Shortening a club

ADB

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I’m going to lop an inch and a half or so off my 3 wood as a bit of an experiment - do you need to add some weight elsewhere (lead tape) to keep the club balanced - or would there be no discernible difference in swing characteristics.

Thanks in advance.
 

User101

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Oh don't go asking me technical questions :mmm: but an inch and a half is a hellva lot, why not just do a Tommy and choke down, see how it goes.
 
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Im not sure an inch of graphite would make that much difference, if youre gonna do it anyway then juts crack on and see what happens. you can always lengthen it again if you want.
 

hovis

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i will reduce the swing weight by a few points. if it feels too light you can have a hot melt done to bring it back
 

Wildrover

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If you can add hot melt to it then that is relatively simple, or just add lead tape to the head. Add it to either the crown or the sole depending on how you want to influence ball flight. Remember to measure swingweight prior to cutting though so you can match it up. Your Pro should be able to do this for you.
 

Rlburnside

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I shortened my 3 and 5 wood by a inch and didn't add any weight , didn't really see any difference shaft wise, I was using Taylormade Jetspeed clubs and I couldn't hit them straight kept hitting them left, hence the reason for shortening them, but that didn't solve the problem.

I ditched the Jetspeed and use Calloway clubs now and they perform very well, same swing but big difference between the two.
 

xcore

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I have a 3 wood shortened by an inch and the head feels slightly lighter, also got a 60g 3 wood shaft to stick in my driver coming today so itl be intresting to see the difference of feel then
 

need_my_wedge

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I have a 3 wood shortened by an inch and the head feels slightly lighter, also got a 60g 3 wood shaft to stick in my driver coming today so itl be intresting to see the difference of feel then

I accidentally snapped my Calalway driver at the back end of last year. Whilst deciding what to do with it, I tried a 3 wood shaft. It was awful, when I took the club away it felt very light, and on the downswing the weight just seemed to vanish, oddly it felt like I was swinging a headless shaft. Couldn't get past a half dozen swings at the range before writing it off as a bad idea, at least for me.
 

jim8flog

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For reference 1" of graphite weighs just 2 grammes.

You could get a bigger difference by just changing the type of grip or adding more layers of grip tape.

As already asked why the big change?
 

duncan mackie

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For reference 1" of graphite weighs just 2 grammes.

You could get a bigger difference by just changing the type of grip or adding more layers of grip tape.

As already asked why the big change?

It's not the weight of the missing graphite that changes the swing weight, it's the 1" on the shaft length.

However, I completely agree with the principle that there are a load of other variables that will also change the overall feel of a club to a greater, or lesser, extent so the concept of rebalancing a shortened shaft with lead tape on the head is extremely mute!

Of course, the other problem is that if you do experiment with such things you really really need to do it in conjunction with a launch monitor to make any sense at all of the overall change!
 

hovis

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For reference 1" of graphite weighs just 2 grammes.

You could get a bigger difference by just changing the type of grip or adding more layers of grip tape.

As already asked why the big change?

its nothing to do with the weight of the missing piece of graphite. imagine putting a 1kg weight on the end of a spoon. now imagine putting that same weight at the end of a broom stick. i bet you struggle to hold it.
 

jim8flog

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The point I was trying to make is that the balance point for calculating the swing weight is going to be more affected by the weight of the grip than losing one inch and one gramme off the butt end of the shaft.

eg shorten the shaft one inch and you change swing weight by 0.2 change the grip by 5 grammes and you change the swingweight by 1.0.
 

duncan mackie

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The point I was trying to make is that the balance point for calculating the swing weight is going to be more affected by the weight of the grip than losing one inch and one gramme off the butt end of the shaft.

eg shorten the shaft one inch and you change swing weight by 0.2 change the grip by 5 grammes and you change the swingweight by 1.0.

I think we are violently agreeing!
 

hovis

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The point I was trying to make is that the balance point for calculating the swing weight is going to be more affected by the weight of the grip than losing one inch and one gramme off the butt end of the shaft.

eg shorten the shaft one inch and you change swing weight by 0.2 change the grip by 5 grammes and you change the swingweight by 1.0.

it's needs 4 grams in grip weight to change the swing weight by 1 point. take an inch of the shaft and you'll lose 5/6 points


my taylormades went from d1 to d6 because they are 3/4 longer
 
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jim8flog

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it's needs 4 grams in grip weight to change the swing weight by 1 point. take an inch of the shaft and you'll lose 5/6 points


my taylormades went from d1 to d6 because they are 3/4 longer

I presume your clubs have steel shafts and not graphite shafts, which are probably around twice the weight.
 
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r0wly86

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This of course only really makes any difference if you club's swing weightng is matched to your swing.

If it isn't, then yes the moments change if you remove length and weight. It could well be that the new moments are better suited to your swnig and you don't have to add any weight.

Have a play around and see what works
 
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