Hard draw from shortened shaft

[Jphill68]

I recently broke the shaft on my driver that was 45.5". Bought a replacement at 44.5" because I wanted to pick up a few more fairways. I'm having huge problems with straightening out a massive draw. I've always had a slight draw, but this thing is exaggerated. I've tried everything I could think of... moving the ball back in my stance, more neutral grip, adjusted driver to neutral and hook settings. I'm not sure if the shorter shaft just squares up faster or what. Need some tips. 

If you need it:

Avg carry ~265/270

Swing speed around 113/115

Kuro Kaged Tini 50g Stiff Flex Shaft

Callaway Big Bertha 2014 - adjustable

[cnosil]

Couple of threads on shortened drivers. Some people are more sensitive to swingweight changes and if you are one of them,
You may need to add weight to the head to compensate for the shorter shaft. Don’t know if you put in a different grip, but that will also impact SW if the grip doesn’t weigh the same as the original. Assuming same weight and model shaft so that wouldn’t impact.

[THEZIPR23]

14 minutes ago, cnosil said:

Couple of threads on shortened drivers. Some people are more sensitive to swingweight changes and if you are one of them,
You may need to add weight to the head to compensate for the shorter shaft. Don’t know if you put in a different grip, but that will also impact SW if the grip doesn’t weigh the same as the original. Assuming same weight and model shaft so that wouldn’t impact.

This is where I would start. 

[jaskanski]

As others have mentioned, a 1" change in length on a driver is a big deal - not least because of swing weight, but also the effect on flex assuming like for like shafts. The closure rate on the shorter shaft would be faster, so for a square to closing face angle for the previous driver at 45.5" length (giving a moderate draw perhaps) the shorter shaft with a faster closure rate would start to create hooks or pulls for the same swing path. The face angle needs to be considered relative to the loft - lower loft with an open face at address will close to make loft even lower - reducing backspin, which makes it even harder to control. 

As always - I would recommend a fitting to assess your requirements - a 36 handicap with a 115mph swing speed and a sub 55g shaft in stiff flex sounds like a recipe for wayward shots as it is - and could explain the failure of the first shaft.

[Jphill68]

Thanks guys. I had no idea. I thought it was just going to be plug and play. It's not the stock shaft or grip.

[Blueberry_Squishie]

Check where your typical strike is too. With the shorter shaft, you may hit them more in the toe causing your hooking ball flight.

[Guest Delete]

On 6/4/2020 at 11:53 AM, Jphill68 said:

I recently broke the shaft on my driver that was 45.5". Bought a replacement at 44.5" because I wanted to pick up a few more fairways. I'm having huge problems with straightening out a massive draw. I've always had a slight draw, but this thing is exaggerated. I've tried everything I could think of... moving the ball back in my stance, more neutral grip, adjusted driver to neutral and hook settings. I'm not sure if the shorter shaft just squares up faster or what. Need some tips. 

If you need it:

Avg carry ~265/270

Swing speed around 113/115

Kuro Kaged Tini 50g Stiff Flex Shaft

Callaway Big Bertha 2014 - adjustable

As others have mentioned, shortening makes the club play at a lower swingweight. 

You can have hotmelt added by a club repair tech to bring the swingweight back to stock. 

You can also try lead tape yourself to see if it would help before committing to hotmelt. 

[DPattGolf]

I'm in agreement with what everyone else has said to this point. 

Only thing I might add is to try and make an appointment with a fitter/pro who has a Trackman, Flightscope, or GCQuad to get some additional data on swings and strikes