Ken Smith

Of course you can. I would recommend cutting the 1/2" off the butt because it will affect the club's playability the least. If you tip trim the 1/2", you'll stiffen the club by 4-5 CPMs, but you only stiffen it by 1-2 CPMs from the butt end. Aside from that, the butt end is much easier to do from a clubmaking standpoint. Hope that helps...

If you butt trim, you'll notice less of a difference in the club's performance. However, 1" off the tip would make a significant difference in the shaft's performance and feel. It would make it about 10 CPMs stiffer.

From a design standpoint, graphite shafts have a distinct advantage over steel, but I also prefer steel shafts in my irons and wedges. Less than 25% of irons are outfitted with graphite shafts, as steel typically has better control and consistency characteristics. However, with the advances in graphite shaft technology, there are plenty of graphite shafts engineered with the same control and consistency as steel. So, the short answer is that it comes down to personal preference. Whether you prefer steel or graphite shafted irons and wedges, the biggest concern is that they are built to your individual swing load and unload timing.

You're partially right, in that swing speed is not as important as swing timing. You have to understand that the amount of load placed on the shaft is not important, as it is only the time interval that makes the first basic frequency selection. A lot of club fitters never grasp this concept, but it is easily proved by placing a shaft in a frequency meter and deflecting it several different amounts. No matter how much you load the shaft, the meter will always present the same basic frequency. I call this the basic frequency because a correction has to be made to arrive at the final golf club fitting and shaft selection. So to take it one step further, the correction is based on the centrifugal force acting upon the clubhead. When a golf shaft is flexed during the downswing, the centrifugal force generated by clubhead speed is attempting to straighten the shaft, which reduces the amount of spring action required to bring it back to straight and square at impact. If there were no centrifugal force applied, then the basic natural frequency would be the answer. But, since clubhead speed is the precurson to centrifugal force, then the correct relationship can be derived as a function of clubhead speed, which would translate to reduced frequency (softer shaft) as clubhead speed increases. This basic understanding goes against the general shaft selection of the majority of the golf club industry. So, if two players have the exact same time interval between shaft release and ball impact, the one with the higher swing speed actually gets a softer shaft than the player with the lower swing speed. Why? Because the player with the higher swing speed is getting more help from centrifugal force, and requires less spring action to bring the shaft back to straight and square at impact. I once fit a long drive competitor who had a 130+ swing speed. By industry standards, everybody would agree that he should be playing the stiffest shaft as he could find. After conducting a swing frequency analysis on him, we learned that he had a very early release, and actually needed a very soft shaft. After putting him into the properly-tuned shaft, his accuracy improved, as did his carry.

If the shaft is too soft, there would still be lag at impact, which would result in a consistent push or slice. But, since his issue is an ability to hit any cut at all, the shaft cannot be too soft.

Agreed! I love blades. I played game-improvement irons for years, but after transitioning to musclebacks, I could never go back. Every time I even look at a game-improvement club, it looks like a boat anchor. By the way nykfan4life, I love your avatar - Kramer is my hero!

Send me her height (in shoes) and her wrist-to-floor measurement, and I'll send you the recommended club lengths. Like Tim said, cutting them down may make them way too stiff, but at least you'll know if she likes the game before investing in her own clubs.

The only way to really determine the appropriate shaft is through a swing frequency analysis. My initial thought is that your shaft is actually too stiff for your swing timing, which correlates to the shaft coming back to straight and square prior to impact. The result is a clubhead that is past square (more closed) at impact, making it extremely hard to deliver a fade. Of course this is purely speculation at this point. I cover this topic in some detail on my own blog if you're interested in reading more.

I'm away at a training conference this week, and picked up a copy of this analogy on mindset. Anyway, I wanted to share it... If you think you are beaten, you are. If you think you dare not, you don't. If you like to win, but you think you can't, It is almost certain you won't. If you think you'll lose, you've lost. For out in the world we find Success begins with a fellow's will. It's all in the state of mind. If you think you are outclassed, you are. You've got to think high to rise. You've got to be sure of yourself Before you can ever win a prize. Life's battles don't always go To the stronger or faster man. But sooner or later the man who wins Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, Ken

I have played oversized Lamkin Crosslines for years. I transitioned to oversized Lamkin Crossline Tour grips last year, and loved them as well. However, I went back to the regular Crosslines because I like the black/white appearance - they match my white ferrules better.

Only about 50% of golfers that claim they play with custom-fit clubs have every really been fit. It is a shame that there are no industry standards in shaft flex, but as a clubmaker I can certainly understand why the majority of the shaft manufacturers have varying thoughts on the topic. To answer your original question about playing with a shaft that is too stiff; If your shaft is too stiff, then the club would have already passed square, prior to impact, and in a lot of cases, already retracting at impact, causing a severe loss of distance and accuracy. Likewise, playing with a shaft that is too soft will cause accuracy problems as well because the clubhead has not returned to square at impact, and will also cause a loss of distance because you're not getting the result of the shaft's full potential. The majority of the industry still uses clubhead speed as the main variable in club fitting, but I can actually show you that two golfers who present the same time interval between club release and impact, the one with the higher clubhead speed actually gets a softer (lower frequency) shaft. I realize that this goes against the basic understanding of the majority of industry, but if you consider the notion that the player with the higher clubhead speed is actually getting more help from centrifugal force, then he would obviously require less help (softer shaft) from the shaft to return the clubhead to square at impact. I cover this in some detail on my blog http://kcgolfclubs.blogspot.com/ . Hope it helps...

I agree... You need to try and locate a real clubmaker in your area.

The short answer is yes. However, after he has been fit by a clubfitter, he'll have to decide whether the clubs are worth reshafting, or whether to purchase new clubs that have been precisely fit for him.

The publication "Golf Shop Operations" reported last year that 33 golf club companies offered some type of formal custom clubfitting system, including many of the industry's leading OEM manufacturers. More recently, "Golf Digest's" online poll disclosed that nearly 90% of those surveyed believe that they would play better with custom-fit clubs, but only 33% of those same respondents have ever been fitted. All of this suggests that custom-fitting has achieved national acceptance, and a tremendous market exists for custom-fit clubs. To meet this demand, these same OEM manufacturers have begun marketing custom-fit clubs as one of their areas of expertise. But, with a little smoke and mirrors routine, they deliver nothing more than another production-line set of clubs. Rather than getting away from their financially-profitable, production-line methods, and producing truly custom-fit clubs, the major OEM's continue to push clubhead design as the answer to our performance problems. They continue to change them each and every year and tell us that this year's model will improve our game even more than last year's. Now, there is a lot to be said for the improved designs, but it is not the answer. They have been designing clubs USGA limits for years. I, like you, feel that every golfer should be professionally fit prior to purchasing clubs of the rack.

There are a number of variables that go into truly fitting a set of golf clubs. The static measurements, as they relate to the length of the golf clubs, have become somewhat consistent industry-wide. But once you get beyond that, there are varying beliefs and concepts as to what consitutes custom-fitting. A dynamic fitting is always best. This is where the average OEM manufacturer is losing market share. In an attempt to meet this demand, they have began marketing custom-fit clubs as one of their areas of expertise. But, the reality is that with a little smoke and mirrors, they deliver nothing more than another set of production-line clubs. They refuse to get away from their financially-profitable, production-line methods, and truly produce custom-fit golf clubs. By using clubhead speed as the key to fitting golf clubs, they do not need personal contact (dynamic fitting), nor do they need to deviate from the standard frequency slope or their mass-production procedures. If you haven't already noticed, this is a topic that I'm passionate about. Rather than performing true fittings, OEM manufacturers push clubhead design as the answer to your performance problems, and they change them every year and tell you they will improve your game even more than last year's model. Most likely, last year's model did absolutely nothing for your game unless you just happened upon the correct shaft frequency for your swing. Selling clubs based upon clubhead design naturally assigns shaft frequency as secondary status. Most golf clubs on the market today use identical flex category shafts tipped consistent increments from club to club (usually 1/2"), then butt-trimmed to the finished length. This process makes each shaft stiffer by four to five cycles of natural frequency, as the clubs get shorter and shorter. This has come to be known as the Brunswick Slope. However, through hundreds of fittings, I have found that very few golfers are properly fit with this four to five cyle per minute progression, as predetermined by club and shaft manufacturers. Most golfers have a unique frequency slope depicting their individual swing timing, and their clubs should be built accordingly. Sometimes on straight lines, sometimes on curves, sometimes on positive, and sometimes on negative slopes. Everyone is different, and unless you are properly fit through a Swing Frequency Analysis, and have your clubs built to your unique frequency slope, you will never have a fully-fit set of clubs. To learn more about truly custom-fit golf clubs, visit my site at kc••••••••••••••.