Torque and it's effect on dispertion

[benny]

I've read the thread on torque below but was wondering if there was more to it. I guess my question is how low is low? Is the difference between say a 2.5 torque rating to a 3.7 that noticable in dispersion? Do different ratings fit different swing types better, swinger vs hitter? Thanks, sorry fo the redundancy.

G

[TourGolfJeff]

Benny,

Torque is onky one factor among many in shaft playability. That said, a slower, smoother swing is genearlly best with a higher torque shaft, while faseter swingwers are best fit with lower torques. Again, as there are a number of other shaft parameters, these comments are made to be general statements only and not absolute fact in all cases. The difference between the 2.5 and 3.7 is minimal, especially if no other shaft specs change.

Jeff

[toshman]

read once that one reason why tiger woods used to not be able to use graphite shafts was of the high torque associated with them due to the abrutness of his swing as compared to david duval and ernie els who could play with higher torque graphite shafts because of the smoothness throughout their swings-clearly this was back when duval was still in the picture and hope the info might give you a picture

[997777]

I asked my clubfitter a similar question on torque's effect on dispersion. He basically told me that torque has no effect on dispersion, torque is only relevent in regards to feel. More torque, shaft feels "whippy", less torque, shaft feels stiff. Callaway did a study and they came to the same conclusion.

[kpcw]

I totally agree with 997777 above. Torque is defined as just that, the ability for the lower portion of the shaft to twist or rotate under load. It really affects feel. Kickpoint and weight are also huge factors.

Read this link: http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:hCJeg_F...olf+shaft&hl=en

I have a smoother swing, less violent from the top and benefit from a mid-torque shaft. In fact, it really comes to 'feel'. The first thing I do when I pick up a new driver off the shelf is grip it and waggle it very quickly at address, a foot forward and back. Bam. Right there you can feel not just the flex and weight of the shaft, but the torque too. I know (and I am honest with myself) if it is too stiff, too heavy and really firm the last 6" above the hosel.

I am stuck right now, looking at the Cobra 440SZ, it comes with a Graphite Design YS-5.1 with a low/mid kick point and 5* of torque OR the Cobra 450SZ Tour which comes with a Penley ETA 65, high kickpoint blah blah. Yep, I can re-shaft them, but the last stock Cobra I had (350 series) was just awesome. Anyone have any feelings about the Cobras???

[sflaspprentice]

read once that one reason why tiger woods used to not be able to use graphite shafts was of the high torque associated with them due to the abrutness of his swing as compared to david duval and ernie els who could play with higher torque graphite shafts because of the smoothness throughout their swings-clearly this was back when duval was still in the picture and hope the info might give you a picture

What about all those guys in the Re-Max long drive events, I didnt see DGX400's in their GBB 6.5 drivers???

[Swaaain]

Torque is more than just feel. Some of the points are corect, a golfer with more of a violent swing can use a lower torque shaft. Torque also affects the spin rates on the golf ball. A lower torque shaft will help the better play tighten their dispersion pattern, but too little toque will affect their distance as they may be getting too little spin on the ball. Also, a golfer with too much torque will get too much cpin on the ball and will have the ballon effect. It is also finding the proper balance of kick point and loft. All these relate to the proper launch conditions with spin, launch angle and ball speed.

I hope this helps.

Swaaain!!!

[NickBooras]

Here is a little exerpt from Tom Wishon's website, www.wishongolf.com:

Does anyone talk about the torsional stiffness of a shaft anymore? 10-15 years ago it seemed as if the shaft's resistance to twisting was THE point of shaft fitting, but not today. Today, as long as the shaft, and we are talking graphite here because that is the only shaft material type where torque exhibits a range within the same flex of more than 1 degree, has a range in torque somewhere between 3 and 5.5 degrees, no one worries about it. But should we in modern times of shaft fitting?

No, not really. Yes, it is true that all golfers would be better off with lower torque shafts if for only the reason that lower torque helps eliminate one more possible cause for mis-direction. However, most of today's shaft designs are made so that as the shaft becomes much more flexible, the torques are made to be a little higher. What allows this to work OK for the very slow swing speed players who would use these more flexible shafts is the fact that they will not generate enough carry distance to allow any mis-direction tendency of the higher torque to fly the ball that far off line. But ideally, a shaft of the old Grafalloy Nitro Flex design, in which all of the flexes were made with low torque, would be a good concept for fitting – again as long as the flex was reduced more in the R, A, and L flex versions so the lower torque would not contribute to a much stiffer feel for those few slow swing speed players who have a sense of that type of shaft feel.  

The much larger drivers of 350cc and greater do place a little more twisting influence on the shaft on the downswing because a much larger driver head = center of gravity farther from the shaft. This is one of the reasons that TWGT designs all of its driver heads with a slight CG bias toward the heel side of face center, AND with a slight hook face angle on driver heads over 300cc.  

A Few Tips for Shaft Torque Selection:  

* As mentioned above, the only real candidates for restricting the choice of shafts to those within the 3-4 degree range in torque are those golfers with much greater strength, greater hand and arm strength, an aggressive "hitter" move on the downswing, and who are very abrupt with the quick application of high force at the start of the downswing. Even so, if the shaft weight, length, swingweight and overall flex along with the proper head specifications are chosen accurately, even a 5 degree torque shaft will not really hurt the performance for this type of player. Think of the slightly lower torque for this type of player as more of an "insurance policy" to eliminate possible off center shot variables.  

* However, the above type of player who also uses a >400cc driver head really should be in a shaft with the torsional stiffness in the 3-4 degree range because the CG to shaft distance combined with their swing movements could cause some mis-direction problems.  

* Players with average to below average strength, swing speeds under 100mph are going to be better off with shafts of >4 degrees torque. This is because in most cases, shafts today designed with lower torque are also designed with a little more firmness in the tip and center sections of the shaft, which is a condition of shaft flex distribution that is not great for this type of player.  

* Spend more time accurately fitting the weight and overall flex of the shaft and don't worry much about the torque – for the reason that slower swingers whose selection of shafts will likely only have torque in the 5-6 degree range will not likely hit the ball far enough to allow any mis-direction tendency from this slightly higher torque to fly the ball far enough off line to create problems.

Can be found on this site: http://www.wishongolf.com/tech_talk/indept...n_shft_fit.html

Trust me, this man knows his stuff.