Thoughts on tipping a GD Tour AD HD Stiff driver shaft

kneeknocker83 · May 6

Looking to possibly tip a Tour AD HD 6S shaft to make a little stiffer. I'm guessing because of the profile of the shaft if feels a little soft while swinging. Wanted to get everyones thoughts on if I should tip the shaft to play a little firmer and will this impact the bend profile of the shaft. Thanks

Golf Pig · May 6

I would suggest going up a flex instead. The EI profile of the HD like many Graphite Design shafts gets stiffer toward the tip. By tipping you'd actually be making it play softer.

https://www.golfshaftreviews.info/technical-stuff/tipping-golf-shaft/

kneeknocker83 · May 6

Interesting. Not much difference in the tipped vs up tipped. Thanks for sharing.

third-times-a-charm · May 6

1 hour ago, Golf Pig said:

I would suggest going up a flex instead. The EI profile of the HD like many Graphite Design shafts gets stiffer toward the tip. By tipping you'd actually be making it play softer.

https://www.golfshaftreviews.info/technical-stuff/tipping-golf-shaft/

True as per Russ's article, and is good info, but false overall unless applied specifically to the EI profile of the shaft in question.

You're basically saying any archetypical blueboard mid-soft shaft will become softer as it's tipped which is untrue. The tip and butt stiffness and ratios of both are different not just within the T AD line but all the mid-soft profiles out there.

In the case of the AD HD this is false, it does not soften the shaft. T AD had a shaft - the AD GP - which was said to have this sharp dropoff in stiffness near the tip that caused it to get softer but no other T AD shaft behaves like that since.

Tipping a T AD shaft like the AD HD will make it feel stiffer to the human swinging it and will make it launch lower and spin less - even if it's only 1* and 200RPM.

Edited May 6 by third-times-a-charm

Golf Pig · May 6

I wasn’t referring to blueboard profiles in general. Unless I’m mistaken the Graphite Design DI-like profiles increase in stiffness from 11-12 inches from the tip all the way to the tip. Tipping these removes the stiffest part of the tip. In theory this would increase spin and launch not the other way around.

Edited May 6 by Golf Pig

kneeknocker83 · May 7

Does anyone have experience where they have tipped at GD HD shaft and compared? Interesed to see difference in CPM, launch and spin.

phizzy30 · May 8

15 hours ago, kneeknocker83 said:

Does anyone have experience where they have tipped at GD HD shaft and compared? Interesed to see difference in CPM, launch and spin.

I ended up with an HD-6TX tipped half inch 2 years ago but tested one that was untipped as well. Difference was marginal, however it felt just a touch firmer. Spin difference was literally 100 rpm.