hideColumn

hideColumn(columnField) - method hides a grid column on the client by setting display:none to all corresponding th, td and col elements. The column is chosen by its field pointed in the field option.

$("#grid1").shieldGrid({
    dataSource: {
        data: products
    },
    rowHover: false,
    columns: [
        { field: "id" },
        { field: "name", width: "200px" },
        { field: "quantity" },
        { field: "price" },
        { field: "units" },
        { field: "discontinued" },
        { field: "myDate", format: "{0:MM/dd/yyyy}" }
    ]
});

var grid = $("#grid1").swidget();
// hides the first two columns
grid.hideColumn("id");
grid.hideColumn("name");

Live example of using hideColumn method you can find here.