The golf club, as you know is made up of two main components, the club head and the shaft and it is the shaft that acts as the engine of the golf club.

Choosing the right shaft is paramount if you are looking to get the best out of your clubs.

So how do you go about choosing the right shaft?

First you need to understand the variations:

Flex

The most well-known aspect of golf shafts is the flex, and although the flex of the shaft is noted, it is extremely important that you understand that there is no industry standard when it comes to grading shaft flexes.

So just because you use a regular in say a Diamana you may not use a regular flex in a UST shaft.

As a general rule a shaft that is too soft (flexible) for your swing will result in shots that tend to go left.

A shaft that is to hard (stiff) for your swing will lead to shots that generally send the ball to the right. This is for right handed golfers, for left handers the opposite is true.

Bend point (Kick point) 

The bend point is the point at which the shaft bends the most.

A shaft will have a bend point profile of either high, mid or low.

The lower the bend point the higher the launch angle of the ball.

Torque

The torque of a golf shaft is generally miss-understood. Basically put the torque is the amount the shaft will twist during impact.

If you are looking at a low torque shaft (lower degree of twisting) you are probably going to have to look for a stiffer or harder shaft, a generally the torque correlates to shaft flex.

This is not always true though so you should make sure that you check this beforehand.

A low torque rated shaft will feel harder at impact, it won´t necessarily be harder.

Once you have an understanding of golf shafts and their characteristics you will then have to consider the affect the head to which you are fitting the shaft will have.

The type of head you are installing the shaft into will yield different results with the same club.

So if you find a shaft you like, or that has been fitted to your numbers purchase a single shaft and then try it in your clubs, as you may well find that the results do not match with your expectations.

Choosing the correct shaft is tricky, especially if you are trying to do it without first trying it in the clubs you want use.

Head to your local professional for a club fitting and make a decision based not only on performance but feel as well.