Driver Shaft Question

[Zippo]

A friend and I played golf today. He's a bit shorter and more slender than I am but I am a bit more agile and a bit stronger than he is. When we both drove our balls down the fairway he was fairly consistently longer than me by 10 to 20 yards. The 18th hole was a par 4 and I gave it everything I had and hit a good ball center face right down the pipe and dang if he didn't fly one by me. Talking about it with him we noted that he is using a 47 inch shaft and mine is about 1.5 inches shorter. Both are "R" flex. Mine is a EvenFlo RipTide 5.5 "R" flex graphite. I didn't get the make on his.

So, @Adam C(or anyone else, of course) if you have a few moments and can take pity on a poor old geezer who simply wants to beat the tar another poor old geezer off the tee ( in a friendly manner and not spend a fortune doing it), is there another longer shaft or shafts that you could maybe recommend for me sight unseen? Hopefully one that I can get without selling the wife's car (although if it's needed...) 😁

Arccos says I hit the fairway about 85% of the time and my misses are evenly distributed left and right. I'm using a PXG 0211 10.5 degree driver in standard setting with CP2 midsize grip.

[Vinsk]

36 minutes ago, Zippo said:

A friend and I played golf today. He's a bit shorter and more slender than I am but I am a bit more agile and a bit stronger than he is. When we both drove our balls down the fairway he was fairly consistently longer than me by 10 to 20 yards. The 18th hole was a par 4 and I gave it everything I had and hit a good ball center face right down the pipe and dang if he didn't fly one by me. Talking about it with him we noted that he is using a 47 inch shaft and mine is about 1.5 inches shorter. Both are "R" flex. Mine is a EvenFlo RipTide 5.5 "R" flex graphite. I didn't get the make on his.

So, @Adam C(or anyone else, of course) if you have a few moments and can take pity on a poor old geezer who simply wants to beat the tar another poor old geezer off the tee ( in a friendly manner and not spend a fortune doing it), is there another longer shaft or shafts that you could maybe recommend for me sight unseen? Hopefully one that I can get without selling the wife's car (although if it's needed...) 😁

Arccos says I hit the fairway about 85% of the time and my misses are evenly distributed left and right. I'm using a PXG 0211 10.5 degree driver in standard setting with CP2 midsize grip.

I’m just curious if you know his swing speed compared to yours? What ball is he using? And of course the golden question for me is, have you switched drivers just to see the results? I mean, if he hits your driver 10-20yds further than you using his……

[Adam C]

As Vinsk mentioned, do you know your swing speed or even better ball speed?

The cheapest way to experiment would be to simply extend out the current shaft 1 1/2 inches. Although this is more than I ideally like to extend a club, I think in your case it would be without issues. This would cost you all of $17 more or less for the extension and a new grip.

If you would rather go the new shaft route, I would drop into the lower 50g weight class to build to 47inch or whatever you want to try. Probably would also want something more butt weighted. That Riptide comes in a CB model at 50g which wouldn't be too expensive. I think you can find them for under $80.

[Zippo]

10 hours ago, Vinsk said:

I’m just curious if you know his swing speed compared to yours? What ball is he using? And of course the golden question for me is, have you switched drivers just to see the results? I mean, if he hits your driver 10-20yds further than you using his……

Sorry. Don 't know his swing speed but I'm pretty sure his clubhead is moving faster than mine - due to the extra club length. The balls are similar - I've hit the model he's using. I didn't think, at the time, of trying his driver. And thinking about it afterwards I kind of wondered if it would be a bit like asking to try his razor - if you get my drift.

54 minutes ago, Adam C said:

As Vinsk mentioned, do you know your swing speed or even better ball speed?

The cheapest way to experiment would be to simply extend out the current shaft 1 1/2 inches. Although this is more than I ideally like to extend a club, I think in your case it would be without issues. This would cost you all of $17 more or less for the extension and a new grip.

If you would rather go the new shaft route, I would drop into the lower 50g weight class to build to 47inch or whatever you want to try. Probably would also want something more butt weighted. That Riptide comes in a CB model at 50g which wouldn't be too expensive. I think you can find them for under $80.

Thanks for the response. Much appreciated. I do not currently know my swing speed or ball speed. When the weather breaks here again I'll take my swing caddy out and see what it has to say now. Thanks for the lengthening suggestion. I did not think of trying that but that makes perfect sense as a starting point. Is the process permanent or can it be reversed if needed?

[Zippo]

Went out and hit a few in between rain showers. Out of a dozen balls my slowest club head speed was 80 and my fastest was 82. Ball speed was 115 to 117. Center face hits according to the dimple marks.  Per my SC 200. I might have been able to grind another few mph club speed if I were wearing my cleats as the ground is wet and slippery. 

I’m guessing Bryson isn’t worried about me competing with him!

[Adam C]

5 hours ago, Zippo said:

Sorry. Don 't know his swing speed but I'm pretty sure his clubhead is moving faster than mine - due to the extra club length. The balls are similar - I've hit the model he's using. I didn't think, at the time, of trying his driver. And thinking about it afterwards I kind of wondered if it would be a bit like asking to try his razor - if you get my drift.

Thanks for the response. Much appreciated. I do not currently know my swing speed or ball speed. When the weather breaks here again I'll take my swing caddy out and see what it has to say now. Thanks for the lengthening suggestion. I did not think of trying that but that makes perfect sense as a starting point. Is the process permanent or can it be reversed if needed?

Extensions in graphite are a bit tricky because it's difficult to remove them without damaging the shaft. That being said, the simple way to do it is just cut off the extension at the end of the shaft. You will still have the 2 inch piece of extension base down in the shaft but it only weighs a few grams so you won't likely even notice it's there once it's been cut and gripped again.

[Zippo]

I thought I'd post an update - I bought a new, uncut EvenFlow Riptide CB 50g shaft and had it tipped and a grip installed and took it to the course a few times. Man! It was like swinging a telephone pole! I didn't get a chance to measure clubhead speed but I noticed that, when I managed to make solid contact (or what passes for solid contact with my swing) I hit the ball higher and the carry distance was farther but, due to the steeper decent angle and time of year, I didn't get much roll so the total distance of my drives didn't change much. I also picked up a pronounced fade - which wasn't too big of a deal once I got used to it. I think if I were 20 years or so younger I might have had enough ooompf to swing a driver with a shaft like that but I ain't.

So I took the club in and had them take 1 inch off. I think it's now about 2 inches longer than the original shaft and I hit it really well today. I think I'm going to like it this length and it'll be great to try it next year when I'm not swaddled up in enough clothes and raingear to turn me into the Pillsbury doughboy.