Driver swing weight and shaft length

[Bruiser47]

So I currently am playing a stock length 3 wood which is at 43.25 I believe. My driver on the other hand has been cut down half an inch or a full inch, can’t remember off the top of my head but it plays at 44.75 or 45.25. What im thinking about doing is playing my driver at around 43.50 or 44 because I don’t gain club head speed with a longer shaft and I actually hit my 3 wood a good bit better. My worry is that I’m going to mess up my swing weight and even bend profile if I cut my driver shaft again. What should I do? I even thought about just playing a 3 wood shaft in my driver, what would everyone suggest? 

[B.Easy]

There's no way to know what to do, until you know how you react to the lighter swing weight.  It will probably be down 6 or so swing weight points should you lob of an inch.   You can always add weight back, but not until you know how you react.  Buy some lead tape on amazon and add it 2 grams at a time until you like it best.  This is all art and very little science, so it's going to be trial and error.  

[Bruiser47]

9 minutes ago, B.Easy said:

There's no way to know what to do, until you know how you react to the lighter swing weight.  It will probably be down 6 or so swing weight points should you lob of an inch.   You can always add weight back, but not until you know how you react.  Buy some lead tape on amazon and add it 2 grams at a time until you like it best.  This is all art and very little science, so it's going to be trial and error.  

Thanks for the information. I think I’m going to test my 3 wood shaft out with my driver head. Im pretty sure my swing weight is already too high, I don’t feel the head in my swing very well. My 3 wood should be playing around D3 or D4 so assuming I need to get my driver similar.

[phizzy30]

Lead tape or hot melt to the head to bring swing weight back up.  You could also go with a heavier shaft since you're planning to play a shorter set up. 

[mwgreen431]

First thing would be to check the swingweight of your driver. When you shorten a driver, you’ll need to add weight to the head to bring it back to the same swingweight. If you previously cut the shaft and didn’t add weight, it will feel light, and you won’t be able to feel it. Cutting a shaft that short will require a bit of weight in the head, but can be worth it. I previously played a 44” G400 at d4 and it was the best driver I’ve ever had, until the crown cracked. Since you need to add weight to the head when shortening a driver, it is 2g per swingweight point. So, if you need to go from d2 to d4, you will need to add 4g of weight to the head. 

[goudok]

One thing to note, you might not notice, but i did when cutting it that much shorter and adding weight is that my shaft played much looser due to added weight.  I really felt the tip get much much looser.  

[Bruiser47]

16 hours ago, B.Easy said:

There's no way to know what to do, until you know how you react to the lighter swing weight.  It will probably be down 6 or so swing weight points should you lob of an inch.   You can always add weight back, but not until you know how you react.  Buy some lead tape on amazon and add it 2 grams at a time until you like it best.  This is all art and very little science, so it's going to be trial and error.  

If I am playing at D6 and take off an inch and a half what would I be playing at? 

[Gtyler14]

2 hours ago, Bruiser47 said:

If I am playing at D6 and take off an inch and a half what would I be playing at? 

1/2 inch equals roughly 3 swing weight points 

[bekgolf]

17 hours ago, goudok said:

One thing to note, you might not notice, but i did when cutting it that much shorter and adding weight is that my shaft played much looser due to added weight.  I really felt the tip get much much looser.  

 

I generally cut my driver down to 44" to 44.5" and find that after I add weight to the head the shaft seems softer.

 

To the op it's trial and error when cutting it down.  I always try a new driver at it's stock length first and so far I haven't found one that works at stock length since about 2007.  A nice thing with modern drivers is how user friendly they are for adding a heavier weight to compensate.  I usually end up at my preferred 3 wood swing weight which is D4ish, ymmv.

 

There is a pinned thread at the top of WRX Club Techs that deals with general swing weight rules.  Joe Kwok was nice enough to post it many years ago (whatever happened to him?) 

 

[JP1000]

2 hours ago, bekgolf said:

 

I generally cut my driver down to 44" to 44.5" and find that after I add weight to the head the shaft seems softer.

 

To the op it's trial and error when cutting it down.  I always try a new driver at it's stock length first and so far I haven't found one that works at stock length since about 2007.  A nice thing with modern drivers is how user friendly they are for adding a heavier weight to compensate.  I usually end up at my preferred 3 wood swing weight which is D4ish, ymmv.

 

There is a pinned thread at the top of WRX Club Techs that deals with general swing weight rules.  Joe Kwok was nice enough to post it many years ago (whatever happened to him?) 

 

Thank you for this information, I'm playing with driver shaft lengths as a side project and this is very helpful.