Changing a custom Shaft and Lie

[Hacker07]

Hello,

I have a question about getting fitted for clubs. I found a set of clubs that i want to purchase however they are a little longer than I need by an inch and the lie has been changed by 2 degrees. It looks like i will need to get them changed for my height and swing. If I cut these custom shafts by an inch or an inch and a half will that affect the flex very much and will i possibly ruin the club? I know that changing the lie should have no affect but am concerned about changing the flex by cutting it.

Any advice would be appreciated...

Thanks!

[mvmac]

Were they lengthened by an inch from the club's standard?  Cutting the shaft would tend to make it more stiff

[Hacker07]

They have a custom True Temper Shaft put in them.

[mvmac]

For every 1/2 inch you remove, you will lose approximately three swingweight points, making the club head feel lighter.  1 swing weight point equals to 1 CPM flex change.  You can readjust the swingweight by adding lead tape to the head of the club.  Any amount of cutting will slightly stiffen the club, for 1 inch it will make the shaft more stiff by a 1/2 flex.  Also if you are shortening irons, every 1 inch you shorten the club will make the iron effectively play 2 degrees flatter.

[Hacker07]

Thanks for the info...I dont think that taking off an inch will affect the flex enough to affect my ball flight.

[mvmac]

Probably not but the club will feel lighter and effectively be flatter

[1puttit]

Can you hit these clubs before purchase? If so, I'd just choke down on them an inch or so and see how you hit them. If you can hit them off a lie board (while choking down 1") you can see if you'll need to have the lie adjusted or not. MVMAC is correct that shortening them an inch will make them play 2* flatter. This could be a good thing depending on what specs you need which is why I suggest hitting them off a lie board before making any alterations. If they were bent 2* upright and you play standard lie you will probably need to get them bent back.

MVMAC is also correct that each 1/2 inch you shorten the clubs will lighten the swing weight 3 points so shortening an inch will make it 6 points lighter. I doubt this will be an issue because my experience is that people that end up having longer shafts installed are usually playing with clubs that are way over the standard swing weight. The reason for this is because club heads come in standard weights and are designed to be built to standard lengths. So a guy that is taking a 38" 5 iron and extending it an inch is ADDING 6 points of swing weight from the "standard" weight that club was meant to be built at. The only way to adjust  this is to remove weight from the head which is almost impossible with irons so it is almost never done. SO, when you cut them down an inch the swing weight will be "standard" (assuming you going back to standard length)

[Hacker07]

I have these clubs from a different store with stock shafts and standard lengths. These clubs are on Ebay from a guy i have bought some stuff off in the past so i know he is reputable just want to be sure that I can bend them back and cut an inch off without affecting the shaft too much. the custom shafts are DG R300 STEEL +1/2", 2 UP.

[1puttit]

Cutting the 1/2 inch off is no big deal. If you regrip your own clubs it's a simple process of cutting off the grip and using a pipe cutter (plumber section of Home Depot) to cut the shaft. Then re-grip. Change in flex will be minimal as you are cutting the butt end. You didn't mention what type of heads but most cast head can be bent 2* with no issue.

The only issue you might have is if these clubs were originally built to standard length and then lengthened later. In this case they will have shaft extensions. These are easily removed using heat to break the epoxy bond.