Weighting clubs when shortening shafts

[DSH]

I took four inches off my Odyssey two ball putter -- it went from 33 to 29 inches. Much better. But I was told that when you shorten a shaft you should weight the head to recover the lost swingweight. There's a page somewhere on line where I read that for every inch shortened, add 4 swingweights, and a swingweight equals 6 grams. So 24 grams -- that's about half a pound!

I did put about that much lead across the putter and it seems better than without it but now I'm thinking I should have massed the lead at the toe and heel instead of putting it across.

Any thoughts about all this?

[prutkows]

I took four inches off my Odyssey two ball putter -- it went from 33 to 29 inches. Much better. But I was told that when you shorten a shaft you should weight the head to recover the lost swingweight. There's a page somewhere on line where I read that for every inch shortened, add 4 swingweights, and a swingweight equals 6 grams. So 24 grams -- that's about half a pound!

i dont know the technicalities of weighting but if you like the way it feels without any added weight i wouldnt do anything to mess with that. i had my putter shaft cut when i first bought it, i think 33" to 30". it felt fine to me and i putt fairly well.

[DSH]

Thanks for the responses. It seems here as in other equipment related matters, what's best is what works.

[SubPar]

By cutting the shaft down you have reduced the overall weight of the club, but more importantly changed the balance of the club. The head would now be heavier in ralation to the shaft and grip. My first instinct would be to add a little weight to the grip end of the stick to recover the original balance.

You can place lead weights anywhere you want till you find a balance that works for you. I have a small lead weight behind the sweet spot and behind the toe of my putter. Can't say why, but that gave me the right feel in the swing and impact.

[gas_can]

By cutting the shaft down you have reduced the overall weight of the club, but more importantly changed the balance of the club. The head would now be heavier in ralation to the shaft and grip. My first instinct would be to add a little weight to the grip end of the stick to recover the original balance.

I swore off this site a day ago, came to answer a PM, and this ends up "sucking me back in," as Tony Montana so eloquently put it. SubPar, When you butt trim a shaft, or tip trim for that matter, reducing it's overall length you are actually moving the balance point closer to the butt. This in turn reduces swing weight. In order to bring swing weight back up, you must add weight to the head of the golf club. If you extend a shaft, you move the balance point closer to the head. Weight must be either removed from the head or added to the butt to bring swing weight back to spec. DSH, To answer your orginal question, you've done the math correctly. To compensate for four inches of reduced length, you must add 24g of head weight. In some ways it's not a lot, but in terms of lead tape, it is. You will not be able to make up the weight with lead tape. However, the putter is not dynamically swung the same way as the other clubs in the bag, head weight is often a more important consideration than swing weight. Putt with it a while, and see what you think. However, I'm not surprised you want to add a little headweight, the 2ball could use a little. My favorite thing to do with 2 ball putters is to tape up the outside of the cavities, mix up some epoxy, add some tungsten powder to the epoxy and fill in the cavities underneath. Once the epoxy cures, you simply sand it smooth and you're good to go. I've added as much as 15g of weight to a putter using this method which should be enough to get some feel back. You can also remove the grip, take some tungsten powder, pour it down the shaft, and insert a cork to keep it in place. You will likely be able to make up another 12-15 g of difference here as well getting you where you want to be. Lead tape is great, but geting enough of it in the putter really is an issue. Don't worry about adding things "evenly" because you will not be able to add enough weight to change the club's center of gravity or change the way the ball reacts off the club face. Please message me if you have any more questions.

[SubPar]

When you butt trim a shaft, or tip trim for that matter, reducing it's overall length you are actually moving the balance point closer to the butt..

If by

balance point you mean the point on the shaft where the putter sits level when balanced upon it, I don't see how removing weight from the butt end relults in moving the balance point in that direction. This is what I would call "counter intuitive" but I'll take your word for it.

[iacas]

My favorite thing to do with 2 ball putters is to tape up the outside of the cavities, mix up some epoxy, add some tungsten powder to the epoxy and fill in the cavities underneath. Once the epoxy cures, you simply sand it smooth and you're good to go. I've added as much as 15g of weight to a putter using this method which should be enough to get some feel back.

You should post a picture or two or three of that the next time you get the chance to do it. I'm sure some would be curious how it looks, and what ratio of powder to epoxy might be ideal.

If by

It moves closer to the butt end because, for example, if you remove three inches of shaft, the balance point may shift only two inches closer to the head. Thus, effectively, the balance point is an inch closer to the end of the shaft. (It's closer to the head, too).

I agree with what gas_can said above, though - with putters, the dynamics of swing weight aren't as important as they are with your other clubs. It's more important to get the feel you like rather than try to meet the exact same swing weight. And hey, if you liked how you putted with a putter, you wouldn't cut three or four inches off of it - so clearly you're up for experimentation with that club.