Taper vs parallel tip

[Striker Ace]

KBS shafts offer the C-taper shaft with either a parallel tip or a tapered tip. What is the difference and how do I know which one is right for me?

[Ger21]

One has  .370 diameter straight (parallel) tip, and one has a tapered tip that's .355 diameter.

Also, parallel tip shafts come in one length, and are tip trimmed incremental amounts for each iron. Taper tip shafts come in discreet lengths for each iron. Both are butt trimmed to final length.

 

You need the correct ones to fit your heads, although you can shim .355 shafts to fit in a 370 bore hosel. The vast majority of OEM irons are taper tip. Most component manufacturers use parallel bore hosels. There are exceptions to each of these, though.

[DArnie]

Parallel is a .370 size hosel while taper is a .355 hosel. You can look up your your hosel size here or at the manufactures site.  https://www.golfworks.com/oem-shaft-replacement-guide/a/376/

[jvincent]

25 minutes ago, Ger21 said:

Also, parallel tip shafts come in one length, and are tip trimmed incremental amounts for each iron.

 

Just as a head's up, this isn't true for all shafts. Nippon parallel tip shafts come in discrete lengths just like tapers and are butt trim only.

 

Not sure about the C-Tapers.

[PJE]

The bore diameter of your clubheads will generally determine the type of shaft you will use, .355 for the taper and .370 for the parallel.  (You could shim a shaft into a hosel or bore out the hosel but most people just use the correct size for the hosel). 

Taper tips are specifically made for each iron, e.g, there is a shaft made for the 9, a different shaft for the 8, etc.

In contrast, parallel tips are blanks that are tip trimmed and butt trimmed for each clubhead.  (There are some parallel butt trim only shafts, too.)

Sometimes, golfers will switch the shaft specs, e.g. put the 4 iron in the 5 iron head or 5 iron in the 4 iron head.  This is called "soft stepping" and "hard stepping", respectively.  Here is a link about it: http://www.golfclubshaftreview.com/hard-stepping--soft-stepping.html

Anyway, hard stepping and soft stepping changes the flex a little and supposedly the launch characteristics. It's also one way to make length changes in a golf club.  Taper tips are usually the shaft type used for stepping.  

There are exceptions, but taper tips are often the same weight for each club and parallel tips are often slightly heavier in the longer irons. (But there are shaft models where the preceding is not the case). 

Lots of game improvement irons are made for parallel tip shafts. It's easier for OEMs to keep one blank of shaft and cut them rather than stocking specific length shafts for each clubhead.

 

 

Edited June 17, 2021 by PJE

[ArtMBgolf]

What is nice about Taper Tips shafts is all shafts weight the same.  
With Parallel, if all are a single length blank, the long iron shafts weigh 
more than the short iron shafts. 
 
The same model should play the same, taper or parallel, but I think 
there could be differences in some brands.       

[Stuart_G]

11 hours ago, Striker Ace said:

KBS shafts offer the C-taper shaft with either a parallel tip or a tapered tip. What is the difference and how do I know which one is right for me?

 

There is a lot more difference than just the tip size.    Both weight and stiffness are different.   That's just a consequence of discrete length vs single length blank design.    How noticeable the difference might be can vary a lot from player to player.    But the one that is best for you is the one you were fit into.    Don't just blindly pick one based on the hosel size.   It is important to understand the relationship between the hosel size and the tip size - since it can effect the build - but that's not necessarily the best way to choose which shaft.    e.g. .355 tips need to be shimed when installing into a .370 hosel  while a .355 hosel needs to be bored out to take a .370 (steel) shaft. 

 

[NHenson815]

Anyone know if it's possible to bore out a .335 wood hosel to take a .355 taper tip.  It seems like that would be too risky, but the price of scientific experimentation can be high.

[DArnie]

Buy one of these and let us know how it works out. But I'm sure it's not recommended.

 

https://www.golfworks.com/straight-fluted-hand-reamer-370/p/gm1535/

[Stuart_G]

10 hours ago, NHenson815 said:

Anyone know if it's possible to bore out a .335 wood hosel to take a .355 taper tip.  It seems like that would be too risky, but the price of scientific experimentation can be high.

 

Depends on how thick the hosel is and how much material might be left after that drilling.   It certainly would be very risky in the case of any of the adjustable heads.  The aluminum adapters just don't have enough material to spare for that.    But there may be some bonded heads out there which might not be as risky.  Hard to say though since one can't "see" into the interior to see how thick the wall are in that case.