Driver Shaft Length Creep

[inthecup]

I play a 44.5" driver.  I feel it gives me better control and hitting the center of the clubface over time is more important than a potential mile per hour in club head speed.

[AlDena]

Does anyone advocate choking down on the club, in lieu of cutting/replacing the shaft.? I routinely do that, especially later in the round when I'm tired. I would image that swing weigh is similarly affected by choking down. 

[onthehunt526]

The main thing that most OEMs will market is longer is better. Earlier in the thread, I stated that when woods were actually still wood the standard driver length was 43". @1badbadger,  correct me if I'm wrong the first graphite shaft were in the 90-100g range? I want to say. Even then, the driver only went to 43.5 to 44". In the 1990s, the 70-80g graphite shafts started to rule the market... Add another inch. We have shafts out there now, that are in the high 30s for weight... I kid you not... I've never seen it, but I've heard about it.

A lot of your 46" drivers that have come out, have had shafts in the high 40s low 50s range.

Sorry for the rambling, but I'm 6'5 ish" and I play a 44" Driver, with the swingweight properly returned to it's proper reading. I have plenty of distance... I don't need any... If I could've found a steel shaft to put an EX10 adapter on and put it in my driver, I would have. But 44" graphite is fine by me. (I'm probably going to be deadly accurate with it too).

This will probably be the first and only time you will ever see a stiff shaft at 44" on a 460cc Driver head.

[gmc1950s]

4 hours ago, onthehunt526 said:

The main thing that most OEMs will market is longer is better. Earlier in the thread, I stated that when woods were actually still wood the standard driver length was 43". @1badbadger,  correct me if I'm wrong the first graphite shaft were in the 90-100g range? I want to say. Even then, the driver only went to 43.5 to 44". In the 1990s, the 70-80g graphite shafts started to rule the market... Add another inch. We have shafts out there now, that are in the high 30s for weight... I kid you not... I've never seen it, but I've heard about it.

A lot of your 46" drivers that have come out, have had shafts in the high 40s low 50s range.

Sorry for the rambling, but I'm 6'5 ish" and I play a 44" Driver, with the swingweight properly returned to it's proper reading. I have plenty of distance... I don't need any... If I could've found a steel shaft to put an EX10 adapter on and put it in my driver, I would have. But 44" graphite is fine by me. (I'm probably going to be deadly accurate with it too).

This will probably be the first and only time you will ever see a stiff shaft at 44" on a 460cc Driver head.

 At 6'5" ish do you have a good view of the ball at full backswing? I'm 5'10" with short legs and a longish torso. Also my chest and shoulders are bigger than average for my height. At full backswing I only get a peek at the ball, unless I bend way over at address, also I use a 50"shaft. I've tried bending way over still not much of a view. It's a bit bothersome,  but not sure it matters much.

[1badbadger]

7 hours ago, onthehunt526 said:

The main thing that most OEMs will market is longer is better. Earlier in the thread, I stated that when woods were actually still wood the standard driver length was 43". @1badbadger,  correct me if I'm wrong the first graphite shaft were in the 90-100g range? I want to say. Even then, the driver only went to 43.5 to 44". In the 1990s, the 70-80g graphite shafts started to rule the market... Add another inch. We have shafts out there now, that are in the high 30s for weight... I kid you not... I've never seen it, but I've heard about it.

A lot of your 46" drivers that have come out, have had shafts in the high 40s low 50s range.

Sorry for the rambling, but I'm 6'5 ish" and I play a 44" Driver, with the swingweight properly returned to it's proper reading. I have plenty of distance... I don't need any... If I could've found a steel shaft to put an EX10 adapter on and put it in my driver, I would have. But 44" graphite is fine by me. (I'm probably going to be deadly accurate with it too).

This will probably be the first and only time you will ever see a stiff shaft at 44" on a 460cc Driver head.

I honestly don't know how much the original graphite shafts weighed.  They were introduced in the early 1970s, but so expensive at that time very few could afford them.  A less expensive manufacturing process was developed, but that led to an inconsistent final product.  It wasn't until the early to mid '90s that they became mainstream, and by that time lighter weights were available.

[MuniGrit]

45 or 44.5 in for me.

[arturo28mx]

Choking down does not work for me, it may be a mental thing. I have tried various driver lengths between 43" and 46" and the best for me was 43.5". I believe this is what Tiger used for most of his golden years.

Swingweight went down from D3 to about C6 after I trimmed the shaft. But guess what, it works fine for me. I'm 60 and not as strong as I used to be. C6 is still very playable.

[onthehunt526]

32 minutes ago, arturo28mx said:

Choking down does not work for me, it may be a mental thing. I have tried various driver lengths between 43" and 46" and the best for me was 43.5". I believe this is what Tiger used for most of his golden years.

Swingweight went down from D3 to about C6 after I trimmed the shaft. But guess what, it works fine for me. I'm 60 and not as strong as I used to be. C6 is still very playable.

That makes sense an 1.5 inches, 9 swingweight points. Tour Edge added some weight to mine. Now it's about D1 or D2. My 4-wood is D0 to D1 (cut a 1/2" off of that). My hybrid is standard and my irons and wedges are 3/4" longer and 2° upright.

[onthehunt526]

What you are about to read will blow your mind.

If any of you have the following combos this experiment will work. How do I know, because I did it on purpose. The following will work for this:

Taylormade M1 Driver/ 3-wood

Taylormade M3 Driver/3-wood.

Hit 5 to 10 shots with your normal 45" shaft in the driver. If you have access to a launch monitor, it will work faster. Record the results, including, dispersion, smash factor, launch, and ball speed. Take the shaft out of your driver, and switch it with the 3-wood shaft. Hit 5 to 10 more shots. 

The results will astonish you. You'll be hitting it more squarely, catching it in the middle of face. You'll lose a little clubhead speed, but your ball speed will stay about the same, and smash factor might end up perfect. I hit 4 out of 10 shots with a perfect 1.50 smash factor with the 43" 3-wood shaft in the driver...

I believe if you do this test... you'll be like what in the hell am I going to do with my 3-wood? I recommend playing a slightly shorter 3-wood and definitely a shorter swingweight balanced driver. It's all a marketing ploy. 45" and 46" drivers are completely unnecessary. 44" is fine... I think mine more or less plays at about 44". If Tiger wants to try this for the Masters he'd probably hit almost every fairway.

Edited March 23, 2018 by onthehunt526
grammar like usual

[MuniGrit]

I went to a 45 inch shaft and it made a big difference from the 46 that came in the stock shaft. I hit it farther and more accurate.