8 Comments

1. 

   Frank

   Aug 3, 2018 at 12:26 pm

   This was interesting but, as Adam noted above, not particularly helpful in terms of a comparison. In any case, as with all shafts, it’s really a matter of what suits each person’s own swing and set makeup. I am 64, 6’5″ tall, 11 handicap, and have always had accuracy issues with irons, which is the fault of my swing, not the clubs I use. That said, earlier this year I went back to steel shafts for all my irons (I play 5-SW) after testing a new, more flexible steel shaft I got through the Maltby clubmakers’ site. I haven’t had the flex tested by a fitter, but the 95 gram shafts, which they claim are “A/R flex”, do feel more flexible than any other steel shaft I’ve used in the past, and I’ve been getting much tighter shot dispersion using these shafts with Maltby STi heads than I was getting with Callaway XR’s with A-flex graphite. I gave up maybe 4-5 yards in the switch but that’s not hard to adjust to. So all of this is to say, at least in my case, the old saw about steel being generally more accurate than graphite has proven to be true.

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2. 

   Gerald Teigrob

   Aug 3, 2018 at 11:55 am

   Having benefited from playing both graphite and steel irons, I now realize that by playing stiff graphite right now, my game will make the most improvement right now. In time, I can determine when I play steel. I might still put steel in my pitching and gap wedges, but otherwise, I see no reason to rush the process! And breaking 90 for 18 holes feels pretty good, regardless of the shaft in it! I am happy that I know graphite shafts will benefit me right now…and when I move over to steel shafts in my Bio Cell irons, I can take confidence in that I know how responsive my steel irons should be!

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3. 

   Brian Terry

   Aug 3, 2018 at 9:52 am

   I’ve been playing graphite in my irons for the last 5 years after playing steel for 40 yrs. 6i SS is 90mph, so I take a healthy swipe at the ball. I’ve used Steelfiber i110CW, Matrix Program 130, Aldila RIP Tour 115 and recently UST Recoil Protos. I have found them all to perform as well or better than any steel shaft on the market. My favorite are the RIPs (sadly, no longer available) with their more penetrating ball flight and firm solid feel.

   So, IMHO, anyone who claims steel is superior to graphite is just ignorant of the facts.

   BT

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4. 

   Adam

   Aug 2, 2018 at 6:42 pm

   I didn’t fully understand his response to the difference between graphite and steel iron shafts. The response was too generalized and not about iron shafts. Perhaps he can add a bit more to his response.

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5. 

   steve

   Aug 2, 2018 at 4:31 pm

   Graphite shafts do not respond the same as steel shafts in final release when the shaft tip is drooping and torquing. Steel shafts have a faster dynamic response and therefore more predictable than soggy floppy graphites shafts composed of graphite fibers and plastic epoxy.
   Graphite shaft makers have been struggling to create a graphite shaft tip that performs the same as steel and they have failed; still trying to embed exotic fibers into the tips.

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   • 

     steve

     Aug 2, 2018 at 4:36 pm

     Furthermore, graphite shafts from Asia are cheap to produce and there is a lot of profit margin to share with tour pros to promote them. Most golfers are gullible and think that fancy painted graphite shafts are the cat’s meow since the pros use them in drivers. The graphite shafts pros use are not off-the-shelf shafts; they are custom made and then painted for the models they are promoting.

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   • 

     Rascal

     Aug 2, 2018 at 5:39 pm

     Did ogo get banned? Welcome back!

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     • 

       lee

       Aug 6, 2018 at 11:25 pm

       I’m baaaaack … and excessive plastic epoxy is the enemy of shaft tip control in atmospheric pressure oven-cured sloppy graphite shafts.
       Read about autoclave cured shafts with the excess epoxy squeezed out at high pressures in the autoclave process:
       http://www.golfwrx.com/489200/a-qa-with-seven-dreamers-about-its-1200-shafts/

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