Graphite shafts are lighter and more flexible, which can help increase swing speed and distance. Steel shafts are heavier and offer more control and accuracy due to their rigidity. The choice between graphite and steel shafts ultimately comes down to personal preference and playing style.
I like them. The good thing about all the shafts Ping use, is that they have been specially selected to compliment the heads of the club giving the player the best from all their clubs. The AWT steel shafts are brilliant.
It depends on the butt size of the steel club and how wide the graphite shaft butt is. It is not really ideal to mix the composition of shafts in this way as it will drastically affect the swing weight. Yes it is true there are matrix shafts which have steel and graphite but these have been specifically designed for their purpose and work well. You would be best going and getting steel shaft extensions they are cheap enough.
Young children should really use graphite shafts, they help them get the ball in the air easier and they are a lot lighter than the steel ones. Any clubs I have seen designed specifically for children have graphite shafts. When they get a bit older and stronger say 13-14 they may be able to move on to steel, because their swing speed will have increased and they are a lot stronger. Girls however tend to stay with graphite as they have slower swing speeds and the graphite shafts help get the ball in the air.
Callaway
Yes, graphite shafts are far superior to steel shafts in terms of distance.
You should consult the specific club manufacturers website for full details. You will find that in fairway woods hybrids that the steel shafts are half an inch shorter than the graphite ones, this helps keep the swing weight consistent. So irons do this also, but varies from manufacturer to manufacturer.
This is a Ping graphite shaft that was sold with the ISI model Ping Irons in the nineties. The w54 was a firm stiffness-not regular-but it was very light weight shaft at that time.
It all depends on your swing speed and tempo, graphite is normally for a slower swing speed so you get more flex out of your shafts on the down swing. Go to a golf shop and ask to get your swing critiqued, they should be able to tell you what type of shaft you'll need for your swing. Hope that was helpful In my opinion, use steel for everything except possibly the driver. Steel is a lot cheaper and a lot more durable than graphite, and the advantages of graphite are pretty minimal. Steel shafts are also much more consistently manufactured, so you're more likely to get a consistent variation between adjacent clubs than with graphite. They also twist less under torque than even the best of graphite shafts. This means implies that you will probably get more consistent iron shots with steel than with graphite. Graphite shafts are lighter, so in principle a player should be able to generate a little higher clubhead speed with a graphite shaft. Getting a few extra yards out of your driver might be worth it. Probably not, though. A few extra yards down the fairway would be nice, but I'm more worried about staying IN the fairway. With your irons you don't care so much about maximum distance as accurate, known distance. If you hit every iron five yards further, you now have to hit a soft 8 instead of a normal 9. If you're that good, you probably already have a regular teaching pro, and you would have asked him. Take a specific 360 yard hole. With steel shafts, you hit a 220 yard drive, then a 7 iron to the green. With graphite, you hit a 230 yard drive, then a soft 8 iron to green. Assuming you hit both of them correctly, you're now on the green either way, but you paid an extra $100 for the graphite shafts. After hitting the graphite-shafted 8, are you now so much closer that you are more likely to one putt (or not three putt) than with the steel? Not likely. One possible exception to the above discussion is that graphite absorbs vibration better, so if you have sore hands it is said that it is a little more pleasant to play with graphite. Graphite shafts are manufactured a lot more consistent than you make them out to be. You should most definitely use a graphite shaft in your driver--if they weren't consistent why would Tour Pro's use them? It is also recommended to use them in fairways woods and/or hybrids unless you prefer the feel of steel. Well, NORMALLY if you a man then you get steel and if you a woman then you get graphite. But professionals (like me) get steel. With steel the club comes down harder giving the ball a tremendous power. Some men prefer graphite though because steel is hard to control. The first time I went to steel, i was hitting it horrible but now I'm hitting like a natural, future LPGA pro! Also if you like graphite better, stay with it, it's good to since it gives the ball a good WHIP. Have you seen Pro golfers slow motion back swing with the driver? I'm not sure if you have noticed, but the drivers shaft is amazingly bended which causes the club to make a WHIP which is a powerful thing so the ball can blast out for a hole in one! Graphite is usually 20-30% lighter than steel so you can indeed swing faster with less effort. Yes - cheap graphite has worse tolerance (even shaft wall thickness and even torque (twistiness)) than steel - which is bad. Good quality graphite is beneficial to most beginner to average golfers but lets get the cart before the horse. Most beginner to average golfers would do better to buy high quality steel ((True Temper Dynamic Gold Regular) and spend the money they saved on lessons and range balls.
The majority of them would, but quite a lot still use graphite shafts. Graphite shafts help launch the ball higher with their slower swing speeds.
Graphite shafts are very durable and will last for many years without a change in performance. They will however weaken with extended use. Make sure you keep good care of them.
currently Fujikura but they have used others