Graphite golf clubs are gaining popularity over conventional steel golf clubs of late. In graphite golf clubs the shaft or the long rod that connects the golf club head with the grip is made out of graphite as opposed to steel shafts used in normal golf clubs. The essence of using graphite shaft in golf clubs in pretty simple. The lighter the golf club, the easier it is to swing and the better the swing; better is the initial distance traveled by the golf ball. Many critics consider the distance covered in the swing as a major factor in the game and hence a lot of importance is given to improving the golf swing.
The material used in the golf head is always a metal and hardly it’s a matter of choice. The head typically weighs close to 195 grams and the grip weighs close to 50 grams. Now the magic lies in the shaft that connects the shaft and the head of the golf club and graphite shafts that weigh as less as 65 to 70 grams might reduce the weight by a decent percent as compared to the steel shaft that usually weighs between 115 to 125 grams. This way the total reduction in the weight of the shaft is 50 grams and this allows an improved swing speed and hence a longer coverage out of the swing. This is a quite natural phenomenon and you could imagine how fast you can swing a lighter weight stick as compared to a heavy weight stick.
But this doesn’t mean that graphite rods are the only way to play better golf. Golf equipment is not universal. In other words one golfer might find graphite golf clubs far better than steel golf clubs while another could find steel golf clubs better than graphite golf clubs. The difference in opinion is due to the preference of the player and the strength of the swing. A well built and strong player who already gets good coverage with steel golf clubs might not need a graphite golf club to increase the reach further. Further the golfer would also have got acquainted to the sharp impact given by steel golf clubs rather than the damped impact provided by graphite shafts. Due to the difference in their physical properties, the impact produced by a graphite surface is not same as steel and hence the extent of transfer of energy from the grip to the golf ball differs between steel and graphite and steel golf clubs out perform graphite clubs in this factor. Further it is a well known fact that the greater the mass of the colliding material the better is the momentum and the impact produced and thus steel golf clubs that are comparatively heavy offer better momentum even if the swing speed is a bit low.
To put it in short if a player prefers a light weight club that he can swing faster and accelerate the ball better, graphite golf clubs come in pretty handy while on contrary if the player is quite strong and capable of driving the ball harder with powerful swings, then the impact offered by steel is a gift in itself and hence steel golf clubs provide an excellent support as compared to graphite golf clubs to such players.