Six Notes on Reading a Shaft Properly
We keep a running set of notes for golfers who want to understand what happens on the bench rather than just receive the result. These six deal with the same territory: how a shaft is profiled, what trimming does to it, and why a frequency reading is only as good as the procedure behind it.
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Profiling a Shaft in Three Zones
Two shafts with the same butt frequency can behave nothing alike. Splitting a shaft into butt, mid and tip and reading each separately explains most of what a single number hides.
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The EI Curve Versus the Flex Letter
What an EI plot actually shows, why it is more useful than the stamp on the shaft, and the specific cases where the letter still tells you something worth knowing.
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Tip Trim Charts Are Starting Points
The manufacturer's chart assumes a build that may not be yours. Where the chart holds, where it breaks, and what to measure before deviating from it.
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Soft Stepping and Hard Stepping, Measured
Shifting a stepped steel set up or down one club is an old technique with a real effect. Here is what it does to frequency, weight and swingweight, in numbers.
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Why Your CPM Changed After a Regrip
A new grip can move a measured frequency reading by several cycles without anything structural changing. What causes it, and when it matters.
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Measuring CPM Without Fooling Yourself
Clamp pressure, beam length, tip mass and where you grip the analyzer all move the number. The procedure matters as much as the instrument.
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Why These Notes Exist
Golfers ask good questions during sessions and there is rarely time to answer them properly with a club in their hands. These notes are the long-form version of the answers, written down once so they can be handed over rather than repeated.
They are also a record of how this bench works. If you want to know whether our method is worth your money before booking, reading two of these will tell you more than any amount of marketing copy.
Nothing here is a substitute for measurement. Every note describes what to look for, not what your particular clubs are doing. That still requires putting them on a gauge.
Have the Readings Taken
A spec review measures your existing shafts and walks you through the numbers. No hitting required.