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Effect on flex when cutting a Driver shaft


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Looking for some input 

I am looking at purchasing a "new" Driver for myself I am looking at getting a previous year model. How would I go about cutting the shaft to a shorter playing length with maintaining the flex of the shaft?

Thank-you in advance guys!

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How much are you looking to trim off it? If you're butt trimming from 46-45" I wouldn't worry about it too much. It should play a trifle stiffer but will probably be hard to quantify much performance change. I suspect as driver shafts have gotten longer the OEMs are just cutting them longer rather than reengineering to the new longer length. You should gain a bit more control and may actually hit it longer if you hit the shorter length more solidly.

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Yep, if you're just butt trimming an inch or so, you likely won't notice any difference.  It may make the butt play a touch stiffer, but the mid/tip sections will play the same.  Likewise when tip trimming, the tip will play stiffer but the butt/mid sections will play the same.  The biggest difference you'll notice is that the swing weight will drop and you'll need to bring that back up, unless you're just more comfortable at the lower SW.  That's trial and error that comes with the change.

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I've also stated this in other threads.. if you're butt trimming, the flex impact should be the least of your concerns. Be sure and have a good plan for swing weight recalibration as an inch can definitely impact how the club feels and if not done correctly or just misunderstood, it could be perceived that the shaft flex has changed when in reality the swing weight is just too light. Additionally, if you don't have a club with interchangeable weights, you may be forced to add a bunch of lead tape, pay extra for a tip weighting, or have to add a lighter grip that you're not fond of. Be sure and research this piece if you haven't already.. BTW this is all knowledge from costly experience.

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I'm not 100% sure on this, but if you were looking to trim the butt end, couldn't you just choke down an inch or so and see how that feels (while hitting balls) before you go cutting up a shaft?

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I'm not 100% sure on this, but if you were looking to trim the butt end, couldn't you just choke down an inch or so and see how that feels (while hitting balls) before you go cutting up a shaft?
Totally doable. You could just have the club gripped with a taper reduction to keep at least the top 2-3" relatively the same girth (). This way you won't have to worry about swing weight change and if you find it doesn't work for you you're just out a few bucks for the grip.

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Every 1/2" cut is -3 SW points ( reverse is also true) so a D3 becomes a D0, cutting a 1" becomes a C7 (huge effect on your swing)

The shaft will feel minimally stiffer but you will definitely feel the SW difference. If you correct the SW with weight in the head and didn't tip trim it will greatly effect the way the shaft will play. You can butt trim an reduce grip weight to counteract the SW difference 

- 4 grams grip equals  +1 SW

Winn makes "lite" versions of DriTac grips that play at 23g and 25g which is 20 g lighter than most OEM grips which means you can cut about 3/4"from the butt with minimal SW difference from stock.

The good club builder can also do a lot with hot metal and tip weights, along with shaft frequency and puring.

Hope this helps

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  • 1 year later...

I just butt cut my Kuro Kage AV 50 (R) down 1.5", making it a 44" Epic Flash Driver.   I did not have the right weights to increase the swing weight back to a D2, but played with it anyway. Results were a dramatic increase in accuracy but I lost nearly 20 yards.  Is this common to lose that much distance when trimming? WIll the proper swing weight help?

 

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2 hours ago, Dokes said:

I just butt cut my Kuro Kage AV 50 (R) down 1.5", making it a 44" Epic Flash Driver.   I did not have the right weights to increase the swing weight back to a D2, but played with it anyway. Results were a dramatic increase in accuracy but I lost nearly 20 yards.  Is this common to lose that much distance when trimming? WIll the proper swing weight help?

 

Not really. The longer original length gives a greater club head speed for a given swing speed. The shorter the fulcrum length (ie the shaft length) for the same swing speed, the club head speed reduces accordingly. With a reduction of 1.5" you would probably lose around 3-4mph in club head speed. Doesn't sound much, but when you translate that to distance from resultant club head speed - it accounts for your loss of distance. If you can live with the increased accuracy it's not worth worrying too much about. But if you can't live with the loss in distance you have two options - restore the length or increase your swing speed by swinging faster - which would probably lead to issues with dispersion. So when trimming shafts, it's always best to weigh up the pros and cons before making any adjustments. An half inch initially may have been the smarter option..

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In theory, it will make it play slightly stiffer.  

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I recently installed a Hzrdus Smoke shaft in my driver. I purposely left it an inch longer so I could try it before final cut and just taped the grip and choked down an inch when I used it.  Wasn't quite what I was hoping for so I just tip trimmed the 1" today and will try again. 

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  • 2 years later...

I build 43 inch drivers from Taylormade R7 Quad 410cc heads some Max and some R7.The stock weights are 2-10 grams and 2-2 grams I replace the 2 grams with 14 grams and that is with a medium grip=D4.GREAT HEAD to use.I'm not sure how much flex I will gain by cutting 3 inch off.

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  • 1 month later...
On 9/7/2020 at 1:19 AM, jaskanski said:

Not really. The longer original length gives a greater club head speed for a given swing speed. The shorter the fulcrum length (ie the shaft length) for the same swing speed, the club head speed reduces accordingly. With a reduction of 1.5" you would probably lose around 3-4mph in club head speed. Doesn't sound much, but when you translate that to distance from resultant club head speed - it accounts for your loss of distance. If you can live with the increased accuracy it's not worth worrying too much about. But if you can't live with the loss in distance you have two options - restore the length or increase your swing speed by swinging faster - which would probably lead to issues with dispersion. So when trimming shafts, it's always best to weigh up the pros and cons before making any adjustments. An half inch initially may have been the smarter option..

If you are comfortable with the increased accuracy that comes with a shorter shaft and don't mind the potential loss in distance, then it may not be a cause for concern. However, if the loss of distance is a significant issue for you, you have a couple of options. You can either restore the shaft length to its original size or try to increase your swing speed to compensate. However, increasing swing speed significantly can lead to dispersion issues and decreased accuracy.

Edited by felixaley
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