Shaft fitting is one of the most confusing aspects of fitting for many golfers and clubmakers. The main function of the shaft is to control the weight of the club and optimise the launch angle of the shot.

It is critical in shaft fitting to analyse four of the significant movements in a golfers swing. Get your swing speed measured with the driver (wood fitting) and a 5 iron (iron fitting).

The next important parameter to be noted is overall swing tempo: A smooth tempo will have a timing of over 1.2 seconds, an average swing tempo timing is 0.9 - 1.2 seconds, and a fast swing tempo will be less than 0.9 seconds.

Force of the downswing transition and the release move (the point in the downswing when the golfer unhinges their wrists) are the last two swing movements that absolutely must be observed by a professional club fitter in order to guarantee the correct shaft selection.

We can only look at the ball flight once all of these swing movements have been observed. If the golfer is testing a driver shaft that matches their 4 basic swing movements, but does not match their ball flight (it is not going straight), a decision has to be made with the club fitters advice.

As described last issue, we need to identify whether the golfer falls into category 1 or category 2. Category 1 golfer (leisure golfer): The shaft has to hit the ball straight regardless of the swing movement. Category 2 golfer (serious golfer): The shaft must match the golfers swing movements, and the golfer must work with their coach to attain the correct ball flight.

We see professionals using many brightly coloured and appealing looking shafts. Remember that they have been fitted for these shafts, which companies are quite willing to sell to you. Get your shafts professionally fitted to ensure that they match your swing and ball flight - not the professional on television.