On Tue, October 7, 2003 at 1:09 pm, Bernie Baymiller sent the following >> (1) As Alan Brooks and John Kaufman and I have said in the past, every >> shaft will have the stiffest directions (that is, spines) at 180* >> intervals. Similarly with the most flexible directions (that is, NBP). > > That seems to be true on many graphite shafts, but when I rotate some > graphite shafts and watch the dial indicator on my NF2, I can often find > the NBPs and spines well off 180�. Why is that?
Could be that the graphite shaft has some residual bend in it? > I would agree that last statement makes sense, but again, my > observations and those of three other players suggest NBP-COG > alignment does make a difference in iron sets, whether the shafts > have an appreciable spine or not. Accuracy with my short irons is so > much improved with spines measuring no more than .006" (three shafts > in 9 measured .013", .015" and .016", about 3 cpm?) that I found it > hard to believe. After more than 10 years cussing my mis-directed > wedge shots, there was a striking difference the first round with the > new set...and after 5 rounds, they continue to be straight (sometimes > chunked, but straight). The heads are nothing unusual and shafts are > same weight and length as my other sets...all made with a 3/8" tip > trim instead of the recommended 1/2". A 90+ player, who said he > generally sprays the ball all over, phoned me after his first round > with an NBP-COG alignment to say he had never hit the ball straighter > in his one year of playing golf...took 10 shots off his normal score. > He was using Precision Superlite steel shafts. I guess time will > tell. I need to get off my butt and pull the shafts on 2/4 of my wedges and try the NBP-COG alignment. Right now I think they are aligned spine towards target. Sounds like we need to do some sort of blind test with wedges to see if there really is a difference or not. -Dave
