1" off a driver shaft?

[SuaSponteMn]

Being the gear junkie I am, I'm considering a new driver and turning my HiBore a shorter, "control" driver that I would play on tighter courses where I need to ensure that I'm either in the fairway or not too far off it. After doing some reading, it appears that removing some length off the shaft can help accomplish that. I'm wondering is anyone has any feedback on the impact that would have on this particular clubhead and the shaft I have installed (Aldila NV65 in stiff).

On the other side, any thoughts on the new driver? There's a lot of clubs out there for cheap right now...

I'm currently considering either the R5 neutral, or the R7 quad both 199.99 brand new, and then installing a UST ProForce V2 in stiff. Any other suggestions?

[muskegman]

I like your idea. The only thing you'll need to watch for, which I'm sure you're already aware of, is swingweight. One inch will require either a fair amount of lead tape or a competent club-fitter to properly weight the shorter club.

I don't think cutting the shaft will affect the playability of the shaft. I didn't find that to be true when I had my 905T cut down a half inch.

[SuaSponteMn]

  muskegman said:

One inch will require either a fair amount of lead tape or a competent club-fitter to properly weight the shorter club.

Assuming the inch comes off the top (and I could be wrong there, not a clubfitter by any means) would the weight adjustment occur inside the shaft near the grip, or to the clubhead itself?

When you cut your driver down 1/2" did that impact swing weight in the same manner? How do you account for that? Thanks for the response! -Mike

[GreensDruid]

My clubfitter does take the length off the top of the shaft. In my case, all of the weighting was done on the head, using lead tape initially so that I could adjust swingweight to my liking. Once I finalized the amount and location of the weight on the clubhead, my clubmaker used something called rattleproof or something like that. Its a substance that has the consistency of vaseline but turns liquid when heated. He then pours it into the head, weighting the heel or toe as appropriate and then reinstalls the shaft.

[gas_can]

  SuaSponteMn said:

Assuming the inch comes off the top (and I could be wrong there, not a clubfitter by any means) would the weight adjustment occur inside the shaft near the grip, or to the clubhead itself?

Mike,

I am a very big proponent of shorter driver lengths for just about all players. OEM's love to make drivers longer and longer since clubs are more forgiving these days, mostly for Iron Byron testing. However, no matter how forgiving a club is, center strikes will always lead to more distance and accuracy. Shorter drivers help with more consistent contact. The average driver length on tour is close to 44.5". For each 1/2" of shaft length you remove, you will lose 3 swing weight points. In order to recover those three swing weights, you must add six grams of weight to the head of the golf club. The easiest way to add this much weight would be lead tape. However, that is a fair amount of lead tape, and it may not look as clean as you would like. A second way would be a simple tip weight. Very easy to install, and clean visuals. It's also easier easy to remove compared to hot melting. Hot melt is my favorite choice. It's essentially a special "hot glue" which is injected into the head and dries solid. It takes a fairly competent clubmaker to do this, but it has the advantage of allowing you to make changes in clubhead center of gravity to impart either a draw of fade bias far better than lead tape or any other method. The drawback is that it is extremely difficult to remove once applied, although it is possible with acetone and some patience. It is important to note that playing a shorter driver length and adding weight to the head will make the shaft play marginally softer, although it will likely be too little to notice.

[SuaSponteMn]

  gas_can said:

For each 1/2" of shaft length you remove, you will lose 3 swing weight points. In order to recover those three swing weights, you must add six grams of weight to the head of the golf club.

So if I'm to remove 1" (the shaft length is 46", I'm guessing that makes it 45" installed). I would need to add 12 grams of weight; is that possible using tip weight? Would most shops be able to complete this? Second, is 1" going to be noticeable without being extreme?

Also, based on my swing type (we've discussed previsouly) what are your thoughts on an R5 Neutral, with the UST ProForce V2, in stiff? That's the driver I'm leaning towards as sort of a side project/for fun driver. Thanks gas_can, you've always been extremenly helpful with this type of information

[muskegman]

  SuaSponteMn said:

Assuming the inch comes off the top (and I could be wrong there, not a clubfitter by any means) would the weight adjustment occur inside the shaft near the grip, or to the clubhead itself?

Yeah, gas_can is always on the money with clubfitting stuff.

As far as swingweight goes, the guy who does my club repair put lead tape on the sole of the club. I didn't mind it in the least. It brought the swingweight back up to D2. It is considerably easier to hit the sweet-spot and keep the ball between the trees with a shorter club. The 45" you are talking about isn't overly short. FYI, my 905T is 45.25 inches, originally it was 45.75 inches.

[tradewind_golfer]

just a side note on the R5 neutral: great club!

as a fellow club junkie, i've been through everything in the last year. my handicap is similar to yours and have played a slight fade my whole life. tried the R5 type D last year and hated it. tried the R5 with the stock shaft and it wasn't so impressive. Found a used one with a regular YS 6+ shaft and it's just awesome. Tried the NV and Grafalloy Blue, felt like swinging boards to me, but I'm a weak short man With the R5 N and YS 6+ shaft I can finally work it either way and still get great distance with a 10.5* head. Definitely a fun driver. Good luck!

(recent comparisons, owned for a few days and played at least 2 rounds with: Launcher 400 [excellent], 460, 460 Comp, Callaway 454[long and wild], 2004 Big Bertha, Hawkeye VFT [great club], R5 type D, Sonartec Super CV, Titleist 975D[bullets])

[gas_can]

  SuaSponteMn said:

So if I'm to remove 1" (the shaft length is 46", I'm guessing that makes it 45" installed). I would need to add 12 grams of weight; is that possible using tip weight? Would most shops be able to complete this? Second, is 1" going to be noticeable without being extreme?

Mike, I would personally start with a half inch and see how you feel about it. I think you'll be surprised at the dramatic difference a half inch will make. You can also have a six gram tip weight installed, which will be no problem at all. Tweleve grams is a bit too much for a tip weight, especially in a graphite shaft with a shallow bore like the HiBore. I would install an eight gram tip weight and add lead tape to make up the remaining four grams. As to shop work, it's tip weighting is a simple operation, yet I've seen some hatchet jobs on even the most simple of club making operations. Make sure your clubmaker has a good reputation. The R5 and V2 combination is a very potent one. The R5 is a high launching mid spinning head which can help combat some of the tip stiffness and low spin of the V2 which some players encounter. It's a good combination, just remember to be very careful as to which weight you choose since the tip and butt stiffness of the shaft increases in relation to the increase in shaft weight. Also, tip trimming will be a vital part of the installation. The V2 has a four inch parallel tip section usually meant for bore through heads, and is very sensitive to tipping. I do not feel comfortable recommending tip trimming to you without seeing you swing, since you can ruin a shaft by trimming too much. However, in the shallow TaylorMade bore, you will need at least an inch off the tip to help it play true to flex.

[SuaSponteMn]

  gas_can said:

I would personally start with a half inch and see how you feel about it. I think you'll be surprised at the dramatic difference a half inch will make. You can also have a six gram tip weight installed, which will be no problem at all.

Kinda thought 1" might be extreme, I'll give the 0.5" a try first

  gas_can said:

The V2 has a four inch parallel tip section usually meant for bore through heads, and is very sensitive to tipping. I do not feel comfortable recommending tip trimming to you without seeing you swing, since you can ruin a shaft by trimming too much. However, in the shallow TaylorMade bore, you will need at least an inch off the tip to help it play true to flex.

I'll request one inch off the tip per your instructions here, will that leave this club shorter than standard driver length? Similar to the HiBore? Or was the parallel tip section meant to be trimmed leaving the club at it's proper length?

Don't suppose you know of anyone in my area that you'd recommend? The guy at my shop has "master clubfitter" in his title, but my HiBore came home with a nick in the shaft. Nothing big, only issue is that I can see it; nobody else can... Thanks again gas_can...

[gas_can]

  SuaSponteMn said:

Kinda thought 1" might be extreme, I'll give the 0.5" a try first

Mike, When considering driver length, there is an important measurement called bottom of bore to ground, often abbreviated BBG, which constitutes a fair amount of driver length. The BBG of the R5 head is three inches. So an untrimmed or tipped 46 inch V2 would play to 49 inches. Therefore, you have five and a half inches of available trimming from either the butt or tip to get to your magical number of 44.5". As far as a reccomendation for a clubmaker, I have heard some very good things about Ed Rushin at EMR Custom Golf in Minneapolis.

[wachesawgolfer]

One thing they don't tell you is the pros get "tour weighted" heads which weight about 210 grams as opposed to the the standand OEM driver weight of 198 grams. This allows them to play 44.5 inches without the glue or the lead tape. Look at any componet club maker's site and they never seem to have heavier heads so these I think are fairly customized for the tour pros.