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goughy
5th November 2004, 06:58 PM
Just wondering what everyones preference is (if you have one that is). I've always assumed that around 45" was about right. Anyway, I just had my driver reshafted with a speeder and the shaft lenght seemed short before it I got it done, so I asked them to extend it about an inch.

Picked it up today and it's about 43", so I doubt they extended it at all. But I really liked the look of it at setup and the feel was nice throughout the swing. So I had a hit with it this arvo and it was ok. Because it's shorter I started to try and smash it without great results, but not really any shorter than any of my other drivers.

On the last hole I sliced my first one. I decided to hit a second and just relaxed and put an easy smooth swing on it. It finished just as far as my longest drive on that hole with not much run because of very wet conditions. So it's staying for now.

Has anyone else considered going to a shorter driver length to increase control? Did you find that because of the better contact you didn't lose anything much in distance.

It also fits in well for me as my 3 wood is only 41".

By the way, the speeder is a 757 X flex :shock:

BrisVegas
5th November 2004, 07:17 PM
Glad it's working for you at 43 inches Dean. That was probably "normal" only a few years back. Most people would probably find more fairways at that length. I think mine is 43.5, not too sure. I tend to grip down an inch or two sometimes when I'm trying to hit a narrow target. My arms are long enough as it is, so doubt I could handle a 45+ inch driver. It'd probably go a long way if I ever caught it square though!! :lol:

drunken
5th November 2004, 07:28 PM
Currently at 44.75" & tend to grip down a bit as well. All my other recent drivers have been at 45".

Ona
5th November 2004, 08:18 PM
went from a 250cc, 46" driver to a 455cc at 44.25". Put the shorter shaft with the illiusion that the big heads give, it was a massive change, but if I try to isolate the shorter shaft, I'd say it's been a good thing.

markTHEblake
5th November 2004, 08:25 PM
Has anyone else considered going to a shorter driver length to increase control?

The point of the bigger heads is counteract the loss of control with the longer shafts. And the clubhead is designed to be used with an optimial shaft length. So the answer to your question should be No. Shortening the length of the shafts would be overkill.

Whilst i didnt seem to have any trouble hitting the ball further a while back with a steel shaft and probably a <100cc head, there doeesnt seem to be any trend now towards using shorter shafts and smaller heads.

I would say that if a golfer neds to improve control with his driver its not the length thats the problem, but the flex.

There is a guide to lengths here
http://www.tutelman.com/golfclubs/DesignNotes/length2.php?ref=clubmakeronline#standard

I dont know what driver shaft lengths were 20 years ago. In those days we just bought whatever looked nice on the shelf.

Ona
5th November 2004, 09:24 PM
I would say that if a golfer neds to improve control with his driver its not the length thats the problem, but the flex.
If we were on some another forum I'd disagree with that :) :wink:

goughy
5th November 2004, 09:54 PM
[quote="markTHEblakeI would say that if a golfer neds to improve control with his driver its not the length thats the problem, but the flex.

I dont know what driver shaft lengths were 20 years ago. In those days we just bought whatever looked nice on the shelf.[/quote]

I would agree with you on the flex blakey. I actually put this shaft in the club for selling it, but thought what the heck, give it a go first. I was looking to scale back in my shaft flex and shaft weight.

I always thought that driver shafts from years ago were in the vicinity of 43" to 43.5". In fact my old tm200 3 wood is .5" longer in length than this driver.

How things have changed.

Iain
5th November 2004, 10:50 PM
Has anyone else considered going to a shorter driver length to increase control?

The point of the bigger heads is counteract the loss of control with the longer shafts. And the clubhead is designed to be used with an optimial shaft length. So the answer to your question should be No. Shortening the length of the shafts would be overkill.
I disagree with that Blakey, I think the longer shafts came about after big headed drivers, not the other way around. And the point of bigger heads is forgiveness for the average hacker, the materials the manufacture's used became light enough that they could make 400cc heads, and because the drivers were more forgiving they could put longer shafts in to increase said hackers distance, when they didn't hit it out of the middle. The whole reson the pro's play driver length's from 43.5-44.5" is for control, you're more likely to hit the sweetspot more often with a shorter shaft than a longer one.


Whilst i didnt seem to have any trouble hitting the ball further a while back with a steel shaft and probably a <100cc head, there doeesnt seem to be any trend now towards using shorter shafts and smaller heads.
I don't know of any pro's, but there most likely are some, that play a driver longer than 44.5". But I don't think pro's are longer today than they used to be. As, the result of an old driver hit out of the sweetspot would be similar distance wise to a new driver hit on the sweetspot. Now a mishit compared to todays driver and one of 20yrs ago, the difference would be huge.... :shock: Which is why they all use big heads. :wink:


I would say that if a golfer neds to improve control with his driver its not the length thats the problem, but the flex.

I dont know what driver shaft lengths were 20 years ago. In those days we just bought whatever looked nice on the shelf.
I would say it's a combination of flex and length, not just flex.....

Iain

McMw
5th November 2004, 10:53 PM
IMO, with the bigger head, everyone can afford to have their drivers capped at 44inch....
afterall...it's not how hard you swing it, but how well you make contact... :wink:

it's prob more important to make sure that your 3wood length is set up correctly...too many 3woods this days are just too long (shaft wise)...

AndyP
5th November 2004, 11:04 PM
I have no idea what my shaft lengths are, but I guess I should. That's something I will probably look into next year.

I like the idea of gripping down the driver for more control, I just don't do it enough.

Jarro
6th November 2004, 01:17 AM
44.75" for all the drivers i've had.

i might look at going down to 44" soon though, to get some more control happening :)

andylo
6th November 2004, 08:13 AM
What is the legal length of driver shaft? 47"?

I perfer a longer shaft because its easier for me to feel where the head goes.

With shorter shaft, say 43", I tend to swing it too hard and too up right... which result either A: unusual high trajectory (NOT SKYING IT!!) or B: Fat soht :p

I like to have the shaft longer, feel where the head is, swing a flatter plane and smack the living sh1t out of it :D

Fishman Dan
6th November 2004, 08:56 AM
No idea what mine is, but did a side-to-side comparison last weekend and looked about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch shorter than my partner - so assuming it's 44.5 or 44.75.

Works for me (sometimes)? :smt102

McMw
6th November 2004, 02:06 PM
48inch limit on drivers....470cc limit on heads...

Jarro
6th November 2004, 02:16 PM
48inch limit on drivers.......

.. unless you're one of those long-drive monsters :wink: :shock:

davidp
6th November 2004, 03:19 PM
I tried to use a shorter driver but couldn't get used to it.

I had one built to 44.25" which performed pretty well, but in the end, I couldn't get used to it. In the process of selling it...

Have gone back to 45" drivers...

prmeier
6th November 2004, 10:08 PM
Play mine at 45 inches. Grip it normally to swing easy but choke down an inch when I want to try and smack it. Find the shorter length and lighter swingweight help me to get the driver through quicker.

I would think that most drivers these days are made to play at 45 inches so if you shorten them you change the swingweight quite a bit.

AndyP
6th November 2004, 10:39 PM
No idea what mine is, but did a side-to-side comparison last weekend and looked about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch shorter than my partner


Sorry. Tried to let it past, but I just couldn't. :oops:

goughy
7th November 2004, 06:57 AM
Well, I got in 2 holes yesterday and while I hit both in the rough, distance was comparable with any other driver I've hit. And I still really like the length at setup.

And while they were both in the rough they weren't neally as bad a drive as my usual.

I may stick with it for a while and try and build up some confidence with a driver before I go back to the standard.

Fishman Dan
7th November 2004, 08:43 AM
No idea what mine is, but did a side-to-side comparison last weekend and looked about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch shorter than my partner


Sorry. Tried to let it past, but I just couldn't. :oops:

You know what, as much as that appeals to my own childish sense of humour, i never saw that one coming.... :oops:

Jarro
7th November 2004, 08:56 AM
No idea what mine is, but did a side-to-side comparison last weekend and looked about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch shorter than my partner


Sorry. Tried to let it past, but I just couldn't. :oops:

You know what, as much as that appeals to my own childish sense of humour, i never saw that one coming.... :oops:

not because of the fact that your partners is 1/4 to 1/2 " shorter than yours,
what's even more worrying is the fact that your "partner" has one :shock:

.. something you're not telling us mate :?

drunken
7th November 2004, 09:05 AM
.. something you're not telling us mate :?

1 in 9, 1 in 9.....

AndyP
7th November 2004, 10:35 AM
.. something you're not telling us mate :?

1 in 9, 1 in 9.....
Nice pickup, drunken. :smt046

Jarro
7th November 2004, 02:09 PM
.. something you're not telling us mate :?

1 in 9, 1 in 9.....
Nice pickup, drunken. :smt046

um, yeah AndyP.. that's why i wrote it :roll: :lol:

Fishman Dan
7th November 2004, 03:21 PM
Children, children....

Besides, it's not like most adolescent boys don't do a measure-off at some stage, is it? :-k 8)

AndyP
7th November 2004, 09:48 PM
.. something you're not telling us mate :?

1 in 9, 1 in 9.....
Nice pickup, drunken. :smt046
um, yeah AndyP.. that's why i wrote it :roll: :lol:
Jarro, I don't know what the hell you are on about, but I was referring to drunken's transference of information from a post in another thread to this particular "conversation". I thought it was rather clever. :wink:

Your post suggesting that Fishy was gay wasn't so subtle that I didn't pick up on it, you know. :roll: :razz:

Fishman Dan
8th November 2004, 08:17 AM
Your post suggesting that Fishy was gay wasn't so subtle that I didn't pick up on it, you know. :roll: :razz:

Now this is off topic - to suggest i am gay because we are talking of a measure-off in a shaft thread. =;

I'm not gay, but i once slept with a guy who was..















[joke]

Drewti
27th September 2005, 08:06 AM
Guys,

I cut my driver shaft down to 43.5 and am actually hitting more fairways but losing a lot of yards off the tee. My buddies are saying that I was crazy to do this and making jokes that I'm swinging with a 3-wood. With the 46 inch driver, when all the stars allign, I can hit it about 285 yds. With the 43.5 I'm at 245/250. but with more consistancy. I'm thinking about going to 44.5 to see what that will do. Any thoughts? I didn't realize Pro's used from 43.5 - to 44.5 shafts.

jaster
27th September 2005, 08:14 AM
I think you have found the secret to more fairways drewti :) I recently had no driver for a few games and used either 3 wood or 2 iron/hybrid and found my score to be no more than what it usually is with driver off the tee.
On the long holes I was hitting 7/8 irons instead of wedge/lobby but most of the time it was from the fairway and not the trees. I am seriously thinking of putting a 44" steel shaft in a driver and give it a head to head against my 45" G2 to see what happens :)

Welcome also mate :smt023

Pinglauncher
27th September 2005, 08:50 AM
I have in the last 6 months gone from the standard 45" - 45.5" drivers back to 44.5". I am finding more fairways and have actually picked up a bit of distance.

peter_rs
27th September 2005, 09:25 AM
To prove how wrong my swing is I hit more fairways with my LD clubs (longer shafts) because I'm not trying to hit the ball so I produce a smoother swing and because the shafts are firmer they preform better

Drewti
27th September 2005, 11:49 AM
Thanks Guys. I'll stick with the paln and keep the 43.5 in the bag.

Drewti

ben
27th September 2005, 12:47 PM
44.5" with a 70+ gram shaft.

simple physics, the longer the swing arc, the harder it is to get the club back to square.

3oneday
27th September 2005, 01:20 PM
44.5" with a 70+ gram shaft.

simple physics, the longer the swing arc, the harder it is to get the club back to square.you can take a driver I have in the bag with a grain of salt I suppose, but I am playing an 80 gram Vista Pro in an Adams 430Q at 44.5" and it was the straightest and furtherest I have driven it for a while. Whether it lasts for more than 4 rounds is another story :roll: :lol:

Pete

Jarro
27th September 2005, 01:32 PM
so were you crackin' the 200 meter mark Pete :wink:

3oneday
27th September 2005, 02:03 PM
so were you crackin' the 200 meter mark Pete  :wink:yep, and I also had my gay fade under control as well..........


clown

:P

Pinglauncher
27th September 2005, 04:18 PM
Pete, 4 rounds for a driver is a lifetime for a true ho. C'mon you can do better than that :wink:

3oneday
27th September 2005, 08:38 PM
Pete, 4 rounds for a driver is a lifetime for a true ho. C'mon you can do better than that  :wink:ping my man, the round count is 1 thus far, 4 is very very far away !!!! :wink:

:lol:

Toolish
28th September 2005, 07:36 AM
After all this talk I tried gripping down on my driver at the range. I was fairly impressed with the results.

I have a Callaway GBBII with a factory shaft, not sure what length that is? Was looking at a reshaft anyway, so might shorten it up a bit when I do that.

ben
28th September 2005, 08:19 AM
Toolish,

I'd be a tleast 45". I had a ping G2 come into the shop on monday that was 45.5" and the guy was wondering why he couldn't hit it. Knocked off an inch, added some weight to the head and bam.. middle of the club.

Toolish
28th September 2005, 09:36 AM
It is 45" according to the Callaway site...gripping down an inch or so made a massive difference, except grip was a bit thin!!

BrisVegas
28th September 2005, 11:16 AM
My driver is 43.5 inch still and I've been gripping down on that! Not sure whether it's just that I prefer a (approx.) 42 inch shaft, the different swingweight or just that my old grips were too thick anear the butt. :?

I'll experiment tonight. :wink:

Jarro
28th September 2005, 01:46 PM
i've had mine chopped down from 45" to 44.5" and it feels much better, no loss of distance, but find the ball marks on the driver face are in the middle now more often than not 8)

jaster
28th September 2005, 02:04 PM
Serious question to Jarro and anyone else...

Why does .5" make such a difference? Wouldn't it be just as easy to grip down 1.25cm? After all that is less than the width of your little finger. I am asking because time and time again I see people getting there drivers cut down and accuracy improving, is it more of a mental thing? i.e. Having a longer driver means you can't grip down.....thoughts?

Jarro
28th September 2005, 02:10 PM
Chris McCourt told me i could achieve the same result if i choked down on the club.

I tried this but could never get comfy with the butt end sticking out the back of my hand .... just didn't feel right :?

jaster
28th September 2005, 02:23 PM
Thought that was the case, there is just something about having a 45" shaft and only using 44" of it :)

Toolish
3rd October 2005, 10:17 AM
I tried gripping down over weekend, but I honestly forget about it. It just feels natural to use all of the shaft, but when I don't use it all and grip down a bit the results are better!

Time to break out the hack saw!!

BrisVegas
3rd October 2005, 10:36 AM
Tried gripping as close to the butt of the grip as possible on Friday.

Drives were possibly a little longer than normal and accuracy was about the same. Haven't played Middle Ridge in a while, but had plenty of short irons in, esp. on 1,2,3,4, got home in 2 on 8, 10, 17, 18 so the driver was going at least 250 or so.

I think I just prefer the slightly shorter feel, combined with tall tees for a sweeping sensation on my drives.

jaster
3rd October 2005, 11:22 AM
got home in 2 on 8, 10, 17, 18 so the driver was going at least 250 or so.

17 and 18 :smt017 Aren't they 380m par 4s?

BrisVegas
3rd October 2005, 11:28 AM
got home in 2 on 8, 10, 17, 18 so the driver was going at least 250 or so.

17 and 18  :smt017 Aren't they 380m par 4s?

I said "at least". :wink: Got pipped for the long drive up 18 as I caught it a little "heely". dammit. 17 isn't that long I don't think.... Had PW on both holes for second shots. Only managed team pars though.... :oops:

jaster
3rd October 2005, 11:38 AM
LOL...your right..17 is only 340....bad luck on the long drive :(

peter_rs
3rd October 2005, 12:09 PM
But there both up hill Vegas which adds some- 18 plays long if you miss the drive. good work on 10 & 2.

Did you get on 1 in two or three?

BrisVegas
3rd October 2005, 12:16 PM
Did you get on 1 in two or three?

We had a non-golfer girl in our group who hit a reasonable drive on 1 short of the right fairway bunker, so we used hers. Had to use 2 of everyones drives, so we used it in case she didn't hit another one that good!

The first is only about 440, downhill right? Not that tough, but good as an opener.

peter_rs
3rd October 2005, 12:31 PM
No its not tough but it eats alot of people.

It always temps the 2 shot instead of a lay up.

jaster
3rd October 2005, 01:03 PM
Speaking of big hits.....I know the new trainee at the Ridge, Scott McDonald...he is the longest hitter I have ever seen in real life. Me and goughy played with him last year and he had 10ms left to go on 15...yes the 390m last half uphill par 4...he cut the corner with a draw...man it was just the most amazing thing me and goughy have ever seen :shock:
Apparently last week a 2 marker from City played with him and he had lob wedge left into 1 (80ms), 6 iron into 6 (515m) and lobby on the 8th.

I have no idea why he does not try the long drive tour, I have played with a lot of good golfers and get it out there ok myself...he carrys my ball with ease :(

BrisVegas
3rd October 2005, 01:21 PM
struth jaster, that's unbelievable. How the hell can you have lobby into 8?? :shock: I hit a great drive (for me) up there and we were still 200 metres out! I Can't even imagine what a 350 carry would sound or like...

jaster
3rd October 2005, 01:25 PM
I know...if I had not seen it with my own eyes I would call BS...ask goughy..this dude is the real deal :shock:

peter_rs
3rd October 2005, 01:38 PM
Vegas the 8th isn't that long- so you didn't fly the bunkers on the right. I knew Scott years ago (I hope he makes it big). He hits it big :lol: . Does he still have the low stinger drive that goes about 5m of the ground for the first 200m then starts climbing or has he gone for a more standard ball flight.

Anyone can hit huge drives in Toowoomba in the right weather. The 6th up the top I have cut the corner and been 100m out (par 5-550m hole down hill with a bit of wind :roll: ).

I watched him in a pro-am on the coast and at sea level he was shorter. He looked at long drive once and couldn't see spending $40 for six balls as good value.

BrisVegas
3rd October 2005, 01:54 PM
Vegas the 8th isn't that long- so you didn't fly the bunkers on the right.  


Yeah, we were a fair bit past the fairway bunker. I didn't pace it out, but we were at least 30-40 back from the 150 metre pegs. Regardless, this guy would have been close to 100 metres longer on a hole with not much roll.... :shock:



Anyone can hit huge drives in Toowoomba in the right weather. The 6th up the top I have cut the corner and been 100m out (par 5-550m hole down hill with a bit of wind :roll: ).


Agreed! With a westerly and dry conditions, anything is possible. I cut the corner of 6 on Friday (it was raining, so not much roll) but was more like 200 out. You're huge. Even allowing for shortening the hole, 450 metres is not of this world. :wink:

jaster
3rd October 2005, 02:01 PM
Vegas the 8th isn't that long- so you didn't fly the bunkers on the right. I knew Scott years ago (I hope he makes it big). He hits it big :lol: . Does he still have the low stinger drive that goes about 5m of the ground for the first 200m then starts climbing or has he gone for a more standard ball flight.

The 8th never use to have bunkers on the right fairway, are they new?

Scott is from Roma, has only been in Toowoomba for a few years...are you from Roma? His ballflight was always big and arcing from what I have seen Peter.


Anyone can hit huge drives in Toowoomba in the right weather. The 6th up the top I have cut the corner and been 100m out (par 5-550m hole down hill with a bit of wind :roll: ).

A long hit on the 6th downwind isn't a big deal but stating that anyone can hit huge drives in Toowoomba is a big call!!!


I watched him in a pro-am on the coast and at sea level he was shorter. He looked at long drive once and couldn't see spending $40 for six balls as good value.

I have played in quite Brisbane a few times and never had to adjust my yardages for the difference in Altitude, played at Keperra sight unseen last year in one of my trips with the Darling Downs team and shot 73 to square my matchplay hitting my irons very well. IMO 600m above sea level does not make much of a difference. Bit different if you were at Castle Pines which is at 6300ft above sea level. :)

AndyP
3rd October 2005, 02:04 PM
I watched him in a pro-am on the coast and at sea level he was shorter. He looked at long drive once and couldn't see spending $40 for six balls as good value.

I have played in quite Brisbane a few times and never had to adjust my yardages for the difference in Altitude, played at Keperra sight unseen last year in one of my trips with the Darling Downs team and shot 73 to square my matchplay hitting my irons very well. IMO 600m above sea level does not make much of a difference. Bit different if you were at Castle Pines which is at 6300ft above sea level. :)
When I played in Canberra, someone was trying to tell me that I would gain a few metres. I never really noticed it.
I can't remember getting the club selection too wrong in my recent trip up the mountain to Toowoomba either. :smt102

BrisVegas
3rd October 2005, 02:06 PM
The 8th never use to have bunkers on the right fairway, are they new?

Phew! I thought I was going crazy.... :? I can't remember there being a bunker there, but if Pete says there was, I just assume we were past it. I don't remember my ball going near a bunker... Unless he's talking about the ones short right of the green.. Must be getting old. Can't remember a hole from 3 days ago.... :lol:

jaster
3rd October 2005, 02:13 PM
:lol:

BrisVegas
3rd October 2005, 02:18 PM
did I mention that I'd had half a dozen bundy n cokes by that stage! :oops:

gotta love free drinks! 8)

peter_rs
3rd October 2005, 02:54 PM
Yes I'm a Roma boy- I knew him years ago. did uni in toowoomba.

Well I was happy as a hacker hitting it that far.  It was the hit that got me to have a go at long drive.

OK big drives for what they expect then. I think you can get 20m+ in good weather. Its more something you see with tee shots so it may be more the course then the added height. In the last trip andy we had little chance of hitting a big drive with that wind.

The bunkers have been there for about a year part of the changes to the course. they start at the bottom of the hill and go up the right side 40m. They are there to catch people trying to cut the corner.

jaster
3rd October 2005, 04:16 PM
Yes I'm a Roma boy- I knew him years ago. did uni in toowoomba.

Cool...ssshhh...don't tell anyone..I grew up in Charleville ;) Played an interclub pennants against Jacko (greg jackson I think) a fair few years ago when I was off 3 and he was off 1...he beat me on the 20th hole 8) I was happy as I had never played there and shot -1



OK big drives for what they expect then. I think you can get 20m+ in good weather. Its more something you see with tee shots so it may be more the course then the added height. In the last trip andy we had little chance of hitting a big drive with that wind.

Can't agree sorry mate...flat conditions with no wind...there is no distance increase here in Toowoomba.


The bunkers have been there for about a year part of the changes to the course. they start at the bottom of the hill and go up the right side 40m. They are there to catch people trying to cut the corner.

Wow..that is a great place to put the bunkers..with the pines on the left and them on the right it makes it a tough hole!

peter_rs
4th October 2005, 07:37 AM
They have made a couple of hole tough with the changes. Have you played from the new tee on 12.