Driver Length

[Grunt]

Hi all

Has anyone here cut down the length of their Driver shaft a little? Have heard that the average Tour shaft length is in fact .5" shorter than that of standard off the shelf clubs. I realise it would be easier to control being shorter but how many on here have done it.

[AndyP]

I know A-Lo has had some shorter shafted drivers. If I was one who adjusted my clubs, I would probably get it done too, as I grip down the majority of the time.

[Grunt]

I am going to try the grip down tomorrow, if it works well i may do it permanently.

[mikezone13]

My 3 wood is cut down to 5 wood length and I nail it the centre of the club more often than not. You've seen me hit it grunt :)

The key with shorter woods is that you'll hit the sweet spot more consistently, so your longest drive with a longer shaft will always go furthest but with the shorter shaft you'll hit the centre more often and so have a much tighter dispersion pattern in both length and accuracy.

[Jarro]

I have 2 drivers at the moment (shudup 3oneday :p ) one is at 44.25 and the other at 45.

I've found that the 45" shafted driver plays pretty similar to the other, where before i thought it was better to play a shorter shaft in order to hit more fairways ?????

[kwantfm]

I have a heavy shafted driver at 44" which performs very well and have also experimented with drivers down to 43" (had a couple of MWT TM drivers where I really loaded up the head weight). I didn't find that going down to a very short driver improved accuracy much. In the end I've found that I tend to like drivers at about 44.5" (Burner TP at 45.5" should be an interesting experiment).

[Ducky]

I have 2 drivers at the moment... one is at 44.25 and the other at 45.

Geez, that would be like a full grown man swinging a 55" driver. Cut 'em down!

:wink:

[Moe Norman]

I play a 44" but untl about 6 months ago I played a 43.5" driver.

Definately helps me with control (you should see how ugly it gets at 45" :o )

I have found it has little or no effect on distance.

[Grunt]

May be the go for me then, distance is not as big a deal for me as accuracy.

[PeteyD]

I remember reading that 0.5" equates to about 2 metres or something like that, so cut down the driver for control was the recommendation there.

[markTHEblake]

ummm, the reason they make the heads so big now, was to increase the margin for error so the golfer could swing harder and use a longer shaft to get more distance. Seems kinda pointless to go for shorter shafts.

in any case i choke down on the shaft about 1 inch for every club, stupid bad habit i cant get out of - but if you want a shorter shaft you can try that instead and save money!

[3oneday]

I play a 44" but untl about 6 months ago I played a 43.5" driver.65 gram shaft or heavier ?

[Courty]

in any case i choke down on the shaft about 1 inch for every club, stupid bad habit i cant get out of - but if you want a shorter shaft you can try that instead and save money!

I read that for every 1/2 inch you grip down, you lose a full club in distance (ie. grip down on a 6 iron, and hit it 7 iron distance).

[Speirsy11]

44.5" for me......

[Moe Norman]

65 gram shaft or heavier ?

ei70 X at 43.5"
Penley Stealth at 43.5"

Currently using Speeder Tour Spec at 44"

no idea the grams on any of them, but assume ei70 is a 70 :)

[AndyP]

I read that for every 1/2 inch you grip down, you lose a full club in distance (ie. grip down on a 6 iron, and hit it 7 iron distance).
You've read it, but have you tested it?

[BrisVegas]

in any case i choke down on the shaft about 1 inch for every club, stupid bad habit i cant get out of ..

Me too... I've gotten used to seeing an inch or so shaft out the back of my hand. Kinda like when gripping my ol....... oh.... well you know... ;)

I play +3/4" shafts, per dynamic fitting sessions etc, but can't recall whether I was gripping down as usual when I was on the loft/lie mat...

EDIT - Driver is 44.5"

[andylo]

44" here... with Diamana I can go 44 1/3" (due to more stable shaft)

But with 44" or shorter I find the sweet spot so much more often.

[Rusty]

haven't noticed any consistency/accuracy differences when gripping down on driver (shaft length of 45"). grip down about 1-1.5" when less distance required. though, maybe i also then swing a little bit more easier, and maybe therefore feel more relaxed, which can only help. fortunately either the driver or 5w is usually firing (more flexible shaft in 5w).

also read that Steve Griffiths (55yo senior long drive champ) feels that 1" longer = +1mph = +2.5 yards. maybe it does for those guys, not sure about me, and how am i really going to notice 2.5 yards.