| 摘要 |
<p>A golf club shaft of increased playability and feel is manufactured with a generally hollow and tapered cylindrical wall comprised of a plurality of layers of fibers and a resin binding the plurality of layers of fibers together into an integrated structure. The shaft includes a portion of constant outer diameter adjacent one end adapted to accept a grip and a portion of a smaller constant diameter adjacent the other adapted to be fitted to the hosel of a club head and a portion intermediate the two end portions with a uniformly tapering diameter. The golf club comprises a plurality of layers of fibers arranged and oriented within the shaft to resist torsional deflection and to provide a controlled and variable flexural resistance, permitting the player to recover energy stored in the shaft during the swing and to apply that energy to the ball for greater distance. The inner and outer layers of fibers include fibers running both perpendicular and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shaft. The central layers include fibers running longitudinally along, or spiralling at a selected angle around, the axis of the shaft. A tip insert is added to more flexible shafts adjacent their smaller end with fibers oriented at complementary 45-degree angles to the longitudinal axis of the shaft to provide torsional rigidity without a material addition of longitudinal stiffness and to prevent failure of the shaft at its smaller end. The shaft permits a golf club manufacturer, with a reasonable inventory of such shafts, to manufacture sets of golf clubs with controllable, flex characteristics that may be fitted to individual golfers.</p> |
