Question

1.70K viewsMay 22, 2020

hackerS May 22, 2020 0 Comments

I want to replace 105 gm True Temper DG SL R300 shafts in my 3 and 4 TM RAC LT irons with lighter 78 gm graphite shafts and keep a D1 swing weight.

I have 2 untrimmed .370 tip Cleveland stock CG7 graphite R flex shafts that I want to use.

Do these graphite shafts play close to TT DG SL R300 flex or are they stiffer / softer ?

I want to know how much to trim the tips for 3i and 4i for A flex and also how much more to trim for R flex.

Do you think I will have difficulties with getting to D1 swing weight with these lighter shafts in the TM RAC LT heads ?

2 Answers

Answer 1 · 2020-05-27T11:12:14+00:00

I have no specs on the Cleveland stock CG7 graphite shafts, so I can not tell you if they will play similar to the DG SL R300 and I can not tell you how to trim them. Without knowing the parallel tip length and not knowing how they have been trimmed any already, no way to give and accurate an recommendation. I could guess on the trim, but it would just be a guess. If you want them to play on the soft side of whatever they are, trim 0 from the tip for the #3 iron and 1/2″ from the tip for the #4 iron. Again, that is a guess and I am assuming they are a 41″ or 42″ blanks and not discrete length shafts, or have a shorter parallel tip length.

The Dynamic Gold SL R300 were 102 grams. So, since the Cleveland shafts are 78 grams uncut, we know they are at least 24 grams lighter. Generally, for every 9 grams of shaft weight change, you affect the swing weight by 1 point. So, with the same weight grips and at the same playing length, you would probably loose 2-3 swing weights.

Britt Lindsey

Thank you for your helpful reply.
I should have mentioned that the untrimmed CG7 graphite shafts that I have are 41 inch blanks.
Am I correct in my assumption that graphite shafts usually do not play stiffer than steel shafts and that these will probably play a little softer than the R300 DG SLs ?
I intend trying one of these graphite shafts in the 4 iron first and will trim 1/2 inch from the tip and the butt trim to length as you suggest. If I find it too soft, will then use this in the #3 iron and trim the other one an inch from the tip and then use that for the #4 iron. As for the decrease in swing weight, will see if I still have some lead weights for irons left, otherwise will use lead powder or tape.

Answer 2 · 2020-05-28T13:09:11+00:00

Generally graphite will not play softer than steel unless the manufacturer of the graphite intended it that way for any particular model. Flex is flex. I think because the graphite shafts most people transition to are lighter, and the the fact that the graphite material absorbs vibrations much differently than steel, many think that graphite is softer. Again, flex is flex and graphite flex ranges for the most part fall in line with what steel is when you look at the profiles.

Britt Lindsey