The influence of golf club shaft stiffness on clubhead kinematics at ball impact

The role of shaft stiffness on the golf swing is not well understood. Studies in which golfers hit balls with clubs of varying shaft flex have reported changes in ball distance. The results of mathematical models suggest that shaft stiffness affects only the orientation of the clubhead at impact, not the speed of the clubhead, but there are no experimental results validating these findings. The purpose of this study was therefore to experimentally examine the influence of shaft stiffness on clubhead kinematics at ball impact. Forty golfers hit 10 balls with each of five drivers varying in shaft stiffness from 'Ladies' to 'Extra-Stiff,' in a double-blind study design. The motions of three reflective markers attached to the clubhead were captured with a high-speed motion analysis system. At ball impact, shaft stiffness had a statistically significant influence on clubhead speed for 27 subjects, on loft angle for 11 subjects, and on lie angle for all 40 subjects. No effect was observed on face angle, in to out path angle, or attack angle. These results show that shaft stiffness can affect ball launch conditions by altering clubhead speed and/or loft angle.