A lot of shaft length threads, but...

[Second Chance]

Has anyone actually cut their driver/3W shafts down? If so, what length did you go with and why? Where there any issues you encountered doing it...?

[Mr. Desmond]

Driver to 45 inches from 45.5 ... clubmaker did it. He put a little hotmelt in the head and installed different weights to get the R1 to D3.

Fairway woods - if you cut, you affect club balance. You can offset the shorter club with a heavier shaft; you can keep the OEM shaft and have install a heavier weight in the head (if applicable), if NA, clubmaker can hot melt, or you can place some lead tape on the club head or even on the hosel... if you do hot melt, too much is a bad thing ... makes head too heavy and takes out any feeling of liveliness in the clubhead -- use sparingly.

[Second Chance]

Thanks!

Yeah, I want to go to a 44"-44.5 driver. I've been experimenting with choking up a half inch and see no loss of distance, but tons of feel and a lot more accuracy. It's an obvious improvement, but I'm worried that cutting the shaft won't be the fix. I think I'm just going to continue anthony kimming it... :)

[bukifvr]

I recommend that you put some impact tape on the clubface, and hit some balls.  If the impact tape shows that you are consistantly hitting in the center of the clubface then I would not shorten the club.  If you are hitting consistently on the toe or heel then you could try just adjusting your setup.  For example if you setup with the ball in the center and you consistently have a toe impact, you could setup with the ball positioned more on the heel.  If you setup with the ball in the center and you consistently have a heel impact then you could change your setup by positioning the ball at the toe.  If your impacts are all over the place, then you could consider shortening the club so you have better control and get a more consistent impact.

[BBailey]

Originally Posted by Second Chance

Has anyone actually cut their driver/3W shafts down? If so, what length did you go with and why? Where there any issues you encountered doing it...?

I had my Ping G15 cut down to 45" from 45.75. I am making much better contact in the center of the club face, which leads to more fairways hit. I don't feel I lost any distance, but picked up accuracy. Shortening the shaft did affect the swing weight, so I got some lead tape and headed to the range. I would hit about 10-15 balls, add a strip of lead tape to the the bottom of the club and hit another 10-15 balls. I repeated this until I got the ball flight I was looking for. I have no idea what the swing weight of my driver is, all I know is that I'm happy with it.

I will never play with a driver length longer than 45" again, and am considering taking another 1/4"-1/2" off.  Good luck.

[rick0502]

What kind of tape did you use and where did you get it?

[bukifvr]

Originally Posted by rick0502

What kind of tape did you use and where did you get it?

Assuming you are asking about impact tape, you can get it at most golf stores.  It comes in 2 shapes, one for driver club face, and one for the iron clubface.

[rick0502]

I was wondering about lead tape

[Second Chance]

Originally Posted by BBailey

I had my Ping G15 cut down to 45" from 45.75. I am making much better contact in the center of the club face, which leads to more fairways hit. I don't feel I lost any distance, but picked up accuracy. Shortening the shaft did affect the swing weight, so I got some lead tape and headed to the range. I would hit about 10-15 balls, add a strip of lead tape to the the bottom of the club and hit another 10-15 balls. I repeated this until I got the ball flight I was looking for. I have no idea what the swing weight of my driver is, all I know is that I'm happy with it.

I will never play with a driver length longer than 45" again, and am considering taking another 1/4"-1/2" off.  Good luck.

Thanks man!

I have the diamana x60 shaft XXXX/5000...which retails for "WAY TOO MUCH"... and I would hate to cut it, screw up the swing weight and have to deal with the aftermath of wasted money. I'm in communication with my club fitter, but he seems to think I'm crazy. Funny how sensitive clubmaker's are...regardless of the overwhelming data to support this argument.

Either way, once I get the right amount of choke up-- I'll probably go the same route you did. My current project is bending my irons flatter and flatter...I'm going to get rid of the left side of the golf course if it kills me! :)

[bukifvr]

OOOO, you can get lead tape at a golf store too.

[BBailey]

Originally Posted by rick0502

What kind of tape did you use and where did you get it?

You can pick up lead tape at any golf store. I got mine at Dicks Sporting Goods, less than $5. It's self adhesive and you just cut it the length you want and apply it. You can add or remove it as needed without much hassle. Hope that answered your question.