Fitted/Cut down

Song Dog · Mar 25, 2015

I was told that cutting down irons/clubs will take away from the club.( I have had approx 1" taken off my irons...."to fit".)
Not doing so will be more of an advantage since you can choke down and up on club to get darn near touch gaps. Kinda made since to me. I am 5'4".
What's your thoughts on that?

Hawk · Mar 25, 2015

I think that's up to you.

An inch is a lot and I'm not a big fan of choking down as a permanent solution. You change the size of the grip and lose some consistency imo.

staticline · Mar 25, 2015

Hawk,
What does cutting down a shaft do to the shaft stiffness and the stepping, especially in the steel shafts?
Is a 7-iron shaft just a cutdown 6-iron shaft?
Or is the 7-iron shaft specifically made by the OEM to be a 7-iron shaft?

McLovin · Mar 25, 2015

staticline said:
Hawk,
What does cutting down a shaft do to the shaft stiffness and the stepping, especially in the steel shafts?
Is a 7-iron shaft just a cutdown 6-iron shaft?
Or is the 7-iron shaft specifically made by the OEM to be a 7-iron shaft?

hawk can drop some knowledge bombs, but my response is "it depends." shafts like dg pro and px flighted are designed to be specific to a range of irons. so long iron (5 and lower) have a different profile than mid iron (6-8) have a different profile than short iron (9-w). then shafts like ttdg i think are the same across all irons.

Hawk · Mar 25, 2015

staticline said:
Hawk,
What does cutting down a shaft do to the shaft stiffness and the stepping, especially in the steel shafts?
Is a 7-iron shaft just a cutdown 6-iron shaft?
Or is the 7-iron shaft specifically made by the OEM to be a 7-iron shaft?

Depends on if it's taper or parallel.

Taper tip shafts (like you play in your irons) come labeled as they are intended to be played.

Butt cutting shouldn't change stiffness much, but going shorter will lower swing weight, and could alter stiffness a little as a byproduct. Sorry if that's confusing,

Hawk · Mar 25, 2015

Not to say you couldn't change them around. People do that with hard/soft stepping.

Bullitt5339 · Mar 25, 2015

As someone who is 5'5", I can relate. My irons are 1" short, but I had them swingweighted to get them back to factory swingweight. I had a set of Mizunos a couple years ago that I just cut down an inch, regripped and played with them for years and the change in swingweight never bothered me a bit. You could cut one down and regrip it to see if you can deal with it, but gripping down has the same effect on swingweight as cutting them off so most people who grip down on clubs don't even notice the change in swing weight.

Short people problems.......

mpeterson · Mar 26, 2015

Like Hawk, I'm not a fan of choking up as a permanent solution - have to make sure you're choking up in the same place each time, and unless you put a grip on with too much taper, it feels odd. Honestly, I think playing irons that are 1" too long for you takes more away from the clubs than cutting them down. You still have the same room to choke up/down on clubs, it's just been moved between irons. To be honest, you've probably got more if you cut down - If your longest club is too long for you, that 1" at the end of the grip is never going to be used, whereas if that club is the right length, you can use all the grip on each of your clubs.

I recently cut down my Srixons 1/2" as a result of a fitting - I had played my Pings -1/2", and when I got fit (at a different place) for the Mizuno irons I played for a while and used as the basis for ordering the 545s they had me in standard length, but I was never all that consistent. My plan was to add some lead tape to up the swingweight if I felt it needed it, but I haven't had an issue, so I think I'm going to be playing them like this, at least for now. 1" will be a decent change in swingweight, but that can always be adjusted with lead tape or those rubber tungsten weights.

O'Carroll · Mar 26, 2015

My current gamers are -1/2" and I've never been more comfortable standing over the ball. I had played everything from standard to -1/4" in the past, but at my Grandaddy fitting, the fitter suggested going -1/2" and never brought up swing weight once. Not that I would ever know the difference.

Choking up to me is awkward. I'm mental, and the club just doesn't feel right in my hand when I choke up for full swing shots.

Bullitt5339 · Mar 26, 2015

Yeah, I have major issues choking up on a club. It just doesn't feel right with that much grip hanging out of the end of my grip.

Drogster · Mar 27, 2015

I recently got fitted for my new XR irons and the Callaway fitter fitted me with 1/4" shorter shafts. Doesn't sound like much, but it works. At the range yesterday all but one shot was in the middle of the club face. (One dodgy hit!). It does feel more comfortable, then choking down. I'm 5'9".

JDax · Mar 28, 2015

Ever since I cut my Big Bertha driver now to 44 inches, my consistency has improved and distance has also improved... I'm 5'8 so that 46 inch stock shaft was too unruly...

My woods and hybrids are also cut short (3W- 1", 3H- 1/2", 4H- 1/2"). My irons are stock length (thinking about cutting them down 1/4), as my MD2 wedges are cut 1/4". Trust the fitting...

Dax

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

erock9174 · Mar 28, 2015

For what it's worth. I'm 5'4" with a wrist to floor of 32".
I play Ping irons that are -1/2".
My driver is 45".
My fairway wood usually is around 41" for a 5w and 42" for a (3w).
My hybrids are -1" (range from 38.25 to 39.25")
Putter 31.5"

Last season I tried playing ping g25 irons at - 1 1/2" and it was too much. I gained no accuracy and lost about a 1/2 club distance wise. Went back to -1/2" irons this season and prefer that length.