What exactly happens to club if you shorten the shaft?

[shewy]

Just been doing some reading up on swingweights, if you shorten your driver by 1" say would putting on a lighter grip keep the swingweight the same? Golfpride do a 25g grip instead of the normal 55g one.

 

[Region3]

Just been doing some reading up on swingweights, if you shorten your driver by 1" say would putting on a lighter grip keep the swingweight the same? Golfpride do a 25g grip instead of the normal 55g one.

1 swingweight point is the equivalent of about 4g at the grip end.

 

[shewy]

So a 30g lighter grip would keep the same swingweight then if you say take an inch off.

 

[dejf]

OK, so tried to grip it lower, made a good difference. Went to our club maker, after 5 minutes the job was done. Butt end cut from 45.75 to 44.5 and replacing grip for lightweight, made the weight go from 303g to 285g, the swing weight went from D3/D4 to D4.

I asked specifically about the stiffness of the shaft, whether it would change. The answer was "no, we are butt cutting, it won't change [significantly]."

It remains to see if it helped ...

 

[SteveJay]

Can I ask a more basic question.......lot of discussion about cutting a fraction off, and quoting revised lengths. How do you measure shaft length if the head remains on the club, I.e. What is the correct point around the hosel area to measure to?

 

[dejf]

Can I ask a more basic question.......lot of discussion about cutting a fraction off, and quoting revised lengths. How do you measure shaft length if the head remains on the club, I.e. What is the correct point around the hosel area to measure to?

That's the tricky one You put your club square and put your measuring device behind the shaft in that position. Obviously, it is quite hard, if you do not have what they call "yard stick" or something like that.

See images here: http://www.thediygolfer.com/how-to-measure-a-golf-club/

 

[SteveJay]

Thanks delf, that's helpful. So shaft length is, in fact, inclusive of the head and is measured to the ground. Good job I checked otherwise I may have cut off too much if I ever decide to brandish the hacksaw!!

 

[shewy]

I couldn't bring myself to cut down my speeder by an inch, so I ordered a new shaft, sleeve and lightweight grip instead! Oh and a 13.5 ht driver head accidentally fell into my basket as well, time to experiment I think

 

[shewy]

So all the stuff arrived and i tried out the shorter driver, felt pretty easy to swing and some nice shots hit, but for me the best combo I could muster was the high loft driver with the longer shaft 45.5" felt solid and even the mi***** were ok due to the higher loft being more forgiving. The 44.5" was easy to hit though so there may be some merit in playing a shorter shaft for some, a lighter grip really helps with the swingweight.
I was getting a high ballflight with the 9 degree driver and the 13.5 was not that much higher due to a shallower swingpath I think

 

[dejf]

I am now playing with shortened 44.5 version of mine and I do not feel comfortable yet, but I do hit some solid shots from time to time. I guess the shaft is little bit different to my old one, so it will take me some time to find how to play it.