Standard length or Shorten your Driver

[FAquino]

How many Golfers use off the rack length for their Drivers vs how many cut the shafts down to a more comfortable length 

[Wilsongolf78]

I have always used Drivers off the rack.

[cnosil]

Not sure what you mean by a “more comfortable length”  I Cut down to fit my swing and improve face contact location.  It’s no more “comfortable” than an off the rack length. 

[russtopherb]

Agreed with @cnosil, "comfortable length" is going to vary by golfer. I've tried cutting down drivers a few times in the past, almost none gave me any more distance or forgiveness. My driver fitting last year showed that the standard off the rack length was perfect for me at 5'11". 

[FAquino]

4 hours ago, cnosil said:

Not sure what you mean by a “more comfortable length”  I Cut down to fit my swing and improve face contact location.  It’s no more “comfortable” than an off the rack length. 

It sounds like you know what I mean by comfortable, most guys I talk to use it off the rack and don’t think about having to cut it down, they struggle trying to hit a club that is to long. So comfortable would be to your height or swing style. Comfortable is not a general term or to be taken literally.

[FAquino]

Let’s not turn this forum into bashing what people say I’m sure everyone here is at all different skill levels and some might be learning and some are very experienced 

[cnosil]

55 minutes ago, FAquino said:

It sounds like you know what I mean by comfortable, most guys I talk to use it off the rack and don’t think about having to cut it down, they struggle trying to hit a club that is to long. So comfortable would be to your height or swing style. Comfortable is not a general term or to be taken literally.

I’d say your question is do you we use off the rack length or do we  fit the shaft length to our swing; which could be the default length.   There are many times that I am not “comfortable” when I swing a club; which I believe is more of a mental focus thing .  That’s why I asked for clarification of the meaning of comfortable.   

[RickyBobby_PR]

1 hour ago, FAquino said:

It sounds like you know what I mean by comfortable, most guys I talk to use it off the rack and don’t think about having to cut it down, they struggle trying to hit a club that is to long. So comfortable would be to your height or swing style. Comfortable is not a general term or to be taken literally.

Most people have terrible swings and even if they cut the driver down it’s not going to improve contact point in the face or their swing.

comfortable is probably not the way to describe it. What’s better is fit to one’s swing with both shaft and head design to include shaft weight, cog of the driver, length, overall weight

[RickyBobby_PR]

1 hour ago, FAquino said:

Let’s not turn this forum into bashing what people say I’m sure everyone here is at all different skill levels and some might be learning and some are very experienced 

Nobody is bashing what anyone is saying, but rather clarifying things so that everyone is on the same page in the discussion

[StrokerAce]

pretty much all of my driver fittings have me in a 44.5 in driver. I wish I could swing a 46" driver with some consistent face contact. I'd probably get a little more distance but I'm usually all over the face at that length. I think 45 and 46 are now the OTR lengths...

[Erin B]

2 hours ago, StrokerAce said:

pretty much all of my driver fittings have me in a 44.5 in driver. I wish I could swing a 46" driver with some consistent face contact. I'd probably get a little more distance but I'm usually all over the face at that length. I think 45 and 46 are now the OTR lengths...

I’ve shortened all my drivers to 45” and am having so much better contact and dispersion numbers. I even have a 44” and another shaft to make another at 44”. I haven’t lost any distance. I’m so much happier with my drives. 

[Haile]

I'm barely 5'7" so when the fitter I was using said we were cutting it down, I had no issues about it. I'm right on the line of having to cut down some other clubs as well, but I manage. The standard length for the driver I was looking at was 45.75" which was the QI10 and Stealth2. We went to 44.5" and it made a really big difference for me and my swing. The driver and 3 wood still feel awkward for me, but the results are much better. I don't get a comfy swing until I get down to my 5 iron. I've just gotten used to it. I lost a whopping 1mph swing speed. But the trade off was more center face contact. Which resulted in a lot more yardage. I made up the speed difference by speed training for a couple of months. I'm still doing the training but it's slow gains at this point. 

[JAYER38]

This is a solid topic and I believe everyone should cut down there driver honestly... Unless your THAT good!

I don't think height or wrist to floor matter personally... All about contact and ball flight with the players swing at that time AND yes this can change as you grow as a player. Again my opinion and I'm no expert!

I'm 6'2" with a wrist to floor that is right on the verge of +3 upright(PING chart). When I started I played OTS club lengths in driver. Not till recently did I shorten my driver & 3w when I tried a 3w shaft in my driver and noticed the contact was immensely better thru the round!

I now play 44.5" Driver & 42" 3w. I have been debating on going 44" or 44.25" Driver but this seems to be the fine line of club speed/distance lost vs accuracy

 

[MN_Hacker]

I've had better luck with 44.5" playing length, but keeping the swing weight "stock" with heavier weights if needed.  

[Burton29]

I consistently cut my driver length to 45". It doesn't help that I'm a little vertically challenged and stand only 5'3". However, I believe that most golfers would benefit from this. It is something that I encourage when a customer comes to me inquiring and interested in doing so. 

It just helps with better ball contact with minimal, if any, loss in clubhead speed/distance.

[cptnkirkdog]

I went to 44.75 inches this past year and liked it. But now that I’m practicing more, I went to 45.75 inches, gained about 3mph clubhead speed, and no change is contact or dispersion. I’m 6’1”. I think I’m going to commit to the 45.75 length and go mini driver for a 2nd option of the tee. 

[bellken]

I ordered a Qi10 a half inch shorter than stock length. I am not sure, I am more consistent with it versus stock length, but, it fits into my car better. So, I guess, I fall into the more comfortable to have a shorter shaft length driver.

[Wakit300]

I go with stock driver length, always have. It's been the best club in my bag since I started playing.

I once had it shortened on the recommendation of a fitter and it totally screwed up my timing & strike - never again!

Edited May 9 by Wakit300

[NotQuite70s]

7 hours ago, bellken said:

I ordered a Qi10 a half inch shorter than stock length. I am not sure, I am more consistent with it versus stock length, but, it fits into my car better. 

I get that.  It's a trick to get a 46" driver into the trunk of my Miata.  I play 44.5".  It might be a bit better for finding the center of the face versus stock, but I change so much day to day its hard to tell.

[Josh Parker]

I currently have mine at 44.75. I have played as short as 44.5.  

[Tom the Golf Nut]

I was fit for my drivers and I play 45-1/2” .  No trouble with consistent center contact.  

[ParFore74x]

My driver is currently sitting at the stock 45.5” length but now I’m starting to get curious about it. I would be willing to give up a little distance to tighten up the dispersion a touch. 

[FAquino]

On 5/8/2024 at 2:13 PM, cnosil said:

I’d say your question is do you we use off the rack length or do we  fit the shaft length to our swing; which could be the default length.   There are many times that I am not “comfortable” when I swing a club; which I believe is more of a mental focus thing .  That’s why I asked for clarification of the meaning of comfortable.   

So you’re just repeating what I said 

Thanks Tips

[FAquino]

My standard driver which is a Sim2 Max is 45.75” I kept hitting the ball off the heel of the head. I purchased a new Shaft 10 grams heavier had it cut to 44”. Because it was heavier it shouldn’t have to change the swing weights, played my first round yesterday and definitely noticed a lot more consistent ball strikes and centred on the club face. So now I’m a believer to get club’s sized to you and not use of the Rack. Also I talked to a couple of guys who are over 6’3” they have some clubs lengthened so it makes perfect sense. I thought about it like hockey sticks everyone cuts it to fit them why wouldn’t golf clubs be the same.

 

[cnosil]

27 minutes ago, FAquino said:

So you’re just repeating what I said 

Thanks Tips

Nope, just stating my interpretation of what I think you said since they way your phrased your questions didn't make sense to me.   If it repeats what you meant to say then yes it may seem like I repeated but I want to make sure I answer your specific question.   I still content "comfortable" is a mental aspect of the game and a person could be "comfortable" with ill fitted clubs or something that just looks good.   Comfort does not always equate to performance.   I adjust clubs for performance not comfort.  

Edited May 11 by cnosil