Question:
I have a Callaway BBII driver in 9 degrees and a firm System 60 shaft. Is there a better proven combination that I should consider? There are so many options and little way to test them before buying. Your experiences and opinions will be appreciated.
Response:
I have a Callaway BBII driver in 9 degrees and a firm System 60 shaft. Is there a better proven combination that I should consider? There are so many options and little way to test them before buying. Your experiences and opinions will be appreciated.
Callaway is not famous for having great shafts. Lots of Callaways have been reshafted. How do you find the best shaft for you? If you can’t test them out, then you either need to find a clubfitter who will make a recommendation, or ask for advice (are you doing that? 
In my experience, "firm" in Callaways aren’t all that firm. Those designations–stiff, regular, senior, firm, whatever–have no real relation to any standard. One company’s "regular" can in fact be stiffer than another company’s "Stiff." Further, since stiffness varies even within a single shaft (meaning it can be as much as 1/2 flex different orienting the shaft one way as opposed to another), you really need a way to quantify what flex is really the best for you. If you were going to build another club, I’d suggest a couple of options for you (knowing that you’re hitting a "Firm" flex in your BBII and apparently it’s not too bad. You might look at a Grafalloy Prolite 45 in regular flex or a Fujikura Vista Pro 70 in regular flex (the Fuji will play a bit stiffer). The Grafalloy is a good mid-price-range shaft, probably be on the low side of flex for the range you’d be in. The Fuji would be on the higher side of that range. Another consideration: Torque of a shaft means how much it twists during a swing. A very low torque shaft looks like a desirable thing, but it may not necessarily be. A low-torque regular-flex shaft can play stiffer than a high torque "stiff" shaft. The two I mentioned above are not overly low in torque, though the Fuji will be lower in torque. What’s the difference between the two? The Fuji shafts are much more consistent shaft-to-shaft than the Grafalloys are. That’s just part of the price differential (the Prolite 45 costs ‘prox $28, the Fuji ‘prox $65). One final note: If you’re thinking of reshafting a bore-through, your clubmaker will have to take that into consideration. Depending on how it’s done, it can make a shaft play much stiffer than you’d expect. Therefore, you must test it in the same kind of situation–or have the clubmaker be cognizant of the actual flex you have during testing and match that flex when he builds the club. Mike — Mike Dalecki GCA Accredited Clubmaker http://clubdoctor.com RSG-Wisconsin 2003 Information: http://dalecki.net/rsgwis2003 RSG Roll Call: http://rec-sport-golf.com/members/?rollcall=daleckim I do not patronize spammers. Help keep RSG clean!
Response:
I have a Callaway BBII driver in 9 degrees and a firm System 60 shaft. Is there a better proven combination that I should consider? There are so many options and little way to test them before buying. Your experiences and opinions will be appreciated.
Do you hit the driver well? Is there something that you’re specifically trying to achieve with a different shaft? Ron