Golf is a strange game. Like no other sport, up can be down and black can be white. A good shot can end up awful while some of the worst shots have yielded the best results. Only in golf can you get a hole in one where the ball never leaves the ground. Only in golf can you get a ball out of bounds with a perfect shot down the middle. Only in golf.

It is the bizarre nature of this sport that perplexes golfers near and far.

One of these bizarre and confounding ideas  is the “I need a stiffer shaft because I slice the ball” myth….

I have heard it for 16+ years. Droves of testosterone filled monsters with spines that seem to be made of elastic have come in and complained that the shaft they have is not stiff enough for their swing and so it produces a slice because they swing it so hard that it “lags” behind them. For years this has been the conversation and there has been little evidence to deter this golfer from this train of thought.

The fact is, though, that there is no such thing as a shaft that “lags” to the point of making the face open and slice the ball. If you look at any swing sequence in your favorite golf magazine, you will see only one thing is the same. At impact, the shaft has actually UNLOADED and is not lagging, but is BOWING FORWARD! Your shaft does the same thing. After all, you do not swing as hard as Bubba Watson and his does it.

I know what you are going to say. “But Tom, these guys are swinging XX or XXX shaft clubs,” False again. Most of your touring professionals play looser shafts than you might think. Because of the technology in shaft making that allows the shaft manufacturers to make a shaft “feel” stiff while playing loose, a vast number of GREAT players are playing looser flexing bodied shafts to promote more distance and release.

So if there is no such thing as a “lag” from a shaft, why is it that faster swingers tend to fade the ball with loose shafts and not with stiffer shafts? Well the answer is simple. Stiffer shafts tend to have higher flex points and torque rates that are designed to take spin off the ball. So they are changing to stiffer shafts and are mistaking the BODY stiffness for the magic wand to combat the fade.

If you feel that you are swinging very hard and you tend to fade the ball, do not fall victim to the classic trap. While it seems logical, it is not rooted in physical evidence. Go get your swing diagnosed and tested on a launch monitor and you might be shocked at what the fitter might suggest.

If they suggest a regular body, don’t write them off so quickly. A stiff tip shaft with a regular body might just do the trick to stop that nasty fade.

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