Shorter driver shafts

[Caddyshack]

Has anyone shortened their driver shaft? I have been trying out choking down on my driver at the range recently with some very good results. Have been using the impact tape and 90% have been right out of the middle, its hard to tell how much distance im loosing but if its only 10m or so im not worried. I checked out the specs for my shaft and its 46" thats way to long i think, what sort of shaft lengths do people on here have, and how much distance loss have you noticed?
Any negatives to reducing shaft length?

[MGP]

I play all my drivers at 44.5"

If I absolutely need to put a drive in play I'll still sometimes choke up a bit from there too. I actually hit the 44.5" driver farther on average than a 45" or 46" driver since I get much more consistent clubface contact.

[ks8829]

I would consider going to a club fitter and have them check out your driver swing. If they recommend shortening your driver I would have them do it, otherwise I would not shorten the driver on your own and continue to choke up on your driver like Anthony Kim. The reason is that this might be a passing thing with your golf swing.

If you are hitting off center with your set up do not be afraid to set up off center with the ball, I do it now with my driver swing and I have seen Vijay Sing do the same thing on TV.

[MGP]

  ks8829 said:

I would consider going to a club fitter and have them check out your driver swing. If they recommend shortening your driver I would have them do it, otherwise I would not shorten the driver on your own and continue to choke up on your driver like Anthony Kim. The reason is that this might be a passing thing with your golf swing.

Right on.

Most golfers play shafts that are too long in both their drivers and fairway woods, mostly because of marketing hype. The Skinny on Longer Clubs

[Guest]

I constantly have to choke down on my driver and I have to admit I fell victim somewhat to the marketing Hype. The notion in my brain was that if you choke down you lose distance and therefore equated the same if you cut down the shaft.

[PiKapp23]

Interesting article on this very subject on GolfWRX.com:

http://www.golfwrx.com/BagChatter/20...t-we-drive-to/

[Cody]

I play a shorter driver shaft. Infact my 3wood is almost longer than my driver. I'm not sure the exacts becuase I wasn't there when it was put in, but I love it. It helped me get rid of my slice and I'm not really overwhelmed when swinging because of length and I'm pretty short(5'8").

[youngskip40]

I think anything over 45 inches is too long for the average golfer. If you can control 45 inches, that's great, but as someone else said, if you cut down the shaft and are hitting the ball square on the sweetspot, you're going to get a lot more ballspeed off the clubface, and therefore more distance than you would if you have a longer arc due to a longer shaft and can't find the center of the clubface.

I currently have a 45 inch but I plan on cutting it down a half inch pretty soon, as soon as I find a shaft combination that works for me.

[laxbballgolf]

I cut my driver shaft to 44.5" and I cut my 3 wood shaft slightly to 42.75" inches as well. Everything else is standard length for me. Same as others, I think it improves control and is well worth it; distance change doesn't seem to be very much.

[Bump-n-MI]

I put a 44" shaft in my back-up driver….it is no longer my back-up driver.

[Leftygolfer]

I play a 45.5 inch shaft. I don't choke down and I would say that driving is one of my strengths. I am tall so it feels comfortable to me. I will rarely choke up but when I do I hit it well. I will only do this if I am trying to hit a cut on a hole that moves left or into a big wind.

[Alley Cat]

I'm very new to golf, a late bloomer in my 30's hehe... I'm considering buying the 2008 TaylorMade Burner that comes with a 46" shaft. I'm 6'2" but was still concerned that
46" may be too long. I noticed one person saying they were pretty short, how tall is everyone else and how much difference would that make in comparison of a 45" to 46" club?

Thanks...

[DiverDown]

I am 5' 10" and I have a 2008 Tour Burner. I just got the shaft cut down to 44.5". I would rather have more potential for control then distance. Losing 10 yards (if in fact that's what I'll lose) is okay. 10 yards less on the fairway is better than 10 yards further into the trees. ;)

[Leftygolfer]

6 2 and it feels very comfortable. If I was a newbie I would use something arount 44" to try to hit the more solid. But I am not so I like the extra 10 yards.

[Alley Cat]

I agree... I was also thinking the same thing that Lefty said. I'm thinking 44" to 44.5" might be perfect for me. I know I'll gain distance simply from upgrading from my $20 Walter Hagen driver to the Burner so if it's only 10+ yards on the fairway vs. 20+ yards in the woods I'll be thrilled.

[kregan]

I lopped off 3/4" from my TM Superquad, then stuffed the head with cotton and the swing weight came back to stock.

I also cut 1" off both my 3 and 5 wood burner fairway woods.

I am hitting all 3 clubs much better

[Alley Cat]

Well I went and tried out the 2008 & 2009 Burners as well as the HiBore XLS Monster tonight. Even though the Monster is only about 1/2" shorter it felt a lot easier to make good contact with..... so I bought it. I really liked the feel of this club and it felt right "for me".

I'll get a better idea on whether or not I need to trim it down to 44" or 45" this weekend when I play 18. I'm pretty excited to have my 1st "real" driver (and 1st "real" hybrid since it came free with purchase) and can't wait to play on Sunday.


Thanks for the feedback guys, I'll keep it in mind when I'm swingin' my new toy.

[Guest]

What is the actual standard length of a driver shaft or is there such a thing? I am 5' 10" and like mentioned in multiple posts, I would prefer to have control over the shot as I am generally a good iron player.

If it means I sacrifice 10 yards but can put the ball where I want it then I would prefer to go that route.