Cutting down shaft

[bostonbrahmin]

So I know similar stuff has been asked in this forum, but I'm having trouble understanding the information. Basically I have a Graphite Design AD-95S in my driving iron that I am considering cutting down an inch or so. It is suggested not to cut it from the tip so I would cut it from the butt end and I am wondering how this will change the swing weight, flex, and other characteristics of the shaft? Thanks

[Jagpilotohio]

Trimming one inch will lower the swingweight of the club by about 6 points.

 

If you add back the 10-11 grams necessary (1.8 grams per point) to return the head to its pre cut swingweight, it will feel a bit softer in flex than before trimming it and it should launch a bit higher.

 

If you do not add weight back to the head it will play slightly stiffer than before trimming and the head will feel extremely light. It will not feel like any of your other clubs. You will probably hate it. I would personally ever recommend trimming it unless you are prepared to add lead tape to get the weight back up on it.

 

 

Edit...I should add that you may wish to only add back PART of that 10-11 grams. Perhaps you might like the club a couple of points lighter than it was originally. I play all my woods and hybrids 1+ inches short and I prefer them 1-2 points lighter than factory stock SW.

[Stuart_G]

First of all realize that the recommendation for butt cut only comes from the fact that it's probably a taper tip shaft. It has little to do with whether or not such a tip trim would be beneficial or not.

 

With no other change and only the length change, SW will change ~6 sw pts for a full inch shorter.

 

Same condition plus an assumption that the swing itself wont change means it will likely not change the stiffness feel/flex noticeably - although everyone has different levels of sensitivity.

 

Depending on how good a fit the original swing weight was, most will need to add at least some weight back to the head to compensate for the SW change. It's this added weight that is the dominant source to any change in stiffness feel of the shaft. And how much will depend on how much weight is added, the particular mechanics of your swing, and the original stiffness profile.

 

When figuring out how much weight to add back - DONT just blindly add weight to get the SW scale to read the same as what it was prior to cutting down. You were not fit to that SW in the first place so it's NOT a good reference value and second, that's too big of a length change to expect the SW scale to be able to maintain the feel even if it was a good fit to start.

 

To get the best results, you really need to take the time to add back the weight slowly - a few grams at a time - and find the amount that gives the best feel and the best ball flight results.

[bostonbrahmin]

Interesting thanks for the comprehensive responses. I think I would actually like the shaft to feel a bit stiffer, but the head feeling too light will probably throw me off. Is there anyway to preserve a stiffer feeling in the shaft, but also a heavier headweight? Is this just lead tape and I'm overthinking it?

[Jagpilotohio]

Interesting thanks for the comprehensive responses. I think I would actually like the shaft to feel a bit stiffer, but the head feeling too light will probably throw me off. Is there anyway to preserve a stiffer feeling in the shaft, but also a heavier headweight? Is this just lead tape and I'm overthinking it?

 

Pull the shaft and tip it an inch instead of butt cutting it. If it’s a .370 this is not an issue.

 

If it’s a taper tip you can actually retaper the tip yourself after trimming it. Only the last 5/8 inch of shaft is actually tapered and it’s EXTREMELY slight.

 

It is quite easy to taper graphite using some 80-100 grit sandpaper. It’s a bit like sharpening a pencil. Just sand a tiny angle into the tip. I fold a small piece of sand paper in half between my finger tips and just slowly and gently roll the shaft tip between my finger tips and keep checking the fit over and over until it just fits in you hosel or adapter.

 

If you have an adjustable speed 1 inch wide desktop belt sander and you are good with your hands and your tools you can taper it using 100-220 grit belt on the machine. Just be VERY GENTLE and very deliberate on modest speed. It’s quite easy to overdo it on a machine. I can do an entire set of irons in just a few minutes on mine....but I’ve done many sets. You get a feel for it after you’ve done a few. It’s best to practice on a scrap shaft the first time. Hint, hint. ; )

[Stuart_G]

Interesting thanks for the comprehensive responses. I think I would actually like the shaft to feel a bit stiffer, but the head feeling too light will probably throw me off. Is there anyway to preserve a stiffer feeling in the shaft, but also a heavier headweight? Is this just lead tape and I'm overthinking it?

 

Pull the shaft and tip it an inch instead of butt cutting it. If it's a .370 this is not an issue.

 

If it's a taper tip you can actually retaper the tip yourself after trimming it. Only the last 5/8 inch of shaft is actually tapered and it's EXTREMELY slight.

 

It is quite easy to taper graphite using some 80-100 grit sandpaper. It's a bit like sharpening a pencil. Just sand a tiny angle into the tip. I fold a small piece of sand paper in half between my finger tips and just slowly and gently roll the shaft tip between my finger tips and keep checking the fit over and over until it just fits in you hosel or adapter.

 

There is a bit more to tip trimming graphite taper shafts then getting it to fit into the hosel. Most graphite shafts are designed with a reinforced tip section to better handle the higher stresses at the top of the hosel. If one trims past this reinforced portion of the shaft, one also increases the risk of the shaft breaking during use. Some are better at handling it than others. Never had one on my bench so I can't say how long the reinforced section is on the Tour AD driving iron or Tour AD iron or how well it will be able to handle such tip trimming.

 

For the iron or utility-driving iron shafts, the safest option would be to hard step (sell and get another one).

[Jagpilotohio]

Oh. Sorry. Forgot to say you will still need tip weights or lead tape or a combination of both if you are trimming an inch and don’t want the swingweight crazy low. You can’t get around that part of the equation.

 

If your head is hollow and has a port you can potentially inject hot melt to add a few grams. Depends on the head.

[Jagpilotohio]

Interesting thanks for the comprehensive responses. I think I would actually like the shaft to feel a bit stiffer, but the head feeling too light will probably throw me off. Is there anyway to preserve a stiffer feeling in the shaft, but also a heavier headweight? Is this just lead tape and I'm overthinking it?

 

Pull the shaft and tip it an inch instead of butt cutting it. If it's a .370 this is not an issue.

 

If it's a taper tip you can actually retaper the tip yourself after trimming it. Only the last 5/8 inch of shaft is actually tapered and it's EXTREMELY slight.

 

It is quite easy to taper graphite using some 80-100 grit sandpaper. It's a bit like sharpening a pencil. Just sand a tiny angle into the tip. I fold a small piece of sand paper in half between my finger tips and just slowly and gently roll the shaft tip between my finger tips and keep checking the fit over and over until it just fits in you hosel or adapter.

 

There is a bit more to tip trimming graphite taper shafts then getting it to fit into the hosel. Most graphite shafts are designed with a reinforced tip section to better handle the higher stresses at the top of the hosel. If one trims past this reinforced portion of the shaft, one also increases the risk of the shaft breaking during use. Some are better at handling it than others. Never had one on my bench so I can't say how long the reinforced section is on the Tour AD driving iron or Tour AD iron or how well it will be able to handle such tip trimming.

 

For the iron or utility-driving iron shafts, the safest option would be to hard step (sell and get another one).

 

Excellent point.

 

I personally would never hesitate to tip trim a hybrid shaft but I also don’t know how high the reinforced section goes on a GD.

 

I would be utterly shocked if a 85 or 95 gram hybrid/utility Graphite Design shaft didn’t have a really nicely reinforced heavy duty tip, but I would indeed be guessing.

 

It appears there is one length and it is only in stiff or X.

 

https://www.golfworks.com/graphite-design-tour-ad-utility-driving-iron-shaft/p/gd0057/

[Stuart_G]

Excellent point.

 

I personally would never hesitate to tip trim a hybrid shaft but I also don't know how high the reinforced section goes on a GD.

 

I would be utterly shocked if a 85 or 95 gram hybrid/utility Graphite Design shaft didn't have a really nicely reinforced heavy duty tip, but I would indeed be guessing.

 

It appears there is one length and it is only in stiff or X.

 

https://www.golfwork...shaft/p/gd0057/

 

If you include the Hybrid shafts, there are actually quite a few different possibilities. But basically GD has several different hybrid specific AD shafts.

http://proschoicegol.../hybrid-shafts/

 

Some, if not all of these are single length with a 3" parallel tip section and can be tipped trimmed safely.

 

But they also have the general AD iron shaft as well as a driving iron 'specific' variant which are both discrete length shafts with taper tips.

Of the DI shafts, some are only are made with a 3 iron shaft taper tip config - so while it may look like a single length (and thus tip-able shaft) it's really the same as a lot of the older original taper tip hybrid 'butt trim only' hybrid shafts.

 

http://proschoicegol...om/iron-shafts/

[bostonbrahmin]

Excellent point.

 

I personally would never hesitate to tip trim a hybrid shaft but I also don't know how high the reinforced section goes on a GD.

 

I would be utterly shocked if a 85 or 95 gram hybrid/utility Graphite Design shaft didn't have a really nicely reinforced heavy duty tip, but I would indeed be guessing.

 

It appears there is one length and it is only in stiff or X.

 

https://www.golfwork...shaft/p/gd0057/

 

If you include the Hybrid shafts, there are actually quite a few different possibilities. But basically GD has several different hybrid specific AD shafts.

http://proschoicegol.../hybrid-shafts/

 

Some, if not all of these are single length with a 3" parallel tip section and can be tipped trimmed safely.

 

But they also have the general AD iron shaft as well as a driving iron 'specific' variant which are both discrete length shafts with taper tips.

Of the DI shafts, some are only are made with a 3 iron shaft taper tip config - so while it may look like a single length (and thus tip-able shaft) it's really the same as a lot of the older original taper tip hybrid 'butt trim only' hybrid shafts.

 

http://proschoicegol...om/iron-shafts/

 

Yes - mine is the AD-95s driving iron specific shaft. It is a taper tip and according to pros choice can only be butt trimmed