What more important in a golf club — The head or the shaft?

Whether it’s a set of irons or a new driver, it’s important to grasp how the elements of a golf club work collectively to create a entire “system” that works finest on your swing.

But, the subsequent query most golfers have is, which a part of the golf club system is the most crucial for producing the finest outcomes: the club head or the shaft?

The reply isn’t minimize and dry, and it’s not one-size-fits-all, however what we are able to do is break down how every part impacts ball flight — together with feels and outcomes on the course.

Club head elements

A golf club head, no matter the particular club itself has a few fundamental elements that may change efficiency; loft, lie angle, heart of gravity, and mass (weight).

The weight varies primarily based on the size and kind of club, however the common metal shafted 7-iron head weighs round 268 grams, whereas the common driver head is round 203 grams. For golfers searching for further distance, a driver that’s lighter will assist contribute to gaining club head velocity; that comes from a mixture of each a lighter head and shafts.

Club loft has the strongest relationship to how excessive a golf ball will launch at impression, if all different elements are created equal, adopted by the club’s heart of gravity. A more ahead heart of gravity will assist launch the ball decrease with much less spin, whereas a heart of gravity farther away from the face will outcome in a increased launch and barely increased spin. Some of this may be negated by the golf shaft, however we’ll get to that half in a second.

Golf club lie angle is the key issue to which course the golf ball will launch horizontally (proper or left) relative to the goal, and the more loft on a golf club the more important it’s to get lie angle proper. Lie angle has minimal impact on launch course with driver, since the club is hit off a tee and is decrease lofted. But with a wedge, if the lie angle is off by simply a few levels it may outcome in a miss of 20 to 30 yards on simply a 100-yard shot!

This if why I extremely encourage wedge fittings, even when its simply to be sure you have your lie angles dialed in.

Shaft elements

Golf shafts are the place efficiency elements turn out to be extraordinarily individualized primarily based on a participant’s tendencies, power, load issue, and velocity.

To assist clarify the golf shaft’s objective I requested True Spec’s Kris McCormack to assist clarify a few of the variables.

“The golf shaft is the dynamic part of the club. It reacts to how a player swings and that then leads to changes in how the head is delivered into the ball. Factors like shaft weight, bend profile, balance point, and overall stiffness are all perceived differently depending on the player, and that can cause them to make swings that are compensating for something they feel is off. The goal of a fitter is to find a golf shaft that works not only with the selected club head but also with a golfer’s natural swing pattern to create consistent results shot after shot.”

I additionally put this query out to social media to solicit solutions from anybody prepared to reply and Dr. Paul Wood, the VP on Engineering at Ping Golf (I’d classify Paul as a VERY good golf thoughts) had a nice tackle the shaft vs. head debate as properly.

When I adopted up with Kris about what a fitter’s aim is when working with a golfer to search out the proper shaft, he defined the focus is at all times on serving to the golfer discover the finest part to create consciousness in the swing to assist ship the face again to sq. at impression.

Shaft becoming thorughout the set is all about discovering an applicable weight and bend profile that complement a participant’s pure load and launch sample.

As a massive automobile analogy man, I liken this to how the suspension of a automobile is tuned to a driving type. Cars with more energy that transfer faster, like racecars, make the most of a agency suspension to cut back physique roll — golf’s model of that is much less shaft deflection at increased speeds throughout the swing transition, and at most velocity at the backside of the swing into impression.

Players with much less velocity trigger much less deflection and might subsequently use shafts which might be lighter and softer to assist ship more potential velocity, together with launch to achieve distance.

As a versatile object, the golf shaft desires to align with the heart of gravity of the club main into impression. This is the deflection. Depending on the heart of gravity relative to the club face, this deflection can both improve or lower the quantity of delivered loft at impression, which can then change launch and spin relying on the participant. This is why it’s essential to not simply discover the proper club head, but additionally discover the proper shaft that pairs with the club to ship the outcomes you need by way of the bag.

Like I stated at the prime, it’s not a cut-and-dry reply, however you possibly can’t play nice golf with a poorly fitted club head nor a poorly fitted shaft. Like so many issues in golf, they need to work collectively for the finest outcomes.

Want to overtake your bag for 2023? Find a becoming location close to you at GOLF’s affiliate firm True Spec Golf. For more on the newest gear information and data, try our newest Fully Equipped podcast beneath.

Golf.com Editor

Ryan Barath is GOLF Magazine and GOLF.com’s senior editor for tools. He has an intensive club-fitting and -building background with more than 20 years of expertise working with golfers of all ability ranges, together with PGA Tour gamers. Before becoming a member of the workers, he was the lead content material strategist for Tour Experience Golf, in Toronto, Canada.