A system and method for adjusting the frequency of clip for a reel mower cutting unit includes an operator interface outputting a voltage corresponding to a frequency of clip setting, and a reel motor controller calculating a travel speed of the reel mower cutting unit based on a voltage reading from a voltage bus and a scale factor applied to the voltage reading, and calculating a required reel speed based on the travel speed, the voltage corresponding to the frequency of clip setting, and the number of cutting blades of the reel mower cutting unit.