I am gonna buy an R11 and cut it down to 44"....thoughts?

[Nike Markiie]

I'm 5"6.5 and I've always used a 44 inch driver. When I ordered from Titleist I had them cut to this length and made sure the Swing weight was factory spec. I believe from the factory the 910s are at D3 which is where I'm comfortable. I'm sure by adjusting the club head weight of the R11 you can get your driver to about a D3-D5 after its been cut.

[JohnnyB]

Thanks for all of the hep and tips on this everyone!

I got my driver in last week and I am about to take it down and have it cut to 44.  I will see how it feels ( I actually prefer a heavier driver ) and I can order the heavier weights if need be.

Another thing, I like to use lamkin full cord crossline black grips ( putting one on the driver today ) I know these grips are heavier thus effecting the swingweight some more.  Should I add more weight to the head after putting a heavier grip on the club?  I know the overall weight will be higher with this grip, but I want to make sure the weight is in the correct places.

Thanks again for all of the help on this!

[glock35ipsc]

That particular grip weighs 54g (+/-), where as from what I've seen the average driver grip is around 50g-51g.  It takes 5g in the grip to change the swing weight by 1 point.  So if your new grip is somewhere around, say 3g-4g heavier than what was on there, you should see about a .75 point decrease in SW from the grip.

Length wise, a 1/2" decrease in length typically equals a loss of 3 swing weights.

On the other end, it takes 2g of head weight to change the SW by 1 point.  So have it shortened, install the new grip, then see where the SW ends up and adjust the head weights from there.

If my math is correct.... -.75 SW from grip, -10.5 SW from shaft = around 11.25 SW loss.  So you would need to add 22g to 22.5g to the head to bring it back up.

A 14g and an 8g weight would get you to 22g, a 16g and 8g would be 24g if you want it a touch heavier.  That would still give you some room to change the weighting for a certain bias (although Wishon says it takes at least 35g for better players to notice a change in draw/fade bias (or somewhere around there, don't remember for sure), so take that for what it's worth).

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

[JohnnyB]

I had my driver cut down yesterday.

When I brought it in the store the swingweight was D-3.  After having the driver cut down and with my grip back on it the new swingweight was C-7.

Is this still about 12grams off as said above? ( I am not sure the weight difference from C-7 to D-3 ).

I have the stock weights in the driver.  I will just buy two heavier ones.

Thanks again for all the help!

[TourSpoon]

You may want consider a Winn lite grip on there along with a little head weight to get the swingweight back into the D range.

[JohnnyB]

I just bought a 16 gram weight and a 6 gram weight to replace the 10 and 1 that come stock in the driver.  Hopefully this gets the swingweight back to where I need it.  I will report back on how it goes.

[tomvk77]

What i can say, i have the feeling the shaft is shorter on the R11 but i just think that is because of the white head.

So opticly it looks shorter as for going down so mutch on a shaft i would not recomend it, it would mess up the club totaly.

[SamW]

I cut a 46" Superfast Burner to 44" and never looked back, I feel more positive with the club, hit the ball further and straighter. I needed to re-weight the head, to get the SW up to D1.5 (which is still somewhat lighter than it originally was). So I wouldn't be scared, if you look at the specs of the tour players you will find the majority using drivers in the 43.5-45 range with very few hitting longer ones.

I do have a bit of a note from my experience though. Originally I had my club butt trimmed only then re-weighted in the head.. the effect of this was that the stiff shaft played too soft, afterwards I had a further 1/2 inch taken from the tip which fixed this problem completely and restored the balance of the club properly. I didn't see this part coming, but trimming from the butt then adding weight to the head makes the shaft play softer, so if I was you I would think about taking 1/2 inch from the tip and the rest from the butt as well.

I would be stunned if you did this and found any significant loss of distance... if your experience is like mine then I think you will feel more positive, find it much easier to square the club at impact, make a much better ball contact and gain a small amount of head speed.

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

After reading Tom Wishon's book 'The search for the perfect driver', I have hit and love the new R11, but I can't find a 44" ( my specs according to Wishon ) shaft. Has anyone done anything like this, and outside of making the shaft stiffer, what else might this do?

I am more concerned with accuracy then the possible little distance cutting off 1.75 inches may bring.

Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions on this.

[Bob Crane]

The best thing that you can do is go to a good club fitter that has a plethora of grips, shafts and club heads that will match your optimal swing. If they have a computer aided swing program, they can show you which grip, shaft, club head and degree angle I'd best for you based on the results of the clubs you try out. That R11 might not be the best club for you.

[Mr. Desmond]

Originally Posted by Bob Crane

The best thing that you can do is go to a good club fitter that has a plethora of grips, shafts and club heads that will match your optimal swing. If they have a computer aided swing program, they can show you which grip, shaft, club head and degree angle I'd best for you based on the results of the clubs you try out.

That R11 might not be the best club for you.

This is an ancient thread...

[Avant]

Old thread but a good reminder.  The best thing I ever did for my game was cut my Burner Driver down.  46.5" is the OEM shaft which is ridiculous.  Since I have cut it down to 44" and reshafted it with a shaft that I was fitted for, i have increased FIR % by about 30%.

Get fitted for a shaft then cut it down.

[Mr. Desmond]

Originally Posted by Avant

Old thread but a good reminder.  The best thing I ever did for my game was cut my Burner Driver down.  46.5" is the OEM shaft which is ridiculous.  Since I have cut it down to 44" and reshafted it with a shaft that I was fitted for, i have increased FIR % by about 30%.

Get fitted for a shaft then cut it down.

You can do that, but it does strengthen flex. Typically, one would add weight to the clubhead either with hot melt or lead tape to flex the shaft and enhance head feel.

And Wishon wrote that book about 10 years ago when clubs were less forgiving. Also, pros are using longer length drivers now. I do think the 45.5-46.5 length is too much, as are the 43.5 inch 3 woods, and 43 inch 5 woods. Maybe that's why I'm buying Titleist these days.

[aangel]

I had my Callaway Razr x Black driver cut down to 43.5" and have never hit the ball straighter off the tee. It definitely gives me more control and I have not noticed any loss of distance.

[NMChad]

I cut my R11s down to 44"

Best thing i ever did...much more control.

I may have lost a Little distance but it really is minimal...

Control is everything!

[Spitfisher]

buy the r1 and when Taylormade announces their demos, attend one and ask if you can slip in a demo shaft that is shorter, heavier, lighter etc. In the mean time use the club with its intended shaft, choke down if you have to.....

Players may have used shorter shafts years ago- But they were also a lot heavier than longer ones today