Germany's Stulz Golf is changing the shape of shafts

A couple of years ago, the founder of Vortex Golf, a new Japanese equipment company, showed me a driver shaft he’d developed. It was triangular, rather than cylindrical, and was thus not approved by the USGA or R&A.

Just the other day, I ran across some information on a new German company called Stulz Golf, whose flagship Nano Arrow shaft is triangular with rounded edges for about one-quarter the length of the shaft. The Nano Arrow is the first non-round shaft ever approved by the USAG and R&A.

The Germans are of course known for their meticulous engineering. Stulz Golf founder, Andreas Stulz, is the heir and CEO of the autoparts company Montaplast, and when he went to his engineers to build him a better golf club, they looked at the round shaft and said something to the effect of, Dass ist total beschissen. (Polite translation: That’s a crappy design.)

The round edges of the traditional shaft allow for way too much torque, such that the clubhead twists on off-center hits, sapping distance and accuracy. The usual counter-measure is to stiffen the tip. This move, however, diminishes feel and creates a lower, knuckling ball-flight for slower swing-speeds. The semi-triangular shaft drastically cuts torque and dipping of the clubhead and increases the strength of the shaft while lowering the overall weight. The quality control of these shafts is also billed as ensuring precise frequency and density standards.

Stulz introduced the Nano Arrow driver shaft at the PGA Merchandise Show this spring, and iron and hybrid shafts have just recently become available. At present, they are most easily found through trained clubfitters, and they retail for $144-$299 each.

OK, something just hit me: Japan, Germany, and three-sided shafts….If some Italian golf equipment company comes out with a new “Axis” shaft, well, I’m heading for the hills.