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| FREE FLEX TECHNOLOGY (FFT) IN BRIEF |
| Free Flex Technology aims to improve and enhance both distance and direction by combining the best features of stiff and flexible shafts. Through various new approaches and viewing the shaft as a multi-construct rather than a single material, SJ Golf Lab was successful in achieving varying levels of firmness on different sections of the shaft for maximum golf swing performance. Simply, it provides the distance of a lighter and more flexible shaft, while providing the accuracy of a much firmer shaft. |
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NOW FOR THE MORE TECH-MINDED GEAR HEADS… Our efforts to create a shaft to help the golfer began with a single question: Does shaft flex truly exist? At SJ Golf Lab, we believed that conventional shaft flex designations only worked to distinguish the shaft from one another, and did not convey any meaningful information on its actual performance/capabilities to the golfers. Meanwhile, the commonly accepted notion was that a stiff shaft with a high CPM improved directionality at the expense of distance, while a flexible shaft with a low CPM increased distance at the expense of accuracy. But what if there was a way to balance the trade-off between accuracy and speed so that we can have both? In theory, then, wouldn’t a shaft with the characteristics of both firm and flexible shaft be able to hit it farther and straighter? And in our search for ways to make this come about, our innovative FreeFlex Technology was born. To make a stiff shaft, mass must be increased to make a shaft strong. However, increasing shaft mass will also make it more difficult to control the club as it can become less wieldy. More importantly, the added mass causes a decrease in acceleration (speed) which can have a negative influence on the total amount of impact (distance). To help increase overall Impact, FFT first involves reducing the mass of a shaft from 60~70g to 38g to increase acceleration or speed. A lighter driver overall can be swung faster, and by decreasing the shaft weight significantly, the goal of achieving a faster swing can be realized. However, let’s now think about an average male golfer with a swing speed of 100mph trying to swing a ladies-flex driver, which is also quite light at about 38~45g. Initially, the male golfer will feel that the ladies’ club feels lighter and much faster, and perhaps even comfortable in hitting the ball quite a ways despite not having to swing with 100% power. But what if they attempt to go all out with it on the course? Soon, the man will realize that swinging such a club at full strength will result in diminished accuracy and many lost balls. So how does FFT account for this while retaining lighter mass? This aspect is one of the trade secrets of FF technology, in that to functionally compensate for the mass reduction, our shafts are structurally engineered to account for and effectively balance the four forces that act upon the shaft during a golf swing. They are torque, bend force during the swing, warping moment, and bending torsional moment – all of which influence the performance outcome of a shaft, and not just torque and bend as it applies to a golfer’s swing speed. In other words, by reducing the mass and improving the mechanical function of the shaft at the same time, it was possible to increase both acceleration and gain better control of the club during the swing. Next, a lighter and more flexible shaft may increase speed but it is also well-known that high swing speeds can work to reduce directionality (accuracy) rather than help it. So our next task with FFT was to increase accuracy while retaining the higher speed we have achieved with the lighter weight. The answer to this problem lay in our methods to enhance the strength of the shaft at specific sections so that the shaft helps the club head return to square at impact. The technique included looking at varying aspects such as the shape of the carbon and its relative content to epoxy; non-uniformity in the arrangement of carbon and epoxy; and increasing MOI and tensile strength through diverse methods of mass distribution. Regarding the use of epoxy, we wanted to break away from the notion that it only functions as an adhesive or a fiber with which to lower production costs. Rather, epoxy can also play an important role in increasing shaft strength and elasticity, much like how water plays an important role in the structural rigidity of toothpicks made of starch. Therefore, the flex of a shaft cannot be determined based on a single variable of swing speed but a combination of various club shaft characteristics, including the structural and morphological characteristics of the shaft, mechanical characteristics of the swing, and physical characteristics of the player. FreeFlex Technology is the resulting combination of all of these factors to arrive at the most suitable shaft for the modern golfer. In addition to mass and acceleration in the formula (I = mass x acceleration x time) at the beginning, the amount of time the club face is in contact with the ball is crucial in increasing both distance and accuracy, and all aspects of our technology above is really to help increase this time requirement. And by having a CPM lower than those found in Lady-flex shafts, the FreeFlex shaft causes the club head to move slower than conventional shafts at the start of the downswing. This also allows for the golfer to get in a better position with the lower body with the club head coming down on a more vertical plane with hands ahead of the club. This is the reason FF shafts are harder to pull left, as it helps to reduce early release. Think of it as the FF shaft helping to create more lag easily for the average golfer who can’t twist and swing with the speed of a tour pro. On a side note, originally the FF38 shaft was the sole FreeFlex shaft model, as the name intended to convey our idea that ‘there is only one flex’. However, numerous elite amateurs and pro golfers felt that its excessive flexibility caused them to worry about control during the swing. So, despite the FF38 being both long and accurate, the FF45 was created to address the psychological need for golfers to feel more in control – i.e. a firmer feeling shaft. In fact, the two shafts FF38 and FF45 are nearly identical in performance with the biggest difference being the feeling of soft vs firm, so take this into account when choosing your FF shaft. Ultimately, our goal at SJ Golf Engineering Lab with FreeFlex is to create a program that can digitally and accurately diagnose a golfer’s swing to see how the shaft performs at every part of the swing. And by scrutinizing where the shaft can be improved to optimize the golfer’s outcome, our innovative technology can make a shaft that is perfectly suited for that one golfer’s unique swing. Imagine the likes of Tiger or Rory who already hit it a mile, but that we find an extra possible tweak to get their impact efficiency up to 99.9%! Now that would truly be customized golf shaft fitting, an d it’s not so far off as you think (it's in progress!) Just remember, you read it here first. MORE TO COME SOON... |
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