Bridgestone Goes Old School on Shaft Fitting
Oftentimes simpler is better. Is shaft fitting one of those situations?
Bridgestone recently had a patent application publish as US Pub. No. A golf club shaft selection device includes: a plurality of synthetic resin or metallic tube members which are adapted to be wound individually around a plurality of areas of a golf club shaft which result when the golf club shaft is so divided along the length thereof, wherein one or two tube members in the plurality of tube members are fixed around the shaft so as to change a stiffness value and kick point of the shaft at the areas around which the tube members are wound.
The application goes on to explain:
SUMMARY
[0008] An object of the invention is to provide a golf club shaft selection device with which a golfer can find out a golf club shaft which is suitable for himself or herself by changing easily and quickly the properties of shafts such as kick point and stiffness without using the conventional tape.
[0009] With a view to attaining the object, according to the invention, there is provided a golf club shaft selection device including a plurality of synthetic resin or metallic tube members which are adapted to be wound individually around a plurality of areas of a golf club shaft which result when the golf club shaft is so divided along the length thereof, wherein one or two tube members in the plurality of tube members are fixed around the shaft so as to change a stiffness value and kick point of the shaft at the areas around which the tube members are wound.
[0010] According to the invention, there is provided the golf club shaft selection device including the plurality of synthetic resin or metallic tube members which are adapted to be wound individually around the plurality of areas of the golf club shaft which are so divided along the length of the golf club shaft, wherein one or two tube members in the plurality of tube members are fixed around the shaft so as to change the stiffness values and kick points of the shaft at the areas around which the tube members are wound. Therefore, it is easy to find out a kick point which is suitable for the golfer by combining any two tube members of the plurality of tube members so as to be wound around the shaft, and even when the device is attached to and detached from the shaft repeatedly, there is caused no such situation that the device itself is deteriorated.
So, do you view this as an advancement or a step backward in golf club fitting? Regardless, it would be fun to try!