For the last twenty years or so, golfers have been aware of spine alignment in golf shafts, a method of orienting the shaft so that the “spine” of the shaft does not overly influence the way the head of the club is delivered to the back of the ball at impact. When a golf club is swung, the shaft will oscillate in a plane that may or may not coincide with the swing plane, due to the orientation of the spine’s position relative to the swing plane. This can result in inconsistencies in impact from swing to swing.

So what does this mean in simple terms? It means that a shaft with a significant spine that is not properly oriented in the head of the club will always try to influence the clubhead in a direction that the golfer didn’t intend. That’s a problem.

There have been a number of solutions employed over the years, including PUREing, from SST Technologies and FLO alignment, which stands for Flat Line Oscillation. You can learn more about the PURE process at https://sstpure.com/faq/, but The Club Coach prefers the FLO method because it clearly demonstrates that the shaft is trying to oscillate in the same plane as the golfer intended. A shaft that has been FLO aligned will always try to return the clubhead to the same spot if there are no other variables in the swing.

FLO Shaft Alignment

If we clamp the butt end of a shaft and attach a weighted laser to the tip, we can see the oscillation when the shaft is bent and then released. The 1st video shows a shaft that is not properly aligned and the 2nd video shows the same shaft after a FLO alignment. Clearly the FLO aligned club is working WITH the golfer and the other is not. The Club Coach recommends all golfers should have their clubs checked to see if a FLO alignment will be of benefit.