Autoflex Golf Shafts: Behind the Hype

Have you seen those bright pink or rainbow shafts at your local golf shop yet? If not, you may have heard of them. They are Autoflex golf shafts, produced by a South Korean company named Dumina, and promise to boost ball speeds - for all players - with no extra effort required on the part of the golfer.

It’s a bold promise, and while we can’t speculate on what really underlies the “KHT,” or “Korea Hidden Technology,” in the walls of these shafts, we can tell you what to expect. So here it goes.

How They Work, and What You Can Expect from These Driver Shafts

Despite the fact that there aren’t a lot of concrete, well, facts out there regarding Autoflex golf shafts, they have experienced a meteoric rise in popularity over the past few years. This is mostly attributable to golfer buzz.

On that note, it’s what golfers who have actually swung the things are saying that has buoyed them up to the forefront of most other golfers minds. So here are some key takeaways.

Golfers who have played with, tested, or even just reviewed Autoflex golf shafts all pretty much consistently report that they feel fast - like really fast - even for the promises that the company makes.

They also note pretty consistently that the shafts are light, responsive, and somewhat whippy. At least one reviewer commented that the shaft in question didn’t feel like it had a single kick point - that’s how flexible they are.

Despite that (which is certainly an attribute from which some golfers would justifiably recoil) golfers also remark that these shafts feel active, light, responsive, and sensitive - not dead.

You might think that this lighter, more flexible design would be a bad thing. Conventionally, it is, as shafts like these tend to oscillate more on the downswing, but this is not the case. In fact, Autoflex golf shafts exhibit a lower CPM (cycles per minute) than you’d expect, and are engineered to enable the club head to return to square just before contact, generating more consistent center-face contact and therefore the promised results: higher speed, greater carry distance, no negative impact on accuracy.

Because these shafts are so light, and so flexible, Dumina claims that they’re able to boost ball speeds for players of all swing speeds and tempos, regardless of the club, and regardless of other factors. It also makes the bold claim that these shafts can do this with no additional or supplementary effort from the golfer. That is, you don’t need to swing harder. The shaft will, apparently, do the work for you.

That has, more or less, been corroborated by those that have used and reviewed Autoflex golf shafts.

Those that have played with them said they felt responsive and the light swing weight was noticeable in the hands. Moreover, it has been consistently reported that most golfers could extend their range without swinging harder, without adversely affecting shot dispersion and accuracy.

With all of this said, Dumina issues two caveats that are supposed to help golfers reap the rewards of these technological marvels of the world of golf shafts:

• One is that golfers should avoid aggressive swings and transitions. Players will find that Autoflex shafts perform best with mild, even swing tempos. There’s no need to strain with a shaft like this. Rather, swing fluidly and the shaft will load and unload evenly and you should see ball speeds improve without trying to compensate more. Some players have remarked that they can feel the difference when they swing harder, and that though the shaft feels like it wobbles a bit more, it doesn’t adversely affect performance. Why try to strain, though?

• The other is that Dumina suggests swinging a lighter club head, if possible - D0 to D2. The reason is that these light, highly flexible golf shafts for drivers don’t respond the best to heavier club heads. In fact, that concentrated mass can cause the head to wobble a bit during the transition and oscillate in an unwanted fashion on the way to the ball. Not a dealbreaker, but if possible consider outfitting one of your lighter drivers with one of these Autoflex golf shafts.

Nevertheless, golfers have commented that these shafts really did improve their swing speeds (probably because of how light they are) while also boosting ball speeds. As you can expect, carry distance also increased.

Here’s the kicker: most golfers remarked that they reaped all this without seeing an appreciable difference in shot dispersion or accuracy. So you can have your proverbial cake and eat it too. Just don’t try to swing harder.

By the way, there are Autoflex golf shafts for players of all skill sets, abilities and swing speeds, even players with pro-level swing speeds. They make shafts for players with swing speeds as slow as 65 MPH, as well as shafts suitable for players with swing speeds as high as 110 MPH.

In other words, regardless of your abilities, there’s an Autoflex golf shaft for you, and that moreover you don’t need to swing harder or strain to reap the alleged benefits.

And, in case you were wondering, Autoflex doesn’t just make golf shafts for drivers. They also make shafts for fairway woods and even irons.

Wondering If Autoflex Golf Shafts Are for You? Work with a Fitter

To make short of this whole thing, Autoflex golf shafts really do what they promise. We have just one caveat: the sticker price.

These shafts represent no small investment and in an already expensive sport, they are priced at a premium. We don’t recommend flying blindly and buying new shafts without first getting the take of a professional club fitter.

Come into our retail shop or contact us directly at 800-955-9550. Let us know what it is about these golf shafts that has caught your attention and what you’re hoping to gain from them. If they sound like a match, we’ll make personalized recommendations based on your goals, and if not, we can also recommend something else. Just make sure your first step is to work with a fitter to get shafts that are most likely to work with you.