[jmessner]

I'm not saying I have the proof regarding shaft flex, or if certain things can be done or not- and certainly there are alot of factors- throwaway etc. that would influence a forward bending shaft. But the above photos of these clubshafts do not necessarily have a forward bending shaft at this point in the swing- if both of these golfers are swingers- which I believe they are- and you have the natural clubshaft "bowing up" that a swinger's shaft has, then when you view that "bowing up" i.e. that upside down "C" from the side as in these photos- then it will appear that the clubshaft is bending forward when it is not. So with so little "bending forward" - and the angle of these photo's - I would think that, that bending forward could be completely attributed to the "bowing up" of the clubshaft- which is the result of the sweetspot lining up with the line of pull/center of gravity application.

Mike O - I missed this post from you earlier. What do you mean by "bowing up"? I think you basically reiterated the explanation given by the physics guys for the reason for the forward bend - the fact that the head sweetspot (center of gravity) lines up with the center of gravity of the shaft. Since the sweetspot is actually behind the face and shaft, there is a forward and downward bend (is this what you mean by bowing up?) of the shaft so the head CofG can line up with the shaft axis. For a driver (extreme case) the CofG is usually around 30mm behind the face.