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Would a shorter driver help my distance and accuracy?


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So I've noticed a trend in my practice the past few times out. I have always been a shorter driver, and I'm okay with that. I've been doing a lot of practice on HD simulators, and really noticed a that my driver has been staying short (185-200) on average, but I have really gained in distance with my mini driver from 195-206 to 220-225. Last time out my 5 wood off the deck (clean lie of course) was anywhere from 216-222. I can get a real good shot out of the driver maybe twice in 20ish shots, but not often enough. Now I am wondering if the mini driver and 5 wood shorter shafts are playing any part in this. I'm 5'6" tall and seem to really for well with those two clubs lengths, and considering trying a shorter shaft to see if it helps with clean hits on the driver head. The driver is a 10.5* sldr and the mini and 5 wood are sldr s. At this point it seems if I can't get the driver consitently further, what the point of having it the bag?
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So I've noticed a trend in my practice the past few times out. I have always been a shorter driver, and I'm okay with that. I've been doing a lot of practice on HD simulators, and really noticed a that my driver has been staying short (185-200) on average, but I have really gained in distance with my mini driver from 195-206 to 220-225. Last time out my 5 wood off the deck (clean lie of course) was anywhere from 216-222. I can get a real good shot out of the driver maybe twice in 20ish shots, but not often enough. Now I am wondering if the mini driver and 5 wood shorter shafts are playing any part in this. I'm 5'6" tall and seem to really for well with those two clubs lengths, and considering trying a shorter shaft to see if it helps with clean hits on the driver head. The driver is a 10.5* sldr and the mini and 5 wood are sldr s. At this point it seems if I can't get the driver consitently further, what the point of having it the bag?


It may help getting slightly more consistent contact with the center of the face, but you will be sacrificing distance.  It is more likely that you are swinging the driver like your other clubs.  I've struggled with this in the past.

Check out these two threads (you may already have), but stick to it.

Scott

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One way to check: Put an impact decal on the face of your driver. See where you are making impact.

If you hit 10 shots and it looks like a scatter from a shotgun, possibly you have a shaft that's too long. (This is from the GolfWorks clubfitting grid).

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I set all my woods up at lengths shorter than what modern woods are now. I have three drivers one is 45, one is 44.5 and one is 43.5. My 43.5 is 12 degrees loft. Been using that mostly. I've taken all to FlightScope sessions with my instructor. I get the most distance and best ball flight with that driver. I will use the others on very windy days if I want to keep the ball a little lower and the course is long enough where the 10.5 degree head might be a benefit. On shorter courses I only hit driver 8-9 times anyway so my 15 and 18 degree fairways are used. It's not only a preference thing but I switch it up as course conditions call for it.  Next spring I am going to experiment with a 2h-3h-4h setup which will be shorter than my current fairways.

Dave :-)

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I tried out a driver that my younger brother used to use (he's 5'2"). I believe it was a Taylormade R5 with dual weights. He cut the shaft down to 41" because he feels comfortable with real short clubs. It was funny because it felt really funny teeing up with it, but my drives were 100% straight, and 226 yards. So fast to swing, and really easy to hit on center. I am really considering getting in for a fitting, just to see if it would make a difference. Choking up only feels awkward to me.
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I tried out a driver that my younger brother used to use (he's 5'2"). I believe it was a Taylormade R5 with dual weights. He cut the shaft down to 41" because he feels comfortable with real short clubs. It was funny because it felt really funny teeing up with it, but my drives were 100% straight, and 226 yards. So fast to swing, and really easy to hit on center. I am really considering getting in for a fitting, just to see if it would make a difference. Choking up only feels awkward to me.

Those are good things. You can increase the length a little bit at a time with the fitter, and I bet you will find something that still feel easy to swing and hit in the center while giving you even more distance.

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If you're hitting your 5w longer than your driver, then you might also want to increase the loft on your driver. You could also try a 3+ wood designed for hitting off of a tee like the Titleist Fd. I found that 45+" drivers were too long for me; I cut mine back to 44". But that increases distance only by improving center contact and consistency. If your good drives aren't significantly farther than your fairway wood, you probably have a loft problem.

Kevin

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I have considered that point too. I adjusted the loft of my sldr from 10.5* to 12* and in between, but it seemed to just give me a higher launch. I have smashed it close to 250yards quite a few times when I seemed to hit the ball right on the sweet spot. I just seem to be missing that sweet spot that really launches the ball. I have a 14* mini driver that I can get a decent amount further than the 5-wood. My friend has a 12* sldr I might ask if I can try it to see if I can hit that better. If not I fear that I may try to find a driver with a bit easier to hit sweet spot. My stats on the simulator say I hit it on the center consitently, but I don't know where vertically I hit it yet. Got some impact stickers coming so hopefully next time out.
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The reason you're hitting your 5 wood further than your driver is because the shaft is shorter and it has more loft.  A longer shaft is much harder to control, so as the shaft gets longer there is a higher percentage of off-center hits.  The additional loft is getting the ball in the air properly and allowing it to carry.  So the combination of on-center hits and a higher trajectory are why you're hitting a fairway wood longer than a driver.  I have a lot of experience with this, and not only will a shorter driver shaft help hit straighter, more consistent drives, you can expect longer drives as well.

The idea that a longer shaft will create more clubhead speed or that you'll sacrifice distance by shortening your driver shaft isn't necessarily true. I think you'll notice a big difference in distance and accuracy (and consistency) by going with a shorter shaft and more loft.  One thing to remember is for every inch you shorten the shaft the swingweight will decrease by about 6 points.  You'll want to to get the head weight back up to keep it from feeling too light.  Lead tape is a good way to do this.

Here is a good starting point for how much loft your driver should have:


More Carry                  More Roll
Clubhead Speed                                    Soft Conditions            Dry Conditions

80 mph

14*

13*

90 mph

12*

11*

100 mph

11*

10*

110 mph

9.5*

8.5*

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Due to driver struggles, for the first year or so, I cut down the shaft ALOT on a cheap driver & had much more success .... it was kind of like training wheels until I got consistent contact, then I gradually went with longer shafts until I was able to handle a full length shaft.   I have a garage full of cheap ebay drivers that I experimented with shaft length .... I actually recommend it - seems like a great way to build up to being able to handle a full length club (I just don't like choking up ...)

John

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You could just choke up. Sedena Parks, the longest hitter on Big Break Florida and she just got her LPGA card for next year.  Every time I've seen her swing she has choked up to some extent. [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/content/type/61/id/110686/] [/URL]

Choking up also makes the swing weigh a little lighter. That was the theory behind weighted grips anyway.

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  • 2 weeks later...
I did a bunch of taping and choking up over the holidays. It seemed I felt really great choking down anywhere from 1-1.5 inches, and maintained average 225-240 yards. After humming about it I went ahead and had the shaft cut down 1". This evening I went down to the indoor golf place and smashed a few balls, and played a fast 9 holes. I probably hit about 15 chip/pitch shots 8 or nine putts 3 half and 3 full swing shots with each iron and my 5 wood, before touching the driver. The swing weight does feel a tad light now, but every single shot was within a 20yard dispersion and mostly straight. I was averaging between 220 and 230 with a 12-16 degree launch. This picture was about 7 shots. I wanted to squeeze in the 9holes before my time ran up, otherwise I would have spent more time with the driver. During the round I had a couple off the toe or heel shots, and 1or two fats shots. So far I feel quite alright with cutting it down, but I hope maybe hitting to ball, when my arms aren't cooked before swinging the driver, will yield better results.
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Shorter drivers = straight & more control. Longer drivers = distance.

I've gone to a 44.25" driver. I can hit it straighter without sacrificing much in the way of distance. Let's put it this way. Hitting it 220 out in the fairway is better than 240 into the trees. I'll take that any day.

If that misbehaves, I still have my 5 wood I can put on the fairway at 205 to 210 off the tee. It one or two clubs difference on my second shot.

Julia

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Of course the 240 hook or slice is kind of a hyperbole. In reality you're really hitting only 5 yds longer at most if you were to draw a line from the center of the fairway at 220 and have your ball land say 40 yds off line on either side of that.

Bubba Watson uses a 44.5" driver and it's one of the longest on the tour. I've heard Michelle Wie uses a 43-3/4" driver now, and she's closer to 6'2" than what she's listed at - we tend to shave an inch off our height if we're tall.

Julia

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FW: Cobra BiO CELL 14.5 degree; 
Hybrids: Cobra BiO CELL 22.5 degree Project X R-flex
Irons: Cobra BiO CELL 5 - GW Project X R-Flex
Wedges: Cobra BiO CELL SW, Fly-Z LW, 64* Callaway PM Grind.
Putter: 48" Odyssey Dart

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Of course the 240 hook or slice is kind of a hyperbole. In reality you're really hitting only 5 yds longer at most if you were to draw a line from the center of the fairway at 220 and have your ball land say 40 yds off line on either side of that.

Bubba Watson uses a 44.5" driver and it's one of the longest on the tour. I've heard Michelle Wie uses a 43-3/4" driver now, and she's closer to 6'2" than what she's listed at - we tend to shave an inch off our height if we're tall.

Ladies that is. . . :-)

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TM Rac 60 TT WS, MD2 56
Ping i20 irons U-4, CFS300
Callaway XR16 9 degree Fujikura Speeder 565 S
Callaway XR16 3W 15 degree Fujikura Speeder 565 S, X2Hot Pro 20 degrees S

"I'm hitting the woods just great, but I'm having a terrible time getting out of them." ~Harry Toscano

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I did a bunch of taping and choking up over the holidays. It seemed I felt really great choking down anywhere from 1-1.5 inches, and maintained average 225-240 yards. After humming about it I went ahead and had the shaft cut down 1". This evening I went down to the indoor golf place and smashed a few balls, and played a fast 9 holes. I probably hit about 15 chip/pitch shots 8 or nine putts 3 half and 3 full swing shots with each iron and my 5 wood, before touching the driver. The swing weight does feel a tad light now, but every single shot was within a 20yard dispersion and mostly straight. I was averaging between 220 and 230 with a 12-16 degree launch. This picture was about 7 shots. I wanted to squeeze in the 9holes before my time ran up, otherwise I would have spent more time with the driver. During the round I had a couple off the toe or heel shots, and 1or two fats shots. So far I feel quite alright with cutting it down, but I hope maybe hitting to ball, when my arms aren't cooked before swinging the driver, will yield better results.



Shaggs, I think part of the reason for the shots off the toe and heel and the ones where you hit behind the ball may be due to the lighter swing weight.  Shortening the shaft by 1" will decrease the swing weight by about 6 points, which is a lot.  This can cause you to lose a sense of where the head is during the swing which will affect your timing and release.  Throw a couple of strips of lead tape on the back of your driver head and I'll bet you notice a nice difference.

Shorter drivers = straight & more control. Longer drivers = distance.

I know you're a proponent of the shorter drivers just like I am, but I really believe that in addition to straighter and easier to control the shorter driver shaft will also result in more distance for most players, not less.  It's just more difficult to hit the ball on the screws as the shaft gets longer, and hitting the ball on the nut should be job #1.  An off-center hit with more clubhead speed will never be better.  Actually, players who release the club early might lose clubhead speed with a longer shaft because their max clubhead speed will occur before impact.  For guys who have never tried it, you'd be shocked at how much easier life would be if you cut even 1/2" off your driver.

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Bridgestone West Coast 52*, j40 satin 56* & 60* w/ DG S-300
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Note: This thread is 3362 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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