About 12 years ago I had a friend build me a set of clubs. The irons are King Snakes (cobra knock offs) with True Temper TT Lite shafts. Apparently my "club maker" made an assumption on shaft length based on my height (6'3") without out taking my wrist to floor measurement (36.5") into account. He made all of the irons +1". Based on the charts that I have looked at, the clubs should only be +.25". No loft/lie adjustments were made. I am a burgeoning club making hobbyist, and I'd like to know what the end result could be of me cutting my shafts down to correct length. Eventually I plan to build a full set for myself, but thought this would be a fun experiment to see if the clubs play any better.

QUESTION 2:

I also have a set of ladies clubs. The only problem is that the lady doesn't have any interest in the game. My 9-year-old son however does. I bought him a set of Walter Hagen Series 3 clubs, and it seems that they are a bit heavy for him. Unlike me, he is a skinny little kid without much strength. Can I cut down the wife's old set and make them usable for my son? Her set is standard length for ladies bought from probably kmart at around the same time I got my clubs. They have probably only been used twice so they are in nearly new condition. It seems like a much cheaper route to cut down these clubs and re-grip them for him to use, than to go buy another set of clubs for him to use for maybe a year.

Question 1: Shorter shafts would/could mean somewhat less distance than your old ones, but the shorter shaft will also make them easier to hit. And depending on how much you cut off, I suppose it could change the swing weight but I doubt that would make much difference for you.


Question 2: Sure I would think this would work. The lighter clubs may be good for him at his age. Till he grows and gets stronger and ready for a regular set.

Have fun with it...You might just try cutting down one club (in both questions) and trying them out to see how they work. That way you have not invested much if it doesn't work.

Most likely your over length irons have a very high swing weight. So cutting them down to standard length or 1/4 inch over, will just bring them back to normal range. My wrist to floor measurement is 36.0, and I play standard length irons, so I don't see why you could do the same or maybe a bit longer, but not an inch longer for sure. What you might want to do, it choke down on all your irons 1/2 inch and see what you think. Then if you like the results, you can cut the shafts down and be done with it. Basicially the only thing you will notice if you cut down the shafts is the swing weight will be a lot lower, and the clubs will not feel as HEAD HEAVY as they are now. You might start hitting the ball more solidly with the shorter length, and that could end up giveing you more distance, not less. Solid contact means more to distance than any increase in club head speed you might lose with the shorter shafts.

Sorry but I can't tell you much about clubs for your son. You might want to ask a local club maker that works with kids. He should be able to tell you if your ladies set can be cut down to fit your son. I would ASSUME that you could do this, but I've never done it so I can't say for sure.

When you get ready to build a new set for yourself. I'd recommend you get a set of Leyland LX2 heads from CSG Golf. Thery are excellent iron head, and will last you for years. They are very close to the old Callaway X-16 irons. I've got a set I built when I first started building clubs, and I later built a second set for my wife, which she still uses.