What's the max you can cut a shaft down?

[flowrider]

Hello all,

I was wondering how much you can trim off a steel and a graphite iron shaft? My wife is quite small. 4'10" to be exact and she has to choke down on her clubs almost to the end of the grip for a proper swing. I would like to get her fit properly but is it even possible to cut a shaft down that much? I suppose weight should be added to the clubs as well? If so approximately how much?

 

BTW the shafts are already women specific.

[HackerD]

I bought an Adams set for my wife, she is 5' tall, in a petite size. It's working out okay.

I think there are some decent junior clubs on the market now that may help?

[kokogirl]

Hello all,

I was wondering how much you can trim off a steel and a graphite iron shaft? My wife is quite small. 4'10" to be exact and she has to choke down on her clubs almost to the end of the grip for a proper swing. I would like to get her fit properly but is it even possible to cut a shaft down that much? I suppose weight should be added to the clubs as well? If so approximately how much? BTW the shafts are already women specific.

 

I am responding because I am a short lady, not because I am a shaft expert. My current irons are 3/4" short light flex. But I am 5'2" which is still 4" taller than your wife. I think that some ladies sets come in petite, so they are even shorter than regular ladies sets (which I think are 1" shorter than mens). I started out with this set: TaylorMade Miscela. They are very light and flexible, so I think that cutting them down would be fine, even if they stiffened up a bit. I do not think cutting down a steel shaft for a lady is a good idea. It will be hard for a person with a slower swingspeed get the ball in the air with a stiff shaft.

 

If you wife a new golfer? Is she really fit and strong? Some of these ladies sets are very light. I had trouble even feeling where the clubhead was on my Miscela set. (But I did not want to spend too much money until I knew I would stick with golf).

 

I just like to talk about equipment. Get her fitted. But I still have my Miscela's except for the driver if you want them for cheap to cut them down. I think my set is the '07.

[olegolfer]

There are some major club specs that are changed when making changes to length. Not only the shaft stiffness but the lie of the club

and the swingweight. Even a one inch change can drastically alter the feel and playing characteristics. Suggest consulting a club

repair person if possible. Standard off the shelf golf clubs are meant to fit the "average" size golfer. Golfers that fall into the

extremes , e.g very short or very tall may have difficulty playing these off the shelf clubs. As an example if a club starts with a D-0 swingweight

if 1 inch is removed you would end up with a club that would loose approximate 6 swing points, a pretty drastic change.

[LowPost42]

For a 41" shaft, and a standard bore in an iron head, you can reasonably cut off 31.75". You'll have to use a boatload of buildup tape for gripping, but it can be done.

 

While olegolfer brings up a good point about changes to feel and flex, it's far more important to get the length right for your lady.

 

Here's my absolute best suggestion: have her address a ball properly with each club, and mark where the club exits her hands. Cut the club down 1/2" longer than the mark. Adjust lies as necessary. You can always adjust swingweight later. Ignore any concept of standard or regular. Your lady is an outside the box height, you need an outside the box solution.

[flowrider]

Bringing back an old thread to life.

 

Thanks for all your suggestions. I have another question. If you cut down a club (hers are graphite) and it alters the flex and swing weight, can you add lead tape to the point where the flex of the club will be back to normal?

 

All this being said I have been heavily researching different ladies "petite" sized clubs as well if anyone might have more input. The Adams set is quite nice as is the Nancy Lopez Erinn II, and the Tiger Shark Lady Shark set by Julie Inkster. Of all the sets only the NL can you spec the shaft (softer than regular womens), grip size, and length at least that I can see on the websites.

 

Not too sure what to do here. She has a standard women's set already and we were hoping to be able to make it work.