Choosing a Golf Club Shaft

So when choosing a golf club shaft, how do you know what the proper weight of the shaft should be, or what is the best torque rating, or where should the bend point be, or what is the best tip stiffness?  These are all very important questions. 

There is a tool that narrows down the list of choices when you are choosing a golf club shaft.  It is called the Maltby Playability Factor for Shafts.  It was developed by Ralph Maltby.  He has been designing and evaluating golf club equipment for more than 40 years and is regarded as one of the foremost authorities in this area. 

The way it works is this:  you answer a series of four questions about your game which will give you your own personal shaft playability factor.  You then can match your shaft playability factor to those listed in the Golfworks golf components catalog.  This will dramatically narrow down your choices. 

Lets run through an example:

1. The first step is to determine the shaft flex code (SPF).  You can do this either with a known driver clubhead speed, or knowing which club you would use from you would use to carry the ball 150 yds.  Using one of these two variables select the corresponding SPF code from the table below.

I know that I hit my 5-Iron about 150 yards so My SPF= 2

2. The next step is to determine a weight code.  Select the appropriate weight code from the table below that corresponds to the feature that you are seeking the most.

I would really like to get more distance so my Weight Code= D

3. Now select the trajectory code that corresponds to your preferred trajectory.

I prefer a higher trajectory so my Trajectory Code= 3

4. Now if you have a problem with a hook or a slice, then here is where you can at least partially help that problem.  Choose the correction code that corresponds to the type of correction you may need.

I tend to slice a lot so my Correction Code= S

5. Now tally your results to determine your Shaft MPF.

Putting my codes together I end up with my MPF = 2D3S

Now looking at page 175 of the 2007 Golfworks components catalog, I see that for my MPF there are 7 (wood) shafts listed.  I can now look at the specs of just these 7 shafts and choose the one that I want. 

I can feel confident that any of these 7 shafts will help my game.  My advanced fitting section will have more information about narrowing this selection down even further in order to get the absolute best shaft fit.

The next step in my Basic Fitting Process is Head Fitting.

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