Driver shaft length. What's being tried

[bens197 12,796]

I switched out my HZRDUS Yellow for an Evenflow Black and added 0.5” for a 45.5” driver. I haven’t played anything over 45” ever but I’m not concerned. There isn’t a single club in my bag I have more confidence in than my driver. My bad swing misses are left rather than right so I expect the incidence of those misses will be reduced. 

[edingc 12,736]

I chopped 1/2" off my HZRDUS Yellow this morning, bringing it down to about 45". Dropped swingweight from D4-D5-ish, to about D2.5. 

No real reason to try other than to experiment. Can't get much worse with the driver.

[jkpigott 68]

Great video today from the TXG boys on the shorter driver topic.  If you are heading down this path, be sure to get the head weight adjusted accordingly.

 

 

[chisag 19,770]

4 minutes ago, jkpigott said:

Great video today from the TXG boys on the shorter driver topic.  If you are heading down this path, be sure to get the head weight adjusted accordingly.

 

 

 

... Great video but I would add that Matt is an elite ball striker. Most Ams will have an even larger difference between shorter and longer shafts. Interesting Matt went to 43.5" while many can find the center much more often with 44 - 44.5" shafts. 

[GolfSpy_BOS 15,915]

 
... Great video but I would add that Matt is an elite ball striker. Most Ams will have an even larger difference between shorter and longer shafts. Interesting Matt went to 43.5" while many can find the center much more often with 44 - 44.5" shafts. 

I thought that was interesting too. I don’t think I’ve seen a retail “Tour Length” offering of 43.5. But I only recall Cobra offering Tour Length at 44.5 (with cobra connect) so 44.25 with a standard grip.

Am I missing another company offering tour length stuff?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[cnosil 26,073]

 
... Great video but I would add that Matt is an elite ball striker. Most Ams will have an even larger difference between shorter and longer shafts. Interesting Matt went to 43.5" while many can find the center much more often with 44 - 44.5" shafts. 

Haven’t watched the video, but the length makes me wonder if this is related to the persimmon driver video they did a couple of days ago. Goal was to hit over 300 yards; couldn’t do it with old balata ball but could with modern ball and some swing changes. Persimmon was old school 43.5 so cutting down a modern driver to compare seems like a logical next step.

[chisag 19,770]

... I think TXG just went to extremes to make a point. Rickie Fowler is the only Pro I know using a sub 44" driver at 43.5". I seem to recall one or two others although not sure they are still at that length, but 44.5" would be a much more accurate length for tour guys playing a shorter shaft. 

Edit: cnosil pointed out this may be do to a persimmon comparison. 

[RickyBobby_PR 10,038]

1 hour ago, chisag said:

... I think TXG just went to extremes to make a point. Rickie Fowler is the only Pro I know using a sub 44" driver at 43.5". I seem to recall one or two others although not sure they are still at that length, but 44.5" would be a much more accurate length for tour guys playing a shorter shaft. 

Edit: cnosil pointed out this may be do to a persimmon comparison. 

Sergio plays 43.5

[cnosil 26,073]

4 hours ago, chisag said:

... I think TXG just went to extremes to make a point. Rickie Fowler is the only Pro I know using a sub 44" driver at 43.5". I seem to recall one or two others although not sure they are still at that length, but 44.5" would be a much more accurate length for tour guys playing a shorter shaft. 

Edit: cnosil pointed out this may be do to a persimmon comparison. 

just watched the video;  they typically fit to 45" so 43.5 for them is tour length.   Probably more to prove that shorter can be better and 45" to 44.5"  wouldn't have been very dramatic

[jkpigott 68]

20 hours ago, chisag said:

 

... Great video but I would add that Matt is an elite ball striker. Most Ams will have an even larger difference between shorter and longer shafts. Interesting Matt went to 43.5" while many can find the center much more often with 44 - 44.5" shafts. 

I had the exact same reaction. Players with less consistent center-face contact overall should see very noticeable improvements. Matty-boy is a machine.

[jkpigott 68]

19 hours ago, B.Boston said:

I thought that was interesting too. I don’t think I’ve seen a retail “Tour Length” offering of 43.5. But I only recall Cobra offering Tour Length at 44.5 (with cobra connect) so 44.25 with a standard grip.

Am I missing another company offering tour length stuff?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I do some fitting work at a golf retailer.  We can order clubs longer and shorter than stock for most all mfrs. Cobra is the only one I recall seeing that has a specific SKU set up for a Tour Length (44.5") product.  They also call it out as such on the Cobra website. Wish more mfrs would add that length to the demo carts. Hard to show a player that option if they can't demo it.

[edingc 12,736]

On 5/23/2020 at 3:36 PM, edingc said:

I chopped 1/2" off my HZRDUS Yellow this morning, bringing it down to about 45". Dropped swingweight from D4-D5-ish, to about D2.5. 

No real reason to try other than to experiment. Can't get much worse with the driver.

I've played 54 holes with the shorter driver and, while I can't say it's solved all my driving problems, I feel like it's helped some. Definitely feels less like a telephone pole and easier to control.

[GolfSpy_BOS 15,915]

18 minutes ago, edingc said:

I've played 54 holes with the shorter driver and, while I can't say it's solved all my driving problems, I feel like it's helped some. Definitely feels less like a telephone pole and easier to control.

Nice to see that you’re getting comfortable with it quickly.  It CAN look weird at first, especially if you have a larger profile driver.  But I really enjoyed playing my G30 and 44.5 and really don’t think I lost any distance because of it.  

Did you have to add any weight back or do you like the way it swings now?  I know we changed weights to add just 2 grams back on the Ping I had.

[edingc 12,736]

11 hours ago, B.Boston said:

Nice to see that you’re getting comfortable with it quickly.  It CAN look weird at first, especially if you have a larger profile driver.  But I really enjoyed playing my G30 and 44.5 and really don’t think I lost any distance because of it.  

Did you have to add any weight back or do you like the way it swings now?  I know we changed weights to add just 2 grams back on the Ping I had.

I did not add any weight. It dropped from D5-D6ish to D2 with the new Star Sidewinder grip I put on it. It currently is playing about 44.75", as the grip cap on the Star is apparently slightly shorter than the GP NDMC it replaced.

To be honest, I never loved the feel of the driver at stock swingweight as it always felt too heavy, especially once I added the HZRDUS Yellow. This just feels better to me, faster feeling as well.

[jkpigott 68]

12 hours ago, edingc said:

I did not add any weight. It dropped from D5-D6ish to D2 with the new Star Sidewinder grip I put on it. It currently is playing about 44.75", as the grip cap on the Star is apparently slightly shorter than the GP NDMC it replaced.

To be honest, I never loved the feel of the driver at stock swingweight as it always felt too heavy, especially once I added the HZRDUS Yellow. This just feels better to me, faster feeling as well.

Actually a little surprised the swingweight did not drop a little more.  Believe that Yellow shaft is counterbalanced so more weight than normal in the butt end. Will be interested to see how it goes for you and all that are trying this season.