What will this do to my club? Need some reassuring

[jasonpetermann]

Hopefully someone can help me figure this out: I just got a new Cobra Amp Cell with the regular flex Fujikura Fuel shaft. Stock shaft is 45 3/4". I am considering cutting it down to 44" (I am only 5' 6") and installing a Secret Grip on it. What will this do to swing weight and what other issues might it cause? Really don't wanna mess it up to where it can't be played.

[jasonpetermann]

Meant to say cut it down to 45"

[crumbum4]

I bought the Cobra Amp Cell earlier this year and had 1" cut off of it. Nothing has changed except I hit the sweet spot more often. Actually thinking of trimming another 1/2" off.

[dbwood]

Cutting it down 3/4" will make it feel somewhat lighter, not a crazy difference but you'll probably feel it.  The secret grip with the 17 gram disk in it, (which is the way it is usually supplied) will weigh 107 grams, so that's adding 57 gm  to the club over the stock grip weight.  The club will then feel heavier, but it will also move the balance point quite a ways up towards the grip.  So it will have a considerably different feel than stock.

A friend of mine did exactly that (cut 3/4 off + secret grip)with an Adams 9088 UL and hated it, I hit it a few times and it was OK, but I didn't really care for it.

I put a 90 gm shaft in a RBZ cut to play at 44.25 with a secret grip on it and absolutely loved it for a few weeks but it felt pretty heavy and got to the point that I found myself swinging too hard with it.  So I put a standard weight grip back on it and it feels great.

Bottom line?  Back weighting feels different to different people.  You won't "mess it up" or make it unplayable, if you don't like it, put on a regular one, it's just a grip.

[Hardballs]

Yeah, 3/4" off will lower the swing weight a bit, but you'll hardly notice it, it may probably feel better! I'm 5'8" & I have both my drivers at 44.1/4 and they feel great! I wouldn't bother with a heavy grip, if you want the swing weight back up get a fitter to add weight at the bottom of the club, not the top!

[tomvk77]

Well can always put a little weight in the shaft or grip if you don't want to change the swing weight.

My driver is 44" and i love it this way. You should defo try this.

[WUTiger]

For every half inch you trim off the butt of a shaft, you lower the swingweight by 3 points (D5 to D2, for example).

So, 3/4 inch would be about -4.5 S.wts. You can recapture the swingweight if your new grip is lighter than the original. A good clubfitter can help you calculate the equation to balance things out.

The Secret Grip would lower your measured swingweight even more than trimming (more weight on butt). Some people like the SG, others don't. You just have to figure it out.

Golfers with 45-gr. shafts in their drivers sometimes have good luck with counterweighted grips. The extra 17 grams of the SG slows down their hands so they don't overswing.