.355 Taper Graphite Shafts

[Kenny B]

I am not very knowledgeable of shafts in general, and tapered shafts specifically.  I want to put a graphite shafts in irons with .355 hosel but only for a few irons, not a set.  Most shafts for .355 are sold as a set and for graphite, they aren't cheap.

 

The other issue I have is that it seems like taper-tipped shafts seem to be mostly for higher swing speeds.  Why?  There are some shafts in graphite, but they are 70-75 grams.  I am looking for something in a soft regular around 90-95 grams.  Single shafts are sometimes available but they may not be the length I need; looking for 5-8 iron length.  

 

So, what happens to a 3-iron length tapered shaft if it is cut at the butt end to say... a 6-iron length?  Would that work?

 

 

[jaskanski]

 

 

So, what happens to a 3-iron length tapered shaft if it is cut at the butt end to say... a 6-iron length?  Would that work?

 

 

NO IT WON'T!

This question gets asked quite a lot actually, but effectively if you put any shaft from a preceding #iron you are soft stepping it - making it weaker in other words. Regardless of what you do to the butt, if you insert a 3-iron (discrete) shaft into a 6-iron you have effectively soft stepped it 3 times - making it very weak to flex.

Depending on what you are looking for, it's possible to get discrete sets of taper shafts (i.e. each individual shaft is for each individual iron), or you can have .370" parallel shafts trimmed to flex but you'll need your hosels bored out to suit. No biggie on either part for a competent club builder, but you need to make up your mind what you want or where you need to be.

Generally speaking, a soft regular in 90-95g is in steel shafted territory - some graphite shafts exist in this weight category but as you have pointed out they are generally for stronger flexes. My recommendation would be to have a look at the Aerotec Steelfiber i80 or i95 shafts which are available in both parallel AND taper tip versions. Taper has the advantage of straight-in install, whereas parallel has the advantage of being trimmed to a specific flex. 

In other words a fitting is crucial before making a choice really. They're not cheap, but if you play it cheap yourself, then you are making life harder for yourself really. Like I said, get down to specifics of what you want or need to be before committing to buy.

[Kenny B]

Actually, weaker flex is what I'm looking for.  This is just an experiment that I want to try, and there is no club fitter within 150 miles.  I've looked at the Steelfiber, Recoil 95, and Aldila RIP 90, but I think they would be too stiff in Regular flex at that shaft weight.  I like the heavier weight, but I'm swing speed challenged.     

 

I am playing the SCOR wedges down to 42* and they have their Genius 9 shaft which is a UST Proforce 95 graphite shaft and I love it.  Not made anymore; I think the Recoil 95 replaced it. I have an old set of irons, and I want to reshaft the 5-8 irons with something similar.  Since I don't have access to a fitter close by, I want to experiment with a shaft to see if I can get a good gapping with the 8i to the 42*.  Soft stepping a regular flex might be good if it results in a higher launch.  I think all of these heavier weight graphite shafts are low to mid launch.  I am not going to bore out the hosels, so ?I will have to stick with what's available.

[xxio]

NS Pro 850s or 750s in steel may be an option. They play slightly weak to flex so a softstepped regular flex may work.

 

The 750s are expensive though because of wrap technology.

[Kenny B]

I went away from steel many years ago!  Lots more distance, higher ball flight, and easier on the old joints.  The shafts I'm pulling are DG S300 that I used to play 10 years ago.

[xxio]

Ns Pro 850s are easy on the joints, fly high, and are under 90 grams. That is 30+ grams lighter than your DGs. The added distance is from the lighter weight. The 750s are even more of that.

[RookieBlue7]

If the tips aren't thin walled, you can turn a .370 shaft down to .355 easily and it'll be just fine and you won't have to bore our heads. The last 1/4" is all that will need tapering as the tip is all that's tapered on a TT shaft. You're removing .0075 off the actual wall thickness and that's not going to make many shafts break. It's akin to someone over prepping a shaft and it won't hurt it one bit. No need to bore a hosel out unless the shaft's tip is really thin walled.

 

That said, you don't want to soft step 3 times. That's more than a full flex. I'd either find a .370 to tip and turn down or buy a flex up at a minimum.

[Kenny B]

Ns Pro 850s are easy on the joints, fly high, and are under 90 grams. That is 30+ grams lighter than your DGs. The added distance is from the lighter weight. The 750s are even more of that.

 

Thanks, I'll look into them.  Closest dealer 200 miles away though.

[jaskanski]

 Closest dealer 200 miles away though.

 

So what?

Going to see a dealer is 10 times cheaper than getting them to come to you and over a 100 times cheaper than moving house. 

For the price of a phone call, you may as well ask if they can ship to a local pro who can fit them. Most golf courses have pros. Golf is played on most golf courses. 

Just saying.

[Kenny B]

So what?

Going to see a dealer is 10 times cheaper than getting them to come to you and over a 100 times cheaper than moving house. 

For the price of a phone call, you may as well ask if they can ship to a local pro who can fit them. Most golf courses have pros. Golf is played on most golf courses. 

Just saying.

 

I guess I'm missing your point.  Yes, I can call the dealer.  Yes, they can ship to a local pro.  No, there is no local pro that I would trust to put them in the heads and fit them.  Hell, I can put them in the heads.  I know the length and lie.  So, what's the pro going to do?  I don't even know if these are the shafts I want or if they feel right for me.  The whole purpose of this experiment is to see if I can find a heavier weight shaft (preferably graphite) that fits a set of .355 heads that I have lying around; is somewhat softer flex than regular; and launches a little higher.  I have to find the right shaft that does all this and provides me the correct gap from my 8i to my 42* SCOR.   

 

So, since I can't just go to a store or fitter and try 10 different shaft manufacturers, 4 different models for each, and 2 flexes for each model and certainly not put them in my club head, my experiment will be to select a couple of shafts and install them in the 8i.  I'm just looking for which shaft brands will best meet my criteria for the selection process.  If I didn't have the heads lying around, I wouldn't even be thinking about this.  Wintertime... must be doing something!

[jaskanski]

So you'd rather let total strangers guess for you instead?

It's pretty simple to get a lot of info on shafts in general from a myriad of websites and from wannabe club gurus who think they know your game better than anyone, but the simple fact of the matter is you are the only person who knows what will fit you best - when you can find it. If that means waiting for something to come along at your convenience, then you may be in for a long wait. 

Some folks have given you suggestions and options - and we could play the "i want this but i don't want that" game all night - other than sending in a video of your swing and your current club specs with LM data, I'm afraid I can't really help you any further.

[Kenny B]

Many thanks for all the help.  I appreciate it.

[Jmikecpa]

I wouldn't rule out the UST Recoil 95s as they play a bit under flex.  I have the Recoil 110s in my Hogans and the are supposed to be an X, but play at about an S+.  Feel is great and I have no complaints.  If you are looking for soft feel I would stay away from the Steelfiber and the RIPs as they just feel a bit harsh to me.  When I got fit for my Adams DHY with a Steelfiber I ended up with the S and it played stiffer than my KBS Tour X shafts.

[Kenny B]

Thanks Jmike.  That's good information I can use.  The Recoil 95 was what I was initially considering since it is probably closest to the graphite shafts in my SCORs being that both are UST.  So feel might be similar, if I can get the flex right.  I may have to soft step the Regular.

[superduper]

Taper tip shaft sold in sets because they have a different length for each club (discrete length).   If they were sold individually, then the shop would have a problem because they are specific for each club.   Suppose a shop only has a 7 iron taper tip iron shaft.  Then come one customer, he asks for a 5 iron shaft.  That 7 iron shaft would not be a good match for a 5 iron.  Well you could tip trim the shaft but that then he's missing the point of buying a taper tip shaft.  The feel of a trimmed taper tip shaft is awfull. 

 

Different story for a parallel tip iron shaft.  If a shop carries a large number of parallel tip iron shaft.  they could stock as many as they want and sell them as a single shaft.  Because one parallel tip shaft can be used for 1 iron to PW.    All of them are usually 40" length.  

 

and taper tip shaft is not for faster swinger, really.   A good example is NS pro shaft.   The new model called zelos and it is for seniors I would say.  Only weight about 73g and very soft tip.  Definitely not for hard hitter.        

[Kenny B]

You can't tip trim a tapered shaft.  

 

Yes, you can buy individual tapered shafts but not from most dealers.  I don't want a full set. I only want 5i to 8i, so I'm not paying for a full set just to get 4 shafts.  

 

Pings are taper tipped and there are many fast swingers using Pings.  I am not a fast swinger, so it's a non-issue to me anyway.

 

Thanks for the info on the NS Pro shafts.  I will certainly check them out even though I wasn't looking for a steel shaft.  I am looking for a shaft that will provide a good transition from my regular flex graphite 42* SCOR at 95g to an 8i.  

[NiftyNiblick]

It's amazing how annoying some companies are willing to be.

 

What's wrong with .335 for woods and metals, .370 for irons and wedges, and either for hybrids? What's necessary about about .355? And those completely off the wall "fat shaft" diameters.............

[Kenny B]

I agree Nifty.  If you want to reshaft a club, you need to know the hosel diameter, and where do you find that information??  The older the club, the harder it is to look up.  I guess we are stuck having to measure it.  How gauche!  

 

I'm guessing that many years ago before my time, irons were .355 taper.  I know Ping and early MacGregors were.  At some point .370 parallel tips became popular, except for Ping.  

 

And why did OEMs change from .335 to .350 for woods?  

[superduper]

You can't tip trim a tapered shaft.  

 

Yes, you can buy individual tapered shafts but not from most dealers.  I don't want a full set. I only want 5i to 8i, so I'm not paying for a full set just to get 4 shafts.  

 

Pings are taper tipped and there are many fast swingers using Pings.  I am not a fast swinger, so it's a non-issue to me anyway.

 

Thanks for the info on the NS Pro shafts.  I will certainly check them out even though I wasn't looking for a steel shaft.  I am looking for a shaft that will provide a good transition from my regular flex graphite 42* SCOR at 95g to an 8i.  

 

of course you can.... but not much as a parallel tip shaft.  And not arguing about Ping.  But Ping is actually for high handicap golfers (the G series).   And most high handicap golfers only have 75 mph swing speed for their irons. 

 

It's amazing how annoying some companies are willing to be.

 

What's wrong with .335 for woods and metals, .370 for irons and wedges, and either for hybrids? What's necessary about about .355? And those completely off the wall "fat shaft" diameters.............

 

To add, .335 for woods, .355 for irons, hybrids and wedges.   Like I said, if you tip trimmed a shaft, it feels boardy.  .370 is exactly what I'm talking about.  

[RobinArthur]

Greetings from a rainy San Diego -

To answer Huntington and others re: larger diameter tip sizes in woods, the OEMs did that first to make the shafts more durable as they got lighter, and they didn't have to use higher strength graphite fibers (more expensive) to do so.   

 

I take to heart the discussions I have with club makers, fitters and golfers of ALL abilities.  A LOT of my designs have been born out of what I've seen as a need for a specific group.  

 

So I was wondering, there seems to be no Senior Flex taper tip graphite iron shafts out there.  Do y'all ...> there's a need for one?

 

Let me know.

Robin

[Kenny B]

Hi Robin,

Thanks for the answer about bigger wood shafts; makes sense.  As far as tapered senior iron shafts, I may be needing some in the near future.  It seems like .355 tapered irons are becoming more common again, but not many shaft choices for us old guys.  I am still using regular flex, but my problem is senior flex shafts are usually very light, and I like a heavier feel in my clubs.  I love the UST ProForce 95 iron shaft in my SCORs but sadly, they don't make that shaft anymore.  I am looking for something close that will fit a .355 head, and I may end up soft stepping a regular to get a softer flex.

 

Glad to see SoCal finally get some rain!!

[superduper]

 

Greetings from a rainy San Diego -

To answer Huntington and others re: larger diameter tip sizes in woods, the OEMs did that first to make the shafts more durable as they got lighter, and they didn't have to use higher strength graphite fibers (more expensive) to do so.   

 

I take to heart the discussions I have with club makers, fitters and golfers of ALL abilities.  A LOT of my designs have been born out of what I've seen as a need for a specific group.  

 

So I was wondering, there seems to be no Senior Flex taper tip graphite iron shafts out there.  Do y'all ...> there's a need for one?

 

Let me know.

Robin

 

 

Robin,

 

Funny thing, there is a steel iron shaft with R2 flex:

http://www.golfworks.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_NP0014_A_cn_E_10104

 

R2 the same as A flex.   I have this on my 4 iron (R flex), feels like noodle.... 

 

And your Axe Caliber fairway wood is the only fairway wood shaft with 70g weight with an A flex?