Titleist 917 F2 16.6 Shortening shaft - Help

[apj0524]

Hi

 

I have just purchased 917 F2 16.5 that had 18g Fade/Draw weight fitted and a Stock Diamana Blue 70 Shaft in Reg fitted with Lamkin Crossline Midsize using the Swing Weight Estimator the SW is D1. Was also given a 14g weight and when this was fitted the SW is C7

 

Compared to my other 3 wood the shaft is a 1 inch longer and I am struggling with it because of this, so I to match the other shaft I decided to shorten the shaft by have 1 inch off on the assumption that this will add 6 SW, that would take the club with the 18g weight to D7 and the 14g weight D3 but with the 18g weight the SW is C4 and with the 14g weight is C2 which is not the direction is was expecting the the SW to go, is this correct??

 

Secondly to bring the SW back to D0, through trial and error with modelling clay I estimate that I need to add 11g to the head, so because 18g is the heaviest weight they seem to do, I guess my only options are hotmelt or something else, any recommendations?

 

Would a heavier shaft help?

 

Regards

[Stuart_G]

Going shorter lowers the swing weight, it doesn't increase it. So yes, ~C5 would be the estimate.

 

Hot melt, Lead tape, pull the adapter and add a tip weight - or any combination of those three.

 

But it's best not to assume what SW will work. Best to start with the heavier weight and add the lead tape incrementally on the range while hitting. Stop with the amount that gives the best results and feel. Then you can weigh the lead tape added and find an alternative if you want.

 

Did you check the SW of the other 3wd that was cut down with the SW estimator?

[Jagpilotohio]

If your club was D-1 originally with an 18 gram weight it was already certainly under standard length. It was 3/4 inch short to start with. Standard Titleist playing length is 43”.

 

The club should be D-3 at standard length with a 12 gram weight.

 

Shortening lowers the swingweight 3 points per half inch. 6 points per inch. One swingweight point on a 3 wood is about 1.8 grams.

 

If you shorten 1 inch you must add back 10.8 grams to get back to your original SW. Your clay calculations are correct.

 

I play all my woods and hybrids an inch short of standard and hotmelt back to D-2, my preferred weight.

[dsmil]

You had it backwards. Shortening the shaft decreases swingweight, which is what happened here. Adding weight to the clubhead is the most efficient way to increase SW. Increasing SW with a heavier shaft requires a lot more weight, and it seems like 70 grams is what you like. I personally like to use lead tape, and add it to the clubhead until it feels good.

[Stuart_G]

Oh, and as far as shafts go, a heavier shaft may or may not help. It's about more than just shaft weight, the shaft balance point can play a large role in how it influences the SW. So you could go to a heavier shaft and end up with a lighter swing weight, heavier, or have no change.

 

Now a heavier static weight may help reduce what SW might be a good fit - but it's a bit more complicated than that since changing the static weight and changing the swing weight can effect the swing in different ways. But you never know exactly how things will work out until you try, so demoing different options might give you some insight on whether it might help overall or not.

 

But it's usually better to make sure you have the right shaft weight (total club weight) first, then fit yourself for swing weight instead of the other way around.

[apj0524]

Going shorter lowers the swing weight, it doesn't increase it. So yes, ~C5 would be the estimate.

 

Hot melt, Lead tape, pull the adapter and add a tip weight - or any combination of those three.

 

But it's best not to assume what SW will work. Best to start with the heavier weight and add the lead tape incrementally on the range while hitting. Stop with the amount that gives the best results and feel. Then you can weigh the lead tape added and find an alternative if you want.

 

Did you check the SW of the other 3wd that was cut down with the SW estimator?

 

Yes its D0

[apj0524]

Thanks for you help

[apj0524]

If your club was D-1 originally with an 18 gram weight it was already certainly under standard length. It was 3/4 inch short to start with. Standard Titleist playing length is 43".

 

The club should be D-3 at standard length with a 12 gram weight.

 

Shortening lowers the swingweight 3 points per half inch. 6 points per inch. One swingweight point on a 3 wood is about 1.8 grams.

 

If you shorten 1 inch you must add back 10.8 grams to get back to your original SW. Your clay calculations are correct.

 

I play all my woods and hybrids an inch short of standard and hotmelt back to D-2, my preferred weight.

 

Thanks for your reply

 

I am puzzled by my Titliest F2 having a SW of D1 based on the Leaderboard.com SW Estimator, if it should be D2+ according to Titliest.

 

My current 3W is a Ping G SF Tec fitted with a Ping Tour 80 Regular 1" short from the Std length and the Ping Web Site says the shaft is 64g as standard so shorter will be less than this, and using the same method the SW measures D0

 

The Titelst web site suggests the Diamana Blue 70 is 67g at standard, and as you say std length is 43 and having cut off 1 inch is now also 42"

 

Perhaps I should get it remeasured on a proper scale