Questions about shafts

Equipment
#1

I have a couple of questions about shafts and would like to tap into your collective wisdom.

  1. are shafts interchangeable between club types, e.g., can I use a hybrid shaft for a fairway or vice versa if adjusted for proper length and adapter?

  2. I am very happy with the Alta Distanza shafts for my Ping driver and woods but have not been able to find the same shaft for hybrids. I’ve tried other Ping shafts - Alta CB and the older TPC ones - but they just don’t play the same and I’d like to come as close as I can to the Distanza. Any recommendations?

1 Like
#2

I have not tried what you suggest. When I have looked into purchasing replacement shafts, the shaft comes with trim and tip to length instructions. If the hybrid installation instructions are identical to those from what ever fairway wood you’re taking it from, I’d think you’d be good to go. But I expect the installation instructions would be different.

Alta Distanza is a proprietary Ping shaft. They do list it as an option in their G425 and G710 irons, so I imagine it’s in their hybrids too, but I don’t know how you’d go about just buying the shaft. Call/email Ping Customer Service?

EDIT: A Ping Certified Club Fitter in your area might be able to help too. Bizarre that they list the Distanza in 40-ish gram weight for the irons, but only go as light as 70-ish for the hybrids. I’d have thought that if the shaft was available in woods and irons, it’d be available in hybrids too. Weird.

#3

There have been some shafts meant to play in either hybrid or fairway. Part of it comes down to the hosel size. Most fairway woods are .335" or .350" diameter while hybrids could be .335", .355" or .370".

Wishon used to offer most of their hybrids with .335" hosels and special shafts for them. They felt most hackers needed the fairway wood type shaft to launch the ball higher. I think you need more loft and a clubhead with a low CoG to help launch when you don’t have swingspeed, but I certainly don’t know as much as Tom Wishon.

If you know a shaft you like I would recommend trying to have a fitter match its profile. It also could be that you just do better with woods than hybrids.

#4

I use driver shafts in my 3W, just cut them to size. Hybrids are too short and the weights are higher (85 I believe?) But I have some really nice Graphite Design shafts that I really liked in old drivers and when I got a new driver I also, usually, get a shaft for that specific head. But I have used the old shafts in fairway woods with good results. I just figured a older better shaft is most likely better than a stock shaft. I believe only PING has their engineers specifically work with the shaft manufacturers to develop the best shaft for their driver head. The others just give the manufacturers specifications and leave it at that. The former is more expensive than the latter. Not sure if that is true for fairway woods but i wouldn’t bet against it. Overall, it is a pretty inexpensive way to upgrade your fairway wood.

#5

If you’re looking to get the same “feel” with your driver and the hybrid, it’ll be a tall order, even if you could find the “same” name brands of shafts designated for the driver and the hybrids.

Simply because, the driver and the hybrids are very different in their physical make up and their function.
You’d be better off if you’re trying to find similar match between the hybrids and the long irons.
Why do you like your driver “shaft” ? write down the reasons why you like your driver and read over the list, kick out the ones which is not important after you had a chance to think about it.
Then come back and ask here of what shaft might fit the list of your preferred “feel” in the hybrid as your driver.

Even if the OEM has the name sake shaft made for the hybrid, you will not get the same feel out of it as your driver.

#6

Get fitted properly and you won’t go wrong with the proper shaft.