recently commented on X, “There cer- tainly are a lot more 7-woods going out on tours, but what’s the real benefit of that compared to a
SWITCH OUT Shafts with adapters are easy to swap, but glued-in shafts demand extra care.
hybrid? The fairway woods generally have a lower and deeper centre of grav- ity. That’s going to help you launch the ball higher and with a little more spin, and for sure that’s going to give you a steeper descent angle. There’s also the swing issue of ‘steep’ versus ‘sweep.’ In general, people who sweep the ball and swing shallower through impact do better with fairway woods. “But you also might want to look at face contact. If you struggle with high and low, heel and toe mis-hits, you might want to look a little more to- wards hybrids. Some players also find the smaller clubhead and smaller sole a little more versatile. Even in thicker rough, the hybrid might be able to cut through some places that fairway woods might struggle.” Hybrids can be easier to hit because they are shorter-shafted than fairway woods, and because their centres of gravity are closer to the face, they may feel more like an iron in your swing. We also think they are significantly more forgiving than utility irons. Utility irons are best for those who are looking for a specific ball flight (lower) and rarely miss the centre of the face, but most golfers still would get more benefits from the wider sole and lower centre of gravity of a fairway wood. A good middle ground is to look for fairway woods as replacements for the longer portion of your bag. Consider customising them with slightly shorter shaft lengths, too. That will add some control to that extra power. In other words, go with fewer irons in your set, and then use the savings to help fund some fairway wood purchases to fill the gaps. Yes, we get it, fairway woods are more expensive than irons and hybrids. That might just be because they’re better – in more ways that matter. As always, resist the urge to make the call on your own. Get a good fitter to analyse what’s in your bag and how a club change might change your game.
off can cause the shaft to become brit- tle,” Reed says. In short, it is never recommended to pull a graphite shaft out of a hosel or hosel adapter and insert it into a new one. The heat required to pull the shaft degrades the epoxy in the graphite. If done properly, you might be able to get away with it, but it’s definitely a high-risk proposition. Iron shafts don’t have adapters, but because they are typically made of steel, it’s a different deal than graphite. “True Temper did a test many years ago that said a steel shaft would last two-and-a-half lifetimes,” says Woody Lashen, co-owner and master fitter at Pete’s Golf. “Can they bend, yes – es- pecially steel shafts with soft tips – but they don’t wear out.” Although iron shafts are durable, it’s important to make sure they don’t bend over time. This is a concern for higher- swing-speed players, especially if they have a steep angle of attack and take deep divots. The takeaway: Shafts generally don’t wear out, but beware the pitfalls.
Q: DO SHAFTS WEAR OUT OR CAN YOU KEEP PUTTING OLD SHAFTS INTO NEW CLUBHEADS? Although we’re tempted to reach out and ask if you mean woods with adjust- able cogs or irons that are glued in, the answers we received from our experts cover the gamut, so you’ll have all the information you need. To start, a graphite driver shaft with an adjustable cog is a fairly simple equa- tion. As long as you’re using a compati- ble adapter and just using the wrench to secure it, you really don’t have to worry about that shaft wearing out. “Graphite shafts last a long time and can be used in subsequent heads,” say Paul Wood and John Oldenburg of Ping. “Minor flaws within a graphite laminate may eventually lead to fail- ure after repeated use, but, as a whole, shafts do not become worn out.” Avery Reed, former PGA Tour rep for Mitsubishi shafts and now owner/ master fitter for Fairhope Golf Works, agrees: “If the shaft stays in the same tip, it should be able to go from one head to another head for years,” he says. “Zach Johnson played the same Diamana Blueboard forever. It got to the point where the paint wore off from tak- ing it in and out of the bag, but it never changed the playability of the shaft.” Now, let’s move on to glued-in graph- ite shafts. That’s a different story. “The shafts won’t wear out, but if there is grinding on the tip to take off epoxy, too much material being taken
Answers by Golf Digest equipment editors Mike Stachura and E Michael Johnson.
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