Shortening an adjustable driver shaft

SVonhof

Buddy at work has a Cobra BioCell driver that he wants me to shorten for him. He was thinking he wanted to take off 4", but I told him that would be too drastic and change the lie angle too much. He brought in his driver and 3 wood and is thinking if the driver were the same length as his 3 wood, he would be happy with that.

Since I don't do this often, what would be the effect of taking off ~2" from the tip vs the butt of the shaft?

His shaft is a Project X PXV 6.0.

He doesn't have the wrench for it, but is going to order one.

Rickochet

SVonhof Since I don't do this often, what would be the effect of taking off ~2" from the tip vs the butt of the shaft?

I am not familiar with the Project X shafts but I am guessing taking 2" off of the tip will increase the shaft stiffness or possible kill the feel of the shaft completely. Taking 2" off of the butt would be a better choice. An even better choice as Spuzz mentioned is to get another shaft. I would leave the adapter on the Project X and get one off of Ebay which are usually under $10. Also poke around on ebay as you can get pullouts with the Cobra adapter already on it.

colej

SVonhof

I’ve got a Kuro Kage 70 stiff shaft that has a cobra adapter on it. I think I had it in a FlyZ+ head. I’m thinking I played it at 44 1/4” or 44 1/2” length.

I’d let it go cheap if you’re interested

Spuzz

Better off using another shaft, imo.

darpar

4" is a LOT,either his driver is super long or the 3wd. is really short.

I'm actually fiddling around with same thing,might take one of my M2's down to
around 44-44.5" for a little more accuracy/consistency off the tee.
It has the HZRDUS Red shaft at 45.5"currently.

Here's a good video test one guy did to show the difference a shorter length can make.

SVonhof

colej I’ve got a Kuro Kage 70 stiff shaft that has a cobra adapter on it. I think I had it in a FlyZ+ head. I’m thinking I played it at 44 1/4” or 44 1/2” length.

I’d let it go cheap if you’re interested

Is yours a lefty shaft, because he is a lefty. ;-)

Just curious, how much shipped to Cali?

colej

SVonhof

No I’m a righty. $30 shipped sound fair?

SVonhof

I will check with him and see what he says. Thanks.

BTW, how about finding a 3-wood shaft for the Bio-Cell and just using that?

colej

SVonhof

I think the adapter will fit but the numbers won’t mean a thing.

DonM

colej Haha, there is a chart somewhere for converting the readings of any mis-matched Cobra adapter to another Cobra driver. If someone tells me the loft of the current driver and the std loft of the proposed RH adapter, I can do this off the top of my head. It's easy enough once you know how.

(I have a RH F7 with a LH adapter from a different loft, so I have experience with this.)

Edit to add the explanation. All of the Cobra adapters are the same, just painted with differing numbers.
If you are using a same hand adapter marked at say 10.5 and 10.5D, that's one for a 10.5 head. Put it in an 11.5 head, and you just add one degree to all the numbers. Of course, you say.

How about a LH adapter marked 11.5 in a 10.5 RH head?
Well, the "11.5" is your basic 10.5 setting.

The 11.5D is your basic 10.5 upright setting. Upright (draw) remains true in either hand.
For the other six settings, the numbers move opposite. A setting of one degree more loft is actually one degree lower. Etc.

ode

At 41" with existing shaft and simply butt cutting will result in a wiffle ball bat or a toy driver, SW will off the charts light. Maybe start with 43.5-44" and go from there. Weigh the 3w head and weigh the driver head and add weight to driver and get somewhere between the two half way or so.

Spuzz

You haven't stated why he was "thinking" of this experiment.
Might help things.
You can't go back once you chop up that shaft so better to save it in case you have to go back to square one.
Your buddy has no clue. He will bitch when his idea turns into a shit pile.
Trust me on that.

Tinker

The only reason to hit a driver is to let the swing speed create distance. At 41 or 42 inches just hit a fairway wood

SVonhof

His thinking is that he is 5 foot 10, but has a wingspan of 6 foot 3, so his arms are long and he is more comfortable with the length of his 3 wood than his driver. His driver is about 2" longer than his 3-wood.

Typhoon

He would be better off teeing off with a 3 wood.

ode

I still think the average golfer would be way better served with a driver off the tee, as long as it's fit correctly for loft, length, etc. Modern driver are so easy to hit and you don't lose a ton of performance on reasonable mishits. But if the average golfer is trying.to hit OTR, 45"+ and 50g shaft, yeah forget it, go with 3, 4, or 5w.

colej

I’d have him try a shorter driver with a flatter lie angle (if he pulls or hooks longer shafted drivers).

Rickochet

colej I’d have him try a shorter driver with a flatter lie angle

Lie angle for a driver doesn't matter. That is why the sole of the club is rounded.

colej

Rickochet

Oh yes it does, in my eyes at least.

SVonhof

So, the deed is done.

He brought his driver and 3 wood in to work, I brought them home and did some comparison first.
Original:
Driver: SW = D5, Weight = 320g, L = 45.75
3 Wood: SW = D6, Weight = 310, L = 43.5

After modification:
Driver: SW = C6, Weight = 310, L = 44
After adding 4 2" long strips of lead tape to the sole:
Driver: SW = D3, Weight = 320, L = 44 (still)

The original Cobra grip was strange. I tried to blow it off, but it wouldn't budge, so I cut it. When I tried to peel it off, it came off in chunks. Probably 20 pieces. Strange. So I installed a Golf Pride Tour Wrap for him that I had sitting around.

We will see what he thinks.

I did notice that his 3 wood is a regular flex. I doubt he pays attention to the flex on anything and it would not shock me to see regular flex in his irons. He can hit it good. Irons are almost as long as mine (PW = 150, 4i = 220) so he likely should have stiff flex (his transition is smoother than mine is). He buys everything used through Global Golf but I told him he should go to the local Golf Mart (part of the Roger Dunn family) as they have used gear even for lefties and he can hit in their hitting bay with a launch monitor and if he wants to adjust his driver, he can likely use their wrenches since he doesn't have one now.