Brian Beaky Cascade Golfer Editor

For the past 70 years, since steel shafts were first introduced in competitive play in the 1930’s, the ability to change shafts on the fly has been a luxury reserved only for professionals, who could hit the Tour van in between rounds to have their clubs refitted with different shafts to take advantage of course, weather or swing conditions. A more flexible shaft adds distance and height, while a stiffer shaft gives golfers more control over the ball’s flight — essential for keeping it low and straight on a windy day. Furthermore, the desired stiffness of a shaft changes in direct proportion to a golfer’s swing speed ­— the club will naturally flex and bend as you swing, so logically, the faster your swing, the stiffer shaft you should use to help control that flex and keep the club head aligned on impact. Until recently, however, the USGA did not allow golfers to change out shafts on their clubs — if you wanted to play with a different shaft, you needed to buy a different club, or have your club professionally refit. The top pros could afford it, but the average golfer with 14 clubs in his bag and a few bucks to spare on greens fees was out of luck. On Jan. 1, 2008, though, new USGA rules went into effect allowing adjustable clubs in tournament play, blowing open the doors for everyday golfers to begin taking advantage of IST technology, and leading, predictably, to a frenzied rush among manufacturers to be the first to launch their interchangeable-shaft clubs onto the market. Though the three models listed here differ slightly in their assembly, none required more than two minutes to exchange one shaft for another. Generally, all that’s required is removing/replacing a small screw, and snapping the shaft and club head together. That’s it — no fancy tools, no engineering degree required. Anyone who has ever used a screwdriver already boasts all the tools they’ll need to swap shafts in a matter of seconds. Especially in our neck of the woods, where the changing weather can present wildly different conditions from one day to the next, IST technology could have a big effect on the way the average golfer plays the game. Is it going to turn you into Fred Couples overnight? Of course not. But it can help you standardize your swing for all types of weather and shot conditions, and give you the flexibility you need to adjust to a constantly changing golf environment.