Finally in this age of shaft flex confusion comes an instrument capable of standardizing the golf shaft industry. Although it is not likely to be accepted by OEM’s, it enables a club maker to build perfectly matched sets of clubs or a single club to exacting specifications. It also allows the testing of OEM clubs. The name of the instrument is the FLEXMASTER. This is not frequency matching, but matching shafts by deflection.

Frequency matching shafts is old technology. The first step in building a set of clubs is to put each shaft through a spine finder to locate the flex plane of the shaft. The line or plane on which the shaft will bend and recover in a straight line. Now we proceed to the FLEXMASTER. First we determine the required club length and flex. We adjust the deflection bar assembly to the determined length. We install the shaft in the FLEXMASTER with the spine on top. By deflecting the shaft, the force gauge will record the strongest reading in pounds of that particular shaft. If a stronger flex is required it can only be reached by using a stronger flex shaft. In some cases, a butt extension can be used to increase the flex. If the shaft is too strong it must be butt trimmed to weaken it to the desired poundage/flex. Once all the shafts have been trimmed to the desired poundage/flex, the shaft is inserted into the clubhead, measured for playing length and that difference is removed from the TIP end of the shaft, leaving us with the section of the shaft we measured. Now the clubs are assembled, with the spine aligned with the club face, swing weights are checked and then the clubs are gripped.

Now we find a use for our frequency analyser, we can profile the clubs and plot them on a graph. When using the FLEXMASTER, our clubs come out at 4 - 5 cycles between each club throughout the set. A large segment of our business is rebuilding OEM clubs, mostly for tour players and mid to low handicappers. This piece of equipment virtually gives all golfers, whether they have a high or low handicap a consistent set of clubs. Not only do we get the golfers more distance but more accuracy and ease of playing. Steel shaft works very well in the FLEXMASTER as do most shafts. There are some graphite shafts that do not have enough parallel tip section, usually any shaft with 5 - 6" of parallel tip will work. Taper tip shafts of course cannot be used because you have to cut from both ends. In the event of tapered hosels, we simply bore it out.