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Effect of shortening driver shaft

post #1 of 13
12/22/08 at 9:57pm
Thread Starter 
at the start of the season I took 2.5" off my driver shaft and saw a dramatic improvement in the quality of my ball striking off the tee. On almost every drive I get the WOW factor from my playing buddies. You smoked that one etc as the ball explodes off the tee and proceeds to soar into the air. However when I get to my ball it is invariably no further up the fairway than any one elses as the flight is too high and I was wondered has shortening the shaft caused a lower kick point and thus a higher ball trajectory. Another post has advised me to get a Red Fujikura which is what I will most probably do but would like to get the science behind this high ball flight I'm experiencing. I didn't make any swing weight adjustments to the head
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post #2 of 13
12/22/08 at 10:04pm

Re: Effect of shortening driver shaft

Yeah, I play my driver really short at 42 inches. All I can say is WOW! Stock driver lengths are way too long. They say its made for distance, but actually with a shorter shaft, you will hit it starighter, and you will hit the sweet spot more often. As everyone knows, if you hit the sweet spot, you will be driving it farther. It is a must to get your driver fitted to adjust the lenght.
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post #3 of 13
12/22/08 at 10:33pm

Re: Effect of shortening driver shaft

What type of shaft and how did you trim it?
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post #4 of 13
12/23/08 at 3:02pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Effect of shortening driver shaft

it was a fuji gold. just cut it with a diamond disk cutter. i realise it would have ben better to cut from the hosel end but i don't have the know how to remove a shaft
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post #5 of 13
12/23/08 at 3:11pm

Re: Effect of shortening driver shaft

Sounds like your loft is too high! What is the loft of the driver head and do you know your swing speed?
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post #6 of 13
12/23/08 at 3:16pm

Re: Effect of shortening driver shaft

Originally Posted by jfrain2004 View Post
it was a fuji gold. just cut it with a diamond disk cutter. i realise it would have ben better to cut from the hosel end but i don't have the know how to remove a shaft
From what I've read on the web it seems trimming from the grip end of the shaft has the least effect on the flex, kick-point, and such. I think you did it from the correct end if you're going to just trim one, but don't they make shafts at ~44" that have the shortened length figured in from the start in regards to flex and the kick point of the shaft?
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post #7 of 13
12/23/08 at 6:11pm

Re: Effect of shortening driver shaft

shortening your driver will raise the kick point no matter where u cut it. if u cut the shaft it makes the shaft stiffer. i never cut mine but when i have trouble off the tee choke down on the shaft and it produces a lower, more piercing ball flight thta stays in the fairway. i get about the same amount of carry, but alot more spin.
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post #8 of 13
12/23/08 at 8:33pm

Re: Effect of shortening driver shaft

Have you been to a fitter with a track man and launch monitor to have your angle of attack and club path checked out maybe with the shorter shaft you come into the ball steeper and create more spin resulting in the higher ball flight.
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post #9 of 13
12/23/08 at 9:33pm

Re: Effect of shortening driver shaft

Originally Posted by jfrain2004 View Post
it was a fuji gold. just cut it with a diamond disk cutter. i realise it would have ben better to cut from the hosel end but i don't have the know how to remove a shaft

You did right. I doubt you could trim any shaft 2.5 inches from the hosel end and in any event that would drastically stiffen the shaft. To maintain the shaft feel, you remove the grip, cut and reinstall a grip.
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post #10 of 13
12/23/08 at 10:20pm

Re: Effect of shortening driver shaft

I like AK's method: just grip down. I do this with my irons all of time. I like the control that I get while choking down. I had them built too long so that I could choke down a half an inch. I don't do this with my driver...I'm not sure why. I'll probably try it this week.

Cutting shafts messes with kick points and stuff. I would just choke down instead of having a physically shorter shaft.
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post #11 of 13
12/23/08 at 11:43pm

Re: Effect of shortening driver shaft

Originally Posted by jfrain2004 View Post
it was a fuji gold. just cut it with a diamond disk cutter. i realise it would have ben better to cut from the hosel end but i don't have the know how to remove a shaft
not necessarily. Trimming the tip of a shaft will make the shaft play stiffer, which is something you may not want.
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post #12 of 13
12/24/08 at 7:38pm

Re: Effect of shortening driver shaft

Trimming the tip = stiffer shaft

Trimming the butt = barely any more stiffness.
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post #13 of 13
12/25/08 at 1:08am

Re: Effect of shortening driver shaft

Originally Posted by jfrain2004 View Post
it was a fuji gold. just cut it with a diamond disk cutter. i realise it would have ben better to cut from the hosel end but i don't have the know how to remove a shaft
FWIW, if you are not going to add any weight after cutting the shaft then cutting from the butt end will mostly keep the same playing flex. It sounds like this is what you did and that club is playing REALLY light - possibly down in B9 range. There is nothing necessarily wrong with that, BTW.

If you had wanted to maintain swingweight (by adding weight to the head) then you'd need to do at least some of the trimming from the tip (or end up with a lot more flex).

dave
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