Background

• The difference between parallel-tip and taper-tip shafts is the tip diameter and shaft weight. All golf shafts taper from the handle to the bottom, but parallel-tip shafts stop tapering below the last step, while the taper tip, as the name implies, continues to narrow. The taper tip was the only choice until the 1970s, when the parallel tip came on the market. Parallel gradually gained favor with club makers, and since 1990s has been the favored shaft choice.
  
  

Parallel Tip

• With a parallel-tip shaft, the narrowest portion of the shaft is a constant diameter, but not a constant weight. While the size does vary between manufacturers, the industry standard for irons is .370 inch. Golf clubs are different lengths within the same set; the higher-numbered irons are shorter than the lower-numbered irons. Because the club maker starts with the same shaft and trims it for each iron, the weight of the shaft changes.
  
  

Taper Tip

• With the taper tip, the shaft continues to taper through the tip section. As a result, the tip cannot be trimmed without changing its diameter, meaning it would not fit in the club head. The standard tip diameter for a taper-tip iron shaft is .355 inch, slightly smaller than a parallel tip. Each taper-tip shaft is built to length for a specific iron and is the same weight throughout the set of irons.
  
  

Benefits

• Club makers like parallel-tip shafts because they can use the shaft in any iron in the set and can more easily adjust the length and flex by trimming the grip end and the tip. With taper-tip shafts, they have to switch shafts to make flex adjustments. Parallel-tip shafts allow manufacturer to reduce inventory because they do not have to stock a different shaft for each club. Tour professionals, on the other hand, prefer taper-tip shafts because they are the same weight in each club, creating consistency throughout the set.
  
  

Significance

• When building clubs or replacing shafts, the club maker has to know which type of shaft he needs. Because of the difference in shaft tip diameter, club heads are designed for either a taper tip or the larger parallel tip. An experienced club maker can drill out a larger hole in a club head designed for a taper tip and fit it with a parallel-tip shaft, but he risks damaging the club head and changing its weight.