Shaft loading, Fitting, etc.

[jimmydean]

When getting fitted for a new set of clubs, should you get how you load the shaft analized ?Also, does Trackman or Flightscope measure this. If not, how is shaft loading measured. What are the most important things you want measured? Thanks for any help you can give me.
Jimmy

 

[Michael Jacobs]

Jimmy,

Great questions... The acceleration profile of the shaft is measured on a Flightscope, displays the measurements in GForces.

As for the shaft bending mode in the change of direction and early downswing, I would have as little as humanly possible as it adds nothing but variability to the orientation of the club face at impact.

Golfers will react to what they are sensing in the shaft and it will ultimately affect their hand path. I would spend time into shaft weighting and how you like the sensation of the shaft.

 

[jmessner]

Jimmy,

Great questions... The acceleration profile of the shaft is measured on a Flightscope, displays the measurements in GForces.

As for the shaft bending mode in the change of direction and early downswing, I would have as little as humanly possible as it adds nothing but variability to the orientation of the club face at impact.

Golfers will react to what they are sensing in the shaft and it will ultimately affect their hand path. I would spend time into shaft weighting and how you like the sensation of the shaft.

Interesting points. There are some schools of thought in the clubfitting business that the faster your transition, the stiffer the butt section (not necessarily the whole shaft) needs to be which is why they go to the trouble of measuring the stiffness of the butt, mid section, and tip section of the shaft. Shaft weight is obviously another important factor in the mix.

 

[lia41985]

As for the shaft bending mode in the change of direction and early downswing, I would have as little as humanly possible as it adds nothing but variability to the orientation of the club face at impact.

Michael,
Am I wrong in thinking that it's not as mere of a thing as what you wrote here reads as? The most important thing is what the ball does and the most important factors in determining the ball's behavior is the path and facial orientation of the club striking the ball. When you get right down to it, that's it. If there's variability in (just) one input of a system that's built on the input of two variables, that system's going to experience a lot of variability and it's usefulness as a model with predictive power is in doubt, no? Maybe I'm reading what you wrote wrong and what I should really think is that you're trying to say that shaft behavior is not all that variable shot to shot and as such this variable is fairly controlled. Thanks in advance for your consideration in answering--this is probably just minutiae but I thought you wrote an interesting post and I wanted to understand exactly what you were trying to convey.

 

[jimmydean]

Thanks Michael and others. Is Flightscope able to give me everything I would want in fitting me for all my clubs? What about the putter? Many thanks again!
Jimmy

 

[Michael Jacobs]

Thanks Michael and others. Is Flightscope able to give me everything I would want in fitting me for all my clubs? What about the putter? Many thanks again!
Jimmy

Jimmy,
Irons and woods yes, putter No. Sam Putt Lab with the 2010 software is excellent for putter fitting and 3D analysis.

 

[Michael Jacobs]

Michael,
Am I wrong in thinking that it's not as mere of a thing as what you wrote here reads as? The most important thing is what the ball does and the most important factors in determining the ball's behavior is the path and facial orientation of the club striking the ball. When you get right down to it, that's it. If there's variability in (just) one input of a system that's built on the input of two variables, that system's going to experience a lot of variability and it's usefulness as a model with predictive power is in doubt, no? Maybe I'm reading what you wrote wrong and what I should really think is that you're trying to say that shaft behavior is not all that variable shot to shot and as such this variable is fairly controlled. Thanks in advance for your consideration in answering--this is probably just minutiae but I thought you wrote an interesting post and I wanted to understand exactly what you were trying to convey.

Lia,

Sounds like you are getting yourself a bit confused, the point being made was the bending mode of the shaft in the transition from back to downswing has little value - the shaft will fully recover from that initial downswing bending mode midway in the downswing. If there was a significant bending mode in transition it could ultimately lead to variability in the orientation of the face at impact. Golfer 'feel' of the bending mode in transition will effect the path of their hands

 

[lia41985]

Thank you for the clarification!

 

[aaron_lohan]

Would the Mizuno shaft optimiser be better for measuring shaft bending and choosing the optimum shaft?