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Questions - Swingweight and Cutting Down a Driver Shaft

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Hawk

Hawk

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Normally, I wouldn't be too concerned about this, but I'm about to do a little experimenting.

Thinking of cutting as much as 2 inches off a driver shaft and I'm wondering about swing weight. Primarily, how much lead do I need to add to the driver? Also, does the placement of the lead tape matter? Does the grip really matter? I'm beginning to believe it doesn't matter at all.
 
I think the general rule of thumb has been that a half inch of shaft is worth 3 SW Points...so a D5, with 1/2 inch cut off, would move to a D2.

I cut my drivers down to 44", but always have them hotmelted back to a D1 or greater swingweight.

Using a lighter grip is just a technique they say "tricks" the swingweight scale, but I haven't been able to comprehend what they mean by that, exactly.
 
Interesting questions, Hawk. I've never payed much attention to swingweight and I've hit a lot of different clubs, so I'm not sure how big of a difference it actually makes. I'll be curious to hear insight from others.
 
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mastapp said:
I think the general rule of thumb has been that a half inch of shaft is worth 3 SW Points...so a D5, with 1/2 inch cut off, would move to a D2.

I cut my drivers down to 44", but always have them hotmelted back to a D1 or greater swingweight.

Using a lighter grip is just a technique they say "tricks" the swingweight scale, but I haven't been able to comprehend what they mean by that, exactly.
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I think I'm about to take a driver from 46 to 44, so that would be 12 SW points. Anybody know how much lead tape I'm looking at needing?
 
Hawk said:
I think I'm about to take a driver from 46 to 44, so that would be 12 SW points. Anybody know how much lead tape I'm looking at needing?
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The broad rule is 2g of head weight added = 1 SW Hawkster, that's how I was taught at least.
 
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Jeebus. 24g seems like a lot.
 
Hawk said:
I think I'm about to take a driver from 46 to 44, so that would be 12 SW points. Anybody know how much lead tape I'm looking at needing?
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There are lots of other variables, obviously like shaft and grip, but as a general rule:
2g to head = increase 1 SW
4g to butt = decreases 1 SW
 
Hawk said:
Jeebus. 24g seems like a lot.
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It is! Typically why FW are heavier shafts. Another general rule to confuse you: 3g shaft weight = 1 SW
 
Shaft will remain the same, so it'll have to be lead tape. How will that affect the flex of the shaft?
 
Jman said:
What head is it for Hawk?
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Adams Super S driver. Trying to see how a little more spin would help me, but I won't play it at it's stock length.
 
I'm lost and confused. I know how important this stuff is but I don't quite get it. Great thread though Hawk, I hope to learn some stuff here!
 
Puttin4Bird said:
I'm lost and confused. I know how important this stuff is but I don't quite get it. Great thread though Hawk, I hope to learn some stuff here!
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I am too. If I was talking a 1/2 inch or something I wouldn't really care, but 1-1/2 to 2 inches seems pretty drastic.
 
Hawk said:
I think I'm about to take a driver from 46 to 44, so that would be 12 SW points. Anybody know how much lead tape I'm looking at needing?
Click to expand...

With 12 swingweight points, to get it back to approximate swingweight before trimming you would need to add 48" of lead tape (4" = 2 grams, 2 grams = 1 swingweight point), so you've got quite a bit of taping to do. One solution you might look into that I've used is the GolfWorks rubber tungsten weights (click HERE), they look much better than all that tape on the club...
 
Can you send it back to Adams Golf and let them do the trim and get the weight right? I know Marc has a friend who has done a lot of work with swing weight on his clubs (hot melt I think). Maybe he will chime in later.
 
Fourwiggle said:
With 12 swingweight points, to get it back to approximate swingweight before trimming you would need to add 48" of lead tape (4" = 2 grams, 2 grams = 1 swingweight point), so you've got quite a bit of taping to do. One solution you might look into that I've used is the GolfWorks rubber tungsten weights (click HERE), they look much better than all that tape on the club...
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Yeah that's way too much tape lol. I've actually used the tungsten before. Good reminder - thanks!
 
KellyBo said:
Can you send it back to Adams Golf and let them do the trim and get the weight right? I know Marc has a friend who has done a lot of work with swing weight on his clubs (hot melt I think). Maybe he will chime in later.
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That's an option too. Good idea Kelly :D
 
I'm not a pro club builder, but correct me if I'm wrong but adding headweight will also take CPM off the shaft. I believe it's 2g = 1/10 CPM? So 20g would be a full flex?

From Golfworks
"Again, the engineering principles discussed above show that a heavier weight will produce a softer beam. The same holds true for the golf shaft. Adding weight to the head (or using a heavier head) will lower the CPM’s of the club, softening the club. So what happens when you combine the effects of cutting a club shorter (from the butt) and then adding weight to the head to maintain the same swingweight? These actions combine to make a club considerably softer."
 
In ways this is beginning to seem like far more trouble than it's worth for an experiment. Bummer.
 
sleuth said:
I'm not a pro club builder, but correct me if I'm wrong but adding headweight will also take CPM off the shaft. I believe it's 2g = 1/10 CPM? So 20g would be a full flex?

From Golfworks
"Again, the engineering principles discussed above show that a heavier weight will produce a softer beam. The same holds true for the golf shaft. Adding weight to the head (or using a heavier head) will lower the CPM’s of the club, softening the club. So what happens when you combine the effects of cutting a club shorter (from the butt) and then adding weight to the head to maintain the same swingweight? These actions combine to make a club considerably softer."
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This was my next post, good one Sleuth.

I think that shortening the shaft makes it play just a little stiffer as well, so you'll have some offset.

Hawk said:
In ways this is beginning to seem like far more trouble than it's worth for an experiment. Bummer.
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You probably won't need all that weight to be honest, you'll probably find that adding about 6-8 points will get you back in the realm. If it's an experiment, go to 44.5" and add back 6 points and see where that gets you...
 
Fourwiggle said:
This was my next post, good one Sleuth.

I think that shortening the shaft makes it play just a little stiffer as well, so you'll have some offset.



You probably won't need all that weight to be honest, you'll probably find that adding about 6-8 points will get you back in the realm. If it's an experiment, go to 44.5" and add back 6 points and see where that gets you...
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That's a good point. Would probably be happy to get it back to D0 anyway.


I assume placement is important?
 
Hawk said:
Normally, I wouldn't be too concerned about this, but I'm about to do a little experimenting.

Thinking of cutting as much as 2 inches off a driver shaft and I'm wondering about swing weight. Primarily, how much lead do I need to add to the driver? Also, does the placement of the lead tape matter? Does the grip really matter? I'm beginning to believe it doesn't matter at all.
Click to expand...

Never be afraid to experiment. Only you will know if it feels right. I've cut down a lot of clubs and ended up adding weight to very few. Anything done can be undone with little time or cost.
 
Hawk said:
In ways this is beginning to seem like far more trouble than it's worth for an experiment. Bummer.
Click to expand...

Could you just go with a shorter and heavier shaft (like a 3w) and then tinkering rather than cutting the existing one?
 
Hawk,

Yep, you would be looking at more than a flex softer if you replace all the weight. Unless you are trying to feel the face close in a different way, the best place for the weight is back, center and low (which mirrors the COG in most of today's drivers anyway). Splitting the difference and not getting all the way back could leave you with a 1/2 flex soft, which should increase spin. The grip really just fools the SW scale although you can add lead tape on the shaft right below the grip (or see Sleuth's thread on counterweighting for the bolt/washer combo) to increase your total weight - which you may be more sensitive to than SW.
 
HoosierGolfer said:
Never be afraid to experiment. Only you will know if it feels right. I've cut down a lot of clubs and ended up adding weight to very few. Anything done can be undone with little time or cost.
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True enough!

Tbonafide said:
Could you just go with a shorter and heavier shaft (like a 3w) and then tinkering rather than cutting the existing one?
Click to expand...

That's another thought I've thrown around.
 
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