Effect of Putting 4 Iron Shaft into 3 Iron?

[rkodavey]

I have a 4 Iron from a set I no longer use that has a nice Fubuki graphite shaft in it. I was thinking of taking it out and putting it in my 3 iron from my current set to use as a driving iron, but I was wondering if that would be a bad idea. I read a little online about how since the shaft has been tipped for a 4 iron, putting it in a 3 would make it stiffer. Is this accurate and would it be noticeable? Is there anything else that would occur with the club if I did this? Thanks for reading.

[Big Ben]

This would be called hard stepping the shaft. Hard stepping or soft stepping is designed to find the in-between flexes. Yes it will slightly change the playing characteristics of the shaft. In this case a little stiffer but it won’t hurt anything you can defintely give it a try and see if you like it.

[Hot Rod 71]

Hard (or soft) stepping once alters the shaft approximately 1/3 flex. So 1/3 flex stiffer if hard stepped, or 1/3 flex softer if soft stepped. Taper tip shafts are designed to maintain flex throughout the iron set because irons heads get heavier (approx 7 grams per head) as the iron gets shorter. A slightly stiffer shaft in a 4 iron than in an 3 iron, for example, takes into account the extra weight in the head and the shaft is slightly stiffer.

 

To tell you the truth, most recreational/semi-serious players wouldn't notice a difference if you gave them two of the same exact irons (same head, same length, same grip, etc.) with one shaft straight in and one shaft hard stepped. Some lower handicappers who play on a more serious level may be a little more sensitive to shaft flex and may be able to tell the difference.

[Jagpilotohio]

Don’t forget your swingweight will be lower because the shaft is 1/2 inch shorter than it should be.

 

The head will feel lighter than it did with the longer shaft. A few strips of Lead tape will fix that.

[ForTourUseOnly]

since it will be sorter (4 iron length), and if you get the swinweight back to normal by adding lead tape to the head you actually haven't hardstepped it, you are just playing a 4 iron with a 3 on the sole. so no issues there. If you extend it the 1/2" then it may play a little stiffer but I say give it a go, whats the worst that could happen.

[wkuo3]

With graphite shaft it'll probably have little noticeable difference than have the shaft in the 4 iron. 3 iron head is a bit lighter in weight than the 4 iron head , with stronger loft ( maybe 3° - 4° stronger ).

If the tip is the same ( .355 or ..370 ) try the shaft out in the 3 iron head. Worst will happen is to switch it back if you don't like it.