Golf Club Flex

For my money, THE most important part of the club fitting process. Get this one wrong and your clubs simply won't work as well as they could. The shaft is the engine of a golf club. The playing characteristics of a golf shaft will pretty much determine how the club performs.

Things used to be far simpler. Stiff shafts for fast swingers, soft shafts for slow swingers. The new generation of golf shafts though makes for a more finely tuned golf club and there are more variables to take into account.

Shaft choice now involves not only the flex, but also the torque, weight, bend point and tip stiffness. A stiff shaft with 6^o of torque for example will feel far more flexible than a regular with 2^o of torque. Torque ratings only really apply to graphite shafts. The lower the torque rating, the greater the resistance to twisting, the stiffer the shaft will feel.

Flex ratings vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, so it's not easy to break shafts down into stiff and regular anymore.

Playing a shaft which is too stiff will cause loss of distance and flight problems. Usually (for a right handed golfer) an overly stiff shaft will promote a fade/slice. Lighter shafts should promote more club speed which translates into extra carry. For fast swingers though, lighter shafts are more difficult to control, which could lead to a loss of accuracy.

Launch angles are directly affected by the bend point in a shaft. A low bend point creates a high launch angle and vice versa.

Our shaft rating charts cover a variety of torques and flexes. All the distance measurements are carry only. These charts show the suggested flex for graphite and steel shafts and how the torque ratings affect the playing flexes of graphite shafts.

Club length and lie angle is usually measured as a deviation (+/-) from standard measurements. Check our Standard Club Length charts for the standard club length values.