cutting a driver shaft to less than stock...

[JeffJ]

what do i need to be cautious of?

I have long arms and a 45" shaft. When I get it all working for me the product from the driver is an almost dead straight to very slight draw to about 295-300 with an occasional bomb. But I do feel like the club head (Cobra speed 5000 F) does seem to get away from me. Partly I feel because of all the length between the shaft/my arms and the shaft feeling a little whippy.

I know alot of people are giving up a little length in order to gain a little more control. I could be seeing things but it sure seems like some of the tour pros are trimming shafts.

I was told it may be best to trim the tip which would take off a little length and hopefully stiffen the tip at the same time. I would appreciate everyones input on trimming 1/2".

Thanks.

[Dyno]

If you just want to alter the club itself w/o new parts, 1/2" off the tip would firm it up enough. Your clubmaker could add a tip pin to bring the swingweight back up. Heaviest lead pin is 5g while you can get tungsten ones up to 9g. You could even do 44 or 44.25 though it's a little more work to weight the head.

 

If you can do a more complete fit and reshaft, all the better. But for what you have now, the 1/2" trim and reweight should be an improvement.

[JeffJ]

Thanks! I am thinking about trying to trim the tip first before I look at a total re shaft. I dont mind spending the money on a new shaft but I will try th tip first. Do you think the guys at Golfsmith are qualified to do this work?

[Dyno]

In my experience, the guys at big box stores can be spotty. Really depends on which guy you get. This particular job is pretty easy but I would probably specify to them that you want someone experienced to work on your club.

[m5power]

If you just want to alter the club itself w/o new parts, 1/2" off the tip would firm it up enough. Your clubmaker could add a tip pin to bring the swingweight back up. Heaviest lead pin is 5g while you can get tungsten ones up to 9g. You could even do 44 or 44.25 though it's a little more work to weight the head.

 

If you can do a more complete fit and reshaft, all the better. But for what you have now, the 1/2" trim and reweight should be an improvement.

 

do these tip pins affect COG or playability at all? both in theory and in practice?

[Dyno]

A 5g or 9g won't be enough to notice on the hosel side.

 

I did a driver many years ago where I used straight rattlestop to weight the head...about 9g if I recall with a soft tip shaft. The client said he faded it consistently. I had him ship it back to me and damned if it didn't fade shot after shot. The rattlestop had all settled in the toe due to centrifugal force and gave the club a fade bias. With a stiff tip shaft it probably wouldn't have been as noticeable but with a softer flex, soft tip one, the effect was undeniable. I think theory says something like 25g to move the CG 1/8" with a driver head but from my experience less than that matters....esp if it's out on the toe away from the shaft centerline. When the weight is in the hosel, I haven't seen anything that I can attribute to the weight. I did 18g down the hosel and shaft of a 3w once and the club played very well. You would need a better ballstriker than me to really tell though....Joe has some theories on this and can relate his tour level experiences.