Many tour pros are opting for a shorter driver shaft these days, but why. Length of shafts according to height in golf sportsrec. Having tested a few golfers with shorter shafts it seems to me that each golfer has a threshold length an ideal length that gives them the optimal combination of speed and accuracy. Having different flex shafts in your bag is common. Jan 31, 2017 the stock driver length of most manufacturers taylormade, callaway ping, cobra these days is 45. Com equipment insider jonathan wall takes a look at rory mcilroys callaway apex mb irons, the rise of taylormades spider putter on tour, the. Is there an optimum shaft length depending on driver swing characteristics. Pj media is a leading news site covering culture, politics, faith, homeland security, and more. Graphite clubs are slightly longer, with a standard driver at 45 inches, 5iron at 38. Cutting driver shaft the 19th hole mygolfspy forum.
Needing both a shorter shaft and a heavier shaft is a right pita. Four players were best with the midweight shaft, and, again, some struggled mightily with lighter or. Get the best deals on cleveland golf club shafts and upgrade your home workout gear with the largest online selection at. Jan 07, 2015 you really would not want to take a 3w shaft and stick it in a driver, if in fact all you are trying to accomplish is to play a shorter length driver. Also does a shorter shafts allow more consistent control. When i pull the trigger on a new driver, that is something im going to factor in. Jul 24, 2008 right shortening the shaft will make the shaft stiffer for starters eg. They may still hit the occasional bomb with a longer shaft, but playing it at 44. The quest for a more accurate driver practical golf. Most will find improved accuracy and improved distance with a shorter shaft. Standard drivers for women are an 1 inch shorter than standard mens drivers. Many have heard that a shorter driver shaft can increase. But as i noted drivers have also gotten lighter and longer than ever and for me, i cant swing these clubs consistently. The stock driver length of most manufacturers taylormade, callaway ping, cobra these days is 45.
On monday they also talked about it in a simulator segment and how you should try choking down on your driver first to see if you like the feel of a shorter shaft before you get fitted for one. The tip section of a golf shaft is the most flexible area of the shaft and as such it tends to deform and vibrate upon impact, and this inconsistency affects driver accuracy. Four years ago the average driver shaft length sold in retail shops was 45. Extremely over active power fades, no distance, very humbling and aggravating to say the least. A shorter driver could be beneficial because it is typically easier to hit squarely. Ok, i know, there have been plenty of threads on here touting the advantages of shortening the shaft on your driver. Kapalua is a course where accuracy off the tee isnt as important, and right now hes actually losing strokes in the strokes gained. Can a shorter driver shafts say from 44 to 42 help or aid in driving the ball more consistent as opposed to longer shafts. The folks at ping built me two identical g30 driversone at their standard length of 4534 inches, the other two inches shorter. We have watched as driver heads have gotten bigger and bigger over the course of the past few years. Trying a longer shaft is a popular suggestion these days, but most players should, if anything, try a shaft half an inch shorter than whats in their driver. Check out this article to find out more about this concept. There is an optimum driver shaft length with which golfers will achieve maximum clubhead speed and it will.
The harrison shotmaker is a usgaapproved removable insert which goes into your driver shaft to improve accuracy. This raises the immediate question, why is a relatively tall, obviously highly skilled player using a shorter than standard driver. Shorter driver shaft here is my explaination when fitting. I am definitely more accurate with the shorter driver. That said, it makes sense to use, for example, a 70 gram shaft as a starting point for a player who prefers a 60 gram driver shaft because, when its cut shorter, the shaft will feel similar in terms of weight. Lets take three woods and compare them, 1 a wood wood, a steel wood and a titainum wood. I think the player who went from, say, a 50 gram driver shaft to a 90 gram fw shaft would be a significant outlier. The perfect club driver is shorter than a conventional driver. So i decided to not only experiment with a shorter driver, but also heavier and stiffer.
For every 12 inch you remove, you will lose approximately three swingweight points. I am interested to attend my lesson and swing with a shorter shaft to see if that helps too. Only the most gifted athletes can handle the long shaft of a conventional driver and successfully square up the club head at impact. Im a very consistent and straight hitter but can use all the help i can get on. The perfect driver lets you play golf the way it was intended.
I have pretty good results, but am not as accurate as i would like. Our reporters and columnists provide original, indepth analysis from a variety of perspectives. More than once, fitters have told us that that accuracy differences between shafts can be much more significant than the other metrics we sometimes focus on. So would the average 18handicap golfer benefit from having a shorter driver shaft fitted. Cobra last week released the king f7 driver, a club designed with lots of. My driver woes have returned with a vengeance here of late. For some that threshold could be 46 while for others they perform best with a 42 driver. But, when i hit my driver, the shot is a consistent push to the right with a little bit of a fade. Nov 07, 20 this may have you tempted to grab the nearest hacksaw and start going after your driver but before cutting down your club, try using a shorter shaft club or just choke down on your grip while at the range to test the feel of a shorter shaft.
One of those was revealed recently when we realized that we had never tested the concept of shorter driver shafts being more accurate. Interestingly i always thought i had a pretty flat swing, especially as i stand up tall to the ball at address. The more shaft you cut off, the lighter, more stiff, and effectively flatter the club becomes. Struggling with accuracy off the tee, rickie fowler shaved an inch off his driver length at the honda classic, using a 43. One thing i came across that i am going to explore in this article was playing with a significantly shorter shaft. I had my driver shaft professionally shortened to either 44 or 43. I have plenty of distance, but driver accuracy is an issue for me. May 20, 2015 why you probably need a shorter driver shaft. Recently, i figured out how to hit my 3 wood a satisfactory distance with control. The most popular deviation is to go one grade stiffer with your driver. Distance was a little shorter, but i think that was more the club and the gd tourad ysq just not matching my swing more than the 1 inch shorter shaft. Im 57 with shoes on and bought a 9 d2 about a year ago.
He played moses in the epic film the ten commandments 1956, for which he received his first nomination for the golden globe award for best actor motion picture drama. Read the excellent article on testing long and short shafts carried out by mygolfspy here. I think having a shorter driver is a great idea, but it should only be in play at events where accuracy is a premium. We also offer free shipping on orders over usd 100. Additionally, you can try visiting your local pro shop for a professional driver fitting. Aftermarket driver shafts for sale custom golf clubs.
Dec 01, 2019 what is the optimum driver shaft length. There is an optimum driver shaft length with which golfers will achieve maximum clubhead speed and it will vary from player to player. I have a tm 320 regular version with a prolite stiff. No matter how good they are, tour players know that the longer the length of the driver, the more difficult it will be to hit on center and to hit with accuracy. I know there are some that successfully play their shafts over 45 but they are certainly the minority. Driver shaft length will be reduced by the biggest golf companies in the near future and they will market heavily the far increased accuracy of the shorter shaft. Tiger woods at his longest used a relatively short 43. They prioritise accuracy and control when configuring their driver setups. The perfect driver lets you play golf the way it was intended to be playedfrom the fairway.
When i bought it the salesman recommended a diamana blue shaft. However, because i drive the right shoulder down and through the ball so much, it means that the plane gets quite a bit steeper. I am thinking of reshafting this driver with a ust low carb aflex shaft which i was very pleased with in my previous driver a cobra ss350. My question is if i was to take my older driver the older cobra f speed and take off the grip and take it down, oh say 1. A recent golf test i dont remember where, showed amateurs hitting the longer shafts 45. Struggled with it for a week or so and then it seemed great. We have a great selection in our product line at prices that are pocket friendly.
Effect of driver shaft length on distance im a very consistent and straight hitter but can use all the help i can get on distance since my typical drive is about 210 yards. This may seem short to you but with their amazing club head speed and sweet spot accuracy the pros are still able to crush the ball a country mile, even with the shorter shaft. The distance the players hit the ball was also negligible between the two shaft lengths, with an average of less than 1. Driver shafts have gotten longer over the last few years. Youll find it easier to hit the sweet spot with a shorter shaft, and you can go. I have no idea why, as the research definitely shows that you should be a lot more accurate if you shorten your driver, but for me, it did exactly the opposite. Can i shorten my driver shaft or should i just reshaft. Jds clubs offers hot deals on aftermarket driver shafts, for sale. But if longer shafts compromise your accuracy, youre driving for show instead. According to s jonathan wall, fowler cut his driver down to 43.
This will cost you a bit of time and effort but at the worst, youll probably improve your understanding of what works for you. But im almost 62, and always figured, im to tall for that to work for me. Anyone ever shorten their driver shaft for more control. Over the last week i have experimented with choking down and have found that the distance is the same if not better since i hit the. You can readjust the swingweight by adding lead tape to.
Why you should consider a shorter driver shaft new zealand. I was hitting the ball so far off line it cost me not only accuracy but. I found a few studies that showed promising results. My swing speeddistance off the tee increased when i shortened my titleist driver shaft by one inch. Later in the session, he started suggesting a shorter shaft. Its probably a good idea for the vast majority of amateurs, but cutting the driver shaft down is not the final word. The longer shaft promises more speed but possibly less control while the shorter shaft promises more consistency, but which is best.
We address why longer shafts dont actually produce longer. This is the primary reason they, on average, use driver lengths that are much shorter than what the golf companies make to sell to regular golfers. If you are a golf fan you may have seen the news recently that reigning pga championship winner jimmy walker put a 42 inch titleist 917d2 driver into play at the pga tour events held recently in hawaii. Sounds counterintuitive, and probably is, as i expect. If you are going to shorten a golf club, there are a few things to keep in mind. I havent lost any distance and ive gained plenty of accuracy. A shorter driver, he said, encourages center contact on the clubface, which leads to longer, straighter drives. Even my playing partners couldnt believe how much straighter i was hitting my driver. October 4, 1923 april 5, 2008 was an american actor and political activist. In the march hotlinks, club expert tom wishon wrote that one key to real improvement with the driver comes from a shorter length.
For many of you reading this i am confident that if you were able to shorten the shaft of your driver you will actually pick up distance because youll be striking it closer to the sweet spot of the club. As a hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. Many golf monthly forum members are increasingly inquisitive over the distance gains we see on readerfitting days, questioning where exactly the distance. Shorter driver length means better and more consistent contact which leads to better and more consistent distance. Jun 21, 2018 driver shaft length is longer or shorter better. If i shorten my driver shaft will it help with accuracy of.
This gives him less flexdistance but more accuracy in his shorter irons. One player was most accurate with the lightest shaft, and his distance from center more than tripled when he went heavier. This may have you tempted to grab the nearest hacksaw and start going after your driver but before cutting down your club, try using a shorter shaft club or just choke. Harrison shotmaker shaft insert improve driver accuracy. Golfers are obsessed with distance, especially off. And from time to time, i still go back to golf lab and they will put a shorter shaft club in my hand to see if i can get better accuracy and not loosing much distance, and time and time again, my current long shaft driver out perform the shorter version. Something that has also been happening that has not been as well publicized is that shafts have also been slowly getting longer. Effect of driver shaft length on distance i have a 2006 ti460 cleveland launcher, with the standard cleveland sliver aflex shaft, and the clubs length is 45. I took my current driver, which is the titleist d3 8. Is that helping the average golfer or hurting them. The perfect club driver 370 vft perfect driver golf club.
Regular flex shafts are designed for golfers who swing 90 to 100 mph and carry a driver about 200 to 240 yards. The purpose of golf myths unplugged is to challenge the accepted wisdom of golf, but even we have blind spots. Wishon also told me that the average driver length on the pga tour is shorter than the standard lengths equipment companies sell us. Taking a look at the driver shaft length used by the tour leaders in strokes gained. In actual fact the best driver shafts can add a remarkable number of yards to a shot and can vastly improve the users game. Sounds counterintuitive, and probably is, as i expect most people will experience some increase in accuracy by going down 12 to 1 inch. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the accuracy and distance of.
I was on a monitor and the fitter said i hit the ball high with a lot of spin and tended to pull it. Jan 12, 2012 and from time to time, i still go back to golf lab and they will put a shorter shaft club in my hand to see if i can get better accuracy and not loosing much distance, and time and time again, my current long shaft driver out perform the shorter version. Aug 20, 2015 using trackman my idea was to test the same golfer, clubhead and golf ball, but change the shaft length. Shorter driver shaft length and distance by norcalvol. Jan 12, 2017 the results from the driver test showed much larger fluctuations in accuracy and really demonstrated the value of fitting. What difference would i expect from a heavier shaft. I didnt lose much distance on slight mishits, but was in the short rough instead of behind a. Driver shaft length are you shorting yourself using a 46.
Forecaddie events newsletters instruction fitness 2020 media kit. Dec 11, 2018 clubs other than drivers gradually get shorter if a 44inch steel shaft driver is indicated by the chart, your 5iron will measure 38 inches and sand wedge 35. So i decided to not only experiment with a shorter driver. For nongolfers or those just starting to get into the sport it can seem almost impossible that the design of the shaft will have much effect on the overall swing of the user. Advanced ball striking view topic shorter driver shaft. Find the right driver shaft length for your game golficity. There are articles out there stating that there is no consistency difference between a longer driver and a shorter driver so you might as well play the longest driver you. The shorter driver did perform more consistent overall, however there were a few of the testers that did see a positive result with the longer driver over the shorter driver. The shorter shaft makes it possible for recreational golfers to easily square the club head at impact to consistently produce solid hits.
More importantly that test showed a 28% increase in accuracy with the shorter shaft. Michael breed give tips for driver length and distance golf. The same thing happened on my previous driver several years ago. For fairness, accuracy and balance in news reporting. I have long monkey arms and drive the ball pretty far, ive been told by a few people that shortening my driver shaft may help me control the ball off the tee better. Michael breed, host of the golf fix, teaches how to find the proper length of your driver shaft and gives a drill to maximize distance. Rickie fowler finds shorterlength driver to his liking. Jimmy walker on using a 42inch titleist driver at the sbs. In reality, the average length of a driver used on tour is 44. Shorter driver shaft can a shorter driver shafts say from 44 to 42 help or aid in driving the ball more consistent as opposed to longer shafts. Changes in shaft length changes a bit more than might be obvious and it does not equate to greater accuracy regardless of what frank thomas writes. Senior flex shafts are appropriate for golfers who swing between 75 and 90 mph and carry a driver about 180 to 200 yards. As illustrated by the charts below, that certainly was the case during our test.