Counterbalanced Driver Shafts:

Can They Help Your Golf Game?

You may be seeing more claims of golf shafts being “counterbalanced.”  Well – what does this mean, should this matter to you, is there some golf improvement magic in shafts being counterbalanced?

Let’s start with the basics.  Every driver golf shaft – well every golf shaft – has a Balance Point.  If you take a shaft and balance it on the tip of your finger, it is the location along the shaft where it balances.  The location of the balance point of a shaft will primarily affect the weight feel of a golf club – so the club MOI or Swingweight.  I measure balance point as the distance from the tip of the shaft to where the balance location is.

If you take two golf clubs – each with the same head and head weight, shaft weight, and shaft length – and the two shafts have different balance points – the one with the higher balance point will have a smaller MOI and swingweight and so a lighter swing feel.

A “Counterbalanced” golf shaft, then, is one that has a higher balance point – more of the shaft weight is toward the butt end of the shaft.  Are counterbalanced golf shafts really new – well no, I see evidence of discussion of counterbalanced shafts in 2014.

Why now see more discussion about potential values of counterbalanced driver shafts?  Well, we have discussed many times that many “standard” drivers are long – 45-1/2 inches or longer.  Using counterbalanced shafts in these drivers can help keep the weight feel from getting too high.  And – if some of the things I am reading are true, and driver heads are getting heavier than in the past – using counterbalanced shafts with these heavier heads can help to get the weight feel of these drivers from getting too high for “average” golfers.

Are counterbalanced driver shafts something that can really help your game?  Well – they are just another piece of the true custom club fitting puzzle – a fitting option to be tested with.  Remember, though – that in driver fitting driver length is Priority #1 – and you are not and never have been “average” in  your golf game.  

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