Shortening Driver Shaft

[dbuck]

I am thinking I will have the shaft on my Rogue shortened by 1/2 to 3/4 inches at the butt end. I believe this will help me find the center of the face more consistently, and offset any slight loss of speed from the shorter shaft. I also plan to regrip with a midsize grip, again for more consistency.

I am told that this will make the head feel lighter.  Will this be noticeable? What if anything should I do to offset this?

[MrGolfguy67]

It will change the swing weight, you will need to add weight to the head to offset the change in length. 

[Foot Wedge]

To me, the change in feeling is noticeable.  I had my driver shaft shortened 3/4" and a few months later the lead (or whatever material) power in the head fell out.  I took it somewhere else and at that point swing weight was down to C9 if I remember correctly.  They added hot melt to get the swing weight back up to D3 and having taken a few waggles before/after, the feel was quite different.

To answer your question, I'm quite happy with the hot melt route.

[Adam C]

Half an inch will lighten the SW by about 3 points. Can vary slightly based on the shaft weight and if it's counterbalanced. Midsize grip will also lighten the SW.

Basic rule is 4 grams in the grip = 1 SW point, 2 grams in the head = 1 SW point. 

Could also go with a lighter grip like a midsize Winn which are usually significantly lighter than pure rubber. Assume if you are using a standard size rubber grip, it weighs 50g. If after all that the head feels too light I would recommend using lead tape first to figure out what feels right. Remember, once you HotMelt, there is no going back. Once you find the right feel and if you don't like the tape look, a decent club maker can replicate with either HotMelt or installing a tip weight. Good Luck.

[golfjedi777]

On 8/15/2018 at 11:53 PM, dbuck said:

I am thinking I will have the shaft on my Rogue shortened by 1/2 to 3/4 inches at the butt end. I believe this will help me find the center of the face more consistently, and offset any slight loss of speed from the shorter shaft. I also plan to regrip with a midsize grip, again for more consistency.

I am told that this will make the head feel lighter.  Will this be noticeable? What if anything should I do to offset this?

It's Smart I had 3/4" tipped of mine and am hitting at 80% fairways I'm also using a medium size grip plus 4 wraps. Go for it 

[Moxley]

I thought about this, but in the end I opted to buy a Mini driver (  which in every respect is like a  hybrid of a driver and 3 -wood)  with a 43.5 inch shaft. It produces the results you would expect - maximum distance is not as far, but dispersion is better. I've been happy with this, and I rarely play my long Driver now.

Not sure how much difference such a small shortening will make, although I can't see why it wouldn't do the same (less distance, improved consistency) to a lesser degree if done properly. 

[1badbadger]

Buy a package of lead tape from your local golf shop.  It's not very expensive.  Start by applying 3 pieces about 1.5" in length along the back of the club like this:

If it still feels a little light, add another strip of tape.  This stuff is the best...easy to use, inexpensive, won't damage the finish of your clubs, and its foolproof.  Worst case scenario is peel it off and start over!

[Deauxrite]

I shortened my driver by 1 inch.  I cannot tell the difference in the weight.  The difference that I can see is in the launch angle.  I now hit the ball on a lower trajectory.  I have adjusted  the loft up from 9.5 to 10.5 and that seems to have made the trajectory back where I started.  Distance is within 5 yards of what I started with.  I am hitting 2 more fairways per round than before I started.  I am happy with the changes.