Submitted by:
Raymond Jenkins,
PGA Golf Professional & Club Repair Technician
Dick's Sporting Goods

Q:   When measuring the frequencies of Black Gold Stiff Flex shafts in a set of OEM irons, why do the frequencies match Regular Flex specifications?

A:   The manufacturer is offering a new stock shaft product in their irons and wants to know how the new shaft compares to the previous stock shaft. When doing so, the frequency of the shaft is an important comparison. A Black Gold Stiff 5 iron has a standard frequency of 330 cpm at 38". Although the manufacturer's previous stock shaft, Dynamic Gold S-300, does not have a standard frequency, the expected frequency is between 315 and 320 cpm at 38". Because the new stock shaft is approximately one flex (10 - 15 cpm) "stiffer" than the previous stock shaft, the manufacturer chose to use an R Flex shaft, yet label the shaft Stiff so that the frequency specification is closely duplicated.

It should be noted that while the frequencies of the old and new stock shafts match, the stiffness playability does not. Each shaft has its own, unique set of playing properties and is labeled with a flex designation by the shaft manufacturer to perform for a player that needs a specific flex. Comparing shafts on a specification basis instead of a performance basis can result in poorly fit golf shafts.

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