The Flexibility of Shafts

Abstract

We have seen that a golf club has three dynamic parameters, the mass and the first and second moments about the wrist-cock axis, which may be measured with some precision. The golf club has another characteristic of interest to the golfer. This is the lateral flexibility of the shaft of the club. This characteristic is related to the properties of the material of which the shaft is constructed. Early clubs had wooden shafts. Next came tapered tubular steel shafts. Recently, clubs have been available with lightweight tubular shafts of high-strength steel and also with shafts made of aluminum, titanium, and graphite. Shafts may be made with various degrees of flexibility. At the present time the understanding of the effects of lateral flexibility of the shaft on the character of the golf stroke seems to be clouded by considerable perplexity.