What is
‘Shaft Stepping’?
Shaft stepping is a very unique way to dial in your clubs. By adjusting what club you put what shaft in you’re able to fine tune the flex and playability of your iron set. This is a very niche action and uncommon for most golfers, but there is a chance it could benefit your game. With some help from our friends at True Temper we’ll break down what shaft stepping is, when you may be interested in implementing it, and why it’s less of a factor in today’s market than it used to be.
Defining Shaft Stepping:
Shaft stepping is the process of putting a shaft that belongs in one head into a different head. For example, taking a 7 iron shaft and putting it in a 6 iron or 8 iron head. What happens when you do this, is you’re mildly changing the flex properties of that shaft because you are going to be cutting off more or less of the handle section of that shaft which lowers or raises the kickpoint of the shaft as well.
HARD STEPPING
Hard-stepping a set of shafts is taking a higher lofted head’s shaft and putting it into a lower lofted head. For example, taking a PW Shaft and putting it in an 8 iron. Hardstepping with make the shaft play stiffer, and each step is about ⅓ of a flex. Let’s use our Dynamic Gold Mid S400 shafts as an example. Taking that DG Mid S400 and hardstepping it one time from PW into the 9 iron is going to make that shaft play slightly stiffer than the typical 9 iron would. Putting that shaft into the 8 iron would make that shaft play right in between the flexes of the S400 or the X100 and putting that shaft into the 7 iron would on paper have that flex closer the X100 flex, although that doesn’t mean its going to play exactly the same because at that point you’ve adjusted the kickpoint of the shaft quite heavily and are cutting off a minimal amount of the handle section of that shaft.
SOFT STEPPING
Soft-stepping a set of shafts is just the opposite effect. Taking an iron shaft and putting it into a higher lofted head. This is actually a more common occurrence within the industry for one simple exchange. The 8 iron shaft into wedges. This is common with many high level players because it allows their wedges to use the same shafts as their irons but with a little bit softer feel and more load which can potentially help increase spin on wedge shots as well.
IS IT WORTH IT?
The truth is that if you are worried about changing flexes within a model of shaft, you’re usually better off with the stiffer or softer version depending on the decision you are trying to make. The engineers behind these products have reasons for creating the flexes that they create and fine tuning that with each set in the shaft, that if you find yourself wanting to hardstep you’re probably better off just going with the stiff set, and if you are finding yourself wanting to soft-step you’re likely better off going with the softer flex. My friends at Club Champion Canada did a recent video on this concept, and the proof is in the pudding.
WHEN IT WORKS BEST
There is however one very justified reason for stepping your shafts, and that’s if the weight of the shaft is tied to the flex of the shaft. Let’s use the ProjectX LS shafts as an example. Because each flex increases in weight within the model, you may find yourself wanting the feeling and playability of a certain weight, without it being available in the flex you desire. For example, a player whose swing benefits from a heavier shaft, but needs a softer flex shaft may want to soft-step something like the ProjectX 6.5 shafts. This soft-stepping would allow the heavier 125g shaft play like the 6.0 flex shafts which are a little bit lighter at 120g. The same can be said for a player who likes the lightweight feeling of a certain shaft, but may want that shaft to play stiffer.
Thanks to our sponsor True Temper Golf for supplying us with the product you saw in this topic. For more information on all True Temper Golf products and accessories check out truetempersports.com/golf
