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How to Order New Iron Shafts

Nippon Shafts
TrueFX

TrueFX

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I was recently fitted for iron shafts and it turns out that I would benefit by switching out my current shafts.

The fitter recommended Dynamic Gold x100 Shafts Soft Stepped.

I currently play my irons +0.5" long. When ordering just the shafts online, how do I place my order? Do I say +0.5" long and soft tipped, or is that something the club builder does to the clubs when he replaces my shafts?

Also, how long do you think it would take for a local tech to swap out my shafts? A day, a week?

Thanks!
 
Are you needing to keep your irons under warranty? If so, most OEMs void any warranty if you have them done by anyone other than by them. I've had to order shafts through Cleveland, Callaway, and Mizuno to keep mine under warranty. If that's not a concern, websites like Golfworks list the intended club for the specific shaft and it's raw length. All you do is order the shafts you need based on the lengths listed. Regarding a re-shaft job, My guy here does them the same day. It will just depend on whom you use. If you send them off to the manufacturer, that has taken 10 days each time I've done it. If you buy them from Golfworks or Golfsmith, just call them and they'll put in the order for you and get you what you need.
 
The length and soft stepping would be done by the club maker. Would probably be best to speak to fitter or club maker in regards to what shafts to order because soft stepping involves taking a shaft intended for a specific iron and putting it into a different iron head (for example, 4 iron shaft put into 5 iron head). Unless he is severely backlogged, should not take more than a couple of hours.
 
Not hard to do yourself if you are not worried about a warranty. Golf Works has instructions for the shafts they sell. Generally you cut it down to length from the butt, hard stepping take a 4 iron shaft cut it down to 5 iron length from the tip and put in 5 iron head. Soft stepping is the opposite.
 
If you're having a local tech swap the shafts then the ordering and installing should be all done by him. The biggest thing is whether your heads are . 355 or .370 hosels. If it's 355, the. Taper tip shafts are different lengths designed for each iron. So the guy will install 3 iron shaft into 4iron head then butt trim to desired length (39" for your 4i in your case). Now if it's 370 hosels it gets a bit more complicated if he installs parallel tip shafts. Parallel tip shafts are all same length. For ex. You have 8 shafts the same length (42" IIRC) then you install one untipped into 3i head then butt trim as desired. Then on 4i you take half inch from the tip then install and butt trim. On 5i take an inch and so forth. That's just basic guideline and the amount of tipping can be manipulated to fine tune frequency as needed. Either way, pulling old shafts, installing new shafts then finishing (butt trim, grip and turn ferrules) take a day or two at most unless your guy is busy
 
Thanks for all the feedback. I really appreciate it!
 
kc720 said:
If you're having a local tech swap the shafts then the ordering and installing should be all done by him. The biggest thing is whether your heads are . 355 or .370 hosels. If it's 355, the. Taper tip shafts are different lengths designed for each iron. So the guy will install 3 iron shaft into 4iron head then butt trim to desired length (39" for your 4i in your case). Now if it's 370 hosels it gets a bit more complicated if he installs parallel tip shafts. Parallel tip shafts are all same length. For ex. You have 8 shafts the same length (42" IIRC) then you install one untipped into 3i head then butt trim as desired. Then on 4i you take half inch from the tip then install and butt trim. On 5i take an inch and so forth. That's just basic guideline and the amount of tipping can be manipulated to fine tune frequency as needed. Either way, pulling old shafts, installing new shafts then finishing (butt trim, grip and turn ferrules) take a day or two at most unless your guy is busy
Click to expand...

Kang! I knew you would step in. I don't think there is a player on tour that has swapped out more iron shafts than you.

Can you tell me what the difference is between my hard stepped S300s and the soft stepped X100s? Why would the fitter move me away from one and into the other?

Does soft stepping mean I will be playing an 8 iron length shaft in my 9 iron or do I have that backwards?
 
TrueFX said:
Kang! I knew you would step in. I don't think there is a player on tour that has swapped out more iron shafts than you.

Can you tell me what the difference is between my hard stepped S300s and the soft stepped X100s? Why would the fitter move me away from one and into the other?

Does soft stepping mean I will be playing an 8 iron length shaft in my 9 iron or do I have that backwards?
Click to expand...

General theory is hard or soft stepping will make difference of a third of a flex. So hard stepping s300 will play slightly stiffer than s300 and slightly softer than soft stepped x100.

Soft stepping x100 means you will be playing a shaft designed (weight and kickpoint) for 8 iron in a 9 iron head but normally be butt trimmed to normal 9i length. Since you play .5 long you will indeed be playing 8i length lol
 
kc720 said:
General theory is hard or soft stepping will make difference of a third of a flex. So hard stepping s300 will play slightly stiffer than s300 and slightly softer than soft stepped x100.

Soft stepping x100 means you will be playing a shaft designed (weight and kickpoint) for 8 iron in a 9 iron head but normally be butt trimmed to normal 9i length. Since you play .5 long you will indeed be playing 8i length lol
Click to expand...

Thanks for the break down.

All of my iron shots were drawing further off center than I would like. The fitter put me in a standard X100 indicating this would bring the draw back in a little tighter. He was right. He then suggested soft stepping them in my gamers. Not sure what more that would do to help with my dispersion.
 
TrueFX said:
Thanks for the break down.

All of my iron shots were drawing further off center than I would like. The fitter put me in a standard X100 indicating this would bring the draw back in a little tighter. He was right. He then suggested soft stepping them in my gamers. Not sure what more that would do to help with my dispersion.
Click to expand...
Soft stepping would allow for slightly higher flight or just fit your swing better.
 
TrueFX said:
Can you tell me what the difference is between my hard stepped S300s and the soft stepped X100s? Why would the fitter move me away from one and into the other?
Click to expand...

True Temper/Project X (and other companies) use FCM (Frequency Coefficient Matching) to rate the stiffness of a shaft. Here are some ball park FCM's that might give you an idea of the differences:

DG S300 - 5.8 (Slightly less stiff than KBS Tour Stiff at 6.0 FCM)
DG S300 Hard Stepped - 6.1 (Slightly stiffer than Project X 5.5 shafts at 6.0 FCM)
DG X100 Soft Stepped - 6.5 (Equal to Project X 6.0 Shafts)
DG X100 - 6.8 (Slightly stiffer than KBS C-Taper S+ at 6.7 FCM)

Two different model shafts with the same FCM aren't necessarily going to flight the ball exactly the same with your swing. It's more about feel than what you might see with ball flight.
 
Thanks for the info Kang and CRW.
 
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