For hundreds of years, golf club shafts were made from wood. Early shafts were solid wood — ash, hazel, or other local timbers. By the 18th century, hickory from North America became the standard — tough, flexible, and consistent enough for reliable performance.

Hickory shafts had a characteristic feel: they flexed noticeably through the swing and required golfers to time their release to harness that flex. A hickory swing looks different from a modern swing — slower, with more hand action, using the shaft’s flex as part of the power source.

In the 1920s, steel shafts became commercially available. The USGA legalized steel in 1926; the R&A followed in 1929. The transition was rapid. Within a decade, hickory shafts had become obsolete for competitive play.

Steel changed the golf swing. Stiffer shafts required less reliance on timing, produced more consistent results, and allowed the development of matched sets with coordinated flex profiles. The modern conception of the golf swing — sequential, athletic, controlled — was partly enabled by steel.