Focus Might Soon Shift to the Shaft

Is this evolution? Wood, metal, titanium, big, small, shallow faced, cavity backed, perimeter weighted, forged, blade, steel, graphite, mallets, inserts.

The answer: Well, yes, it is, sort of. The semi-supersonic advancement of golf equipment technology is capable of causing whiplash and a sprained wallet, but chances are there’s not going to be too much to slow the pace of progress . . . with the possible exception of how much it costs.

We’re rocketing forward in the tech business, where research and development people are risking eyestrain because they’re spending so much time looking for the Next Best Thing.

So where are we going to find the new cutting edge tech stuff in equipment?

Shafts.

That’s right, golf club shafts.

Of course, this is just a guess, but don’t count the shaft techies out. Just consider how the shaft business has evolved. From wood to steel to graphite, get ready for . . . aluminum?

Something like aluminum, maybe.

Nobody knows for sure in the shaft business, but shaft makers are all trying to figure it out. Right now, they’re looking at “metal matrix composites” or broad groups of materials in which the base metal is aluminum with various types of particulates, including silicon carbide.

Aluminum is lighter than steel, which is good, but it’s also softer, which is bad. That’s where the particulates come in, to stiffen the aluminum.

True Temper, a leading manufacturer of steel shafts, has been studying aluminum for a while, but aluminum is still in the testing stage.

John Oldenberg, vice president of engineering and research for Aldila, a leading composite-shaft maker, says we probably won’t see a lot of changes in shafts for the next couple of years, but that’s bound to change--for a very good reason.

“There are a lot of interesting materials available,” Oldenberg said.

The big breakthrough in the shaft business was graphite, half the weight of steel and just as stiff.

Not only that, but graphite can be painted, which makes it look better. Steel can only be chrome-painted and that’s not always an appealing option for the buyer.

Of course, graphite shafts, which became prominent in the 1980s, are more expensive than steel--usually about $200 for a set of irons. But many players in search of a few more yards out of each club are happy to pay the price.

Graphite offers a lot more options and combinations. Right now, there are copper-plated graphite fibers, nickel-plated graphite fibers and something called amorphous graphite, which is something close to fiberglass.

These amorphous fibers may hold a key, Oldenberg said, but there’s a catch. They make the shaft more “explosive” than typical graphite shafts, but there’s not a significant improvement in results. Plus, it’s expensive to produce and expensive for the consumer.

“Will the consumer be ready to pay four times more?” Oldenberg said.

People in the shaft business will tell you that the shaft is the engine of the golf club. It delivers the speed of the club head, so this is no small item.

If hickory shafts were all right, then steel was better and graphite was even better, although many touring pros prefer steel for better feel.

Mike Rossi is vice president of sales and marketing at Aldila, which was the first major graphite supplier.

Matrix components may be the new wave, says Rossi.

“We continue to look at those avenues,” he said. “There’s a lot of science involved.”

And money.

“It has to be cost effective,” Rossi said. “It has to be affordable to produce.”

So the shaft watch continues as the best minds in technology try to find the right material to make the right product at the right price so the right thing happens on the golf course.

Said Rossi: “The bottom line is that you could play with almost any club head, but if you don’t get the shaft right, get the stiffness right, you lessen your chance to hit consistent shots.”

This ought to give everyone some level of comfort, to know that someone is hard at work trying to use new technology to fix an old problem.