Re-gripping Hogan Legend Shafts

[robbo]

I picked up a BH persimmon 3-wood a while back that has a Legend 5 shaft in it. The Legend shafts appear to be extra large in diameter in the butt area (sort of like the old TM bubble shafts) and I’m having a hell of a time re-gripping it.

Did they require a special diameter grip or is there a trick to getting the grip on that I’m not aware of?

robbo

[RangeRat]

@robbo

Did they require a special diameter grip or is there a trick to getting the grip on that I’m not aware of?

Don’t know what the butt size is for the Legend…but if it is like the TM bubbles…then those grips are special in that the inner walls of the grip are a lot thinner than normal so that they will install “standard”. TM grips are easy to install with any number of expanders that fit into the grip prior to installation…but it can be done manually as well- just need a little practice to get the feel to stretch it as far as it needs with your fingers.

If you put on a regular grip onto an oversize butt…because of the wall thickness, the butt end will be huge. RR

[Addington_Arnie]

Hi Rob,

Sadly Welsh Dentist and I are all too familiar with the Legend 5 shaft as I have some early Apex irons that WD had on loan for a while. In the end the only grip I think WD’s pro shop could get fit was a .865 Crossline (I guess like this http://www.gamolagolf.co.uk/acatalog/Lamkin_.865_Large_Core_Grips_for_TaylorMade_Bubble_Shafts.html) and even that was a struggle apparently. Other suggestions gratefully received as never been a crossline fan myself.

Some background below:

For decades, shafts were designed with a range in butt diameter from 0.560" to 0.620", depending on the flex desired. Guided by the most simple design principle of the larger the shaft diameter, the stiffer the overall flex, shaft engineers have always reserved the smaller butt diameters for L and A flex, while the larger dimensions were required to create the S and X flex.

In the 1970s a few shat companies and major manufacturers of golf club briefly departed from the industry’s normal range in butt diameter with the manufacture of limited assortment of shafts with 0.690" to 0.700" butt diameters. Conceived as a way to squeeze out a few grams of weight to lighten the shaft, a few of the slightly larger butt diameter shafts such as the Ben Hogan Legend and the True Temper Kinetic soon proved to be exception rather than the rule and disappeared after a few short years, never to be seen again.

Why didn’t the slightly larger butt diameter shafts of the 1970s stick around? And why is the industry now offering even larger butt diameter shafts? Twenty years ago, all of the 0.690" to 0.700" butt shafts were made from steel. To retain a standard grip size, the early 0.700" butt shafts required a grip with much less rubber; in short, a grip made with the same outer diameter but a larger inner diameter to fit the large shaft. These grips wilt less rubber were not tick enough to absorb the shock of impact and vibration from a steel shaft as well as the conventional rubber grips which for the normal 0.560 " to 0.620" shafts. Consequently, the slight decrease in shaft weight obtained from making the shaft with a larger and thinner butt was out-weighted by the harsh impact felt by the golfer. As a result, oversize butt steel shafts quickly departed from the scene.

Cheers, Arnie

[robbo]

RR/Arnie,

Thanks for the responses. Although I managed to get an old GP Tour Wrap on it I don’t think I got much shaft-to-grip contact near the butt end… the grip feels loose in that area.

I’ll keep my eyes out for some of the mentioned grips to get by on this one if I can. Fortunately I only have this one club with the Legend shaft in it. I’ll stay away from those in the future.

Thanks again,

robbo