Long Lightweight Driver

[motteler621]

  shades9323 said:

Try cutting it to 45" or less. Might give you more consistency off the tee and might be longer too. That is what happened for me since I can now hit the center of the club face more consistently.

have you seen how long some of the shafts are on the drivers they use on long drive contests.

[sean_miller]

  motteler621 said:

have you seen how long some of the shafts are on the drivers they use on long drive contests.

Have you seen their swings?

I drive it plenty long enough way more often than not, but who wouldn't like to hit more fairways? I'd like to be able pick left or right side of the fairway - some days are better than others.

[mlf16507]

48" driver is the longest under USGA rules.Back in the day on the Senior Tour,there were players using 50", I think Rocky Thompson was one of them.

I think you guys are missing the point on my comments. To use a 46" or longer driver, you have to be using a under 60g shaft and very light weight grip(Winn Lite @25 g) is perfect. If you can find a lite driver head(under 200g) and flat lie(46*), then you are whistling Dixie!!

[tsajjad]

  Shanks A Million said:

I doubt that you hit it regularly, and I've seen your swing. It's not by any means a bad swing, but good enough to hit the driver on center every time? No. Heck, I don't hit the center of the driver all the time, not even most of the time; most people don't. Put some tape on the face, and hit 20 balls or so, and see how many are dead center. Even 1" off center is costing you 20 yards. Players who hit the center of the face every time develop large wear spots, brown or gray, on the middle of their faces. If you watch the PGA tour, pay attention to their wood faces. They have nice little spots right on the faces of the woods that have been in play a while.

but then doesnt that make it forgiving...cuz i hit 10 ot of 14 fairways easily every time. difficult to digest it may be for u but thats how it is. im rarely into the woods. as far as the center of the clubface is concerned, i dont hit it all the time, but im pretty close to it. 1" aint causing mee a lot of distance mate. on mishits that i can tell , the ball ends p at the 270 280 yard mark.

[Shanks A Million]

  tsajjad said:

but then doesnt that make it forgiving...cuz i hit 10 ot of 14 fairways easily every time. difficult to digest it may be for u but thats how it is. im rarely into the woods.

Actually, the two are not related. Fairways don't require a center hit. 10 of 14 fairways would be normal, if not bad for me. I often hit 11-12. Doesn't mean you're hitting the center of the face. Indeed, everytime I hear someone say 1" isn't going to affect how often they hit the center of the face, I know instantly they aren't hitting it. If that were true, the tour pros would be all over 46" shafts, but just one I can think of has one, and his name is Phil, and he's one of the worst drivers on the Tour.

If you are hitting it 280 on a mishit, then one of two things is happening. 1. you're not really hitting 280, or 2. Your swing speed is about 125, and your pure hits go 325. Again, this topic is rehashed a thousand times, but driver distance is something everyone overestimates. I'm one of the longest drivers at my course, and I average 246.

[andef]

  shades9323 said:

It helps them with marketing. "Thus club is 20 yards farther than your current driver." Most amatures are will hear that and run out and buy the driver. What they don't tell you is that you are just going to hit it that much farther into the woods.

Out of most companies, TaylorMade is the one who does it the most. They say their burner driver is longer due to better aerodynamics while it's more likely that the 46" shaft is what makes the difference.

Same idea with the Burner irons...take a standard 5 iron and write 6 on the sole. It's natural it goes further. Going back to the topic, I play with a 41" driver and drive it about 230/240 (believe me, i often underestimate my distances) and usually hit about 80% of fairways . We'll see how it compares now that I get my 45" 909 D2 and if I really pick up any distance.

[mlf16507]

  mlf16507 said:

48" driver is the longest under USGA rules.Back in the day on the Senior Tour,there were players using 50", I think Rocky Thompson was one of them.

If you haven't tried 46 inch with light shaft and grip,don't knock it!!

[shades9323]

  mlf16507 said:

If you haven't tried 46 inch with light shaft and grip,don't knock it!!

The weight of the shaft and grip doesn't make the length any more controlable.

[allin]

  shades9323 said:

The weight of the shaft and grip doesn't make the length any more controlable.

It could, probably not a large difference, an earlier post referenced Rocy Thompson and his 50 inch driver shaft. I believe a senior by the name of Jim Feree did also. He could only use that club by swinging a long slow very rythmic swing, old fashioned by todays standards. With the more common current practice of a body dominated swing with aggressive acceleration it would be almost impossible. Since the swing is very shallow extra loft might be needed as well.

[mlf16507]

  shades9323 said:

The weight of the shaft and grip doesn't make the length any more controlable.

Light shaft and grip allows the clubhead to square up easier.

[sean_miller]

  mlf16507 said:

Light shaft and grip allows the clubhead to square up easier.

Do you mean if the person has trouble leaving it open? Otherwise it sounds like a load of rich creamery butter.

[Shanks A Million]

  mlf16507 said:

Light shaft and grip allows the clubhead to square up easier.

That's fine and dandy, if you can hit the center of the clubface every time. Considering the vast majority of the PGA tour doesn't feel they can do it with a 46" shaft and an ultra light shaft, I'm not inclined to see why I would be able to. When the driver became more forgiving, the companies made it harder to hit. All this in the name of distance. Distance is overrated. A good swing is not.

[tsajjad]

  Shanks A Million said:

Actually, the two are not related. Fairways don't require a center hit. 10 of 14 fairways would be normal, if not bad for me. I often hit 11-12. Doesn't mean you're hitting the center of the face. Indeed, everytime I hear someone say 1" isn't going to affect how often they hit the center of the face, I know instantly they aren't hitting it. If that were true, the tour pros would be all over 46" shafts, but just one I can think of has one, and his name is Phil, and he's one of the worst drivers on the Tour.

turns out u were right about the second part. went to different golf club yesterday. had my swing checked out by a pro. now these guys had genuine distance markers on the range, and i was hitting it average at 280. but when i realy nailed one(off the center) it went flying over 280 and landed at 300. that means i need to get lessons cuz im not letting the burner go anytime soon.

[shades9323]

  tsajjad said:

turns out u were right about the second part. went to different golf club yesterday. had my swing checked out by a pro. now these guys had genuine distance markers on the range, and i was hitting it average at 280. but when i realy nailed one(off the center) it went flying over 280 and landed at 300. that means i need to get lessons cuz im not letting the burner go anytime soon.

lol

Somthing doesn't add up here. You hit 10-12 fairways and average 280 all whiile swinging a regular flex burner.

[Shanks A Million]

  shades9323 said:

lol

My thoughts exactly. Not exactly possible, unless Islamabad has some moon like gravity. I swing 110, and couldn't control a 46" regular flex burner to save my life. Most people overestimate their distance. I am, once again, one of the longest drivers I know, and my average is 246.

[shades9323]

  Shanks A Million said:

My thoughts exactly. Not exactly possible, unless Islamabad has some moon like gravity. I swing 110, and couldn't control a 46" regular flex burner to save my life. Most people overestimate their distance. I am, once again, one of the longest drivers I know, and my average is 246.

Yeah, I am averaging about 253(gps yards) but stuff up here is still kind of hard so I am getting a lot of roll. No way I could control that burner either.

[Shanks A Million]

  shades9323 said:

Yeah, I am averaging about 253(gps yards) but stuff up here is still kind of hard so I am getting a lot of roll. No way I could control that burner either.

253 is a great average. That's just a few yards short of the shorter tour pros.

I need to have my average recalculated. I think it will actually go up to around 255-265 now. I had some modifications done to the driver to make it fit me better, and I'm now at a 44" shaft. I'm getting a lot lower spin and more roll, as well as more control.

[sean_miller]

  Shanks A Million said:

253 is a great average. That's just a few yards short of the shorter tour pros.

You're at sea level right? And you're including all your tee shots in this average - regardless of whether or not a driver was used?