Golf Shafts

The shaft is the thin, cylindrical rod that leads from the golfer's hands to the club-head.

The shaft is the thin, cylindrical rod that leads from the golfer's hands to the club-head. Early in the development of clubs, shafts were made of hickory wood . Later they were made of steel, and gradually the steel was made lighter and lighter. Now, club-makers have developed shafts of still lighter materials, such as graphite and titanium. The idea is to take as much of the overall weight of the club out of the shaft and put it down into the head of the club, the pat which actually strikes the ball.

Modern, lightweight shafts, along with innovative club-head designs that often accompany them, can be effective and help the golfer considerably. This new equipment can also be expensive and therefore requires a lot of shopping around to find the right club at the right price.

As a beginner, there is no need to worry about exotic equipment. Until one is making good contact with the ball on a consistent basis, the more advanced clubs won't help anyway. And, for that matter, the ball will travel quite nicely if good contact is made with any club - old fashioned or modern, traditional or high tech. The newer clubs are just a little easier to hit reliably, and most golfers eventually want them so as to get every advantage they can. ?Still, it is frugal to wait until one's game has improved to the point were the full benefits of the more expensive equipment can be appreciated.

One last thing to mention before leaving this section on shafts is the lie of the club, that is, the angle at which the shaft enters the club-head. The shaft-club-head angle, in conjunction with the height of the player and the way the player stands up to the ball, determines how squarely the club-head rests on the ground. It is important for the club-head to rest squarely on the ground so that the player has as much clubface as possible for the making contact with the ball.

Some club manufacturers now give golfers a choice among upright (steep angle), regular (moderate angle), and flat (shallow angle) lies in ordering clubs. This consideration may be important for even beginning golfers who are either very short or very tall.