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As to tip heavy graphite itron shafts, the UST
Proforce 95's fit this category. As a result lengths can be close to steel
without adding much or any weight. Also G. Loomis shafts are typically tip
heavy, but they are hard to come by, but can still be found occasionally on
ebay. Stay away from the Apache's. I have used them (tried 30's & 40's) and
to get a decent swingweight, you must add quite a bit of lead or lengthen by
quite a bit. Fenwick is similar to the Apaches. Have tried Penley IMS and they
are a fine shaft, have not tried the Stealth 70. Personally, I have used
graphite for years to protect weak elbows. Have tried to go to steel a couple of
times, rifle & sensicore, both times had to go back to graphite. I don't see
any difference in accuracy or in consistency in the quality graphite lines
compared to the times I tried steel and the difference in trajectory was
negligible. A high ball hitter will hit it high with both and a low ball hitter,
low. It is the swing not the material. I have found that I like the little
longer shaft length (rather than the added lead) and believe that there is no
difference in consistency of contact (of course, I could be decieving myself).
ED-TN
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2003 1:32
AM
Subject: Re: ShopTalk: Questions about
graphite shafts for irons
In a message dated 2/5/2003 3:10:25 PM Pacific Standard
Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
writes:
In the past, I have used or recommended graphite shafts
only if they were
needed to keep the swingweight down. I'm now
considering another use, and
would like to tap the vast experience out
there on ShopTalk for advice.
I'm considering making myself a new set
of irons, with graphite shafts. The
objective is to lighten my bag a
little, since I'm carrying more now that
my bag has a double strap.
(Until the last few months, I pulled a trolley
almost all the time.) The
thing is, I'm happy with the way I hit my irons
now, and I don't want to
screw it up. If graphite shafts don't work just as
well, I'm better off
lugging (or pulling) my current irons.
Here are the
issues/questions:
(1) Swingweight: The graphite shafted clubs will be
lighter. I'm going from
Balistiks (probably 110-115g cut to length) to
about 80-83g graphites. If I
have to go much heavier than that, I
wouldn't bother; the objective is
lighter overall weight. But without
any other design change that means a
significant loss of swingweight,
probably more than a half-inch worth. I'm
willing to live with clubs
that are 1/4" longer than now, but not more than
that. How do y'all deal
with that? I can think of several approaches, but
I'm not sure of their
feasibility:
- Tip-weighted graphite shafts. I know these were
available 3-5 years ago.
Are they still around? Are they any
good?
- Separate lead tip weights. I have seen these for
graphites, but nothing
more than 4 grams. It'll help, but not a
lot.
- Lead tape. I know how to apply it. But I don't like to
start a project
KNOWING that I'll have to use tape; that should be a
last resort. It should
be for tuning specific clubs, not for a blanket
treatment for the set, IMHO.
(2) Trajectory: I hit my irons plenty
high as it is. Perhaps a shade too
high, but it's not a priority to
lower the trajectory. (It would be nice,
but I'm getting plenty of
distance now.) But I certainly don't want to hit
them any
higher.
I have seen the Dynacraft Jeffs (Summitt &Jackson) say
that lowering a
club's balance point with the same swingweight (i.e.-
lighter shaft) will
lead to a higher trajectory. Wishon's book does not
suggest this effect,
and I certainly can't see what would cause it. So I
don't know.
What have y'all seen by way of trajectory changes when
a golfer goes from
steel to graphite. Are some graphite shafts
lower-trajectory than others?
BTW, my current choice of components
for this experiment are:
* Raven Near-Net cavity backs (my current irons
are Golfsmith Jetstreams).
* MCC shafts (I'm thinking the MFS-30, or the
-40 if the 30 will hit it
too high; I'm not sure I hit hard enough for
the -40). The SK shafts that I
usually like have a high balance point,
and will only make the swingweight
problem worse.
I've made up a
Near-Net 5-iron with the same Balistik shaft (same
swingweight, length,
and frequency) as my current irons; the performance is
fairly similar to
my current 5-iron. I like the feel of the Near-Net a
little better
(probably the sound -- less treble and more bass), and didn't
suffer a
noticeable loss of forgiveness.
Any
comments?
advTHANKSance!
DaveT
Hi
Dave,
Option 1 would be keep your existing stuff and buy one of those
trolleys that follow you around, I know it's not a very good workout but maybe
you could make it one i.e.: make a few Barry Sanders moves on your way to your
ball and make that robot juke a little.
Swingweight need not be a
problem,
Golfsmith and others sell gr. iron tip wt's to at least 5 gr.'s
and if more wt is needed can be added via tungsten powder and a cork down the
shaft and or blended in with the bonding epoxy.
Trajectory should more or
less offset by added wt making the shaft bend more Vs raising the cog, you
should see an anti-slice value as a result of this.
How much does your bag
weigh?
Our light wt carry bag weighs 5lbs's and our deluxe weighs 6 lb.'s,
roughly the difference in steel Vs graphite x 10 clubs.
What you will find
as a general rule is that weight = torque = tightness of dispersion,
that
is to say a 130 gr. steel shaft may have 2.0*'s of torque and a 90 gr. steel
shaft may have 2.8*'s torque, ditto with gr. only higher torque #'s and more
expensive as you try to get both lighter wt and less torque due to higher
material costs.
You should be able to use your SK's and put them where they
need to be.
David
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