How trimming the tip affects flex

[melraid]

I play graphite shaft irons, +1/2" length, regular flex. The +1/2" length makes the regular flex feel even more flexible. How would trimming an extra 1/2" at the tip effect the flex? I would trim the butt end so that the clubs are still +1/2" over standard.

Thanks!

[neudi]

I'm just taking a stab at this, but when you build clubs/ look at a shaft without a head or grip you notice that the tip is a lot thicker than the butt end...its skinier, but thicker, so if you cut the tip off then it takes the thickest part of the shaft away making it able to bend just that much more...that is just my guess though. So i think trimming it a half inch would make it more flexible?

[albatroz]

Dunno what will happen . Guess it would fine tune your shaft to fit your swing spec. have had this done befor to one of my sets ... have not felt any change in my short irons ... mid irons still held the distance ... long irons felt better ... Hope this gives light to the equation .

[gas_can]

I play graphite shaft irons, +1/2" length, regular flex. The +1/2" length makes the regular flex feel even more flexible. How would trimming an extra 1/2" at the tip effect the flex? I would trim the butt end so that the clubs are still +1/2" over standard.

melraid,

Trimming half an inch off the butt will do nothing to the dynamic flex. However, it would slightly stiffen the club since you are swinging a shorter lever it will not flex as much. However, this will be very slight and virtually negligible. What you will notice is a slower swing speed and possibly reduced distance (assuming you make good contact at the half inch over length). Also, if you fit into a half inch long club, moving down a half inch will likely result in a lot of toe hits at impact and contact away from center will always cost you distance.

[melraid]

mainly just wondering if trimming an extra 1/2" off the tip, and leaving the extra 1/2" on the butt end so the overall length remains the same. Seems it would make it stiffer.

[LBlack14]

Tip trimming will stiffen the flex of the shaft. I believe it's called Hard stepping. Causing the actual flex of say a reg. to play stiff.

[fusioncal]

Tip trimming will stiffen the flex of the shaft. I believe it's called Hard stepping. Causing the actual flex of say a reg. to play stiff.

I don't think so. As far as I know, hard-stepping refers to the method of stiffening shaft flex by installing the original shaft meant for a lower iron to a higher iron. You do it the other way and it's called soft-stepping. For example, PW's shaft goes to 9-iron (Hard) or 9-iron's shaft goes to PW (Soft).

[gas_can]

mainly just wondering if trimming an extra 1/2" off the tip, and leaving the extra 1/2" on the butt end so the overall length remains the same. Seems it would make it stiffer.

melraid,

This will stiffen the shaft. However, you must be very careful in selecting a club to do this with since it will only work with parallel (.370 or unitized) shafts. Most OEM's today use .355 taper tip shafts, if you trim a half inch off them they will no longer fit properly in the hosel. That is why most clubmakers use hard and soft stepping to fine tune flex with taper tip shafts rather than tip trimming. As fusioncal correctly stated, hard stepping is where you take a shaft meant for an eight iron and put it in the seven iron head. This way a shorter tip or taper section is used giving the club a tighter feel. Softstepping would be the reverse. In summary, if your clubs are .370 hosels, you can tip trim. If they are .355 taper tip, you must either hard or soft step.