Tipping is the term that is applied to cutting the end of the shaft that goes into the hosel (also known as the tip end - as opposed to the butt end; which is the part of the shaft where the grip goes).
As for can you tell by swinging - I'm not sure. It will largely depend on your swing. I myself know that my swing isn't consistent enough to be able to tell if a set of
clubs is spined or not. However, by spining the
clubs, I take that variable out of the equation. You'd have to have the
clubs tested.