The effects of shortening Project X shafts?

[hue]

I play Project X 5.5 in my Snake Eyes Smith and Wesson blades. I have just found out that they are half an inch too long for me so I am going to have them cut down. How will having them shortened effect the stiffness and the way they play ? Thanks

[baimo]

I believe you just trim the butt end. It should not change the flex, but you might need to compensate the loss of 1.5 sw with a little lead tape.

baimo

[TourGolfJeff]

Hue,

the 1/2" is actually a 3 swingweight change. The effect of shortening the shafts along with this change will be virtually undetectable related to overall shaft stiffness.

[xxio]

Jeff,

Is it correct that rifles play stiffer when they are built longer? By how much? Planning to hard step 5.5s then build at 38"5i. What would that come out to?

[TourGolfJeff]

xxio,

The butt end of the shaft is the stiffest part of the shaft due to its larger diameter, so the longer shaft willvbe stiffer. What happens though, is that longer clubs have higher swingweight, counteracting this stiffer shaft. Thus, if you add the 1/2" and naturally let the swingweight increase 3 points, the net effect is just about a zero chnage.

[boyce89976]

Jeff,

Is it correct that rifles play stiffer when they are built longer? By how much? Planning to hard step 5.5s then build at 38"5i. What would that come out to?

As Jeff said, the extra length will be countered by the increase in swingweight in a normal application (6 iron shaft in a 6 iron head).

The hardstepping piece of this equation should amount to about 2 - 3 cpms more stiff than standard. Your using a 6 iron shaft in a 5 iron head that weighs 7g less, essentially decreasing the finished swingweight by ~3 points.

Think of it this way:

+.5" = +3 cpms and +3 swingweight points, total effect to flex 0 cpms

- 7g = -3 swingweight points, total effect to flex +3 cpms

[xxio]

Thank you. I guess I was overreading to much about the rifle scale being based on a certain 5i length and that when the playing length of the rifle shaft is increased it plays stiffer and it is less affected by the increase in swingweight as dynamic gold because the balance of a rifle is 50/50 while dgs are 60/40?

[TourGolfJeff]

xxio,

In all reality, the balance points of the DG's and Rifles is not different enough to have any noticeable effect on swingweight, provided all othe factors are the same.

Regards,

Jeff

[xxio]

Jeff, since you are already on this topic I have a 3 wood question. I have 2 3 woods and was planning to install 757s in them. However the 3 woods will be having different raw shafts lengths when installed. For both to play at 42.75" one needs the shaft install almost 3/4" shorter. I think this is because of different "BBGM"s???. The bore depth is the same on both 1". What tip trimming adjustment would I have to make for the to play similar? If I install both directly without tip trim just butt, which will play stiffer, which one softer? Any guesstimate how much softer?

Thank you.

[TourGolfJeff]

xxio,

The one with the longer BBGM will play softer. This is becauase the shaft tip is a greater distance from the ground line. The difference is 3/4" will be less than 1/2 flex. To make this shaft play @ the same as the other, tip and additional 3/4" from it and the two will play similarly. I am assuming the head weights and head CG's are approximately the same when making this statement.

[xxio]

You don't know how helpful that answer is. You are a great addition to this board.

Thank you.

[ballistix]

Who said they are to long, and why? Do the wise thing, play the most popular shaft on the USGA Tour, TrueTemper. You just can not cut from the butt when you are dealing with sub-standard heads. What about the spine etc, treat yourself www.golfballistix.com

[xxio]

You just can not cut from the butt when you are dealing with sub-standard heads.

Are you implying the Snake Eyes MB01/Smith and Wesson heads are "substandard"? In what way? Any proof to back that up. I enjoyed playing them before and would be interested in any inside information that you seem to have with regards to these heads. Btw aside from the crappy-rust right away DG Sensicore mine came with when I reshafted mine the heads were only +/- 1-1.5 grams from achieving the so called perfect 7 gram head progression. The only reason I stopped playing them was the offset and they were so soft they dinged up really fast. I had to get the lofts and lies checked every 35-40 rounds.