Shaft fitting system
View Patent ↗A method of selecting a preferred golf shaft for a player who uses an existing golf shaft, according to one or more aspects of the present invention, may comprise gathering a plurality of empirical data sets, each data set corresponding to an individual golf shaft selected from a plurality of golf shafts; providing a plurality of specification codes, each associated with an individual empirical data set of the plurality of empirical data sets; from the plurality of specification codes, identifying a first specification code associated with the existing golf shaft; gathering feedback associated with the existing golf shaft from the player; and using the feedback to select, from the plurality of specification codes, a second specification code corresponding to the preferred golf shaft.
1. A computer-implemented method for corresponding a shaft with a specification code, the method comprising:
receiving an electrical signal from a stiffness measuring device, the electrical signal representing a bending stiffness profile of the particular shaft, the bending stiffness profile including a measurement of shaft stiffness at each of at least three locations along the shaft;
converting each measurement of shaft stiffness into a unitless normalized value relative to a predetermined stiffness scale;
ordering the normalized values into a set such that the first normalized value represents the measurement of the shaft stiffness at a location closest to the butt end of the shaft and each subsequent normalized value represents the measurement of the shaft stiffness at locations increasingly further away from the butt end of the shaft wherein the normalization is different for each of the at least three locations of the shaft;
associating the set of normalized values to the shaft; and
storing the association between the set of normalized values and the shaft.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein each normalized value is an integer.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the integer is within a range from zero to nine.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the range of integers correspond to a range of stiffness such that a higher integer represents a higher stiffness.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein an integer of one represents a stiffness generally corresponding to that of an A-flex shaft, an integer of three represents a stiffness generally corresponding to that of an R-flex shaft, an integer of five represents a stiffness generally corresponding to that of an S-flex shaft, an integer of seven represents a stiffness generally corresponding to that of an X-flex shaft and an integer of nine represents a stiffness generally corresponding to that of an XX-flex shaft.
6. A computer-implemented method for corresponding a shaft with a specification code, the method comprising:
receiving data from a stiffness measuring device, the data defining a localized stiffness in bending of the shaft at each of at least three locations along a longitudinal axis of the shaft;
converting the data into a specification code including at least three integers that are unitless, each of the integers of the specification code corresponding to the localized stiffness in bending of the shaft at a different location of the at least three locations along the longitudinal axis of the shaft wherein the specification code is different for each of the at least three location of the shaft;
ordering the set of at least three integers such that the first integer represents the localized stiffness in bending of the shaft at a location closest to a butt end of the shaft and where each subsequent integer represents the localized stiffness in bending of the shaft at a location increasingly further away from the butt end of the shaft;
assigning the ordered set of integers to the shaft; and
electronically storing the correspondence between the ordered set of integers and the shaft.