Is Shaft Tipping A Myth? Our Test Threw Up Some Interesting Results
The consensus suggests it leads to lower launch angles, reduced spin rates, and tighter shot dispersion - but is it all actually just nonsense?
Another week, another important investigation by our resident gear expert, club fitter, and co-host of Kick Point: The Golf Gear Show, Joe Ferguson, who shares his findings in a recent podcast episode (listen/watch in full below).
The topic…Is shaft tipping a myth?
Firstly, and we can hear some of you asking, what is shaft tipping?
Just to clarify, this is not Joe disposing of lots of little shaft offcuts in the laybys of North Devon.
Quite simply, you have a golf shaft, which you can cut from either end. If you cut it from the butt end, you’re “really just affecting length and nothing else”, but if you cut it from the tip end, that’s the process of shaft tipping.
The generally held belief is that tipping will tighten up the overall profile of the shaft if you remove some material from the tip.
“The upshot is that you get a slightly tighter-feeling shaft... a stiffer overall profile,” explains Joe.
So, what does that mean?
WATCH: Joe from Kick Point reveals the results of his shaft tipping experiment (from 31.43)
Generally speaking, this means lower launch, less spin, and tighter dispersion.
Take your high-speed players on tour. They’re seeking a profile that is as tight and stiff as possible so you don’t get a wide dispersion.
When you go from driver to 3-wood, to 5-wood, to 7-wood, the heads get heavier. If you want the shaft to deflect and bend in the same way and in the same places, you need to gradually increase the tipping to get that shaft to perform at its desired flex.
“What I tend to notice on almost all of the manufacturers’ websites, be it Fujikura, Mitsubishi, if you look at tipping instructions, almost all of them say, driver - no tipping,” explains Joe.
“Common practice on tour, in almost every instance, is one-inch tipping as standard. You get a Gary Woodland who might go to one-and-a-half or two, which is quite extreme.
“So, essentially they’re ignoring the manufacturers’ instructions.”
The subject of shaft tipping fascinates our club pro, not least because there’s lots of tech in that tip, and it’s basically getting taken out!
THE SHAFT TIPPING EXPERIMENT
Never one to shy away from challenging technical theories and PR jargon, Joe built his Fujikura Ventus Black 6X VeloCore+ shaft, 45½ inches long, with a Golf Pride Tour Velvet grip, 60 round, and one layer of tape.
One was tipped one inch, the other totally untipped. Joe then hit ten shots with each, alternating between the tipped and untipped shafts, and he repeated the experiment three times.
THE RESULTS
Metric |
Untipped |
Tipped |
|---|---|---|
Club speed |
119 mph |
119.6 mph |
Efficiency (ball speed/club speed) |
1.45 |
1.45 |
Angle of attack |
6.1° up |
5.9° |
Path |
1.9° in-to-out |
2.0° in-to-out |
Ball speed |
172.1 mph |
172.6° mph |
Launch angle |
12.3° |
13.5° |
Spin |
2,624 rpm |
2,556 rpm |
Dispersion |
36 ft left of target |
34 ft left of target |
Peak height |
126 ft |
136 ft |
Carry |
297.7 yds |
300.4 yds |
Is Shaft Tipping A Myth? The Verdict...
Joe's numbers make for interesting reading.
“1.2° higher launch out of the tipped shaft, which is supposed to essentially control dynamic loft. Take it off, you’re going to get lower launch, lower spin,” says Joe.
“I had the exact opposite effect, which gives credence again to the argument that this whole shaft thing is nonsense and is completely dependent on your individual release.”
Feel-wise, Joe admits that the tipped shaft did feel a touch tighter, although this is not something he could quantify in numbers.
Technically, the tipped shaft did produce less spin, too, although the 68 rpm difference would have “no effect on anything”.
“Shaft tipping does exist. It’s a thing,” says Joe. “However, for this experiment, for me personally, not in the way that the industry would suggest.
“Even when it was a parameter that was changed, as the industry would suggest, it was by nothing.
“The only significant differences were the other way to what most people would tell you tipping was going to do... the 10 feet of additional height, the dispersion was significantly tighter, launch going up over a degree with tipped versus untipped… and, as I said, my dispersion got worse.”
For more on this shaft tipping debate, watch the full episode of Kick Point above.
We'd encourage you to let us know what you think and what you have found - so please leave your comments below and/or get in touch with Dan Parker and Joe, our Kick Point hosts.
