A premium wood shaft costs $300 to $500 on its own in Australia, which is more than plenty of golfers spend on the whole club. Yet most people buying a used driver look at the head, glance at the word "Stiff", and ignore the other three things printed on the shaft that matter just as much.

This is the simplest version of shaft fitting we can write. Four numbers, two tables, and a way to read any shaft name on the rack. We sell a lot of used golf clubs in Australia that arrive from Japan with premium shafts already fitted, so it is worth knowing what you are looking at.

Start HereWhat Does a Shaft Actually Do?

It decides how the head arrives at the ball. The head controls forgiveness and face technology. The shaft controls how fast you can swing it, how high the ball launches, how much it spins, and whether the face is square when it gets there.

That is why two golfers can hit the same driver head and get completely different results. Change the shaft and you change the ball flight, often more than changing the head would.

Number OneWeight or Flex: Which Matters More?

Weight. It is the first thing a fitter sets and the easiest thing for you to feel.

Driver shafts generally run from about 40g to 80g. Lighter helps you swing faster, which is useful if you are losing distance. Heavier helps you control the club and find the centre of the face, which is useful if your strike is scattered. Most men end up somewhere between 55g and 65g in a driver, and most women between 45g and 55g. Iron shafts are heavier again, usually 95g to 130g in steel.

If you only change one thing, change the weight. A golfer fighting a hook will often calm it down with a heavier shaft long before they need a different head.

Number TwoWhat Flex Should I Play?

Flex is how much the shaft bends during the swing. Use your driver swing speed as the starting point, not your handicap and not your age.

Two warnings. Flex is not standardised, so one maker's Stiff is another maker's Regular, and a Japanese market Stiff is often softer than an American one. And a smooth swinger at 150 km/h may be better in Regular than a violent swinger at 145 km/h. Tempo matters as much as speed.

Number ThreeLow, Mid or High Launch: Which Do I Need?

Launch and spin are set mostly by how stiff the shaft is at the tip, near the head. A stiffer tip keeps the ball down and takes spin off. A softer tip helps the ball up.

Pick the profile that fixes your miss, not the one the tour player uses.

Notice the pattern in the names. Across several Japanese makers, blue tends to mean mid, red tends to mean higher launch, and black or white tends to mean lower launch and lower spin. It is not a rule, but it is a useful first read.

Number FourHow Do I Read a Shaft Name?

Once you know the pattern, almost every premium shaft name decodes the same way. Take Ventus Blue 6 S.

Ventus. The family, which tells you the maker and the technology. This one is Fujikura.

Blue. The profile, which tells you the launch window. Blue is the mid option.

6. The weight class. A 6 means roughly 60g, a 5 means roughly 50g, a 7 means roughly 70g.

S. The flex.

So "Ventus Blue 6 S" is a mid launch, 60 gram, stiff flex Fujikura. "Tour AD DI-6S" reads the same way: Graphite Design Tour AD, DI profile, 60 grams, stiff. Once you can do this, a wall of used clubs stops being a mystery.

The MakersWho Makes What?

Four names cover most of the premium shafts that come out of Japan, and one of them is commonly misattributed.

In PracticeHow Do I Use This When Buying Used?

Work down the list in order and stop when the club fails a step.

Weight. Is it in the right band for you? This is the one that is hardest to live with if it is wrong.

Flex. Does it match your measured swing speed, adjusted for tempo?

Profile. Does it push your ball flight the direction you need, higher or lower?

Condition. Check the shaft, not just the head. Look for nicks near the tip, any crackle or rattle when you flex it gently, and whether the grip is worn out. We grade the shaft as part of the club, so it is covered in our grading guide.

Treat all of this as a starting point rather than a prescription. If you want a specific recommendation for your swing, our free Find My Fit tool will narrow it down, or you can tell us your swing speed, current shaft and usual ball flight and we will point you at what is in stock.

Why Rising SunThe Rising Sun Clubs Difference

Unlike Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree, every club at Rising Sun Clubs is inspected and honestly graded before it's listed. Our club grading system tells you exactly what condition you're buying, with no vague descriptions and no surprises when the parcel arrives.

We hand-source our stock on regular buying trips to Japan, so you get premium gear in exceptional condition, often with high-end shafts fitted as standard, that rarely reaches the Australian market. Flat $30 shipping Australia-wide, free over $600.

FAQCommon Questions

Is an expensive shaft actually worth it? Only if it fits you. A $500 shaft in the wrong weight and flex will play worse than a $60 stock shaft in the right one. The reason premium shafts are worth having is that they are usually more consistent and more stable, not that they are automatically longer.

Can I just put a new shaft in my old driver? Yes, if the adapter matches the head. Reshafting usually costs $60 to $120 in Australia on top of the shaft itself, which is why buying a used club that already has the shaft you want is often the cheaper route.

Are Japanese shafts different to the ones sold here? Sometimes. Japanese market versions of the same model can be lighter and softer for a given flex, because they are built for a different average swing. It is not better or worse, it just means you should check the weight and flex rather than assume.

Does ATTAS belong to Fujikura? No. ATTAS is made by UST Mamiya. Fujikura makes Ventus and Speeder. They are separate companies and the two lines feel quite different.

What if I do not know my swing speed? Start from your usual driver carry distance in the table above, then get it measured when you can. Carry distance is a rough proxy, but a launch monitor reading takes two minutes and removes the guesswork.

Bottom LineFour Numbers, In Order

Weight, then flex, then launch profile, then condition. Get those four right and you have done most of what a professional fitting would do for you. Everything else, the exotic materials and the tour stories, is detail on top of the basics.

If you are buying used, the good news is that the hard part is already paid for. A club that arrives from Japan with a Ventus, a Tour AD or a Diamana in it has several hundred dollars of shaft in the build, and you only pay the used club price.

Honest prices, quality gear. Simple.