Tipping is a common term among clubmakers and involves cutting a short amount of shaft off the tipor clubheadend of the shaft before. A club with a heavier swing weight will feel heavier to a golfer than one with a lighter swing weight, because its balance point is closer to. The right weight can mean an extra club in distance. For every 12 inch you remove, you will lose approximately three swingweight points. I learnt the correct way to master the weight transfer in the golf swing from the team at rotary swing which is covered in detail in this short. May 19, 2018 the actual weight of a golf club is expressed in grams. Raw shaft weight is based on a 45 udws parallel tip true temper dynamic sflex for woods and a 39 udic parallel tip true temper dynamic sflex for irons. What do half inch long shafts do to your golf shot. One thing i shall touch on in the next article which is. Reinstall a grip on the newly shortened shaft and, most. This option is less permanent than cutting a shaft down, and will be cheaper than cutting a shaft down. The ratio is the bottom 23 weight to the of a golf driver or golf club. What is nice is that its the exact same shaft i use. If you are going to shorten a golf club, there are a few things to keep in mind.
So, you can get the swing weight back up by either putting lead tape on the head but that gets real messy sometimes, doesnt look good, and actually adds head weight which will make the shafts flex weaker. Swing weight goes down by a little 6 points per inch. And the drop in shaft weight from trimming a driver from say 45. Jan 12, 2017 whether you put a premium on distance or accuracy, getting fit for the proper shaft weight is essential to making a golf club perform for you. Irons master clubmaker ralph maltby says that adding 12 inch length can add about 5 to 7 yards in distance for irons. Shortening the length of your driver swing weight and shaft. Question about cutting a driver down and swingweight. This will help create a more balanced feel and gain back. Find the right driver shaft length for your game golficity. Reinstall a grip on the newly shortened shaft and, most importantly, wishon says, add weight to the clubhead in some manner to restore the swingweight feel of the club.
To read more about the effects of tipping a golf shaft, here is an article on golfworks that explains it well. Using a swing speed meter i hit several balls with each club and average out the swing speed. But you can counter weight the grip or lighten the head weight to regain d4. Again, as mentioned before, the key is finding the driver shaft length that best provides your unique swing and ability with the most distance, and more importantly, consistent accuracy. In general i know it will vary from person to person, club to club, etc how much driver distance might i expect to lose for. Jan 04, 2012 driver distance secrets what manufacturers wont tell you duration.
Irons master clubmaker ralph maltby says that adding. You could have a 300 gram golf club that has a d4 swingweight, and a 500 gram golf club that also has a d4 swingweight. Swing weight is universal, and is based on the comparative weights between the clubhead end of the. Cutting down driver shaft and swing weight golfwrx. Nov 16, 2018 the lighter weight allows for a longer shaft, but the 3wood shaft is normally cut an inch shorter than the driver to offer more control. Jan 15, 2014 the heads had weight ports so i swing weighted each at d 1 which meant the shorter drivers were a little heavier.
Now i think swing weight is a ratio of head weight to shaft, but i dont have a great feel for what that means in my swing or how to fix it. Swing weight is universal, and is based on the comparative weights between the clubhead end of the club to the grip end of the club d9 will feel heavy, while c9 will feel light. The quest for a more accurate driver practical golf. The right way to shift your weight in the golf swing. I didnt have a problem with the weight afterwards but everyone is different. For clubmakers out there, you are used to purchasing. Iirc youd need to add weight to the head end to restore the swing weight if you wanted it restored. Add weight to your driver golf club for more distance pga. Ive gone through a long series of cobra drivers, and cut them all down to 44. Driver distance secrets what manufacturers wont tell you duration. After a comprehensive overview of my stats last year i came to the conclusion that if i want to get to the next level as a golfer, i am going to have to hit more greens, and that all starts with how i position myself off the tee. Using a swing speed meter i hit several balls with each club and average. Standard is d2, so if you shortened the shaft, the had to have added weight to the head. You can readjust the swingweight by adding lead tape to the head of the club.
For what its worth, ive cut a few shafts down when i first started playing to give me accuracy, but as i got more comfortable with my swing, i began playing stock length 45 in the 9 d2 with success. In our iron test, we routinely saw a 10 or 20 gram change in shaft weight produce distance variations of 810 yards. The shaft flex will play slightly stiffer at 45, the swing weight will be reduced by several points, likely in the range of d2 to c6. The addition of weight is obviously easier than its removal. This is not an exact science but it can be useful in helping golfers determine how much they can feel the weight in the club head during. I know it will affect the swing weight obviously which you could. In the modern 460cc driver, the shaft now rests close to 1 916 above that ground line meaning that the cut length of a shaft for a 45 driver is 43.
Thinking about cutting my driver shaft down an inch. The swing weight, or weight at the head of the club and any additional weighting inside the shaft, is still in place, and cutting the shaft shorter changes the balance of the club as well. I have about a 97 mph driver swing speed leaving me at the border of a stiff shaft. Upon further research, i read that cutting a driver shaft will also stiffen the shaft. What would be the difference between having the club at 37.
Cutting down a fairway shaft mygolfspy forum golf product. Nov 11, 2014 watch this video to find out how butt trimming a golf shaft will affect the playability. So, you can get the swing weight back up by either putting lead tape on the head but that gets real messy sometimes, doesnt look good, and actually adds head weight which will make the shafts flex weaker so it is now recommended and why golf grip companies are making these now to put on an ultra light weight grip. I tried hitting a friends driver the other day that was cut down to 43 and i loved it. Mar 28, 2016 the quest for a more accurate driver everyone wants to find out how to have a more accurate driver including me. In past tests, like our shaft weight study, weve shown mixed results for the theory of lighter is faster. What happens to other characteristics depends on the profile of the shaft as this varies over the its length. Thanks for your replies i just have a shaft laying round so i figure i might as well put it into good use.
Ive concluded just as mgs has shown that in general contact improved with the shorter shaft length and convinced myself that cutting off 1 inch from the butt on my fuel 70x fariway shaft down to 42 now was a good idea. If you are playing a shorter driver, say 44 inches instead of the standard 45 inches, you should consider a slightly heavier shaft, say 10 grams heavier. If, for example, we were to add 2 grams of weight to the handle end. Because the swing weight gets lighter, the club may feel stiffer, but a cpm test will not show any difference, even cutting the shaft down as much as an. I repeated that exercise so i would have more data. They did a good job with it and i hit it so much better then the 45. In general, tipping the shaft 1 inch will make the club 12 a flex stiffer. How much weight you feel you are swinging will be different depending. With steel shafts, use a tubing cutter to trim the shaft. You will be cutting it down less so the sw should go up. The average swing speed, ball speed and distance numbers are pretty similar, regardless of weight or flex. When building shorter clubs, weight can be added to meet swingweight. Jul 04, 2012 following a pm discussion with bob yesterday, regarding this very subject, im going to seek out a pro to undertake the adjustments i want making to my driver. The swingweight scale is measured using a fulcrum point, i believe it is 14 from the butt end of the shaft.
Swingweight is expressed as c9 or d1 or some other combination of letter and number more on that in a moment. Shortening your driver is a weighty matter youtube. This will help create a more balanced feel and gain back some of the swing weight lost when cutting down the length of the club. So, you can get the swing weight back up by either putting lead tape on the head but that gets real messy sometimes, doesnt look good, and actually adds head weight which will make the shaft s flex weaker so it is now recommended and why golf grip companies are making these now to put on an ultra light weight grip. Mar 25, 2018 when golf shafts are manufactured and shipped to clubmakers and clubmaking companies, they are in what is called a raw, uncut form.
From this form, the clubmakers have to cut the shaft, often from both the tip and grip ends, to properly install it into each clubhead. The more shaft you cut off, the lighter, more stiff, and effectively flatter the club becomes. So adding weight at either end with lead tape, weights, extending or cutting the shaft all effects swing weight. Shortening driver changing shaft swingweight golfwrx. I am finding greater consistency off the tee when gripping down on my 915 d2 driver. Jun 02, 2016 the swing weight of a golf club specifies how heavy the club feels to a player swinging it, based on weight distribution. On the other hand, cutting at the gripend does not cause as much stiffening as the tip end. Many golfers believe they can add yards to their drive by making their driver golf club longer and lighter. Shaft weight and torque make a bigger difference than shaft flex.
With proper trimming and installation, each shaft s weight will drop slightly through the set. Shortening the length of your driver swing weight and. If i decide to cut down a driver shaft by a couple inches. Now imagine swinging that 5iron with the lead tape on the clubhead, then at the middle of the shaft, then on the grip. Cutting a shaft from the tip will effectively stiffen it a bit this is called tipping. To make a club play lighter, you could cut the shaft down from the butt end. When building shorter clubs, weight can be added to meet swing weight requirements, either in the shafts of irons or in the weight ports or shafts of woods. I have a further question regarding cutting down a graphite shaft. A club with a heavier swing weight will feel heavier to a golfer than one with a lighter swing weight, because its balance point is closer to the club head. You can add weight to the head to keep the swing weight up and this will also soften the flex slightly. What exactly happens to club if you shorten the shaft. Contrary to popular opinion, cutting the shaft from the butt does not make it play stiffer. You can either add lead tape to the head or get a lighter grip that will affect the swingweight to counteract this.
You can add weight to the head to keep the swing weight up and this will also. From what i read, the r9 comes out of the box at d4 but today at ny golf center, they told me it was now c9 with newly cut down shaft and new grip, lamkin crossline. Swing weight is basically a measure of how heavy the club feels about a fixed point 14 from. Im assuming choking down an inch on a club changes the swing weight even more since now the inch at the end of a club acts as the club being backweighted, which also lowers swing weight. Youll hear about how the 2 will effect swing weight, etc. Aug 28, 20 so to jump right in ive been experimenting with fairway wood accuracy in regular grip and choked up over the past month.
How does butt trimming a golf shaft affect playability. Ive concluded just as mgs has shown that in general contact. Cutting driver shaft the 19th hole mygolfspy forum. For what its worth, ive cut a few shafts down when i first started playing to give me accuracy, but as i. Here is a swing weight conversion chart for your reference. Head weights, shaft weights and balance points hireko golf. Swing weight is the measurement of the headweight feel of a club.
Those measurements are taken using a swingweight scale, and yes, individual golfers can buy and use one if they really want to. If clubs are shortened and no weight is added back to the clubhead, the chances of the. Grip weight is basded onthe average weight of an m58 golf pride mens green victory rubber grip. The lighter weight allows for a longer shaft, but the 3wood shaft is normally cut an inch shorter than the driver to offer more control. It is not possible to cut down a shaft and keep the same swingweight without making additional changes. If it feels too light afterwards, put some lead tape on it. I currently play a mid60 gram shaft but if i went to a mid70 gram shaft and cut that one down approx. As mentioned before, swingweight is a measurement of clubhead weight relative to the grip end of the club. Any amount of cutting will slightly stiffen the club.
Cutting driver shaft length how much distance loss. One other common method of adding weight should be mentioned. You could possibly be a full club longer by finding the right shaft weight. In the case of swing weight, however, there is a clearer relationship between weight and speed. Once you determine the proper shaft length a quick tip would be to have a local golf store or pro shop cut your current driver shaft down to the appropriate.
Nov 07, 20 again, as mentioned before, the key is finding the driver shaft length that best provides your unique swing and ability with the most distance, and more importantly, consistent accuracy. Watch this video to find out how butt trimming a golf shaft will affect the playability. As with the fitting of the shaft weight, the club fitter also has to evaluate the golfers transition force, tempo. For every 12 inch that is cut away from your golf club shaft, you will end up doing away with about three swing weight points. The general golfing public has been conditioned and educated that shaft flex is the endallbeall when it comes to shafts. Cutting down a shaft 12 should not affect the stiffness of the shaft if you cutt it from the butt grip end. The heads had weight ports so i swing weighted each at d 1 which meant the shorter drivers were a little heavier.