When I entered the golf club fitting business about 15 years ago, there was not a standard rating system for golf shaft stiffness. Nor was there a way to compare golf shafts. This journal gives you a way to compare golf shafts with a uniform stiffness rating evaluation. Understanding the properties of a golf shaft which is your best fit is leads to a better game.

Describing golf shaft properties is not a simple task. Shaft company marketing developed terms, “kick point”, “stiffness”, “launch” and “spin” to describe shaft properties. These terms developed into a mythological language for describing golf shafts. Shaft engineers and designers define golf shaft stiffness as a profile, the change of stiffness down the length of the shaft. Many years ago a tour of a shaft company R&D lab enlightened my understanding of golf shaft technology.

That lead to me designing and manufacturing a very accurate shaft stiffness measuring instrument. It is now used by several shaft companies. I have been writing about shaft properties for 10+ years. The term EI profile, is now part of the discussion some shaft companies are having with golfers.

If you want to understand golf shafts you have come to the right place. Here you can learn why some shafts work better for you than others. And more important, how to recognize the properties of shafts that make you a better golfer. Please share your comments about what you experience with the shafts reviewed.

A system which defines the distribution of flex down a golf shaft is how most shaft companies design golf shafts. But the information, for fear of giving that information to their competitors, is not shared with the public. It took a few years to refine my measurement instrument and many, many years to acquire and measure the popular golf shafts. This journal provides you with uniform measurements of thousands of golf shafts. If you are new here, the TECHNOLOGY MENU is a collection of articles that will guide your understand golf shaft design.

This journal is entirely supported by subscription. To insure my integrity, there are no ads on this site, that allows me to remain unbiased in the articles. If you believe as I do, that your golf shafts are essential to good golf, please subscribe. Acquiring shafts, measuring them and writing articles takes a great amount of time. Your subscription underwrites the time and resources needed to keep this journal going and growing.

This video is a detailed discussion about golf shafts stiffness and the history of how they were measured and marketed. It is one of many videos about golf equipment technology and golf club building on my youtube channel, Devoted Golfer.

It took years to understand shaft measurement and many more years to accumulate a meaningful database of shaft measurements. The magnitude of that accomplishment did not occur to me until a golf shaft company owner said it to me. Several golf shaft companies now use the EI measuring instrument I designed and manufactured. If you are a golf professional and would like access to more data there are two choices. Golf Professional subscribers get access to a larger set of data and individual profiles of all the shaft model weights and stiffness variations that were made available. Fit2Score Affiliates have access to the entire database through Excel. To hear a podcast interview I did about golf shafts with Tony Wright, a Fit2Score Software Affiliate, Click Here.

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Graphite Designs Tour AD GC Driver Shaft Review

By Russ Ryden, Fit2Score, A Dallas Fort Worth Club Fitter & Builder
The Highlands Performance Golf Center, Carrollton Texas 
Golf Digest Certified America’s 100 Best Club Fitter

I received Graphite Designs Tour AD GC shaft before the release. That gave me time to measure it and get player feedback before the scheduled release.

This is the sixth shaft from Graphite Design to use Torayca M40X in the butt section of the shaft. This is a high tensile strength and high modulus fiber prepreg. This means the shaft will exhibit more elasticity where the M40X material is applied. In comparing the models that have this material to those that don’t, I see reduced hoop deformation in the handle.

To continue reading this section of the review, you must be registered at a higher level membership.
Russ

Graphite Designs Tour AD VF Hybrid Review

By Russ Ryden, Fit2Score, A Dallas Fort Worth Club Fitter & Builder
The Highlands Performance Golf Center, Carrollton Texas 
Golf Digest Certified America’s 100 Best Club Fitter

Graphite Designs introduced the Tour AD VF, Victories requires Force, driver shaft in late 2023. The Tour AD VF Hybrid Shaft released in 2024. The profile is a close match to the VF driver profile. . Stiffness is generally a function of weigh as you can see in the chart below. The uncut weights range from 77 to 107 grams. This wide range is similar to the wide weight range available on the VF driver. The torque numbers illustrate the low tip torque achieved by using Torayca T1100G woven fiber in the tip of the VF Hybrid shaft.

To continue reading this section of the review, you must be registered at a higher level membership.
Russ

Ping Alta CB & Alta Quick Driver Shaft Reviews

Ping Alta CB & Alta Quick Driver Shaft Reviews

By Russ Ryden, Fit2Score, A Dallas Fort Worth Club Fitter & Builder
The Highlands Performance Golf Center, Carrollton Texas 
Golf Digest Certified America’s 100 Best Club Fitter

I am often asked for reviews of the shafts that are stock shafts in off the rack drivers. This is a quick review of the measurements of some of the 2024 Ping fitting cart shafts. The heavier Alta CB shafts are similar to the Tour 2.0. The lighter Alta CB and the Quick are different shaft profiles.

To continue reading this section of the review, you must be registered at a higher level membership.
Russ

Ping 2024 Driver Shafts – Tour 2.0 – Review

Ping 2024 Driver Shafts – Tour 2.0 Review

By Russ Ryden, Fit2Score, A Dallas Fort Worth Club Fitter & Builder
The Highlands Performance Golf Center, Carrollton Texas 
Golf Digest Certified America’s 100 Best Club Fitter

I am often asked for reviews of the shafts that are stock shafts in off the rack drivers. This is a quick review of the measurements of some of the 2024 Ping fitting cart shafts. The Tour 2.0 is made by UST Mamiya for Ping.

To continue reading this section of the review, you must be registered at a higher level membership.
Russ

UST Mamiya Helium Driver Shaft Review

UST Mamiya Helium Driver Shaft Review

By Russ Ryden, Fit2Score, A Dallas Fort Worth Club Fitter & Builder
The Highlands Performance Golf Center, Carrollton Texas 
Golf Digest Certified America’s 100 Best Club Fitter

The UST Mamiya Helium is currently listed on the UST Website as discontinued. That means it is available from TaylorMade until the supply runs out. The Helium is a no upcharge lightweight shaft released in 2022.

To continue reading this section of the review, you must be registered at a higher level membership.
Russ