"The steel shafts in our irons are the best in the world-
but you might play better with graphite shafts in your irons"

by Dennis Burkey

You can’t imagine how many guys ask me if they would play better with graphite shafts in their irons. Very good question! This article will help you decide.

Let’s back up just a bit first. We all need and want graphite shafts in our drivers and fairway woods. Why? Graphite shafts are lighter. Therefore we can get a bit more club head speed without losing any control. Extra club head speed equals a longer shot. This means a few extra yards on our droves and fairway wood shots.

Quick quiz will tell you

This quiz will help you decide if graphite shafts make sense in your irons:
 

1. Are you using graphite shafts in your irons now?

2. Even if you are athletic, is your swing slowing down now as you get older?

3. Do you think you would gain accuracy if you changed your swing from "fast" to "less hurried" but perhaps with better, smoother tempo?

4. Have you lost some distance with your irons?

5. Have you noticed that your irons with steel shafts feel a bit “harsh” or even can hurt a little when you strike the ball?

If you answered yes to the number one question – if you do have graphite shafts in your irons now, for whatever reason – then you really should continue with graphite. It really does not matter why you have graphite now – even if you were given a set and they had graphite shafts or you bought them at a garage sale and they had graphite shafts. The ‘why’ doesn’t matter – you should stay with graphite. You will understand in a minute.

If you answered "Yes" to any of the other questions, graphite shafts in your irons will very likely help your game. Here is why –

Because graphite is lighter and that means the overall club is lighter, you can get a bit more speed with the club or you can slow down, have better tempo and get the same distance (with probably better accuracy) as before but with less effort a smoother swing.

If you use graphite now –
I strongly urge you to stay with graphite

This is important (and it answers why you should keep graphite shafts if you are using them now), irons made with graphite shafts are a bit longer than irons made with steel shafts. Huh? Why? That was my reaction years ago when I first learned that fact.

Since the graphite shaft is lighter, the club will “feel” way too light in your hands. Lighter is good but only to a degree. Therefore, to make the graphite shafted irons feel better, the manufacturers all made them about ½ to ¾ inch longer. This puts the weight mass of the club head just that much farther from your hands which make it feel just a tad heavier (a “tad” is the weight on say a dime taped to the head). Therefore, you get a better feel of the actual head without having too much weight.

Because graphite shafted irons are longer you should not go from graphite to steel. Believe me, we have learned from experience that, for example, going to a ¾ inch longer six iron is an easy adjustment. So going from steel to graphite is really not much of an adjustment at all – and you can always make the change gradually by gripping down just a bit at first.

But – going from graphite to steel is a different kettle of fish altogether. If all of a sudden your irons were ¾ inch shorter I can promise you would have a difficult time getting used to them. If I get a phone call and the man or lady on the phone tells me the steel shafted irons they bought from us don’t feel right or they are having trouble with them, my first question always is, “Did you have steel or graphite shafts in your old irons?” Always the answer is graphite! So please, if you are using graphite now in your irons – stay with graphite.

I hope this helps you with your decision. I personally like graphite – a lot. I swing easy (ok, I swing slowly) and I get more distance with better feel. My partner Dan on the other hand has our Kinjura steel shafts in his irons and wouldn’t think of changing. He is more of a ball striker with a faster speed