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. Harrison shotmaker shaft insert improve driver accuracy. So i decided to not only experiment with a shorter driver. I had my driver shaft professionally shortened to either 44 or 43. We address why longer shafts dont actually produce longer.
As a hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. Shorter driver shaft length and distance by norcalvol. For the past few months, ive knowingly been flouting the 14club rule by carrying two drivers. I am definitely more accurate with the shorter driver. Why you should consider a shorter driver shaft new zealand. Golfers are obsessed with distance, especially off. 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. What is the ideal shaft length for a driver golf club. I found a few studies that showed promising results.
The purpose of golf myths unplugged is to challenge the accepted wisdom of golf, but even we have blind spots. 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. 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. Lets take three woods and compare them, 1 a wood wood, a steel wood and a titainum wood. 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. Jun 21, 2018 driver shaft length is longer or shorter better. Jds clubs offers hot deals on aftermarket driver shafts, for sale. 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.
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. Taking a look at the driver shaft length used by the tour leaders in strokes gained. Anyone ever shorten their driver shaft for more control. We also offer free shipping on orders over usd 100. This gives him less flexdistance but more accuracy in his shorter irons. If you are going to shorten a golf club, there are a few things to keep in mind. They prioritise accuracy and control when configuring their driver setups.
Jimmy walker on using a 42inch titleist driver at the sbs. Shorter driver length means better and more consistent contact which leads to better and more consistent distance. 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. Ok, i know, there have been plenty of threads on here touting the advantages of shortening the shaft on your driver. Regular flex shafts are designed for golfers who swing 90 to 100 mph and carry a driver about 200 to 240 yards. Later in the session, he started suggesting a shorter shaft.
Michael breed give tips for driver length and distance golf. For fairness, accuracy and balance in news reporting. 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. Extremely over active power fades, no distance, very humbling and aggravating to say the least. I was on a monitor and the fitter said i hit the ball high with a lot of spin and tended to pull it. In actual fact the best driver shafts can add a remarkable number of yards to a shot and can vastly improve the users game. The perfect club driver is shorter than a conventional driver. There is an optimum driver shaft length with which golfers will achieve maximum clubhead speed and it will. Wishon also told me that the average driver length on the pga tour is shorter than the standard lengths equipment companies sell us. Aug 20, 2015 using trackman my idea was to test the same golfer, clubhead and golf ball, but change the shaft length. I am interested to attend my lesson and swing with a shorter shaft to see if that helps too. 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. May 20, 2015 why you probably need a shorter driver shaft.
The perfect club driver 370 vft perfect driver golf club. 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. I have a tm 320 regular version with a prolite stiff. Aftermarket driver shafts for sale custom golf clubs. More importantly that test showed a 28% increase in accuracy with the shorter shaft. A recent golf test i dont remember where, showed amateurs hitting the longer shafts 45. But, when i hit my driver, the shot is a consistent push to the right with a little bit of a fade. Can a shorter driver shafts say from 44 to 42 help or aid in driving the ball more consistent as opposed to longer shafts.
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. Sounds counterintuitive, and probably is, as i expect. Only the most gifted athletes can handle the long shaft of a conventional driver and successfully square up the club head at impact. Struggled with it for a week or so and then it seemed great. Forecaddie events newsletters instruction fitness 2020 media kit. I know there are some that successfully play their shafts over 45 but they are certainly the minority. This raises the immediate question, why is a relatively tall, obviously highly skilled player using a shorter than standard driver. They may still hit the occasional bomb with a longer shaft, but playing it at 44. Many tour pros are opting for a shorter driver shaft these days, but why. Needing both a shorter shaft and a heavier shaft is a right pita. However, because i drive the right shoulder down and through the ball so much, it means that the plane gets quite a bit steeper.
Something that has also been happening that has not been as well publicized is that shafts have also been slowly getting longer. Driver shaft length are you shorting yourself using a 46. The more shaft you cut off, the lighter, more stiff, and effectively flatter the club becomes. When i pull the trigger on a new driver, that is something im going to factor in. Thinking about cutting my driver shaft down an inch. Additionally, you can try visiting your local pro shop for a professional driver fitting. 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. Pj media is a leading news site covering culture, politics, faith, homeland security, and more. The same thing happened on my previous driver several years ago. I have pretty good results, but am not as accurate as i would like.
A shorter driver, he said, encourages center contact on the clubface, which leads to longer, straighter drives. But as i noted drivers have also gotten lighter and longer than ever and for me, i cant swing these clubs consistently. As illustrated by the charts below, that certainly was the case during our test. Com equipment insider jonathan wall takes a look at rory mcilroys callaway apex mb irons, the rise of taylormades spider putter on tour, the. In reality, the average length of a driver used on tour is 44.
The longer shaft promises more speed but possibly less control while the shorter shaft promises more consistency, but which is best. Length of shafts according to height in golf sportsrec. Find the right driver shaft length for your game golficity. Having different flex shafts in your bag is common. Same if not better distance and the ball marks on the face were in the center and more tightly clustered than my longer driver. You can readjust the swingweight by adding lead tape to. Even my playing partners couldnt believe how much straighter i was hitting my driver. Our reporters and columnists provide original, indepth analysis from a variety of perspectives. Many golf monthly forum members are increasingly inquisitive over the distance gains we see on readerfitting days, questioning where exactly the distance. 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.
Is that helping the average golfer or hurting them. Four players were best with the midweight shaft, and, again, some struggled mightily with lighter or. What difference would i expect from a heavier shaft. Im a very consistent and straight hitter but can use all the help i can get on. I took my current driver, which is the titleist d3 8. One thing i came across that i am going to explore in this article was playing with a significantly shorter shaft. But im almost 62, and always figured, im to tall for that to work for me. There is an optimum driver shaft length with which golfers will achieve maximum clubhead speed and it will vary from player to player.
Tiger woods at his longest used a relatively short 43. Read the excellent article on testing long and short shafts carried out by mygolfspy here. 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. 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. October 4, 1923 april 5, 2008 was an american actor and political activist. Cobra last week released the king f7 driver, a club designed with lots of. One player was most accurate with the lightest shaft, and his distance from center more than tripled when he went heavier. 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 harrison shotmaker is a usgaapproved removable insert which goes into your driver shaft to improve accuracy. For every 12 inch you remove, you will lose approximately three swingweight points. I didnt lose much distance on slight mishits, but was in the short rough instead of behind a. Driver shafts have gotten longer over the last few years.
I think the player who went from, say, a 50 gram driver shaft to a 90 gram fw shaft would be a significant outlier. Interestingly i always thought i had a pretty flat swing, especially as i stand up tall to the ball at address. Four years ago the average driver shaft length sold in retail shops was 45. 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. Recently, i figured out how to hit my 3 wood a satisfactory distance with control. The perfect driver lets you play golf the way it was intended. The drivers and shafts used by the top10 drivers on the pga tour.
For some that threshold could be 46 while for others they perform best with a 42 driver. Its probably a good idea for the vast majority of amateurs, but cutting the driver shaft down is not the final word. Get the best deals on cleveland golf club shafts and upgrade your home workout gear with the largest online selection at. So would the average 18handicap golfer benefit from having a shorter driver shaft fitted. The perfect driver lets you play golf the way it was intended to be playedfrom the fairway. 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. 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.
Sounds counterintuitive, and probably is, as i expect most people will experience some increase in accuracy by going down 12 to 1 inch. Rickie fowler finds shorterlength driver to his liking. So i decided to not only experiment with a shorter driver, but also heavier and stiffer. Jan 31, 2017 the stock driver length of most manufacturers taylormade, callaway ping, cobra these days is 45. Youll find it easier to hit the sweet spot with a shorter shaft, and you can go. Im 57 with shoes on and bought a 9 d2 about a year ago. If i shorten my driver shaft will it help with accuracy of. My swing speeddistance off the tee increased when i shortened my titleist driver shaft by one inch.
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. Most will find improved accuracy and improved distance with a shorter shaft. The folks at ping built me two identical g30 driversone at their standard length of 4534 inches, the other two inches shorter. Also does a shorter shafts allow more consistent control. 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. Jan 12, 2017 the results from the driver test showed much larger fluctuations in accuracy and really demonstrated the value of fitting. 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. 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. One of those was revealed recently when we realized that we had never tested the concept of shorter driver shafts being more accurate. The stock driver length of most manufacturers taylormade, callaway ping, cobra these days is 45.
Shorter driver shaft here is my explaination when fitting. The most popular deviation is to go one grade stiffer with your driver. The quest for a more accurate driver practical golf. Check out this article to find out more about this concept. In the march hotlinks, club expert tom wishon wrote that one key to real improvement with the driver comes from a shorter length. Senior flex shafts are appropriate for golfers who swing between 75 and 90 mph and carry a driver about 180 to 200 yards. My driver woes have returned with a vengeance here of late. 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. Dec 01, 2019 what is the optimum driver shaft length. I think having a shorter driver is a great idea, but it should only be in play at events where accuracy is a premium. Jul 24, 2008 right shortening the shaft will make the shaft stiffer for starters eg. Many have heard that a shorter driver shaft can increase. 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. We have a great selection in our product line at prices that are pocket friendly.
The distance the players hit the ball was also negligible between the two shaft lengths, with an average of less than 1. According to s jonathan wall, fowler cut his driver down to 43. 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. Advanced ball striking view topic shorter driver shaft. We have watched as driver heads have gotten bigger and bigger over the course of the past few years. Cutting driver shaft the 19th hole mygolfspy forum. I havent lost any distance and ive gained plenty of accuracy. 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.
When i bought it the salesman recommended a diamana blue shaft. I have plenty of distance, but driver accuracy is an issue for me. But if longer shafts compromise your accuracy, youre driving for show instead. A shorter driver could be beneficial because it is typically easier to hit squarely. Kapalua is a course where accuracy off the tee isnt as important, and right now hes actually losing strokes in the strokes gained. Can i shorten my driver shaft or should i just reshaft. 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. 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. This will cost you a bit of time and effort but at the worst, youll probably improve your understanding of what works for you. Struggling with accuracy off the tee, rickie fowler shaved an inch off his driver length at the honda classic, using a 43. Standard drivers for women are an 1 inch shorter than standard mens drivers. Is there an optimum shaft length depending on driver swing characteristics. I was hitting the ball so far off line it cost me not only accuracy but. 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.