Is your driver too long for ya?

[Chieflongtee]

Is your driver too long for ya? Take a look at an excerpt from Tom Wishon's book.

http://www.wishongolf.com/designs/bo...rpt-chap-1.php

The Search for the Perfect Golf Club (excerpt)
From Chapter 1 - Getting a Head
The loft, lie and lengths of your clubs all interact with one another and your swing speed to give you the direction, distance and trajectory of your ball flight. In terms of accuracy, the most important of these three is club length, followed by lie and loft. Let's look particularly at length.

Length and accuracy is a no brainer. Think about it. If I put a club head at the end of a 10 inch shaft and ask you hit a golf ball straight down the fairway, it would be a pretty easy task. OK, so you'd only get to put one hand on the club, you'd be on your knees to address the ball, and the ball wouldn't go very far. But, it would be easy to make solid contact and to hit the ball straight. Now, let's say I switch you from a 10 inch to a 10 foot club and ask you to do the same thing. What do you think's going to happen?

Right. The 10 foot long club would be almost completely uncontrollable.

I remember when long drive competitions had just started, and golfers were in awe of the humongous long drivers these gorillas used. All of a sudden there was so much interest among regular golfers in super-long drivers that many shaft companies began to manufacture specially designed super-long shafts to meet the demand.

One day I built a 60" long driver with a graphite shaft finished in a bright fire engine red. My wife Mary-Ellen happened to work with LPGA Tour player Tammie Green's brother at the time. We were headed out for a picnic at the Green family farm outside the quaint little town of Somerset, Ohio that weekend. I knew Tod would just love to get his hands on that club, what with all the talk at the time in golf about super long drivers, so I shoehorned all 60 inches of it into the car.

The 9-hole golf course where all the Greens learned to play bordered the family's farmland so as soon as I pulled this 60" driver out of the car, Tod and Tammie got this gleam in their eyes and said, "let's go over to the club." In a flash the three of us hopped on the family John Deere, headed out across the fields and over to the Perry County 'Country Club'. Some vehicle to head into a golf course parking lot with, eh!

As soon as we rolled in, Tod hopped off the tractor, took the 60 inch driver and strolled into the "clubhouse." Conspicuously waggling the driver in front of him, Tod hollered out, "Tammie'n me got us a new driver here and we're a'wonderin' if any of you boys want to give it a whack." Sure enough, the "boys" all jumped up and insisted on heading outside the front door to the 1st tee to try it out. Once there Tod posed a little proposition–you know, a group of guys hanging out drinkin' beers in the shop can't possibly do anything golf-related without "putting something on it"!

Tod said, "OK, you guys give me a buck for each swing you take with this driver and I'll give you two bucks if you hit it over the ditch out there in the fairway." I took a look and figured the ditch that crossed the first fairway was out there about 210 yards, and probably a hazard most of these guys feared with their "mini-drivers." With visions of massive drives from this 60" driver, tongues were hanging out and hands were reaching into back pockets before Tod could finish uttering the challenge. Of course, Tod's "shill" was sister Tammie. After several of the "boys" paid the buck and topped, heeled, or dropkicked the driver, Tammie would step in and say, "Tod, you sure there ain't nothing wrong with that driver that's causin' the boys to hit it so short"? At which point Tod promptly handed the club to his tour player sister Tammie who blew the ball WELL over the ditch on the fly.

Well that just stirred things up even more with the boys of Perry County C.C. To make a long story short, Tod and Tammie walked away with over $100 that day! And the guys all left with a lesson about long drivers, on-center hits and accuracy. The most heard phrase that day? "Gimme that damn thing again, I know I can fly the ditch." So Tod, Tammie and I all headed to the Somerset butcher shop and grilled steak at the picnic instead of burgers and dogs!

What all this means is this. Somewhere between 10 inches and 10 feet is the correct length for a golf club to hit the ball solid with distance and accuracy. But, I'll guarantee the right length for you is far closer to 10 inches than 10 feet! Do NOT assume that the "standard" length found on the clubs in the golf shop, especially the woods, will be right for you. 98% of the men's drivers these days are built to a "standard" length of 45 or 45.5 inches; and I am here to tell you that a 45 inch driver will not fit 90% of all golfers and will never allow them to achieve their best combination of distance AND accuracy.

Let me put it another way. Tiger Woods has swung a 43.5 inch driver most of his career on tour. If he could hit the ball straight with a 45 inch club–he would. He can't; so he doesn't. And he knows if he did use a longer driver, he'd have even more trouble keeping it in play. The average driver length for all the other pros on the PGA Tour today is 44.5 inches. Now if Tiger and the rest of his pals know they can't control a 45 inch long stick, what are the chances that you can?

[Big Johnny69]

How old is that article Chief? Tiger now uses a 45" driver. As for myself, I use a 44.5" and still choke down on the shaft a little. Best contact I have ever made using a driver.

[Chieflongtee]

Beginning of this year I believe but Tiger still spreads it.

[Chieflongtee]

How old is that article Chief? Tiger now uses a 45" driver. As for myself, I use a 44.5" and still choke down on the shaft a little. Best contact I have ever made using a driver.

Also last I heard he was using lead tape on the shaft. Anyway this is not about HIM and certainly don't want to open up an old can of worms. Fact remains most people play drivers that are too long for them.

[Big Johnny69]

Totally agree with you Chief. Put a buddy in a 44" driver earlier this year and he loves it.

[Chieflongtee]

But now he's got my curiosity aroused. Take a look at the table of contents.

http://www.wishongolf.com/designs/bo...ge-samples.php

Chapter 2. How to add 28 yds to your drive without really trying. I am going to have to buy the darn thing.

[spackler]

So what is the variable that determines driver shaft length? Is it strictly feel? Is it determined in a way similar to iron shaft length?

I've always wondered why irons get fitted for length and uprightness (not a word, I know), while metalwoods get fit more for shaft brand/flex properties than length or uprightness. I got a new driver this year that came with a stock shaft at 46". I hit it much farther and more accurately than my previous driver which was still a +400cc titanium forgiving head, but was an inch shorter in shaft length. Maybe I'd hit it that much better if I shortened the shaft?

[DavidY]

My Nickent R-flex driver is about 45 inches long. If I have the shaft shorten by an inch or two....it should stiffen the flex too, right?

Dave

[Chieflongtee]

So what is the variable that determines driver shaft length? Is it strictly feel? Is it determined in a way similar to iron shaft length?

I've always wondered why irons get fitted for length and uprightness (not a word, I know), while metalwoods get fit more for shaft brand/flex properties than length or uprightness. I got a new driver this year that came with a stock shaft at 46". I hit it much farther and more accurately than my previous driver which was still a +400cc titanium forgiving head, but was an inch shorter in shaft length. Maybe I'd hit it that much better if I shortened the shaft?

It is determined with impact decals. If you consistently hit the centre of the clubface with a 45 inch driver then don't change a thing. Studies have shown that potential distance is decreased for every hit off centre and that the longer the club the harder it is to hit the sweet spot.
You don"t need to shorten the shaft to test your new driver. Just grip down and hit a few this way. See what kind of results you get.
A driver lie angle is not that important as the ball is not sitting on the ground therefore since there is not contact between the ground and club it is very unlikely that you will hit the toe or heel on the ground on tee shots.

[Chieflongtee]

My Nickent R-flex driver is about 45 inches long. If I have the shaft shorten by an inch or two....it should stiffen the flex too, right?

Dave

David. I have read the following comment many many times before and have always wondered about it's rightfullness. Let me explain my point of you. I may be completely off but the STIFFEST part of the shaft is the butt portion. So if you are cutting 1 inch of the BUTT section how will this make the shaft stiffer? It may not flex as much in your hands(waggle or real swing) because of its shorter beam length but if it is a regular flex on a frequency chart it will still be a regular after you've cut it . Of course frequency will go up but that is because the club is SHORTER. Think of a shaft as a diving board. The longer the board the more flexible it will feel and vice versa. Imo to alter the shaft characteristics it would have to be reinforced. Anyway like I said in a previous post try gripping down an inch or so and try it.

[Started2k3]

Last year I got my driver reshafted from graphite to steel. At that time I kept the shaft at "stock" length which resulted in a 47" driver (the guy at Chuck's thought I was nuts). Over the next month and a half I continued to shave off 1/2 inch lengths until I was left with a 45" driver, which is the longest driver that I could control (at that time). It only cost me about $10 per cut and regrip (able to save grip). Best experiment I have done.

[DavidY]

Thanks for the explanation, Chieflongtee.

I've noticed that my driver's head isn't sitting even/flat while at address....as a result, the driver's heel is lower to the ground than the toe. I'm about 6'0" tall...but a bit short in the legs....as my pant inseam is only 30". Should I have the shaft shorten so the head sits even/flat or closer to it as I don't want to shorten the shaft too much. Should a more levelled driver head improve my drive.....trust me, I need all the help that I can get as a very high handicapper. Comments?

Dave

[Chieflongtee]

Thanks for the explanation, Chieflongtee.

I've noticed that my driver's head isn't sitting even/flat while at address....as a result, the driver's heel is lower to the ground than the toe. I'm about 6'0" tall...but a bit short in the legs....as my pant inseam is only 30". Should I have the shaft shorten so the head sits even/flat or closer to it as I don't want to shorten the shaft too much. Should a more levelled driver head improve my drive.....trust me, I need all the help that I can get as a very high handicapper. Comments?

Dave

Even though the toe is sticking up at address the shaft droops(1-2 degrees if my memory serves me right) on the downswing. I would not worry about it unless you consistently hook it. Is that the case? The toe of your irons is sticking up as well. That is why a dynamic fitting is best.

[DavidY]

Even though the toe is sticking up at address the shaft droops(1-2 degrees if my memory serves me right) on the downswing. I would not worry about it unless you consistently hook it. Is that the case? The toe of your irons is sticking up as well. That is why a dynamic fitting is best.

The driver is too new to tell. I know that, besides the occasional slice, I hook the ball more often on my irons. In the past, I was consistently slicing the ball with irons and my previous small headed driver. Anyways, I am planning to finally retire my 13 year old Northwestern irons very shortly.

Dave

[Chieflongtee]

How old is that article Chief? Tiger now uses a 45" driver. As for myself, I use a 44.5" and still choke down on the shaft a little. Best contact I have ever made using a driver.

Turns out that Tiger's driving accuracy is only 56.6% and just like the rest of us he does not want to be the first to hit his 2nd shot. I wonder what his stats would be if he went back to 43.5

[davevandyk]

The only reason that Tiger used to use a 43.5" shaft is because he used to use a steel shaft. Steel shafted driver are shorter than graphite shafted drivers. I use a driver that was just cut down from 45 to 44.5" and i have noticed a lot more consistent accuracy and the distance loss is negligible.