Gripping further down on the club

[cjdfw]

or 'choking down on the club'

I went out to the range today to experiment, and gripped down almost a full 3 inches or so. I'm about 5'4" so i'm pretty short. Today i gripped further down just enough so that the bottom of the club was flat or parallel to the ground.
And............i've never hit more consistent, straight shots. My divots were also pretty flat(where as before it was kinda of angled, because the bottom of the club was pointing upwards towards the sky)

Is this a sign i should have my clubs cut down a little??

[catfell]

cjdfw,

I'm 5'5", but in some ways height is irrelevant.

You can try measuring your wrist to floor distance, but you don't hit a golf ball with your arms not moving either.

I would suggest finding a clubfitter that can watch your swing, ball flight and have you hit on a lie board to determine what setup will best serve your game/swing.

FYI, by static fittings my clubs should be a half inch shorter and 2˚ flat. After getting fitted, my grips have been replaced with undersized ones, my shafts are a half inch shorter, but my lies are standard. The smaller grips allow me to hold the clubs with less effort, and better release, and I was choking down on my clubs half an inch beforehand, so my distance seems to be about the same as before.

If you like the way your ball flies by choking down and the loss of distance isn't bothering you, then why not keep playing that way?

Just my 2¢

catfell

[pippin2717]

I work at a driving range that custom fits people. The first line we always ask the customer is what do you want to see changed in your ball flight. We then base everything off that. If you are seeing a difference in ball flight or contact and you like it, go ahead and get them cut down.

[augafan48]

5'4, gripped down and then hit great? sounds like you do need shorter clubs, for that lie anngle. you can always buy a new set of ping irons with the correct colored dot, which you can figure out by going to their website.

[cjdfw]

yea i think i will get them cut down...... would love to get a new custom set but i will have to keep these for now.

before i experimented w/ this my ball flight was typically a push to the right(right handed).
after the grip adjustment, now its pretty much dead straight. (which is such a confidence booster btw, lol :) )

[gotboredwithmyname]

or 'choking down on the club'

must be short arse's day out!!! I'm 5'5" and had my clubs custom fitted - 2° flat but kept the standard length. Cutting them shorter does reduce distance and makes the shaft stiffer so I wanted to leave that.

[TourSpoon]

I would like to see you go to a reputable club repair/maker shop and have him measure you and hit off a lie board. It may be something as simple as adjusting your lies. Once you cut your shafts, there is no going back (well there is but who wants extensions or reshafting if it is avoidable?).

Typically a shorter shaft gives you more control but at the sake of some distance. You should get the lie angle correct and see if that helps before you go to surgery. My .02.

[sboardz006]

I'm not much taller and I prefer to have them just bent flat so I don't loose distance from having shorter shafts.

[Ringer]

Far too many people grip too far at the end of the club. There should be about a half inch between the pad of your palm and the end of the grip. I've seen some people with part of their pad off the end of the grip altogether.

[cjdfw]

see...i haven't really noticed a loss of distance. hard to say because i could never hit em straight.

i'm going to take the clubs to a fitter and see what he/she recommends whether it be cut or just bent flatter. we'll see, i'll give ya'll an update.

[albatroz]

Now you have discovered the wonders associated with a shorter shaft . You get controll . Distance may suffer a bit but no one would care less if their ball alnds always in the fairway . Try doing a 3/4 swing with your shaft lenght . Then increase the lenght gradually to half an inch and so on till you have the maximum lenght you can controll . You will now find out you has distance and controll .

[TourSpoon]

see...i haven't really noticed a loss of distance. hard to say because i could never hit em straight.

And the shorter shaft may help you make "clean" contact on the sweet spot.

[cjdfw]

Okay, just to update this thread......

I went ahead and cut the shafts down by an inch. Because i'm hard headed, i did it myself and went ahead and also bought new grips and installed those. It was such an easy and rewarding process. Went out to the range and let me tell you what a world of difference. It feels more natural now to swing the clubs.

I have lost a little distance as i was expecting BUT for each club 5-PW, seriously 8 to 9 out of 10 shots were dead straight. It was such a confidence booster to be able to grab the 5-iron and hit it long and straight, whereas before i dreaded taking out that club.......

One question though, if i add those lead tape weights to each of the clubs will i gain back some of the distance i lost?? the one thing i forgot to do was to have the swingweight checked for each club before i cut em down. oh well

[dduffer]

I would definitely recommend getting a professional club fitting done. It can be done at most golf shops. While based on your height, it is easy to say the should be a little shorter, but by how much and with what lie change is the question. They will tell you exactly the length, flex and lie that your clubs should be. Then you can either have your clubs adjusted or buy new ones with a correct fit. Depending on the shaft and flex you currently have, it might not be as simple as cutting the shaft length down, they may have to be reshafted... but the club fitter can tell you your options.

Good luck.

[andre112]

swing weights are mostly D2 for irons nowadays..
pw is probably D3
you can get the spec from club manufacturer's website