What is the reason for bigger shaft tip diameters in many current drivers?
There are 3 main reasons. (1) to further reduce the chance of tip breakage. (2) to allow OEMs to use less expensive material and still not risk tip breakage or increase torque. (3) to prevent other shafts from being installed into their clubheads on a re-shaft basis. Also, testing has shown no performance benefits from oversized tips (.350″ or greater) from the original .335″ tip diameter that was originally used in an OEMs model line. In fact, many OEM metal wood heads manufactured with oversize hosels for the general public are also manufactured with .335″ hosels ONLY for PGA tour players. This allows the tour player hundreds of shafts options to experiment with as 95% of wood shafts available have the standard .335″ tip.
