Can someone explain what is meant when a shaft is tipped, say 1 inch?

Can someone explain what is meant when a shaft is tipped, say 1 inch?

It means that one inch is removed from tip of the shaft.

It means that one inch is removed from tip of the shaft.

I may be wrong so please correct me if I'm wrong - taper-tip shafts cannot be trimmed (taper-tip shafts are shafts having larger diameters out from the tip end and are .355" diameter at the tip). For this reason, to "change" the playing characteristic of taper-tip shafts, you either "soft-step" or "hard-step" taper-tip shafts. Soft-step is to put a 2-iron shaft into a 3-iron head making it plays "softer" to flex. Hard-step is to put a 3-iron shaft into a 2-iron head making it plays "stiffer."

On the other hand, parallel shafts are shafts that have the same diameter for a specific lenght up from the tip. For this reason, parallel shafts come with "trim chart" for custom fitting.

Tip trimming of driver shaft, in its simplest definition, is nothing more than "fine" tuning the shaft to a golfer's swing profile.

Edited December 31, 200519 yr by acrazygolfer

Personally, I think shaft tipping is way over-rated. It's only a question of finding the correct shaft for your needs. Even in a fairway wood you can select a shaft which is more tip-stiff. Sure certain shaft manufacturers will recommend tipping for a fairway wood but that's perhaps because they don't offer a wide enough range? Who knows but with the myriad of shafts available, I don't believe anyone cannot find a shaft they can play without tipping.

Tipping is just a personal desire to tinker. If you already have a shaft you like and would like to slightly alter it's characteristics then by all means tip. If you can buy a new shaft then I'd say go ahead and choose one that fits the purpose.

My $0.025! (I'll probably get a lot of sh*t for this - lol)

Edited December 31, 200519 yr by taipanli