Golf Shafts on the PGA Tour

If you're going to be a player, there are a lot of things to learn, but when it comes to equipment, there's only one thing to know: Better players don't buy off the rack. Manufacturers' stock shafts are increasingly lighter and tip-flexible. That's good for choppers because they need the slice-correcting, flight-elevating, speed-enhancing properties of lightweight graphite and steel. You, however, are not like them: with shafts, think (slightly) heavier.

If you check with players on the PGA Tour, their driver shafts weigh in the 70- to 85-gram range. Slightly heavier shafts might provide regular golfers with more feel, particularly for how well the club is staying on plane during the swing. Heavier shafts also require less of an adjustment in terms of feel when going from the driver to the irons.

"There is something to be said for having some mass in the shaft of a golf club to improve accuracy," says Kim Braly, shaft expert and consultant to hot Stix Golf in scottsdale. "You'll often see a progression in the weight of the shafts as the clubs get shorter, where accuracy is more of a premium. in other words, it's common to see driver shafts at 75 grams, 3-woods at 85 grams, utility clubs at 95 grams and irons in the 120-gram range."

What to do? Get thee to a launch monitor and start by testing a driver with a 75-gram shaft. See if your ball speed or accuracy changes if you use a lighter shaft (such as 65 grams). If you gain two yards but your shot dispersion pattern gets noticeably larger, stay heavy. If you gain 10 yards, though, it's worth some on-course evaluation. Machines don't lie, but neither do scorecards.