Shortening The Length of Your Driver - swing weight and shaft flex

You go into the pro shop or to your favorite club maker wanting to get your driver cut down one (1) inch - what happens to the swing weight and the shaft flex?

The swing weight of the club drops on average around 6 points for every inch you cut down!! So, that means that if you had a driver that had a swing weight of a D2 - which is pretty much the standard swing weight for most drivers - that it now would be around a C6! That's really just too light for most male golfers. So, you can get the swing weight back up by either putting lead tape on the head (but that gets real messy sometimes, doesnt look good, and actually adds head weight which will make the shaft's flex weaker) so it is now recommended (and why golf grip companies are making these now) to put on an ultra light-weight grip. Saving around 15-18 grams on the butt end of the club is just like adding weight to the club head but wont have the adverse effects as stated above! Or, to give you another alternative, if you find that you can hit your driver better at a shorter than standard length such as 44 or 44 1/4 inches you may ultimately hit it even better by re-shafting it with a heavier weight shaft like an 85 gram or 95 gram shaft. That will keep the swing weight high at shorter length.

The shaft flex 'technically speaking' drops just a bit for every inch you cut down so dont be surprised if its about a half a flex weaker than it was before you had it cut down. Yes, I said weaker not stronger as everyone thinks. BUT, I did this test to really find out. I took a Callaway RCH shaft that I had pulled out of a club. So, it was a prepped shaft with a grip and was 44 inches. I put on the industry standard 205 gram tip weight and stuck it on the frequency machine. Here's what I found. At 44 inches it was 248 cpms, at 43 inches it was 259 cpms, and at 42 inches it was 265 cpms. What does all that translate out to in terms of a flex number? 5.7, 5.8, 5.7 respectively... and what does that mean.. The same flex!! Yep, thats right, the same flex.. A good solid regular flex, a good solid regular flex, and a good solid regular flex!