From: David.Moore@f31.n282.z1.tdkt.kksys.com (David Moore)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.golf
Subject: Shaft Stiffness, Swingwei
Date: 7 Apr 92 04:52:18 GMT
Article-I.D.: tdkt.702680975.F00001

Charles K. Foley said:


CKF>I would like to learn about the various ratings of shaft stiffness and
CKF>of club swing weight.  What do the stiffness ratings of S300 and R300
CKF>really mean, and how do they relate to some manufacturers ratings of
CKF>Stiff and Regular.  For swing weight, what do the various ratings mean?

CKF>I would appreciate it if someone could point me to a reference or
CKF>explain these measures directly.

Charles--

I don't know about S300/R300 vs. Stiff/Regular, but----

Here are some quotes  from  "The  Hobby  of  Golf  Clubmaking"  from
Golfsmith that may help you out:

"The  swingweight of a club is the sum of the moments of the various
components (head, shaft, grip, epoxy, tape,etc.) of the club  around
the  fulcrum  fourteen inches from the butt of the club. While those
moments are actually measured in units of weight acting over various
distances,  they  have  been  converted  into  a  system of alphabet
letter,A,  B,C,D,E,F  and  G,  called  Lorythmic  units,  for   easy
assimilation by golfers.

Generally, swingweight is tied to shaft flex with feeling being that
the stiffer the shaft, the heavier the head should be  for  feel."


I  have  put  two  of  the  diagrams  in  the book together for easy
reference here:
                                       Club
Typical Golfers       Clubhead Speed   from      Shaft   Swingweight
                       (MPH)           150 yds.  Flex    Ranges
====================================================================
Average women           75 and below   3 iron     L      C-4 to D-0
golfers

Senior golfers,         75 to 80       4 iron     A      C-6 to D-2
better than
average women
golfers

Average men golfers,    80 to 90       5,6 iron   R      C-8 to D-4
very good women
golfers

Better than average     90 to 100      6,7 iron   S      D-0 to D-6
men golfers

Very good men golfers   100 and over   8,9 iron   X      D-2 to D-8
and pros


Another interesting little quote from "Jack Nicklaus's Lesson Tee"
book:

"...  the  stiffer  the  shaft,  the  greater the golfer's chance of
delivering the clubface accurately to the ball, and thus the greater
the  percentage  of  shots in play; and the more flexible the shaft,
the greater the potential clubhead speed and thus  the  greater  the
golfer's distance."

I  guess  this  makes  sense  with  the table above, slower swinging
golfers need more flex to get the greater distance (they don't  need
the extra control, I guess) <GRIN>

In regards to your grip size question, I believe I read  *SOMEWHERE*
that  the  grip  thickness should be such that when the golfer grips
the club that the middle two fingers should barely touch the palm of
the same hand.  Maybe some folks out on the net could help us out on
this one.



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From Minnesota--highest per capita of golf nuts in the Nation!
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