This raises the immediate question, why is a relatively tall, obviously highly skilled player using a shorter than standard driver. For every 12 inch you remove, you will lose approximately. A heavier shaft may help smooth smooth out your tempo and hit the ball better. Shorten shaft for better driving accuracy golf channel.
Or better yet, have a new driver customfit and custombuilt not only at a shorter length, but also for loft, face angle, shaft, total weight, swingweight, and grip size. There is an optimum driver shaft length with which golfers will achieve. Most people do not lose clubhead speed with a shorter driver, but they make better contact and hit the ball straighterin other words, they hit the ball more accurately and farther with a shorter club. Be aware of a change in lie angle, less of a problem wa driver, but be aware nonetheless. Feb 09, 2018 for this video, weve used the gc quad launch monitor to gather real world data comparing two identical clubs that only differ in shaft length. A realworld example would be to compare the swings of two legendary golfers, nick price and fred couples. My bigger question is how the club felt with this short a shaft, and how the swing weight might have changed and what if. However, in the 21st century a standard driver is considered to be 45 inches. Aftermarket shafts are generic designs without consideration to specific club head designs. 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. A shorter driver shaft increases the likelihood of a golfer making better contact off the center of the driver s face. The argument for playing a shorter driver has never been about distance. 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 perfect driver lets you play golf the way it was intended to be playedfrom the fairway.
Thanks for your detailed article of 2009 about are your golf clubs too long. The longer shaft promises more speed but possibly less control while the. Longer shaft or shorter in your driver, mark crossfield changes the shaft in his ts3 driver and talks about if there are any more. I am looking for golfers that have had an experience with much shorter drivers. Theres no consistent pattern, and that has a lot do with the shaft being a little too long for that particular.
That will keep the swing weight high at shorter length. The quest for a more accurate driver practical golf. Graphite shafts can be used in drivers and irons, though they are most commonly found in longer golf clubs. The standard length of a driver for men used to be 43. So it easy to start hitting high shots that spend too much energy going up and not enough. The best 2019 driver and shaft combinations dlance golf. Proper length shorter is better weight and flex can give you more. 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. A shorter shaft was probably suggested to help you with more consistent contact with the sweet spot which will lead to more distance and more consistent drives. Most people do not lose clubhead speed with a shorter driver, but they make better contact and hit the ball straighterin other words, they hit the ball more accurately and farther with a. If it feels good, and works better, then you should stick with it.
I have given up maybe 57 yards but have been hitting more fairways and therefore having a better chance of hitting more greens as well. Bring swingweight back up with a combination of a heavier shaft andor grip in combination with adding weight to your clubhead. The perfect club driver is shorter than a conventional driver. 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. Each of our testers recorded their slowest average swing speed with the 44. Things like lighter shaft weights can sometime assist with the consistency, but rarely do our fittings result in anyone consistently performing better with anything. Price had a lighting quick tempo, and a much shorter swing versus the long, flowing swing of couples. Find the right driver shaft length for your game golficity. In our player performance studio, our testing with trackman proves out time and time again that the 45 and in some cases 44.
In our iron test, we routinely saw a 10 or 20 gram change in shaft weight produce distance variations of 810 yards. A recent golf test i dont remember where, showed amateurs hitting the longer shafts 45. The truth about golf shafts that every golfer should know. So would the average 18handicap golfer benefit from having a shorter driver shaft fitted.
With the new trend of shortened driver shafts on tour right now, a question came to my mind. With arms extended, turn as far as you comfortably can while maintaining your address posture and spine. It starts with the driver and goes progressively heavier from there. The folks at ping built me two identical g30 driversone at their standard length of 4534 inches, the other two inches shorter. Jan 31, 2017 the stock driver length of most manufacturers taylormade, callaway ping, cobra these days is 45. Sep 25, 2018 for most, most people a shorter shaft is good. We always advise you on what happens when golf shafts are not right for your swing.
Anyone ever shorten their driver shaft for more control. If you are going to shorten a golf club, there are a few things to keep in mind. When we realized that we had never tested the concept of shorter driver shafts being more accurate. A shorter driver shaft increases the likelihood of a golfer making better contact off the center of the drivers face. Aug 20, 2015 using trackman my idea was to test the same golfer, clubhead and golf ball, but change the shaft length. Looking at the two pictures to the right, the top image is from a driver with a 45. Its probably a good idea for the vast majority of amateurs, but cutting the driver shaft down is not the final word. We immediately set out to fix that and discover whether golfers are helped or harmed by longer driver shafts. When fitting a driver, its important to get loft, lie, shaft, and grip sorted, but better driving may be hiding in a shorter shaft. If you stand very tall and have a steep swing plane, you could use a slightly longer driver. Or, to give you another alternative, if you find that you can hit your driver better at a shorter than standard length such as 44 or 44 14 inches you may ultimately hit it even better by reshafting it with a heavier weight shaft like an 85 gram or 95 gram shaft. The suggestion as ive always interpreted it is that a shorter driver will be more accurate, and because youre better able to control the club, and find the sweet spot, more often, average total distance could actually increase. You could possibly be a full club longer by finding the right shaft weight. Jan 12, 2017 whether you put a premium on distance or accuracy, getting fit for the proper shaft weight is essential to making a golf club perform for you.
Oct 17, 2017 hold your driver with your right hand on the hosel and your left hand on the grip above. First of allapologies for what may be a naive question. Can a shorter driver shafts say from 44 to 42 help or aid in driving the. May 10, 2019 this week gear guy explores the theory that a longer driver shaft equals more distance, the importance of face inserts on putters and more. The perfect driver lets you play golf the way it was intended. Most of the time, the distance lost maybe 2 yards is waaaayyy outweighed in the. Once again, we feel that the shaft is of critical importance to getting optimum performance out of any club, but especially the driver. We address why longer shafts dont actually produce longer. I was curious about this, as i know a lot of manufacturers make stock driver shafts in the 45 to 46 range, but most touring professionals use a 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. Those two lengths would objectively be considered by the golf community to be both a shorter and longer than standard shaft. 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. Driver shaft length is shorter better than standard. Theres no doubt that the majority of golfers would experience an increase in club. If you prefer a short but straight shot, go up a stiffness in shaft flex. All things being equal, having a longer driver shaft will enable you to swing faster and hit the ball farther. Rombax 7v05 at 276cpm and 324g i never imagined i would be able to hit the egg as far as i used too with lighter softer shafts but instead i hit it better than ever. 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. New driver shafts are made as long as 46 inches, requiring them to be cut down to size for most players.
I will make some predictions for misses based upon a righthanded golfer. Besides coming very close to my usual driver distance, i also stayed in range of my playing partners who. A short driver shaft may help you hit a straight shot better and also hit the center of the face more than you usually do. The lessened spin and the longer ball flight make the fujikura vista pro 60 an ideal upgrade for any. Its not really any straighter, and one thing i didnt think about was the shorter lever makes the ball climb faster. The more often a golfer hits the center of the drivers face, the more consistency they will see in their driving accuracy and distance. Hi, i am thinking of shortening my driver shaft from stock length 45. Shortening the shaft can make the golf club less flexible. Shorter shafts eliminate those compensation moves, improving accuracy for the majority of players. Proper length shorter is better weight and flex can give you more distance, accuracy and consistency. Most of the time, the distance lost maybe 2 yards is waaaayyy outweighed in the accuracy gained. Remove the grip from the driver using a hook blade or a utility knife, as well as the grip tape on the shaft.
Moreover, a short shaft helps you gain better control. There are players on the pga tour using lighter driver shafts with swing speeds upwards of 115120 mph. Is there any difference besides lengthadapter in driver shafts vs. There is consistently less spin and a better angle for hitting the ball. May 28, 2018 it has more to do with the load you are applying. Use our fitting wizard to find the right driver shaft for you. 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. Many tour pros are opting for a shorter driver shaft these days, but why. The best 2019 driver and shaft combinations dlance.
Don, i think that was a great experiment, and agrees perfectly with the articles and the clubfitter, tom wishon, i referenced in my column. What happens when golf shafts are not right for your swing. You might be surprised that most pros have an average driver shaft length of 44. And when we look at their drivers, we typically see one commonality, their driver shaft length. Wesley, i have found that a shorter shaft has kept me straighter as well. For example, a golfer with an 7580 mph swing speed and a smooth tempo would play roughly a 50. Wishon also told me that the average driver length on the pga tour is shorter than the standard lengths equipment companies sell us.
Most male golfers are wielding drivers that measure 45 to 48 inches, the maximum allowed under the united states golf associations rules of golf. Importance of shaft weight in fitting dlance golfd. The shaft has no idea how fast the club head is actually moving. A shorter shaft doesnt necessarily mean that you will lose any distance like someone mentioned. The more shaft you cut off, the lighter, more stiff, and effectively flatter the club becomes. All things being equal, why would a longer shaft be longer than a short shafted driver if both have equal specs. Getting a better trajectory is expected when you buy one of the best driver shafts on the market and this specific option certainly does not disappoint. For this video, weve used the gc quad launch monitor to gather real world data comparing two identical clubs that only differ in shaft length. With the shorter 44 shaft you have greater confidence and can cut loose with your swing. Thinking about cutting my driver shaft down an inch. Oct 01, 2018 a better test wouldve been to go headtohead with a 44.
To answer that question right away, we dont think so. Odds are, youve tinkered with your driver shafts to help squeeze every last yard out of your swing, while paying little attention to your iron shafts. The more often a golfer hits the center of the driver s face, the more consistency they will see in their driving accuracy and distance. It may seem surprising but the average driver length on the pga tour is slightly less, at 44. A shorter swing along with limited shoulder and hip turns will likely lead to a lack of depth thus limiting speed and also the possibility of poor path into impact. This is a very important concept that simply means longer clubs should have lighter weight shafts than shorter clubs. So there has to be a reason why these shorter drivers go farther, right. Is there an optimum shaft length depending on driver swing characteristics. I took my current driver, which is the titleist d3 8. Secondlyis anyone playing a longer length driver or shorter shaft in their 3 woods, making it into a strong 3 wood or 4 woo. I play a driver thats a half inch shorter than stock shafts on that model.
Jan 15, 2014 will a shorter driver give you more distance. 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. Using trackman my idea was to test the same golfer, clubhead and golf ball, but change the shaft length. Im 61 and the number of flush strikes are better and my distance has not suffered whatsoever. That is the main reason you can hit a 8 iron better than a driver. A short shaft driver tends to offer better dispersion, smash factor, and quality of contact in comparison to a long shaft driver. A lot of golfers that have never been through our fitting process, think that the majority of their misshits are caused by their swing. I understand that this would give me much better control, and slightly less distance which is ok. The same thing happened on my previous driver several years ago. You will make more consistent contact and have more control. Dec 01, 2019 what is the optimum driver shaft length.
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