Titleist Advanced Fitting: High Speed Video Shaft Analysis

[jaminboy119]

That apparent shaft bend is due the to the way the shutter works on the camera. It's a slot that scans downwards so the pixels at the lower end of the picture are actually captured later that the ones at the top, therefore showing and apparent bend in the shaft.

[bogushavis]

Smithersandburns, you think that momentum from the downswing is throwing the club forward at the ball. It is centripetal force on the head that causes it to bend the shaft forward. de02239 is right about the video looking "wrong", it has been stretched from 4x3 to 16x9 making the bow look bigger. Lambertmt is right about this being a camera effect.

The "after" video would look identical to this regardless of how stiff the new shaft was.

[smithersandburns]

Lambertmt, there is no weight at the end of a long reed of grass, so that is a really bad analogy and the dynamic is totally different. The weight of the club head causes momentum down there which throws it at the ball and bends the shaft forward.

[smithersandburns]

De02239, it's the shaft that's the problem, not the swing. This happens every time someone swings too fast for their shaft. And a stiffer shaft will not correct a bad swing. You have everything backwards here.

[de02239]

i see what you're saying, but the vid seems weird to me, to call it a club error. if the head of the club "regains" on the swing, like in the video, how it's leading the club at impact, would that necessarily but a too flexible club, or a swing that slows down, on the downward motion so the club is catching up when it shouldnt. I can see a stiffer club helping to correct a bad swing, but would you call this a bad swing instead of too loose a club? at least at first? or not?

[ryancrysler]

@de02239 During impact, the club/shaft rapidly decelerates causing a sort of instability. A particular shaft can enhance better contact with proper flex, weight, torque, length etc...and in this case, something much stiffer. All players have deceleration, it just depends on the rate of acceleration and deceleration that accounts for power.

[couchkilla]

i have a high swing speed 110-125 and i play and x stiff when i swing hard the ball goes very high with lots of spin,

would adding weight to the club head help reduce that?

[ryancrysler]

@couchkilla Not necessarily. Decreasing loft and a possible heavier shaft is the ticket. 

[ebarr64]

is there a follow up video yet?

[ryancrysler]

@ebarr64 You know, we never got around to filming a followup but I can attest that the player drove the ball substantially better!

[sportsman214]

I have the same clubhead/ball speed and hook the hell out of my clubs too. I play X in everything too and I can still hook a PW incredibly.

[bogushavis]

@sportsman214 I slice shafts that are too soft. I can't turn them over. I've never got that "soft shafts hook, stiff shafts fade" axiom that fitters are always selling. If a shaft is too stiff, I'll hit a low hook that goes nowhere.

[lin4say]

good stuff

[lambertmt]

The reason this appears bent is because of the camera's vertical sampling rate. If your camera has a high-speed shutter, then the curtain blades travel horizontally. If it's an electronic sampling mechanism, then the it appears to sample top to bottom.

Either way, the bottom of each frame is captured *after* the top. so, the club head keeps traveling after the hands are photographed. That's the reason for the flex the wrong way.

Try turning the camera upside down to see if flex inverses.

[ryancrysler]

@lambertmt Close. The shaft actually does bow towards the target due to a deceleration of the hands and the transfer of energy down the shaft to the club head. It also bows towards the ground as the club transitions from a descending angle downswing towards an ascending follow through. Captured at 240 Frames per second.

[ryancrysler]

@bogushavis We never ended up getting an after video with this player. Totally my bad. Pretty cool stuff though. He's not close to the fastest we measured though. Currently leader is a tall and wiry guy that hits it 190mph!

[lin4say]

@ryancrysler WELL DONE --I FOUND SOMEONE WHO HAS REALISED HOW A SHAFT WORKS--

AT IMPACT THE SHAFT MAKES A WAVE SHAPE--THIS PRODUCES PERFECT MOMENTUM

[InsideTheStudioShow]

@lin4say Yes sir. The shaft has to decelerate to apply power to the club head at impact! The Casio high speed camera helps show the affect.

[lambertmt]

it seems that it's bent the wrong way in the picture. if he were bowing the shaft, shouldn't the head should be lagging the hands? take a long reed of grass and swing it. The far end is behind where you're pointing your hands.

[pecky1234]

@lambertmt your wrong. golf shafts ALL flex forward this way through impact. find sum high speed footage of a golfer face on and you will see