A key question in buying new clubs is whether to get the stock shaft "off-the-rack" or upgrade to an aftermarket shaft. The answer is clear: there is no way to know which shaft is best for your swing without testing. The only way to avoid guesswork is by clubfitting with a broad selection of high quality shafts.
We recommend testing with aftermarket shafts that are manufactured in the shaft company's home factory. The benefit of recent technology is often compromised in shafts that have been contracted out to large bulk production manufacturers who substitute lesser quality graphite and materials to lower costs and meet price targets of the large golf companies.
Aftermarket shafts in club fitting should include models with the most recent technology including new graphite formulations and construction techniques. We have been recommending specific new lightweight driver shafts to golfers and others in the golf industry because of their positive impact on club head speed and ball flight performance on the course where it counts.
Shaft testing is most effective when it's done with a radar launch monitor that can measure ball trajectory, ball velocity, ball spin, launch angle, club head path, and club head speed.
These factors are the key measurables that allow reasonably accurate calculation of carry distance (more meaningful than total distance), ball dispersion, and ball spin axis (essential for understanding ball flight). Measuring face angle requires a high speed camera with an effective orientation to the club head at impact.
Why is it important to do direct testing instead of following charts and online recommendations? It's because each golfer responds uniquely to the stiffness and weight distribution in any given shaft design -- what works best for your friend may not work best for you. The combination of swing mechanics variations and shaft stiffness/weight/torque differences is greater than current analytics can resolve. It's why direct shaft testing is the most effective way to match the right shaft to your swing mechanics.