Is Golf Club Shaft Fitting an Inexact Science?
In 2012, given that the golf industry's shaft manufacturers' tolerances are as good as they have ever been, combined with the ability to measure so much of what the golf club and ball actually do leading up to, during, and after impact, predicting which shafts should best fit individuals should be as easy as ever. However, my opinion is that, while certain features of a shaft (weight, flex, torque, kick point/flex profile, etc.) may tend towards certain ball flight effects, the actual results an individual golfer will experience is very subject dependent, and will .
Even in robot testing, I would guess that different golf-ball-hitting robots (Pingman vs. Iron Byron, for example) would experience different resulting ball flights due to the individual loading patterns of those machines. Furthermore, while the robot itself will perform the same motions each time, regardless of the shaft it is swinging, a human golfer will unavoidably swing differently as shaft characteristics change, making it even more difficult to predict resulting ball flights.
I have seen (launch monitor verified) golfers: swing heavier shafts faster, hit higher kick point shafts on a higher launch, hit lower torque shafts more left (RH golfer), and other feats contrary to the common rules-of-thumb in shaft fitting. Though they are more rare, these instances suggest that, since the resulting ball flight is ultimately what we're looking at, you might want to try some different flexes (softer and firmer) and weights (heavier and lighter) and see what combination gives you the most consistent launch.
While the fitting process will, no doubt, continue to evolve and improve as player profiling advances, I still think that it is tough to accurately predict the changes in a players ball flight, just based on the different characteristics of the shaft. You'll have to see it to believe it.
The best avenue for shaft fittings is to try different varieties, with the help of a machine that can accurately measure (at least) ball speed and spin.
Just some of my opinions...
Mark
@StrongerGolf
