Hard Stepped and Soft Stepped Golf Shafts Explained

Sometimes, a golfer doesn't fit into a particular golf shaft flex perfectly. To accommodate that, golfers can play hard stepped or soft stepped golf shafts. It's a term often thrown around in golf, but what does it mean to hard step or soft step a golf shaft?
In this video, 2nd Swing's Michael Geiger and Larry Bobka discuss hard stepping and soft stepping golf shafts and why some golfers can benefit from it.
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[@bp4968]

Good video. My fitter hard stepped my newest irons and I wasn't 100% sure what that meant.

[@paulc5817]

Hi. Love your content. Have you considered doing video on how cold is too cold for your clubs to play in the winter? Keep up the great content❤️

[@2ndswing]

Thanks for watching. In Minnesota that shouldn't be a hard video for us to do. I will say if my clubs have been in the trunk overnight I will give them some time to warm up inside before hitting them, especially driver! - Thomas

[@kevinjohnson2779]

You have an incredible amount of knowledge Larry.

[@2ndswing]

Thanks for watching. There is not much Larry doesn't know - Thomas

[@gemiado]

This is exactly what l learned on my iron today. Tried to replace a broken shaft on a old set of iron. Fitter told me my set DG shafts was 2 steps down. Ended up using 3 iron shaft on 5 iron

[@2ndswing]

Thanks for watching. - Thomas

[@allenmollitor9188]

Actually I love the rifle shafts, which I built in McGreggors, Taylor made and two sets of Callaway's. I now have Callaway Apex DCB's and NS Pro the darn steps are almost all the way to the end of the shaft making the grips smaller on the bottom half. I changed to the MCC plus 4 and used tape on the steps in the grip area to make a decent grip size. Worst was the PW and 9 Iron. Now my DCB's are playable.

[@2ndswing]

Thanks for watching & providing your feedback - Thomas

[@ericpietrondi9186]

So if my shafts are already cut to length but now I want to tip them to make stiffer what shaft would I have to use for say 7 iron? Would I have to put 6 iron in 7 head after tipping

[@2ndswing]

To play the 7 iron length yes. Every club is separated by 1/2 inch in length - Thomas

[@railroller]

I would suggest you put the 8 iron shaft into the 7 iron. Then add a device to extend the butt section 1/2 inch. This might be called one hard step. If you have parallel tip shafts, cut the tip of each shaft a half inch and extend the butt to compensate. You could choose an increment smaller than a half inch to make a smaller change...

[@williamyu1335]

might be a silly question, but what's the difference between stepping vs tipping? aren't they essentially the same?

[@alfawoof1]

The 2 types of shafts are .355 Taper tip and .370 parallel. Taper tips cannot be cut on the head end, they are tapered . Meaning they are.355 at the bottom and gradually taper to a larger diameter. .370 parallel are .370 all the way to the first “step”. Meaning, they can be trimmed at any point between the raw end and the first step provided enough is left to insert into the head.
So, it’s hard step/soft step for .355 taper tip shafts/heads and tip trim or “tipped” for .370 parallel.
Make sense?
Now, driver shafts are different. The standard diameter is .335. Not much can be trimmed on the head end of a graphite driver shaft. Manufacturers build driver shafts to specific flex profiles, so typically the player will go see a qualified fitter who can analyze the players swing and ball flight characteristics ( launch angle, ball speed, spin rate, etc.) and fit the player with the proper shaft/head combination for optimal performance.

[@rejnormandin4658]

Good information , not sure a lot of fitter would do a good job to be precise ….

[@2ndswing]

Thanks for watching. We take pride in training and certifying all of our fitters the same way at 2nd Swing - Thomas

[@10UPn2DOWN]

Your info needs to include 2 key terms in the golf shaft. Constant weight and parallel shafts, this video pertains to constant weight shafts or Factory Trimmed. The Constant weight are normally tapered (some are parallel Nippon NS Pro) at .355 where-as the parallel tip are .370 none tapered. Drilling hosel from .355 to .370 is a common practice especially for the C taper KBS shaft. Factory trimmed shafts are not the best for MOI matching even swing weighting is a pain especially if one tip trims a factory trimmed shaft.
Devil is in the details ✌😊

[@2ndswing]

Thanks for the feedback! - Thomas

[@StephenParsey]

So… tip trimming vs butt trimming. Unnecessary to use two different terms.

[@2ndswing]

Yes it is tip trimming and butt trimming. Hard stepping and soft stepping is the term I hear mostly and use myself - Thomas

[@Livereater]

0:56 incorrect graph... 'hard step' would actually mean putting an 8i shaft on a 7i head, etc...

[@hoganfan2006]

@@Livereater you’re both right. The graph shows what you describe as a hard step.

[@terrywittek3496]

I think this guy is confused. 370 parallel tips can be trimmed. 355 tips can't be trimmed.

[@MichealBacon]

As soon as "legendary Larry I'm full of myself" suggested hard/soft stepping was mystical, I stopped watching..Sorry Thomas