Does SST Shaft Puring Make A Difference?
13 July 2023
For years SGGT has been using SST Pure with every shaft we fit so what difference can it make to your golf clubs.
STT Pure is also known as shaft alignment and the aim is to create greater consistency in the delivery of the golf club at impact.
SST Pure finds the most dominant spine in your shaft which is created during the manufacturing process. In graphite shafts the material is usually wrapped around in layers and the spine can be quite pronounced. This phenomenon can also occur in steel shafts but to a lesser degree.
When graphite shafts are made, the material in layered on to the shaft which creates a spine where the shaft will rotate around. As Scott explains in the video below, this spine is like the edge of the ruler. Try to bend it along the edge and it won’t move but turn it the other way and it will bend just like it used to when you were launching things across the classroom.
How do you position the spine on a pured shaft?
The key is that with SST Pure you know where the spine is, whereas if you just align the logo on the shaft with the head then the spine could be anywhere. At SGGT we position the spine on the top of the shaft as you look at the club at address as that produces the most consistent results. Sometimes we vary this position to suit a players swing or club head delivery. Where the spine is located will have a big effect on performance as our test with our resident reviewer Martin Hopley shows.
STT Pure Fitting Review
We went to the Lyle Studio and took Martin's custom fitted driver and rotated the SST Pure shaft through 4 positions from top to left, right and bottom.
We tested the various SST Pure positions using Trackman and Titleist Pro V1 balls hit outdoors. The numbers showed that the greatest carry distance came from the Top position, closely followed by the right position just 3 yards behind. However the left position was 8 yards back and the bottom position 10 yards behind.
By independent reviewer Martin Hopley
As well as the distance gains, I found the other benefits of shaft puring are accuracy and feel. With the top position my dispersion was much tighter as shown by the navy circle below.
The top position also gave the most solid feel. I also liked the right position which seemed to create a nice draw for me, but ultimately it was less accurate. The bottom position seemed to create a lower flight and felt like more work to swing, whereas the left position felt out of control and I had no idea where the head was during the swing.
This is probably why you sometimes get a good feel from a club in a regular fitting as the shaft might be randomly in the right position for you when you first try it. Then when your actual club turns up, it may have the same spec of shaft, but the spine could be in a different position and it doesn't work as well as it did before.
With SST Pure you know that club you receive from SGGT will exactly match the the set up of the club from your fitting and therefore deliver the same results, as my driver fitting review shows.
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