Graphite or Steel Shafts

[desperate28]

Please can some one advise me as i have been given conflicting advise at Golf Shops.Which is best Graphite or Steel shaft. I have hit both, a Jack Nichlaus EZUP and a Callaway. There was very little in both distance and straightness.

 

[Fore]

In that case i'd go for steels. They are generally a lot cheaper.

 

[MarkE]

Steel. Cheaper and Graphite keep getting scratched in your bag.

 

[bobmac]

Dear Desperate,
Each has their own merits and its really up to you which you choose.
If you are a big strong man, steel would probably be better for you.
If however you are a young petite lady, definately go the graphite route.
I'm not saying this is a hard and fast rule as there are some big strong boys on here who use grarhites but generally speaking if you look around at most peoples bags, its graphite in the woods and steel in the irons.
You choose

 

[Ethan]

There is such an enormous range of steel and graphite shafts with different characteristics that it is impossible to simply answer this question.

You may also be comparing a poor graphite against a reasonable steel. I suspect the graphite shafts that Jack puts in his clubs are not the best.

What do you want from a club and how do you currently hit the ball?

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I guess it depends on your age, build and swing. I have graphites and love them and struggle to hit steel nowadays. I'd ignore a lot of advice from golf shps as many aren't qualified to give decent advice and I'd be seeking the opinion of a good pro and get him to watch you hit both types.

 

[viscount17]

started as a senior playing graphites, I now use steels and have no problem swinging them. Admittedly, I have Rifles which are not as heavy as some.

bearing in mind that I used graphites in my even less capable days, they did make it easy to get the ball in the air. I have no problem doing that with the Rifles.

if anything I'm half considering slightly stiffer steels though I don't think I have a particularly fast iron swing, it just feels better.

 

[stevie2722]

I think the only thing you can do is try the clubs your interested in with a few different shafts and see what works best for you.
after all one manufacturers shaft will be different from another i.e. different kick points to give different flights.
Its all just trial and error to see what you like and hit best.
Also a pro should be able to guide you towards which shaft will suit you best.
personally the only graphite i use is in my driver but this is just down to preference i really like the feel of s300 shafts. but I used to have rifle shafts in one set which i wasnt so keen on.

 

[desperate28]

Thanks for all the advice, i now have a busy weekend of trying different types

 

[Smiffy]

I had been playing with graphites for a number of years. I thought that graphite was superior because it gave me better distance, and the fact that it was lighter was a bonus because I always carried my bag.
Went for a fitting session at Mizuno earlier this year and we tried out all different shafts comparing them with my John Letters Trilogy graphites.
Initial results showed that my current graphite shafted clubs were imparting a lot of unwanted spin on the ball which would affect the dispersion of my shots. We then tried the Mizuno graphite shafts, which whilst better, were still not ideal. We moved on to testing a variety of steel shafts and it was finally proved that the best shafts "for my swing" were the Nippon 950's that I am now playing with. These were giving me a better shot pattern and having played with them now for about 6 months or so don't seem to have affected my distance at all. All in all a very useful exercise. And bear in mind that the shafts I have were a "free" upgrade option from the standard steels fitted to the clubs whereas I would have had to pay extra for the Mizuno graphite, it was obvious that the fitter had my best interests at heart rather than trying to flog me more expensive options that I didn't need. I find the Nippon 950's to be a superb shaft, very light and with good feedback. Prior to this I had stupidly purchased a set of Callaway X18 irons "untried" and these were fitted with S300 steel shafts, a shaft that my swing would NEVER have got any benefit from. They felt so firm that I thought I was swinging pokers.
I learned my lesson, but it cost me...as it always tends to do!