43" Driver & 41" 3wood

[golfjedi777]

Was at hawaii and saw a bunch of guys on tour that looked like they had a significantly shorter driver and fairway wood. thinking of cutting mine to 43 inches Driver & 41 inches 3wood. and maybe one inch off my hybrids. think it would add to accuracy? please let me know your thoughts

[Lihu]

  On 1/26/2019 at 12:06 AM, golfjedi777 said:

Was at hawaii and saw a bunch of guys on tour that looked like they had a significantly shorter driver and fairway wood. thinking of cutting mine to 43 inches Driver & 41 inches 3wood. and maybe one inch off my hybrids. think it would add to accuracy? please let me know your thoughts

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The pros have much faster swings than us so even with shorter clubs they hit very far.

I have this in my setup, but I’m currently using my son’s spare set. Pretty reliable off the tee and fairways, but they do hit shorter and I wouldn’t recommend it unless you have a swing flaw like I did...

[golfjedi777]

  On 1/26/2019 at 12:11 AM, Lihu said:

The pros have much faster swings than us so even with shorter clubs they hit very far.

I have this in my setup, but I’m currently using my son’s spare set. Pretty reliable off the tee and fairways, but they do hit shorter and I wouldn’t recommend it unless you have a swing flaw like I did...

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do you mind if i asked what length your sons driver is? just for reference. thanks

[Lihu]

  On 1/26/2019 at 12:13 AM, golfjedi777 said:

do you mind if i asked what length your sons driver is? just for reference. thanks

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It’s a standard length Titleist 910D 73 gm Diamana S. 45”?

[arturo28mx]

You will have more control, and if you hit the sweet spot more often you will actually gain distance. My experience. 

[Buckeyebowman]

When he came on Tour, and for quite a few years after, Tiger Woods played a 43" steel shafted driver. I even read an article, can't remember from where, that claimed that amateurs could actually realize greater clubhead speed from a shorter driver than a longer one. 

And control of the clubface is a whole other issue!

[iacas]

  On 1/26/2019 at 2:19 AM, Buckeyebowman said:

When he came on Tour, and for quite a few years after, Tiger Woods played a 43" steel shafted driver.

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Mostly because that's how long steel shafted drivers were.

He did play it a bit longer than others, who switched over to graphite earlier, but by 2002 or so he'd gone graphite like everyone else.

[Buckeyebowman]

Yes. I remember reading a quote of his saying that if there came a time when he couldn't keep up off the tee, he'd just get a graphite shafted Driver! 

[Righty to Lefty]

If you cut them down you will lose a lot of swing weight points and so you may have to hot melt them to get them back up to an adequate swing weight.  If done properly the loss of swing speed due to a shorter shaft can be overcome by hitting a club with a heavier mass so getting the swing weight back up to what you need may actually be a good thing because if you cut two inches off the shaft then you would have to add 24 grams to the club head to regain the same swing weight after you lost 12 swing weight points at 2 grams apiece.  2 inches of shaft doesn't weight more than a couple grams but you are now swinging a heavier club so some of the speed lost is recovered by added mass on the club. You could also play a heavier shaft at a shorter length but it takes much more shaft weight to increase swing weight (9 gram increase to gain one swing weight point is the rule of thumb).  There are ways to make it work you just have to figure out what works best for you.  Best of luck. 

 

[golfjedi777]

Thanks very informative. Do you know if - 

When they say shaft length 43" , tipped 2 inches . Then does this mean it's 41" after being tipped. 

Also will the shaft be same flex if it is cut at the butt?

 

Thanks again

[Lihu]

  On 1/29/2019 at 8:02 AM, golfjedi777 said:

Thanks very informative. Do you know if - 

When they say shaft length 43" , tipped 2 inches . Then does this mean it's 41" after being tipped. 

Also will the shaft be same flex if it is cut at the butt?

 

Thanks again

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It means cutting 2” off the tip and if it started at 43” then it would end up 41”.

Edited January 29, 2019 by Lihu

[Righty to Lefty]

  On 1/29/2019 at 8:02 AM, golfjedi777 said:

Thanks very informative. Do you know if - 

When they say shaft length 43" , tipped 2 inches . Then does this mean it's 41" after being tipped. 

Also will the shaft be same flex if it is cut at the butt?

 

Thanks again

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Yeah it means that two inches were cut off the tip of the shaft...then it was cut to 43 inches (**Playing length with the shaft installed in the club head and the grip installed**)  by cutting the rest off the butt end of the shaft.  Tip trimming will affect flex and that is the point of it really is to be able to account for the weight of the club head.  For instance if you prefer high swing weights and heavy club heads you may have to tip the shaft to maintain a given flex because the weight of the club head will make the shaft play weaker.  Tipping the shaft will make it stiffer than the listed flex and play to the flex listed once the club head is installed. Butt trimming of even a few inches, has almost no effect on the flex of the shaft but tip trimming of even a half inch, can have a dramatic effect on flex depending on the bend profile of the shaft.  Hope this helps but if you need more clarification let us know. 

 

 

[golfjedi777]

  On 1/29/2019 at 10:05 AM, Righty to Lefty said:

Yeah it means that two inches were cut off the tip of the shaft...then it was cut to 43 inches (**Playing length with the shaft installed in the club head and the grip installed**)  by cutting the rest off the butt end of the shaft.  Tip trimming will affect flex and that is the point of it really is to be able to account for the weight of the club head.  For instance if you prefer high swing weights and heavy club heads you may have to tip the shaft to maintain a given flex because the weight of the club head will make the shaft play weaker.  Tipping the shaft will make it stiffer than the listed flex and play to the flex listed once the club head is installed. Butt trimming of even a few inches, has almost no effect on the flex of the shaft but tip trimming of even a half inch, can have a dramatic effect on flex depending on the bend profile of the shaft.  Hope this helps but if you need more clarification let us know. 

 

 

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Now I'm confused. Sorry. So if it's 43" tipped 2" it's 43" or it would then be 41". 

 

For example from  golfwrx 

"3-wood: (14.5 degrees)
Shaft 85 grams 6.5-flex
Length: 43 inches (tipped 2 inches)"

so is the length 41" ?

[Righty to Lefty]

  On 1/30/2019 at 1:13 AM, golfjedi777 said:

Now I'm confused. Sorry. So if it's 43" tipped 2" it's 43" or it would then be 41". 

 

For example from  golfwrx 

"3-wood: (14.5 degrees)
Shaft 85 grams 6.5-flex
Length: 43 inches (tipped 2 inches)"

so is the length 41" ?

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That means that the club's total playing length is 43 inches. The shaft, which started at 46 inches uncut had 2 inches taken off the tip section and then the shaft was installed in the club head and the final playing length of the club is 43 inches with the grip installed.  3 woods aren't typically tipped 2 inches so the person is letting you know how much it was tipped prior to being cut to the finished length. Let me know if you are still not clear on my explanation. 

Edited January 30, 2019 by Righty to Lefty

[boogielicious]

  On 1/30/2019 at 1:13 AM, golfjedi777 said:

Now I'm confused. Sorry. So if it's 43" tipped 2" it's 43" or it would then be 41". 

 

For example from  golfwrx 

"3-wood: (14.5 degrees)
Shaft 85 grams 6.5-flex
Length: 43 inches (tipped 2 inches)"

so is the length 41" ?

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Tipping changes the flex of a shaft. 2 inches is a lot because the flex or kick point of the shaft is set respectively from the tip. so if the kick point is 8 inches from the tip and you cut off 2 inches, the kick point is now only 6 inches from the tip. Launch is then affected. The shaft also get progressively thicker as it moves toward the butt end. So the swing weight is affected differently than in butt trimming because you are cutting of the lighter section of the shaft.

 Most wood shaft manufacturers only recommend modest tip trimming. They generally recommend butt trimming for adjusting length of a club. Below is a trimming chart that Golfworks has as a guide. You can search the site for your shaft and see what the recommended trimming would be. If you exact shaft is not there, generally most shafts from a manufacturer would have the same tip trimming guide.

https://www.golfworks.com/images/art/shaft_trim_inst.pdf

Bottom line is unless you want to make the shaft play stiffer, cut down from the butt end.

[Lihu]

  On 1/30/2019 at 12:42 PM, boogielicious said:

Tipping changes the flex of a shaft. 2 inches is a lot because the flex or kick point of the shaft is set respectively from the tip. so if the kick point is 8 inches from the tip and you cut off 2 inches, the kick point is now only 6 inches from the tip. Launch is then affected. The shaft also get progressively thicker as it moves toward the butt end. So the swing weight is affected differently than in butt trimming because you are cutting of the lighter section of the shaft.

 Most wood shaft manufacturers only recommend modest tip trimming. They generally recommend butt trimming for adjusting length of a club. Below is a trimming chart that Golfworks has as a guide. You can search the site for your shaft and see what the recommended trimming would be. If you exact shaft is not there, generally most shafts from a manufacturer would have the same tip trimming guide.

https://www.golfworks.com/images/art/shaft_trim_inst.pdf

Bottom line is unless you want to make the shaft play stiffer, cut down from the butt end.

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Yes, that’s the other point I was going to make. 2” is huge.

Most drivers start off 45” so if you tip 2” the playing length will become 43”. That also increases the kick point by 2”. That’s more than enough to go from a low kick to a high kick.

@golfjedi777 the best thing is to get fit by one of the top fitters in your area. They charge $150 an hour and can usually fit someone for a driver within that time. Many folks I know get fit for the driver then use those stats for the other woods, hybrids and irons. Plus, the driver dictates your hole score more if it’s fit right.

Just reread your post...Most 3W start off at 43” so tipping that 2” would get you a 41” 3W.

Edited January 30, 2019 by Lihu

[Righty to Lefty]

  On 1/30/2019 at 2:43 PM, Lihu said:

Yes, that’s the other point I was going to make. 2” is huge.

Most drivers start off 45” so if you tip 2” the playing length will become 43”. That also increases the kick point by 2”. That’s more than enough to go from a low kick to a high kick.

@golfjedi777 the best thing is to get fit by one of the top fitters in your area. They charge $150 an hour and can usually fit someone for a driver within that time. Many folks I know get fit for the driver then use those stats for the other woods, hybrids and irons. Plus, the driver dictates your hole score more if it’s fit right.

Just reread your post...Most 3W start off at 43” so tipping that 2” would get you a 41” 3W.

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For clarity wood shafts start at 46 inches uncut. 

[colin007]

Uncut....hehehe