Driver/3 wood shaft cutting

[Joezilla]

I have "inherited" from my brother in law a Calloway driver and three wood. I think they have been "modified" a bit. They seem to be a bit long. I have discovered that I have much better control with both these clubs if I grip down about an inch to an inch and a half. My question is this: Can I or my local Golfsmith remove the grips, cut the shafts down an inch to an inch and a half, put on a new grip, and all will be well? Will the playability of the clubs be affected by shortening the shafts? I am a long time golfer, but have never done any shaft work in my life. The only mods I have performed through the years is putting on new grips every season or so. This is the reason I am asking all you shaft/club gurus.

 

Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance,

Joe

[MattF]

They can be cut down, no problem. But you would have to have the swing weight checked beforehand and then probably adjusted using lead tape afterward.

[JMiller]

~ Butt trimming will not effect the flex of the shaft.

It is a very common myth that butt trimming shorter increases stiffness or flex. Yes the CPMs will be higher but the flex profile will be the same. Example: 265cpm @ 45" cut down to 43" would be a 282.2 CPM shaft. It is 4.3 per 1/2" of cut or 8.6CPM per 1" of cut, if you are going shorter ADD CPMs if you are going longer SUBTRACT CPMs.

 

~ Swing weight WILL be effected, if you go longer or shorter.

It is 3 points less per 1/2" of cut off. It is 3 points more for 1/2" of extension. It takes 2g roughly for 1 point on the head end of the club, 5 grams roughly on the grip end of the club for 1 point. So if you are going from say 44" to a 43" fairway metal you will lose 6 swing weight points and need to add roughly 12g of weight to the head to keep the same swing weight as before.

 

~ If you are looking to change flex profile you most TIP TRIM but only do this with professional guidance tip trimming too much will be a disaster.

[Joezilla]

~ Butt trimming will not effect the flex of the shaft.

It is a very common myth that butt trimming shorter increases stiffness or flex. Yes the CPMs will be higher but the flex profile will be the same. Example: 265cpm @ 45" cut down to 43" would be a 282.2 CPM shaft. It is 4.3 per 1/2" of cut or 8.6CPM per 1" of cut, if you are going shorter ADD CPMs if you are going longer SUBTRACT CPMs.

 

~ Swing weight WILL be effected, if you go longer or shorter.

It is 3 points less per 1/2" of cut off. It is 3 points more for 1/2" of extension. It takes 2g roughly for 1 point on the head end of the club, 5 grams roughly on the grip end of the club for 1 point. So if you are going from say 44" to a 43" fairway metal you will lose 6 swing weight points and need to add roughly 12g of weight to the head to keep the same swing weight as before.

 

~ If you are looking to change flex profile you most TIP TRIM but only do this with professional guidance tip trimming too much will be a disaster.

 

 

Thanks for the replies. Most of the technical stuff has gone way over my head. So if I trim the butts by one inch, I'll need to add 12 grams of lead tape to each head..

 

One last question........where would be the best place on the heads to add it?

 

Joe

[JMiller]

Thanks for the replies. Most of the technical stuff has gone way over my head. So if I trim the butts by one inch, I'll need to add 12 grams of lead tape to each head..

 

One last question........where would be the best place on the heads to add it?

 

Joe

 

You could use Brass Tip Weights in the shaft to get most of the weight back that you need, this would require you to pull the shafts clean the hosel, weigh the head, and calculate the EXACT weight you need to add to the head to get the desired swing weight. It is a bit more complex process but in the end it's a cleaner looking set of clubs.

 

You could use what's called

, this just injects glue into the inside of the head and is most popular in drivers.

 

You could also used lead tape or rubber tengsten weights

 

You can do some combination of all of them if you really wanted. It is probably best to take them to a professional builder and tell them what length and swing weight you want them built to.

[Shambles]

12 grams strikes me as a lot of weight to be adding to any club.

 

I suggest a dry measure. Measure the SW before cutting. After cutting, just hang or tape the weight to the club head and do a swing weight measure to see what you are getting. You ought to be able to use bits of masking tape to hold the grip and other parts together so you get a close enough measure. Once you have determined the actual amount you need, do a rough check to see if that amount will fit into the shaft and not go higher than the hosel. If it exceeds, you might need to look for heavier materials like tungsten powder. You might also try to ram rod the lead into the shaft tip to see if you can compress it enough to fit.

 

Personally I think it's reasonably harmless to shorten a shaft though I do believe it sometimes affects a persons swing plane or swing attitude initially. We do tend to get a bit more aggressive when the shaft gets a bit shorter simply because the shorter shaft is easier to swing.

 

 

 

Shambles

[BK in TEXAS]

But.....if the lighter swingweight doesn't bother you....you don't need to do a thing.

[JMiller]

12 grams strikes me as a lot of weight to be adding to any club.

There are a couple of typos in the weight calculations but I have posted this in club building before and it holds pretty accurate.

>> http://advancedballstriking.com/Swing_weights.pdf

 

I don't know the weight of the shaft, the grip weight, the tape weight, the balance point of the shaft to give an exact guess. so assuming that everything remains the same except for the length 12g of weight is a guess.

 

I suggest a dry measure. Measure the SW before cutting. After cutting, just hang or tape the weight to the club head and do a swing weight measure to see what you are getting. You ought to be able to use bits of masking tape to hold the grip and other parts together so you get a close enough measure. Once you have determined the actual amount you need, do a rough check to see if that amount will fit into the shaft and not go higher than the hosel. If it exceeds, you might need to look for heavier materials like tungsten powder. You might also try to ram rod the lead into the shaft tip to see if you can compress it enough to fit.

You don't need a swing-weight machine to calculate the swing weight on a scale that measures and grams and the components with the knowledge of the balance point and the shaft. The entire point I was making to take it to a professional as they would be more easily about to get the calculations exactly right not guess work.

 

Personally I think it's reasonably harmless to shorten a shaft though I do believe it sometimes affects a persons swing plane or swing attitude initially.

 

We do tend to get a bit more aggressive when the shaft gets a bit shorter simply because the shorter shaft is easier to swing.

The "swing plane" is a measure of the left arm compared to the shoulders at the top of the backswing. If you look at any tour player their position at the top of the backswing is almost identical Driver down to Wedge. So no a shorter shaft SHOULD NOT effect swing plane in any way assuming that you are a good golfer with the same source of motion and sequence.

 

As for Swing attitude / mental perception of the swing from a mid to high handicap that part is probably true. If you hand a tour player a club that's cut 1" shorter then normal they still have the same tempo and swing plane for the most part that's why they have really good accuracy and consistency of a strike on all clubs.

[Shambles]

Jmiller065,

 

Best is most of the time to take it to a pro and just pay him for the job. However some of us do not have access to a pro who charges a rate we can live with. However, from the first post, I had the impression that Joezilla was considering doing the job on his own.

 

As to the 12 gram thing, just pick up a weight intended for tennis racquets. They come in 3 gram portions and are small and compact. You can measure to verify that they are truly 3 grams. Tape it to any club of your choice and I'm pretty sure almost anybody will find the resultant swing weight excessive. I say almost because I did it to my own irons and nobody liked the result but me. I used those clubs that way for a couple of years but finally decided to go with the norm thereafter. It's a simple experiment that anyone can do.

 

 

Shambles

[JMiller]

As a reference for irons...

Assuming, a traditional weight / balance point of the shaft / standard weight grip / not a lot of build up tape...

 

39.00" 3i ~ 243g ~ D2

38.50" 4i ~ 250g ~ D2

38.00" 5i ~ 257g ~ D2

37.50" 6i ~ 264g ~ D2

37.00" 7i ~ 271g ~ D2

36.50" 8i ~ 278g ~ D2

36.00" 9i ~ 285g ~ D2

35.50" ~ 292g ~ D2

35.00" ~ 299g ~ D2

 

I'm not sure how you can consider 12g for 1" less of shaft an extreme thought of it being too much weight. This iron set has 7g added to it per 1/2" shorter shaft.

[Shambles]

As a reference for irons...

Assuming, a traditional weight / balance point of the shaft / standard weight grip / not a lot of build up tape...

 

39.00" 3i ~ 243g ~ D2

38.50" 4i ~ 250g ~ D2

38.00" 5i ~ 257g ~ D2

37.50" 6i ~ 264g ~ D2

37.00" 7i ~ 271g ~ D2

36.50" 8i ~ 278g ~ D2

36.00" 9i ~ 285g ~ D2

35.50" ~ 292g ~ D2

35.00" ~ 299g ~ D2

 

I'm not sure how you can consider 12g for 1" less of shaft an extreme thought of it being too much weight. This iron set has 7g added to it per 1/2" shorter shaft.

 

I'm thinking you must be a giant amongst men for the weight of your clubs. I'm not nearly as meticulous. I leave the heads as is and merely pay attention to the length of the shafts I install. In truth, there was a time that I gave attention to swing weight but these days my sets range from C5 to D1, depending on the shafts I fit to them. They all work as long as I can feel the shaft and head when I swing.

 

Just stick 3 grams to any of your clubs, change nothing else, and you really should feel a significant change.

 

 

Shambles

[Joezilla]

Well, in a word, success!!

 

I took the clubs to Tucson Golfsmith. They were able to cut one inch off the shaft, and put on a new Golf Pride red oversize grip on each. I have not done anything with the swingweight, but after playing with them as is for a couple of rounds, I don't think I need to. I did not miss a fairway with the driver until the 18th hole in the first round. Yesterday, I was pretty consistent also.

 

Mark me as a happy camper. Thanks for the advice.

 

Joe