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 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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Fujikura Ventus TR Blue Driver Shaft Review

Fujikura Ventus TR Blue Driver Shaft

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 a limited number of review samples of the 2026 Ventus TP Blue Driver Shaft.

The label states 2VNTTRBLxxWS-H which is likely to cause some confusion. In earlier years the graphics on the shaft on the shaft indicated it was the 2VNT model. This is not how it is described in the 2026 catalog.

One of the things that have changed in the 2026 catalog is charts showing the EI profiles of the driver shafts. The charts match the EI charts I have been publishing for many years. It is a good thing that two more shaft manufacturers are embracing publishing EI profile understandings of their products. I won’t bore you with my history of this in the club fitting and building organizations.

Over thousands of shaft measurements I now understand shaft profiles and fitting into archetypical designs. The Velocore Ventus TP Blue breaks that mold. It is unlike any driver shaft I have ever seen. If you have tested this shaft please leave your comments for this community to understand this profile. I have seen some iron shafts that are similar. But to date, never a driver shaft that is close to this profile.

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

Aretrea A02 Golf Shafts Review

Aretera A02 Driver Shafts – Blue and Gray

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 A02 is the second generation of driver shafts from Aretera. The management team at Aretera has deep roots in the golf shaft business. Alex Dee has a unique shaft research background that I see manifested on this generation of driver shafts. Like the first generation Aretera EC1 I see that knowledge in the EI profiles.

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

LA Golf Blue Series Drive Shaft Review

LA Golf Blue Series Driver Shaft

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 LA Golf Blue Series is a late 2025 model. Its $149 price is a change for LA Golf and will be appealing to the recreational golfer not comfortable with the $300+ prices of high end graphite shafts.

And yet, at that price, the profile the quality of the shaft is first class. It is mid soft profile, the design of choice for the recreational golfer. My experience with the LA Golf Gold Series has been outstanding. The Gold Series has a full length layer of boron delivering uncommon stability. The profiles of the Gold and Blue were so similar it prompted a phone call to my friend at LA Golf. The Blue series is made on the same mandrel with less expensive materials. It could easily become available in more weights. If your looking to upgrade your OEM driver shaft with a more consistent shaft but are not willing to get into the $350 cost of premium aftermarket shafts you should try the LA Golf Blue Series.

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

KBS Players Graphite Driver Shaft Review

KBS Players Graphite Wood Shaft

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 Players Graphite Wood is a 2025 model released in late 2024. This review is late due. I did an interview with Kim in early 2025 where he described the shaft and designed for the recreational golfer. Certainly its $175 will be appealing to the recreational golfer not comfortable with the $300+ prices of high end graphite shafts.

And yet, at that price, the profile in not to far off from some of the Graphite Design Tour AD’s and Fuji Ventus models.

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

Graphite Designs Tour AD FI Driver Shaft Review

Graphite Designs Tour AD FI Driver Shaft

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 Graphite Design Tour AD FI (Flight Intelligence) Driver Shaft released in September 2025. It incorporates some new technologies as well and the latest Torayca fabrics. As my understanding of these fabrics grows, I can see how they influence the properties. Looking at Graphite Design’s Bend Profile ratings, the FI is one of the higher rated shafts in the Mid section with a 3+. The GC is rated 3 and the VF is rated 4. A see high mid stiffness as an Archetype design. The FI is firmly a member of the midfirm archetype. The GC and VF less so. Over the last two years, when I recognized the midfirm archetype, I have fit numerous great ball strikers into the design. While I have come to recognize midsoft as forgiving, a midfirm shaft is unforgiving. Like an iron blade, it is workable for those that can shape shots at will.

The Graphite Design Tour AD FI is without a doubt a member of the midfirm archetype that is my go to design for low single digit and plus handicap players.

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