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Why
is the shaft named the “Nunchuk®”?
It is much more that than marketing
hype. The Nunchuk® was purposefully named after the
martial arts device, because of its similarity in design.
The Nunchuk® features two rigid end pieces and a softer
middle-section. There are multiple mechanical benefits
to the Nunchuk®, which is explained further in the
science section.
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What
are the benefits of using the Nunchuk® golf shaft?
- The Nunchuk® will deliver correct bio/sensory
feedback allowing the golfer to correctly swing
the handle of the club (where the player’s
hands are located), and not the club head itself.
- Reduces spin rates on all woods and hybrids, resulting in less dispersion, and greater roll distance.
- Correctly controls shaft lag, thus stabilizing the head at impact for the golf club’s true loft and face angle.
- No club head “kick” through the ball. Contrary to belief, kick is NOT A BENEFIT to a golf shaft.
- Increased energy transfer to the golf ball, resulting in greater distance.
- Ability to better play in adverse conditions. Players can now “cheat the wind” – by eliminating golf ball ballooning, and distance robbing spin.
- Stability at impact, “Feeling of one-piece” or that the club head and shaft is in harmony with the player. This stability allows off-center shots to be much less penal to the golfer.
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What
type of ball flight should I expect with the Nunchuk®?
For drivers and fairway woods, the Nunchuk® shaft significantly
reduces spin on most shots, thus the ball will not
up-shoot through flight. The ball
is typically launched at a medium trajectory, sits
up to its apex, and then falls to the ground with a
bit of roll. Because of the consistency and repeatability
in the Nunchuk®, players are better equipped to play
specialty shots with various trajectories, You will
find the Nunchuk® very easy to get in the air!
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How
does the Nunchuk® technology differ from the conventional
shafts on the market?
The current market of golf shafts is a very confusing world for beginning golfers and PGA Professionals alike. Unfortunately for the golfing public, the other shafts available in the marketplace do not control the clubhead during the golf swing. The marketing hype that suggests clubs with lighter and longer shafts and bigger and heavier heads will improve a golfer’s swing, is simply not consistent with the laws of science and motion. Unlike shafts commonly found in the marketplace, the Nunchuk® does not attempt to “kick” the shaft into the ball. Instead, the Nunchuk® stabilizes the clubhead allowing the player, the shaft, and the clubface to be in total harmony throughout the swing.
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Does
the Nunchuk® work for all levels of players?
Simply, YES! Regardless of age, skill
level, and physical strength, the Nunchuk®
shafts will be a great fit to any player’s game.
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Why should I change my golf shaft?
Perhaps the better question should be, “What are you waiting for?” Consider these facts:
- The more flex that a shaft has the more difficult it is to repeatedly return the face of the club head to a square or controlled position at impact.
- The more twist or torque the shaft possesses the more difficult it becomes to control loft and face angle at impact.
- The more flex and twist, the more droop the shaft will experience while in motion.
- The greater the club head (mass) is offset to the axis of the shaft the greater the effects of twist, torque and droop.
- The further from the axis of the shaft a mass is located, the greater the potential for twist and torque.
- It is in direct contradiction with Newton’s Laws of Motion that a useable or useful energy form can be stored in the shaft that can be released at such a time to further accelerate the club head into impact.
- The lighter the shaft becomes, the heavier the head must become to compensate for the deadweight ‘feel’ of the golf club.
- The lighter the shaft becomes, the heavier the head must become to maintain a constant under the principles of swing weight balancing. The heavier the head weight feels to the golfer, the more they will be induced to swing the head of the club and not the club itself. The more they do this, the more they will suffer the consequences of Newton’s Laws.
- The more flex, twist, droop and excessive head feel the golf club has, the more difficult it becomes to master.
A simple conclusion can be made from these series of facts: Most golfers have not made a genuine golf swing, all they can do is to continuously attempt to both consciously and subconsciously compensate for the deficiencies in the equipment they are forced to use… Here is an easy solution: Why not just put some Nunchuk’s® in your bag?
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How
does the Nunchuk® perform differently at impact?
The Nunchuk® can deliver consistency and repeatability that has never been offered in the shaft market. On average, the head of a driver with conventional shaft technology will decelerate approximately 20%-24% under the stresses of impact. It must be remembered that Newton’s Third Law (For every reaction, there is an equal and opposite reaction) applies here.
The club head must instantaneously decelerate under the shock of impact but, remember there is another powerful force at work too! The golf ball compresses quite markedly and stores high levels of energy, close to 2,000 pounds of force. While this energy is trying to push the ball forward and away from the clubface, it is equally and in the opposite direction trying to push the clubface away from the golf ball.
The Nunchuk® shaft reacts very differently to support the clubhead through impact resulting in clubhead deceleration that is closer to 10%. Importantly, the distance that the ball will travel is not a response to the speed that the club head is traveling during the commencement of impact; it is the speed that the head has decelerated to at the commencement of separation that matters most.
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What is the optimal length to set-up my driver?
The best advice is to work with a club fitter that can build the club to your desired swing-weight, typically D-1 to D-3. For clubheads in the market place, this generally means that driver should be built to a length of 44” to 44.5” to achieve most desired swing-weights.
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What
are the trimming instructions for Nunchuk Shafts®?
Unlike most golf shafts that require trimming of the shaft from the tip to achieve the required degree of stiffness, the Nunchuk’s unique design does not require any tip trimming. An integral part of the shaft design includes a specialized tip section, which should not be trimmed to fit a driver, fairway wood, hybrid, iron or wedge.
Instructions for ALL NUNCHUK® Shafts
- TIP TRIMMING - No tip trimming required or suggested for Drivers, Fairway Wood, Hybrids or Irons to adjust the "flex" of the shaft..
- CLUB LENGTH TRIMMING - Butt trim all shafts to achieve desired club length. For Drivers, we believe you will get optimum performance if you do what the majority of PGA Tour players do and trim the finished length to 44 to 44.5 inches, rather than longer lengths typical of "off-the-rack" drivers.
- .350" HOSEL SHIMMING - If installing a NUNCHUK® Wood Shaft (.335" tip) in a club with a .350 hosel, use appropriate sleeve or shim available from club building suppliers like BillyBobsGolf.net, Golfsmith or Golf Works.
- EPOXY APPLICATION - Use enough epoxy to properly coat the shaft and hosel bore, but don't overdo it (because the shaft wall thickness is larger than most shafts, the internal diameter is small which does not allow much volume for excess epoxy to fill). If using long-cure epoxy to assemble club(s), some club-builders have found it useful to mask-off the hosel of the club to avoid having any excess epoxy adhere to the exterior of the club.
NUNCHUK® xi Specific Instructions:
- NUNCHUK® xi's are available in both .355" tapered tips or .370" parallel tips with a 2" tip section. For additional versatility, the .370" parallel tips are designed to be carefully sanded to achieve desired .355" taper, if needed.
- IRON SWING WEIGHT ADJUSTMENT – As with most graphite iron shafts, clubs can be built ½" longer than standard to achieve desired swing weight. Alternatively, lead or tungsten plugs designed for graphite wood shafts can be used to increase swing weight (note - we suggest trimming the shaft tip to offset the length of the flange on the weight plug if used to adjust the swing weight, typically no more than 1/8" to ¼").
- IRON SWING WEIGHT – We believe that male and female golfers will get optimal performance with swing weights in the range of C8 to D1, which is somewhat less than many OEM clubs (note – this is a recommendation, shaft will perform well at higher swing weights as well).
 DOWNLOAD PDF OF TECH SPECS AND FITTING INSTRUCTIONS
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Does
the Nunchuk® shaft weigh more than other shafts?
All of the Nunchuk shafts weigh just over 100 grams. The driver shaft does marginally weigh more than most conventional golf shafts….and that is a good thing. If you have the clubs built as described above it will feel great and perform exceedingly well. Weight has been strategically positioned throughout the shaft to achieve the amazing results and consistency users of the Nunchuk® experience. The hybrid and iron shaft weights are more typical of graphite shaft offerings.
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How can the same shaft work for male and female players?
The reason the same shaft can work for players of all abilities, is due to the inherited design and premise to limit the amount of flex, twist and droop at impact, regardless of club head speed. The intent of the shaft is to not “kick” the head of the club at the ball through impact. Rather, it’s designed to keep the head of the club, the shaft, and the player’s hands all in a straight line configuration through the ball. The feeling the golfer receives is that of great stability. More importantly, however, is the feedback the shaft offers the golfer is critically important. The golfer no longer has to make compensations in their swing to correct inadequacies caused by equipment.
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Will
I only gain control, but lose distance with the Nunchuk®?
Absolutely NOT! Time and time again, golfers of all level have remarked that with the Nunchuk® in their hands, they feel confident to swing away. They get better contact with the ball that leaves the club head with less spin for a penetrating ball flight, producing great distance.
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If I set-up my driver to a shorter length, will that cause me to lose distance?
One of the biggest fallacies is the presumption that a longer shaft will always produce a greater distance. Most PGA Tour professionals do not play with drivers that exceed 45” in length, yet are able to consistently average nearly 290 yards off the tee. There is a tradeoff and a definitive relationship between length and overall control. When introducing large club heads (460 CC), and lengthened shafts, it meant greater variability in the ability to consistently return the club head to impact.
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Can you summarize the science behind shaft length?
The longer the radius, the greater the effort required to move the load on the other end. The greater the load, the greater the energy required to shift it on the end of the radial accelerator. The greater the load and the further it lies from the energy source, the more centrifugal forces are created, thus pull the arms and hands of a golfer outwards from the center. When this happens, it will cause balance issues, among other problems in the golf swing.
 Ever watch a ballerina or an ice skater performing a pirouette? Notice that the more they 'pull themselves together' into a single axial rotation, the faster they turn? You can easily observe how much faster they rotate when their hands and arms are held in to their body, than when their arms are separated at their sides. In essence, rotational speed can be created by holding the hands and arms in close proximity to the source of the energy.
A golf swing can only be a rotation, by our very genetic design. Why is the human golfer exempt from the Laws and Rules of science? The more the golfer's masses are congregated inwards towards the center of rotation, the faster the potential rotation and also the less dramatic the effects it has on the involuntary balance mechanisms.
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Isn’t flex really a desirable attribute in a golf shaft?
In virtually every other sporting endeavor that striking implements are used, stiffness (stability) is paramount, and has been for some time. How much flex, twist and droop are built into baseball bats and cricket bats? If flex and recovery could further accelerate the striking face wouldn’t that be designed into them? In fact, the opposite is the truth.
Also consider tennis and squash rackets. Are these sporting implements made with enhanced flex? Certainly not! Fibers such as Kevlar and high modulus graphite are used to enhance stiffness.
Taking it a step outside the sporting arena, what about hammers and axes, where the velocity of the head masses involved IS THE critical factor? Anyone who is familiar with using these tools would clearly tell you that flexing, twisting or drooping in an axe or hammer handles would cause critical loss of control and striking accuracy! But isn’t precise control and repeatability the most critical factor of all with golf clubs?
If flexing and twisting in golf shafts offers no mechanical advantage to the performance or end result, then why deliberately and knowingly build it into the technology in the first place? It can be proven, beyond all possible doubt, that such equipment only can be an impediment to the success, and provide no mechanical advantage whatsoever.
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What does shaft flex mean?
Shaft flex most commonly references the ability of a golf shaft to bend as forces are applied to it during the swing. Forces can be applied in a number of ways, and is typically measured by the swing speed, or the characteristics of your golf swing.
When a shaft is accelerated in the golf swing it causes most shafts to flex, twist, and droop. When the club head droops throughout a golfer’s swing, it will cause the player to misalign the club face as it returns to impact. In golf, to maximize your shot making and performance, the face of the club must be square at impact.
Today’s golf market is saturated with shafts that have a variety of flex characteristics and bend profiles. Unfortunately, there is not much uniformity in the shaft market with the amount of flex for each configuration. In essence, one manufacturer’s definition of a stiff or regular flex may be vastly different than another. However, it is most common to associate shaft flex with swing speed.
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How is the Nunchuk’s® flex different than other shafts flex?
The main difference is WHERE the shaft is bending or flexing. The only possible ‘flex point’ of the Nunchuk® is in the central area or the shaft. The other two extremities of the shaft, the butt and the tip, are designed to be very rigid to prevent droop, flex and twist in the lever arms.
The unique configuration and patented design of the Nunchuk® allows it to function similar to flail. The two-lever flail has been around for hundreds of years, and is a highly successful tool that is the basis for multiple functions, such in martial arts with the nunchaku.
The nunchaku has often been described as a perfect martial arts weapon. The same mechanical principle in these mechanical tools has been used to develop the Nunchuk series of golf shafts. The primary intention is to eliminate as much of the three danger elements (ie; droop, flex and twist) from both of the lever arms.
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What
is “shaft kick” and why does the Nunchuk®
not feature any kick?
It has always been held that golf shafts contain a “kick point” where additional club head acceleration is/can be achieved if the golfer can ‘time’ this mystical/ magical release point. Unfortunately, physics explicitly tells us that this notion is pretty much on a par with the tooth fairy and Santa Claus.
If shaft kick were possible, what values would it offer? Contrary to common belief, absolutely none! Is it physically possible to “time anything” with
your golf swing? No, and here is why: Nerve travel
time is well understood. It takes TIME that can be
measured for sensory nerve feedback (feel) to travel
from hands to brain. You therefore cannot ''feel''
where your hands ARE when in motion, you can only ''feel''
where your hands WERE. In essence therefore it's quite
impossible to know precisely where the clubhead IS
at any point.
Even if the shaft can/could store a useful energy form by flexing backwards then any such energy must be applied against a resistance that is both equal and opposite. If the head end is to be accelerated than the butt end (where the golfer’s hands are located and grips the club) must be decelerated!
Consider this: Having the bottom half of the club accelerate while the upper half decelerates, is that truly in the best interest of the golfer?
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Can
you provide more detail about the function of the
Nunchuk®?
First, we must take a step back and carefully examine how a golf shaft works. The shaft physically attaches the hands of the golfer to the club head he or she is about to accelerate at the greatest possible speed. When a golfer sets up to the golf ball, the golfer creates a mechanical association between the hands and the clubface, via the shaft. The golf also creates a mechanical, visual and psychological association between themselves and the clubface, via the hands/arms.
It is widely accepted that during the sequence of a downswing a golf shaft will undergo the following physical changes:
Twisting (torque)
Droop
Flexing (back and forth)
All of these variables can quite dramatically effect the association between the hands and the alignment of the clubface, and vice versa, clubface and the golfer.
During the course of the average golf swing the club head/clubface is rotated through about 110-120 degrees and must be rotated back to the same degree if the face is to be squared at impact. Even if the player does successfully rotate the hands perfectly, a golf shaft that is the twisting, flexing, and drooping, may return the head/clubface by a very different margin completely.
Consequently, the golfer can make the perfect set of movements, but then only to see the ball go sideways. The battle then becomes what does the golfer blame and what do they change next? Is it the golf club or their golf swing?
With all the possible variability in golf shafts, consider the task of the golfer:
- A golfer must bring the clubface back to an alignment tolerance of no more than 3 to 4 degrees from their intended target line.
- A golfer must ALSO return the club on the correct path relative to that of the clubface alignment tolerance.
- To maximize energy transfer, they must also be able to bring the center of the clubface into collision with the golf ball.
Certainly, the greater the droop, twisting and flexing within the shaft, can diminish a golfer’s ability to achieve these goals. Thus, it introduces a greater opportunity for an errant shot.
Unfortunately, the average golfer is induced to purchasing clubs with the greatest droop, twist and flex deliberately built in by design. Naturally, the average player has less capability of mastering these variables!
If exceptionally gifted professional players on the various world tours would shudder at the thought of having to play for a living with clubs built for the average golfer, how can it be that vastly less talented golfers are expected to use and master such equipment? If the very best cannot use it, how can we expect the rest of the world to be able to?
The Nunchuk’s® unique design eliminates such variability in the golf shaft from occurring throughout the swing. The result is a golf club that is unison with the player, and provides the appropriate sensory feedback to deliver repeatability and player confidence.
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