Frequency Matching (EXPLAINED)

[GolfSpy_X]

By: Tom Wishon

 

Question: What is "Frequency Matching"?

 

Answer: Special devices, available to clubmakers, can measure the stiffness of shafts through what is called "shaft frequency measurement." These types of electronic devices allow the shaft to be clamped, usually at the grip end, with either a weight attached to the head end (when testing a raw shaft) or the clubhead attached at the head end. The clubmaker pulls the shaft down, lets it go, and the shaft begins to oscillate up and down.

 

The stiffer the shaft, the faster the rate of oscillation; the more flexible the shaft, the slower the rate of oscillation. The frequency analyzer is designed to count the oscillation rate of the shaft and display the reading in the form of "cycles per minute" (a numerical value) on the LED display on the machine.

 

In a set of woods or irons, the frequency reading of the shafts in the clubs will normally increase from longest to shortest club in the set. However, due to many factors, the amount of increase from shaft to shaft is not normally in the same increment.

 

Some custom clubmakers offer the service of fine tuning the shafts when installed in the clubheads so that the increment of frequency increase from longest to shortest clubs in the set will be exactly the same from club to club. This is "frequency matching."

 

Frequency matching will make the progression of grip-end stiffness from club to club more consistent from longest to shortest clubs in a golfer's bag. But if the shaft weight, shaft flex and bend profile are not fit properly to the golfer, frequency matching will not help the golfer.

 

It is far more important to properly fit the weight, flex and bend profile to the golfer than to worry about frequency matching in otherwise improperly fit shafts.

[jamo]

Thanks for the explanation. Would this be a way to compare different stiffnesses from different companies?

[Tony Covey MGS]

Thanks for the explanation. Would this be a way to compare different stiffnesses from different companies?

 

Yup. It's the best way to make an apples to apples comparison between (as an example) Dynamic Gold and Project X.

[jamo]

Yup. It's the best way to make an apples to apples comparison between (as an example) Dynamic Gold and Project X.

 

Good to know.

[Matt Saternus]

So is the feel of the shaft the primary benefit of frequency or is there something else to it?

[caddyjoe77]

So is the feel of the shaft the primary benefit of frequency or is there something else to it?

 

not to open a can of worms here, but rifle and DG use 2 different butt clamp sizes to measure frequency. IIRC, DG uses a 5" butt clamp and Rifle used(since they are no longer around?...not sure what happened to them) a 2.5 or vice versa.

 

In other words....an S, usually a 5.5 or 6.0, rifle is not the same frequency as an S300. Also, because of the differences in the way the shafts play, i.e. butt vs. tip stiff etc. An example of this is a Tour Flighted rifle 6.0 in the 3 iron shaft will be different frequency than an S300 standard 3 iron shaft. I have a chart that is the old RP rifle freq chart somewhere...let me see if i can dig it out.

 

I cant explain it all as it confuses the crap out of me.

 

hopefully this helps a little, anyway.

[jamo]

not to open a can of worms here, but rifle and DG use 2 different butt clamp sizes to measure frequency. IIRC, DG uses a 5" butt clamp and Rifle used(since they are no longer around?...not sure what happened to them) a 2.5 or vice versa.

 

In other words....an S, usually a 5.5 or 6.0, rifle is not the same frequency as an S300. Also, because of the differences in the way the shafts play, i.e. butt vs. tip stiff etc. An example of this is a Tour Flighted rifle 6.0 in the 3 iron shaft will be different frequency than an S300 standard 3 iron shaft. I have a chart that is the old RP rifle freq chart somewhere...let me see if i can dig it out.

 

I cant explain it all as it confuses the crap out of me.

 

hopefully this helps a little, anyway.

 

Why would they do that now that True Temper bought Rifle?

[Tony Covey MGS]

My understanding is that True Temper hasn't changed anything about the Rifle shafts. Again, the key to providing uniformity of measurement. A deflection board is ideal, but DigiFlex machines and a clamp will work. As caddyjoe77 pointed out, different manufacturers use different clamp sizes. The only way to do apples to apples is to measure the shafts using absolutely identical tools.

 

Flex probably is a little too generic to correlate directly to feel. Once again caddyjoe77 is correct, butt stiffness vs. tip stiffness is a contributing factor, and one or the other can change how a shaft feels. When we chart clubs for frequency, we like to see a line that runs parallel to our flex definition boundaries (4 cpms per 1/2"). You can see a sample frequency chart in our post explaining how we test. Of course, there are some who believe a flat line approach is better.

[Matt Saternus]

My understanding is that True Temper hasn't changed anything about the Rifle shafts. Again, the key to providing uniformity of measurement. A deflection board is ideal, but DigiFlex machines and a clamp will work. As caddyjoe77 pointed out, different manufacturers use different clamp sizes. The only way to do apples to apples is to measure the shafts using absolutely identical tools.

 

Flex probably is a little too generic to correlate directly to feel. Once again caddyjoe77 is correct, butt stiffness vs. tip stiffness is a contributing factor, and one or the other can change how a shaft feels. When we chart clubs for frequency, we like to see a line that runs parallel to our flex definition boundaries (4 cpms per 1/2"). You can see a sample frequency chart in our post explaining how we test. Of course, there are some who believe a flat line approach is better.

 

This is what I'm curious about. What are the claims of either side? Is it just two groups that have different opinions about feel, or are there some performance benefits to be derived from one or the other?

[Tony Covey MGS]

This is what I'm curious about. What are the claims of either side? Is it just two groups that have different opinions about feel, or are there some performance benefits to be derived from one or the other?

 

At Tark's we use butt frequency matching (also known as sloped frequency matching). I'm by no means an expert on the science. I did find this:

 

 

• Butt Frequency Matching –The theory of matching all of the irons based only on the butt frequency measurement. A shaft is placed into a frequency machine and a butt frequency reading is taken. The measurement is in cycles per minute or CPM's. This measurement is then compared to the other shafts and the softest butt reading shaft is then installed into the longest iron and the stiffest butt reading shaft is installed in the wedges. The shorter club heads both weigh more and the shafts are shorter which helps compensate for putting the stiffer shaft in the shorter club. The frequency reading generally falls into a “slope” of 4 cpm's. This means that say for the 3 iron the reading is 280. The 4 iron reading will be 284 and the 5 iron will be 288 and so on right through to the wedges. The reading will get higher as you go through the set. The industry has accepted a “slope” of 4 cpm's although many clubmakers will vary this based on the needs of the individual golfer.
  
• Flat Line Frequency Matching –The theory that all of the clubs will have the same butt frequency measurement. The shafts are tipped or not tipped and the heads are weighted in order to obtain the same frequency reading in all of the clubs. If the target for the golfer is say 290, every club in the bag will be at the frequency reading of 290. This of course makes the longer irons softer and the shorter irons not as stiff. This is usually done for the slower swingers to help make softer feeling shafts to get the ball in the air easier.
  

 

There's also some good info here.

[Matt Saternus]

Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for.

[xxio]

Great reading on the slope vs uniform frequencies.

[Addicted2Golf]

At Tark's we use butt frequency matching (also known as sloped frequency matching). I'm by no means an expert on the science. I did find this:

 

 

• Butt Frequency Matching –The theory of matching all of the irons based only on the butt frequency measurement. A shaft is placed into a frequency machine and a butt frequency reading is taken. The measurement is in cycles per minute or CPM's. This measurement is then compared to the other shafts and the softest butt reading shaft is then installed into the longest iron and the stiffest butt reading shaft is installed in the wedges. The shorter club heads both weigh more and the shafts are shorter which helps compensate for putting the stiffer shaft in the shorter club. The frequency reading generally falls into a “slope” of 4 cpm's. This means that say for the 3 iron the reading is 280. The 4 iron reading will be 284 and the 5 iron will be 288 and so on right through to the wedges. The reading will get higher as you go through the set. The industry has accepted a “slope” of 4 cpm's although many clubmakers will vary this based on the needs of the individual golfer.
   
  
• Flat Line Frequency Matching –The theory that all of the clubs will have the same butt frequency measurement. The shafts are tipped or not tipped and the heads are weighted in order to obtain the same frequency reading in all of the clubs. If the target for the golfer is say 290, every club in the bag will be at the frequency reading of 290. This of course makes the longer irons softer and the shorter irons not as stiff. This is usually done for the slower swingers to help make softer feeling shafts to get the ball in the air easier.
  

 

There's also some good info here.

 

So is this what they mean when shafts are "flighted"?

[Addicted2Golf]

So, I have a dumb question. Overall, is frequency matching worth the investment for mid-handicappers or is it something only highly skilled players would benfit from? I've always wondered about that for this and shaft spining (I will leave that to the other post).