Do you agree with Tom Wishon?

[CrapHacker]

He wrote this ...

Question: What Does the Expression "The Shaft is the Engine of the Club" Mean? Is It True?

Answer: It means that some golfers believe the shaft to be the most important part of the golf club, which really is not true.
Sticking with the automobile anology, the shaft is really part of the "transmission" of the golf club. The golfer is the engine.

The role of the shaft is quite simple. It elicits the primary control over the total weight of the golf club, and it has a minor to medium effect on the trajectory or height of the shot.

What makes some golfers believe that the shaft is the most important part of the golf club is a very interesting part of the performance of the club that we call "feel." For golfers who have the ability to perceive the bending feel of the shaft during the swing, using a golf club with a shaft that is much too stiff or much too flexible will result in a fairly universal reaction to the shot: Yuck!

So when golfers who possess such a refined sense of feel for the action of the shaft happen upon a shaft that elicits a pleasing response, these golfers appreciate that feel. And many form the belief that the shaft is more important than it really is from a pure performance standpoint.

In truth, the clubhead is the most important part of the golf club. How so? Put the perfect shaft for a golfer into a clubhead that is ill-suited for his swing and the shotmaking results are definitely going to be poor. On the other hand, put the golfer into the absolute best clubhead for their swing but install a very stiff or flexible shaft and the shotmaking results will still be pretty good in terms of distance and accuracy. The feel may be poor, but the actual shotmaking results will still be better than if the golfer uses a clubhead that is a very poor match to their swing requirements.

What do you think?

 

[Ethan]

No.

The shaft delivers the clubhead to the ball, and if the shaft is unsuitable and is delivering the clubhead wrongly, no amount of engineering in the clubhead can compensate for it.

Tom Wishon makes and sells clubheads, not shafts, funnily enough.

 

[chrisd]

Pros that I have asked say that the shaft is the single most important part for the reason that Ethan says



Chris

 

[USER1999]

One without the other doesn't work that well.

 

[Imurg]

Shaft 1st
Clubhead 2nd

As Ethan says its the shaft that gets the clubhead to the ball. The correct head helps but without the correct shaft you could have a can of beans on the end and the results will be similarly bad.

 

[MashieNiblick]

Interesting discussion.

What I wonder is the extent to which a player's ability is a factor in determining the relative importance of the head and the shaft. Would a better player with a more repeatable swing and who is a more consistent ball striker feel the effect of the wrong shaft more than a less good ball striker with an erratic swing for whom the wrong head (e.g. pure blade rather than GI) might be a more significant factor?

 

[Toby_LeRhone]

What is certainly true is that many golfers overemphasise the importance of quality of club over quality of swing.

 

[Piece]

Shaft 1st
Clubhead 2nd

As Ethan says its the shaft that gets the clubhead to the ball. The correct head helps but without the correct shaft you could have a can of beans on the end and the results will be similarly bad.

Agree.....with Imurg!

 

[RGDave]

All this is most interesting.

I am trying to find a different shaft for my driver(s).

If all the mathematical calculations are correct, with my swing speed, I could probably do with a 14 degree driver.

Except one doesn't exist.

I tried an FT-9 13, which was OK, but not spectacular.

I have a Tom Wishon supplier looking into getting me a slightly softer/higher launch shaft. We'll see what he come up with.

 

[Scott1505]

Tom Wishon makes and sells clubheads, not shafts, funnily enough.

I might be worng but i was pretty sure he makes shafts as well. Pretty sure i used to have a taylormade driver with a wishon shaft in it?

 

[granters]

I think you only have to look at club fittings to answer the question. While the head is obviously important, look at the differences when hitting the same head with different shafts in terms of ball flight and distance

I do think there are obviously certain head styles suited to different standards of golfers but if you can't get the ball moving as you want it initially then head design doesn't matter a toss.

Very interesting topic though and i aint sure there's a definitive answer

 

[Mongoose]

Wishon generally talks a lot of sense, and the quote that the original poster has used seems logical, but I do think he is over emphasising the effect of the head versus shaft. Most heads made these days perform pretty similar, but the variety of shaft performance is enormous, and while the shaft may be the gearbox, the wrong gearbox and you arent going to get very far.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I personally think within reason the shaft is the more important factor. However if you give a 28 handicapper a bladed head and C/F shaft I agree that the results won't be fantastic as the sweetspot and forgiveness will be negligible.

That said, if you are realistic with the type of clubhead, married to a shaft that produces optimum speed, torque, kick and all the other factors then I do believe it will make anyone with a semblance of a repeatable action into a more consistent golfer

 

[RGDave]

Tom Wishon makes and sells clubheads, not shafts, funnily enough.

I might be worng but i was pretty sure he makes shafts as well. Pretty sure i used to have a taylormade driver with a wishon shaft in it?

Well, you are right. If he doesn't "make" them, he certainly puts his name on some.

I'm going to try one out.

It's not the cost of the shaft that worries me, it'll be the cost of the video analysis and fitting.

 

[viscount17]

Tom Wishon makes and sells clubheads, not shafts, funnily enough.

I might be worng but i was pretty sure he makes shafts as well. Pretty sure i used to have a taylormade driver with a wishon shaft in it?

Well, you are right. If he doesn't "make" them, he certainly puts his name on some.

I'm going to try one out.

I can vouch for that, I have Tom Wishon shafts in Tom Wishon heads. Interestingly, my fitter didn't have the same view as he's very much into the right shaft for the swing.

 

[kid2]

I disagree with both....I think that the engine is the player and not the club....

It don't matter what clubhead or shaft is there if the golfer hasn't got the right fundamentals in place then the effectively the engine isn't running properly.

Just my 2 cents but for me that shaft has to transfer the energy from the golfers body into the clubhead and then into the ball.

 

[TheClaw]

I disagree with both....I think that the engine is the player and not the club....

It don't matter what clubhead or shaft is there if the golfer hasn't got the right fundamentals in place then the effectively the engine isn't running properly.

Just my 2 cents but for me that shaft has to transfer the energy from the golfers body into the clubhead and then into the ball.

"Sticking with the automobile anology, the shaft is really part of the "transmission" of the golf club. The golfer is the engine."

 

[CrapHacker]

Well, I think he's talking absolute rubbish.

I had a set of Titleist clubs with True Temper s300 shafts, and occasionally managed to get one out of the sweet spot.

Noone is going to argue that titleist make a darned good clubhead, but because the shafts were far too strong for my swing, my good shots went straight, but with no height, and no distance.

Now I'm using Benross clubs, which have decent enough clubheads, but nothing amazing, I have True Temper Dynalite shafts which are designed to help slower swing speeds.

And my iron shots are higher, and longer.

Which is totally down to the shafts.

 

[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.

 

[Ethan]

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?