Will cutting the butt end of a driver shaft from 45.75 to 45.25 noticeably affect shaft flex?

[e-man]

I think I know the answer, but maybe an expert can chime in to confirm. Thanks.

 

e

[sshadow2]

I'm not an expert, but I recently asked one for myself and the answer is that cutting from the butt doesn't change the flex at all. Only cutting from the tip. I changed my driver shaft length from 45" to 44".

[e-man]

I just did some research.

 

Cutting the butt end of a shaft shouldn't affect flex, but it will change the swing weight (3 points for every 1/2 inch). To bring the swingweight back up, you'll need to add weight to the head (2 grams for every swingweight), and adding weight to the head will actually soften the flex. If you cut an inch off the butt end, and add 12 grams to the head to bring the swingweight back up, this will soften the flex almost an entire flex (at least that's what I read).

 

Can anyone confirm this?

[wildwilly911]

depending on the shaft yes adding that much weight will soften the flex

[e-man]

depending on the shaft yes adding that much weight will soften the flex

 

 

It's a Ping G10, TFC129 stiff flex.

 

But if that's the case, how are so many of the members of this forum changing their shaft lengths from 45.75 to 45 and adding weight to bring the swingweight back up? No one seems to be concerned about changing the flex of the shaft.

 

e

[HackerD]

I am NOT an expert but read somewhere +18g of head weight = 1 flex more flexible. Thus if you trim 0.75" and add back 9g, that is 1/2 a flex.

http://www.golfsmith.com/cm/forum/view.php...t+on+shaft+flex

 

I trimmed my G10 to 44", added lead tape but only partly back to original SW. Any flex change that resulted was probably good for me given my swing speed. I'm hitting more fairways with better distance than any of my previous drivers. FWIW

[pickblade]

I found this information a while back on the Royal Precision site. I am sure it applies to woods as well as irons. It may answer some basic questions that seem to come up here often. http://www.royalprecision.com/precision_faq_clubmaker.html

 

Q8: What happens to a golf club if I cut it down (shorten length)?

A8: Again two things happen: (1) The shaft becomes weaker as a result of butt end being removed from the shaft. (2) The shaft becomes stiffer as a result of the swingweight (balance point) value decreasing. These two occurrences tend to cancel each other out resulting in little, if any change in shaft flex (coefficient).