[Bulls9999]

I was at the parents meeting where the Aldila rep was giving a little presentation. He strongly suggested that all juniors get 'fitted' regardless of "what ever shaft you use" and that he sees many juniors with clubs that have never been fitted and they're trying to play in tournies against more seasoned kids with clubs that are fitted....(appealing to parents)..."why would you want your child to be going out there shooting worse scores than they could if they were properly fitted". It really isn't a money situation either.....the tourney cost $225-250, or $325 if you played the qualifier to get in....if you're from out of town you flew in or drove in and stayed in a hotel for 4 days....so the cost of fitting is a fraction of what they pay for one tournament. In no way was the guy suggesting everyone swap out their shafts and replace it with the freebie they just got.

Originally Posted by JPsuff

That's fine if the Proto shaft is the shaft that works with whatever future driver head is chosen. But you won't know that until that day comes. The likelihood in a situation like this is that regardless of whatever future head is purchased, this Proto shaft WILL be fitted to it to justify its existence (and the fact that it was free) whether it's the right shaft or not - and that's just dumb if the shaft doesn't really fit the head / player.

That's why I think that selling it is best. "Option Two" would be keeping it for a potential trade-in down the road, but that's "iffy" from a value standpoint. Aldila gives them away in such situations because they're cheap to build but more importantly they're hoping that you'll immediately have them installed in your driver and that's free marketing for them as well as a big "atta boy" for be so generous. Whether they're the correct shaft for someone is of little importance to them as long as it's being used and thus displayed.

Just because something is free doesn't mean it's what you need.

If you're not going to use it right away, then selling it is the best option. A future trade-in is a gamble as shaft preferences change almost monthly and what's "hot" today is yesterday's news as little as a few weeks from now so its' trade-in value will likely be far less even in the near future.

As far as "wasting it" in another club is concerned, if the shaft fits that club in terms of specs, then it's not wasted - especially since it was free to begin with. If that shaft would work well in a 3-wood or even a hybrid and it's not used for that, then THAT'S a waste. But the snapshot version is simply that if it's of no immediate use, sell it while it still has value.


-JP