John, Trimming your club shaft 1" will lower your swing weight 6 points. D2 will become C6. To compensate for this be prepared to add 12g of weight to the head of your driver. You can do this in various ways. Lead tape, shaft weights or even a heavier shaft will help. Check with your local club repair shop and see whats best for you.

Lighter grip is explained in a pending post. To increase swingweight, decrease grip weight (5 grams/swingweight point). Oversize grips KILL swingweight (for instance, a Lamkin standard is 52g and an oversize is about 65g). Some of the ultra light grips (such as Winn Excel - 42g standard and Winn Lite -25g standard) have only 2-3 grams between an oversize grip and a standard. Not too many people think about the grip in the swingweight equation - lighter grip distributes more weight to the head. I've been using Winn Excel RF grips for 3 years now.

Hi, I'm thinking of doing the same thing. I wonder if the flex of the shaft will change? I've tried this before and ruined shafts. Does the extra head weight restore the flex performance?

Graeme,

The flex of the shaft won't be affected as much since you are cutting it from the butt end and not tip trimming.  Adding more weight to the head will help a few swing weight points back, but it will be tough to get the club back to its standard swing weight.  

Cameron 

1-888-TITLEIST 

In regards to shaft length changing flex.... I have a driver with a 45" shaft and it is marked "M" flex (Taylor Made's name for "senior" flex") and it doesn't feel as whippy as one would expect. There may be a small change in flex with that much of a change in shaft length (such as a senior flex being borderline regular). The only way to effectively restore swingweight by 6 points is a combination of a lighter grip and a head weight. Shaft changes have to be rather significant (20 grams of uncut shaft weight difference is 20g vs 5g for grip and 2g for head), almost to the point of reshafting to steel in some cases (OK with a more lofted wood or a hybrid and not so on a driver). A Winn Excel RF grip (42 std, 43 mid) will gain two swingweight points vs a standard Lamkin Crossline (52g) and more with a mid or oversize grip; these are good grips. A Winn Lite will gain 5 swingweight points but at the expense of feel. I experimented with cutting shafts, using titanium powder (it takes quite a bit for 2 swingweight points) and lead tape on woods over a period of time when I was making the transition from steel shafted persimmons to graphite metals. I've found, through experimentation that a 45" driver, a 41-42 fairway wood (with 58.5 to 58 lie angle) and a 38-39 (with 61 to 60 lie) hybrid are the ideal long clubs.

John,

Cutting down an 1" will decrease the swing weight close to 6 points.  You will want to add the heaviest bezel weight we offer (12g), which may not actually get the swing weight back to its standard swing weight unless it started with a 2g weight.  We do offer the weight kits for sale, which come with each weight (2g, 5g, 7g, 9g, 12g) and can be ordered through any authorized Titleist retailer. 

Cameron

1-888-TITLEIST 

You can also recover some of the swing weight by changing to a lighter grip. The standard Golf Pride Tour Velvet or Lamkin Crossline is 52g. Winn Excel RF is 42g and restores 2 swingweight points. Winn Lite is 25g and restores swingweight 5 points. If you have a midsize or oversize grip, the swingweight recovery is even greater. I believe a Lamkin Crossline midsize is 60g. A Winn Excel RF is 43g. That is slightly over 3 swingweight points. These are in addition to weighting the head.