While hundreds of different designs exist, the primary purpose of the golf shaft remains the same: to provide the player with a way to generate centrifugal force in order to effectively strike the ball.
Prior to 1935, hickory was the dominant material for shaft manufacturing, but it proved difficult to master for most golfers, as well as being quite frail.
The graphite shaft was first marketed in 1970 at the PGA Merchandise Show but did not gain widespread use until the mid-1990s and is now used on almost all woods and some iron sets, as the carbon-fiber composite of graphite shafts boasts increased flex for greater clubhead speed at the cost of slightly reduced accuracy due to greater torque.
Steel, which generally has lower torque but less flex than graphite, is still widely preferred by many for irons, wedges and putters as these clubs stress accuracy over distance.
The graphite shaft was invented by Frank Thomas in 1969 while working as Chief Design Engineer for Shakespeare Sporting Goods, in collaboration with Union Carbide.
Subsequent, less expensive flagwrapped versions of the graphite shaft introduced by other manufacturers several years later had inconsistent properties and as a result professionals and skilled amateurs were initially skeptical of the new technology when compared to steel; however, advances in technology, developed by Bruce Williams, an engineer working with an Ohio-based composites company, eventually changed this perception.
Modern composite shafts have three layers of fiber winding, adding substantial rigidity, and in turn, performance.
On off-center hits, the clubhead twists as a result of a torque, reducing accuracy as the face of the club is not square to the player's stance at impact.
In recent years, many manufacturers have produced and marketed many low-torque shafts aimed at reducing the twisting of the clubhead at impact, however these tend to be stiffer along their length as well.