If you stand very tall and have a steep swing plane, you could use a slightly longer driver. Jul 24, 2008 if you shorten your driver it will fit in the dusbin easier. In the test, the golfers took two warmup swings with each weight and. 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. Taking a look at the driver shaft length used by the tour leaders in strokes gained. The stock driver length of most manufacturers taylormade, callaway ping, cobra these days is 45. The general golfing public has been conditioned and educated that shaft flex is the endallbeall when it comes to shafts and that simply is not true. Also, as you are learning the game, your swing will change enough in the first few.
In short, this driver is definitely in our top 3 for this year but its adjustability is complicated. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a club head. 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. It works better than just shortening your grip on the club. A shorter driver doesnt give up as much swing speed as people think, but even if its a few mph, its negligible. Is that helping the average golfer or hurting them. So would the average 18handicap golfer benefit from having a shorter driver shaft fitted. Any loss in distance has been minimal, as im making contact with the center of the club face more consistently and i get better roll out in the short grass. Youll find it easier to hit the sweet spot with a shorter shaft, and you can go after. Taking an inch off your driver is unlikely to make a dramatic difference. Interestingly i always thought i had a pretty flat swing, especially as i stand up tall to the ball at address. Since the mid 2000s, the average driver length on the pga tour has held steady.
We believe that the shaft is the part of the club that has the most impact on distance, consistency and accuracy, so that is why we are including our shaft recommendations in this list. 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 is no question i have been an advocate for driver shaft length to be shorter than the current standard driver shaft lengths as offered by the various golf equipment companies. Driver shaft length japanese golf clubs japanese golf.
New driver shafts are made as long as 46 inches, requiring them to be cut down to size for most players. Jan 31, 2017 the stock driver length of most manufacturers taylormade, callaway ping, cobra these days is 45. I had my driver shaft professionally shortened to either 44 or 43. Shorter shafts eliminate those compensation moves, improving accuracy for the majority of players. With the new trend of shortened driver shafts on tour right now, a question came to my mind. The perfect club driver is shorter than a conventional driver. Sounds counterintuitive, and probably is, as i expect most people will experience some increase in accuracy by going down 12 to 1 inch. The first is by tom wishon, who is considered by many to be one of the leading. Needing both a shorter shaft and a heavier shaft is a right pita. There is a good chance that your golf clubs are too long. 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.
Over the past twenty years, golf club manufacturers have been making clubs stronger meaning they have less loft on the face, and longer so that they can sell hopeful golfers the newest hot weapon that will knock the ball unimaginable distances. However, because i drive the right shoulder down and through the ball so much, it means that the plane gets quite a bit steeper. As the swing changes so do the clubs part 1 the heavier and stiffer club setup update part 2 the dreaded driver many of us dream of hitting our driver long and straight consistently but the truth is that for many of us, hitting a driver is our worst nightmare. Its possible that the shorter club will send you ball higher with less roll and you might beed to address the ball a bit farther back.
Can i shorten my driver shaft or should i just reshaft. There were 3 testers that put up a tighter dispersion pattern of 25 yards or more with the shorter driver. The golf club heads innovative carbon fiber crown combined with the weightforward design supports low spin performance, blazing fast ball speed and breathtaking distance finetuned for forgiveness and accuracy. I took my current driver, which is the titleist d3 8. Woods are mainly used for longdistance fairway or tee shots. The impact of the length of a driver shaft on your game. What is gained though is the ability to hit the ball on the screws a higher percentage of the time, and the more often you can do that, the better you will drive the ball. 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. 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. I was hitting the ball so far off line it cost me not only accuracy but distance. Shaft properties such as shaft flex, shaft torque, flex point kick or bend point, shaft length and weight, influence playability by impacting on trajectory, accuracy, balance, consistency and feel. However the average shaft length on the european and pga tours is 44 inches with some of the very best players having even shorter shafts. If i shorten my driver shaft will it help with accuracy of. The hightensile, betatitanium crown, titanium soleplate and variable face technology produce plenty of distance and forgiveness with a high trajectory.
There is an optimum driver shaft length with which golfers will. I upgraded about 6 months ago to the callaway xr and cut the shaft to 45. Using trackman my idea was to test the same golfer, clubhead and golf ball, but change the shaft length. Read some of tom wishons work on driver length vs distance and accuracy, it is very insightful. You might be surprised that most pros have an average driver shaft length of 44. Most three wood shafts are the old driver standard 43. Our driver fitting takes approximately one 1 to one and a half 1. In the first place, the error here is that its not your swing speed that is. Jim furyk, for example, is one of the most accurate in the game off the tee, and his driver shaft measures 44. If you choked down so it plays like a 44 inch shaft, would it go further, the same, or shorter than if you had a shaft cut down to 44 inches and didnt choke down at all. Im 61 and the number of flush strikes are better and my distance has not suffered whatsoever.
For us, the argument for a shorter driver is really an argument for accuracy, and. Nov 21, 2015 in fact, many tour pros use driver shafts less than 45 inches. 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. The longer shaft promises more speed but possibly less control while the shorter shaft promises more consi.
Odysseys austie rollinson, drew the first iteration on a coworkers notepad. Shorter driver shafts can help a golfer with more consistent contact and control. So i decided to not only experiment with a shorter driver, but also heavier and stiffer. The question is which driver of these two do you want. Find the right driver shaft length for your game golficity. Its a great driver and its down to the correct allocation of not only its very precise technology but also the matching of the correct shaft to make the clubs adjustability work for you. The perfect driver lets you play golf the way it was intended to be playedfrom the fairway. 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. D j trahan is 6 3 and, according to his father, plays a 44 12 inch driver and he wants him to cut it down to 44.
After a comprehensive overview of my stats last year i came to the conclusion that if i want to get to the next level as a golfer, i am going to have to hit more greens, and that all starts with how i position myself off the tee. I ran the idea by him of shortening my shaft to make a more accurate driver, but. They prioritise accuracy and control when configuring their driver. Driver shaft length are you shorting yourself using a 46. For the driver test, they hit seven drives each with a 50, 60, and 70 gram shaft, all using the same. From the beginning of the 20th century all the way through to the middle 1980s, the standard mens driver length stood at 43. Jimmy walker moves to shorter driver at kapalua and finds comfort. Grip size can also help with clubhead release and accuracy. 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. What our customers are looking for is what are the best driver and shaft combinations that we have fit so far in 2019.
The accuracy compensates well for the loss in distance. As for your lack of distance, you must work on increasing your swing speed. Advanced ball striking view topic shorter driver shaft. We will then recommend shaft length, shaft flex, shaft weight, shaft type, shaft tip stiffness, loft, lie and head design for either reshafting your existing driver or recommend a new driver. For the first 10 holes, i hooked almost every shot, even when i. Tiger woods at his longest used a relatively short 43. I have a tm 320 regular version with a prolite stiff. A golf club is a club used to hit a golf ball in a game of golf. The effect of driver mass and shaft length on initial golf. So would the average 18 handicap golfer benefit from having a shorter driver shaft fitted.
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. This raises the immediate question, why is a relatively tall, obviously highly skilled player using a shorter than standard driver. As a group the shorter driver did hit the ball tighter than the longer driver. Shorter driver shaft i went from 45 to 43 12 a few years back and have gained more control over my driver. Mar 28, 2016 the quest for a more accurate driver everyone wants to find out how to have a more accurate driver including me. I have pretty good results, but am not as accurate as i would like.
Anyone ever shorten their driver shaft for more control. The quest for a more accurate driver practical golf. 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. After he too smoked one, we looked at the shaft, and it was an aldila nvs xtra stiff 65 gram if i recall, and the loft was actually 9. Shorten shaft for better driving accuracy golf channel.
His new gamer 917d2 driver with an aldila rogue 125 80x shaft has a. If you are playing a shorter driver, say 44 inches instead of the standard 45 inches, you should consider a slightly heavier shaft, say 10 grams heavier. 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. The pxg 0811 x gen2 driver features hot rod technology inspired by the look and extreme performance of american muscle cars. Despite ranking 208th in driving distance, jim furyk has remained relevant with a highly reliable driver 1st in driving accuracy and scoring average 69. A recent golf test i dont remember where, showed amateurs hitting the longer shafts 45. Use our fitting wizard to find the right driver shaft for you. Harrison shotmaker shaft insert improve driver accuracy. Test driver configurations driver club loft deg club mass g shaft mass g club length cm shaft stiffness swing weight 1 9. The perfect club driver 370 vft perfect driver golf club. Wed jan 15, 2014 by dave phillips drivers generally come standard at 4546 inches in length, the longer the driver shaft the potential exists for more distance, theoretically your swing arc would be wider and therefore you could create more speed.
When thinking about length, the first thing you need to focus on is finding a length that keeps your. Nov 07, 20 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. 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. Jun 21, 2018 driver shaft length is longer or shorter better. The perfect driver lets you play golf the way it was intended. The harrison shotmaker is a usgaapproved removable insert which goes into your driver shaft to improve accuracy. It is why the most popular weight for driver shaftweights on the pga tour is. A shorter driver, he said, encourages center contact on the clubface, which leads to longer, straighter drives. The best 2019 driver and shaft combinations true fit clubs. The taylor made r15 driver and how to get the best from it. Jan 15, 2014 will a shorter driver give you more distance. That could wreck your golf game tom wishon ricks custom fit. Sep 21, 2011 its possible that the shorter club will send you ball higher with less roll and you might beed to address the ball a bit farther back.
Even my playing partners couldnt believe how much straighter i was hitting my driver. 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. 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. May 27, 2019 despite ranking 208th in driving distance, jim furyk has remained relevant with a highly reliable driver 1st in driving accuracy and scoring average 69. Though we didnt undergo a full shaft fitting for this test, we were very. Aug 20, 2015 using trackman my idea was to test the same golfer, clubhead and golf ball, but change the shaft length.
Walker shot 8under 65 to take the firstround lead at the sbs tournament of champions. Driver shafts have gotten longer over the last few years. Many japanese magazines recommend lighter weights for average golfers and slower swingers to help increase swing speeds and because of this typical average golfer models these days all fall below the 300g range many dropping even below 290 and even 280g. Right shortening the shaft will make the shaft stiffer for starters eg. Oct 30, 2012 shaft weight and torque make a bigger difference than shaft flex.
I recommend you try this at a range where the clubhouse can lend you a club with a shorter shaft. Many people would actually hit longer drives with shorter drivers as they would get better center club face contanct. In fact, many tour pros use driver shafts less than 45 inches. After 17 delightful holes of crushing the ball when it mattered, my partner asked if he could try out the driver. I have a 2006 ti460 cleveland launcher, with the standard cleveland sliver aflex shaft, and the clubs length is 45. Most pros dont hit anything longer than a 45inch driver. Accuracy, feel explain why some pga tour players have gone to.
Schedule an appointment with a clubfitting expert for a driver fitting and have them check driver length for you. Yes it feels light, but only when i try someone elses driver. The weight of the shaft is going to help keep the players swing on plane. More importantly that test showed a 28% increase in accuracy with the shorter shaft. It takes a shorter club for most people to create the desired spine and shaft. This is particularly true for graphite shafts as some variables are only of importance in graphite shafts. There were 3 testers that put up a tighter dispersion pattern of 25 yds or more with the shorter driver. With the shorter 44 shaft you have greater confidence and can cut loose with your swing. The impact of the length of a driver shaft on your game this is the. Shorter driver length means better and more consistent contact which leads to better and more consistent distance.
For some, a shorter driver shaft might lead to more confidence, more. Each player went through two different testing sessions one with a driver, one with an iron. Also does a shorter shafts allow more consistent control. In the march hotlinks, club expert tom wishon wrote that one key to real improvement with the driver comes from a shorter length. Typical shaft weights in 65 grams but some players with fast transitions may like a heavier shaft.