards to me. I cant feel the club head, and the lack of movement in the shaft just doesnt feel right, and I have no doubt that this affects the way I swing the club.

Surely that argues against his point

You use the shaft that is right for you, and if you use the stiffer shaft with less feel, you get worse results?

So the shaft is the all important ingredient to your personal success.

No, it doesn't argue against his point.

I'm not saying that the shaft isn't important... I was just questioning WHY it was important.

The point I was making was that both times I went for a fitting, the fitter handed me a shaft that he though would be the best for my swing, due to my launch monitor numbers, but I couldn't hit them well. So he then handed me a shaft that was less suited to my numbers, and I hit it well.

Is that because the fitter got it wrong? Or because the numbers were lying? Probably not. Its more likely because the numbers are a RESULT of the swing, and the shaft affects the swing as much as the swing affects the shaft.

The very fact that shaft fitting is not an exact science makes Wishons point very plausible, because there is absolutely no reason why it shouldnt be. One possible explanation for why its not is because "feel" of a shaft has a big impact on the result of the swing.

I'm not saying he's right, but Im saying it does make sense and it is possible in my eyes.