We hear so much about shaft spine alignment, now with the USGA changing the ruling that had made this practice non conforming, this procedure has in fact been carried out at GOLFIX for the past 12 years. Oscillation of the golf shaft during the swing has a decided influence on shot pattern and the ability to hit the "sweet spot" of the club head. At GOLFIX all clubs are tested and adjusted to as close to zero oscillation as possible.

Trimmed shafts are held in a frequency analyzer, the head is temporarily attached to the shaft and the club is vibrated and any oscillation is noted, the shaft is rotated, the head realigned and checked again until all side to side movement is eliminated. This process can be refined by the use of a laser mounted on the shaft or the head.

Simplicity is often the best way of accomplishing superior results. This holds true with the SpineAline instrument.

1. Clamp the SpineAline instrument in a vice with the longest leg facing towards where the tip end of shaft will be.
2. Insert shaft ( recommend you start with a steel shaft) butt first into SpineAline so that approximately ½" protrudes out the end.
3. Remove tip bearing from magnet on bracket, place tip bearing over the end of the shaft and apply slight down pressure on the shaft.
4. Rotate shaft until you feel a "flat" spot and you will find the shaft wants to return to this same position when you rotate it.
5. You have now found the weakest side of the shaft. On the cap of the SpineAline you will see a white line which will be inline with the "strongest" side of the shaft. (180* from the weakest) put a mark on top of the shaft with a marking pen to indicate the spine.
Remove tip bearing and replace on magnet. Then you will know where it is next time.
6. When you assemble the club for a right handed golfer place the spine at 9 oclock and 3 oclock
for a leftie.

You now have shafts that will bend and recover on the same plain, thus eliminating one more variable from your golf swing.

Because your SpineAline instrument is assembled with precision bearings it is important that you keep it in a clean environment when not in use.

FLO ALIGNMENT JIG

Simple and straight forward. The Flo Alignment Jig simply snaps onto the top of the shaft, the laser unit is inserted into the jig which activates the light. With the head tightly secured to the shaft(but not epoxied) simply "twang", vibrate, bounce, the shaft - in this case it would be up and down or vertically and observe the light pattern, which should be vertical with out any oscillation what so ever. If it does oscillate loosen the clamp on the shaft, rotate the shaft ever so slightly, tighten clamp, adjust head(should be in the playing position), repeat the process.

You will notice tape on the shaft, this is where I spined the shaft in my SpineALine unit. Now with the head attached you can flo the shaft and the head together. When all oscillation is eliminated reposition the tape and put a corresponding mark on the hosel. Pull the head off the shaft and assemble the club aligning the two corresponding marks.

This is the way a club should be flo'ed with the head in place, not with a Jacobs chuck on the end of the shaft, or some other apparatus to hold the laser. The head must be matched to the shaft and visa versa and this is what you accomplish with the Flo Alignment Jig.

Showing this procedure to a customer will convince them that this is the way a club should be made.

Good luck and good club making.

SpineALine & Flo Alignment Jigs are manufactuered here at GOLFIX and sold to clubmakers worldwide.