Shafts: One shafts' 'stiffness' the same as another manufact?

[Bulls9999]

Is there a concensus of whether one shafts' stiff(ness) is similar or dissimilar to that of other manufacturers? (given the same gross characteristics, i.e., soft tip, mid/high kick, etc). I've seen some numbers used between different manufacturers (CPM and some other unidentifiable quantity) and when the parameters used to identify stiffness are different (non-standard), I find it difficult to make a comparison, except for perhaps trying them in comparison which is unlikely for most people.

[rock2534]

I think they vary greatly between brands. I have a taylormade and adams driver. The TM has a stiff fufi Reax shaft and the adams has a regualr graffalloy prolaunch blue. They feel very similar in terms of stiffness. The regular in the TM feels much more flexible than the regular in the graffalloy as well. So I would not compare between brands, or very loosely if you do.

[SolidRockGolf]

There is no "scale" for stiffness of shafts concerning flex but they do like to go by butt CPM's which can be extremely different then how the tip feels.

Keep inmind that all shafts have playing characteristics so some will be stouter then others, lighter weight, softer tips....etc so the map is very larger for the average golfers.

Now if your talking about standard stock OEM shafts then you looking at shafts that tend to come softer and are now becoming lighter. With the race for the longest, best looking, best feeling club getting more and more intense every year, your going to find that now days they have lengthened the drivers by .5", softed up the shafts of choice and dropped the average weight by 10 grams for their stock versions. Since the heads are maxed out they have to make you thing you CAN hit their new club further.

I will put it this way... A new Aldila NV 65 will profile 3-5 CPM's stonger against an OEM installed Aldila NV 65.

[Bulls9999]

Is that because the OEM shafts are targeting the typical off the shelf buyer who buys stiffer shafter than they really should?...and knowing that, they are trying to put something in their hands that will give them a better experience? It makes sense to me.

Also, I checked out shaft stiffness recommendations vs club head speed at several manufacturers sites this weekend:

Fujikura: R= 80-90, S=90-100
Aldila: R=90-100, S=100-114
UST (depending on shaft weight, varies & overlaps): R= 85-90<=>95-100, S= 95-100<=>105-112
http://www.ustgolfshaft.com/docs/Cha..._AllShafts.pdf

[quote=SolidRockGolf;67943]There is no "scale" for stiffness of shafts concerning flex but they do like to go by butt CPM's which can be extremely different then how the tip feels.

Keep inmind that all shafts have playing characteristics so some will be stouter then others, lighter weight, softer tips....etc so the map is very larger for the average golfers.

Now if your talking about standard stock OEM shafts then you looking at shafts that tend to come softer and are now becoming lighter. With the race for the longest, best looking, best feeling club getting more and more intense every year, your going to find that now days they have lengthened the drivers by .5", softed up the shafts of choice and dropped the average weight by 10 grams for their stock versions. Since the heads are maxed out they have to make you thing you CAN hit their new club further.

I will put it this way... A new Aldila NV 65 will profile 3-5 CPM's stonger against an OEM installed Aldila NV 65.[/quote]

[Darth Fader]

I would think that there would be a diffrence between brands,i always thought that the stock Taylor Made stiff shaft was a lot stiffer than Callaway,so i asume that the difference will be across the board.

[Bulls9999]

Well, Fujikura makes the TM Re*Ax shafts, but you can also get Fujikura in Callaway's too....so don't know what the difference is....they use a different scale in comparing shafts (other than CPM)....Fujikura's flex-rating numbers are in the 90-125 range...don't think that is CPM's.

Originally Posted by Darth Fader

I would think that there would be a diffrence between brands,i always thought that the stock Taylor Made stiff shaft was a lot stiffer than Callaway,so i asume that the difference will be across the board.

[OnePutt]

Most if not all of those numbers in the 90 - 125 range are recommended swing speed for a driver. What the industry needs is a machine that measures the stiffness of the entire shaft at one time. Not just the butt stiffness, which is what you get with a frequency meter clamped on the butt end of a shaft. I did see some plans for such a machine, and if I get a chance I'm going to build one with a few improvements I've come up with. Should allow me to test any shaft and get a reading that could be compared to any other shaft of the same type. By that I mean driver shafts vs driver shafts. Iron shaft to iron shafts.

[SolidRockGolf]

Is that because the OEM shafts are targeting the typical off the shelf buyer who buys stiffer shafter than they really should?...and knowing that, they are trying to put something in their hands that will give them a better experience? It makes sense to me.

Correct... If the average golfer buys a S-Flex and its determined that most really don't fit well into an S-Flex then most OEM's solution is to soften the shafts up so the Customers is still getting good distance out of their driver.

Distance is KING when it comes to sells. So you can spend time trying to educated the average golfers or you can make the adjustments yourself.

Sorry I didn't see this sooner.