Steel Vs Graphite

/ The Grateful Golfer

As I put my clubs away for the winter, yes this is a sad day, I notice that half of my clubs have steel shafts and half are graphite.  I know from earlier research that there are benefits to both but, I could not quite remember which was which.  Therefore, after a bit of searching, this is what I came up:

Image from: http://www.americangolf.com/blog/golf-equipment/steel-vs-graphite-shafts/

Steel shafts are:

  • heavier, therefore produce less vibration during contact;
  • generally more accurate because they have less flexibility;
  • cheaper to replace; and
  • generally have better feel when making contact.

Graphite shafts are:

  • lighter, therefore generate more club head speed – thus more distance;
  • going to last as long as steel clubs if maintained properly; and
  • transmit few vibrations to hands on miss hits.

 

There really is no right answer.  For those who would like a verbal explanation, the following video sums the steel vs graphite issue up quite well.

Regardless on which shaft you decide to use, it is important that you are confident with your choice.  I use graphite for my long irons (hybrids) and woods and steel for my short irons and wedges.  I find this combination provides me with maximum distance and feel to score low and have fun.

I am a grateful golfer!  See you on the links!

8 thoughts on “Steel Vs Graphite”

  1. That’s really a very useful post of yours. Being a rather new golfer, all these seems to be so complicated to me. It is pity that already winter is on the way. I suppose we have another month in Mediterranean coasts to play golf, before winter

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  2. Jim, since going to a graphite shafted driver years ago, my accuracy has never been as good as when I used a steel shafted club. The primary culprits being the lower resistance to torque of graphite, but more importantly, the added length of the shafts. As the public has become infatuated with length off the tee, the length of driver shafts has continually increased. The farther you are away from your work, the harder it is to control. Oh well, just a sign of the times. Thanks for the informative post! Brian

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  3. Hi Jim, we fit graphite shafts to our White Dragon Putter, because the light shaft lets you feel the weight of the putter head, giving you more feel and distance control. Apart from that all my my clubs are graphite except for the wedges.

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