ShopTalk: Questions about graphite shafts for irons

[Dave Tutelman]

In the past, I have used or recommended graphite shafts only if they were needed to keep the swingweight down. I'm now considering another use, and would like to tap the vast experience out there on ShopTalk for advice.

I'm considering making myself a new set of irons, with graphite shafts. The objective is to lighten my bag a little, since I'm carrying more now that my bag has a double strap. (Until the last few months, I pulled a trolley almost all the time.) The thing is, I'm happy with the way I hit my irons now, and I don't want to screw it up. If graphite shafts don't work just as well, I'm better off lugging (or pulling) my current irons.

Here are the issues/questions:

(1) Swingweight: The graphite shafted clubs will be lighter. I'm going from Balistiks (probably 110-115g cut to length) to about 80-83g graphites. If I have to go much heavier than that, I wouldn't bother; the objective is lighter overall weight. But without any other design change that means a significant loss of swingweight, probably more than a half-inch worth. I'm willing to live with clubs that are 1/4" longer than now, but not more than that. How do y'all deal with that? I can think of several approaches, but I'm not sure of their feasibility:
- Tip-weighted graphite shafts. I know these were available 3-5 years ago. Are they still around? Are they any good?
- Separate lead tip weights. I have seen these for graphites, but nothing more than 4 grams. It'll help, but not a lot.
- Lead tape. I know how to apply it. But I don't like to start a project KNOWING that I'll have to use tape; that should be a last resort. It should be for tuning specific clubs, not for a blanket treatment for the set, IMHO.

(2) Trajectory: I hit my irons plenty high as it is. Perhaps a shade too high, but it's not a priority to lower the trajectory. (It would be nice, but I'm getting plenty of distance now.) But I certainly don't want to hit them any higher.
I have seen the Dynacraft Jeffs (Summitt & Jackson) say that lowering a club's balance point with the same swingweight (i.e.- lighter shaft) will lead to a higher trajectory. Wishon's book does not suggest this effect, and I certainly can't see what would cause it. So I don't know.
What have y'all seen by way of trajectory changes when a golfer goes from steel to graphite. Are some graphite shafts lower-trajectory than others?

BTW, my current choice of components for this experiment are:
* Raven Near-Net cavity backs (my current irons are Golfsmith Jetstreams).
* MCC shafts (I'm thinking the MFS-30, or the -40 if the 30 will hit it too high; I'm not sure I hit hard enough for the -40). The SK shafts that I usually like have a high balance point, and will only make the swingweight problem worse.

I've made up a Near-Net 5-iron with the same Balistik shaft (same swingweight, length, and frequency) as my current irons; the performance is fairly similar to my current 5-iron. I like the feel of the Near-Net a little better (probably the sound -- less treble and more bass), and didn't suffer a noticeable loss of forgiveness.

Any comments?

advTHANKSance!
DaveT