Tipping a shaft - how does it effect flex?

[TCMP]

If I tipped a graphite shaft 1", how much would it typically effect shaft flex?

 

How about steel?

[bobcat]

Tipping stiffens the tip but will not change the flex of a shaft, i.e. a Stiff Flex will still be a Stiff Flex when tipped. One should never tip with the idea of trying to change a shaft's flex. However, if you find yourself spraying your shots and hitting shots that tend to balloon and fly too high, then a bit of tipping may help.

 

All that said, a shaft with a stiffened tip due to tipping will frequency differently than the same shaft untipped, and obviously it will play differently too. Tipping will generally lower trajectory somewhat and can tighten up shot dispersion if you are playing a shaft with a tip too soft for your swing. However, beware of over-tipping because you can ruin the shaft completely if you cause the shaft to lose most of its kick and therefore its potential for maximum distance.

 

For drivers, FW woods and hybrids be sure to factor in the bore depth of the club when considering whether or not to tip and of course you must be familar with the shaft being tipped.

 

An good example would be a 757 Speeder shaft for a TM Driver. TM Drivers have a very shallow (1.25") bore depth. Therefore the 757 really must be tipped by 1/2" just to ensure the shaft will play true to its flex. (Tip it more than 1/2" if you are trying to customize the 757 shaft). On the other hand, if you put the same shaft in a bore-though or deep bore Driver (1.75" or more), then you definitely do not need to tip the 757 to have it play true to its stated flex.

 

Unfortunately OEM's like TaylorMade do NOT tip their shafts, so tipping is always the Buyer's responsibility. It is worth the effort to get the tipping it right however. It can make a big difference in accuracy and trajectory.

[TCMP]

Thanks.

[thewitt]

If you are talking about tipping a new shaft and building it to a standard length, tipping removes the softer tip section and replaces it with longer butt section in the total length of the club.

 

This stiffens the flex of the shaft.

 

How much will actually depend on how stiff the butt is relative to the tip.

 

In steel, 1" is about 1 full flex for most shafts.

 

In graphite, it can be anything, because graphite shafts allow for significant differences in design that steel does not accommodate.

 

-t

[maop99]

hi thewitt,

 

will tipping change torque also? i'm thinking of getting a graman UL540 and almost everybody is recommending an R-flex 1/2" tipped....what does this mean?

[thewitt]

1/2" of tipping is not enough for 99% of all golfers on the planet to feel the difference, so I don't know why people recommend the UL540 tipped 1/2 an inch. That will move the flex by about 3 cpm - which is about the same as the manufacturing tolerance...

 

Tipping will only change torque if the shaft tip has been specifically reinforced to lower the torque.

 

Shaft torque - more correctly torsional stiffness - is measured by clamping a weight on an arm to the tip of the shaft and measuring how much it twists. The shaft twists over it's entire length, however any torsional stability added to the tip would be removed when tipping. If there is no extra torsional stability added to the tip, you might actually lower the torque by tipping - it will remove the smaller, more flexible tip section and replace that by the thicker, less flexible butt which will twist less.

 

The amount of change for a typical shaft is going to be minimal however - likely outside of the ability to measure the change... so no way you'll feel it.

 

Watch shafts that are recommended to be butt trim only. They will often be designed that way intentionally and tipping them will change the design characteristics more than simply stiffening the flex slightly.

 

-t

[maop99]

Thanks thewitt, so you are saying that I should not tip the UL540 anymore because I won't feel the difference, right? I might just go with your suggestion...

 

I have about 100mph swing speed semi-aggressive, semi smooth...you think th 540 regular flex can handle it?

 

Thanks so much!

[thewitt]

Sounds like the R, untipped will be fine for you.

 

-t

[maop99]

Thanks thewitt! that's great! Thanks for the help!!