Cutting Down Driver Shaft Length

[Tommy_Boy14]

I'm thinking about cutting down my driver shaft to the length of my 4 iron (39.5")  I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not, I rebuilt my driver with a new TP X-Stiff shaft (TaylorMade R1 X-Stiff 80g) but still have the old one (TaylorMade stock R1 stiff shaft 55g) so I could cut it down and if this doesn't work out no harm no foul.  I hit my irons incredibly well and very pure my 4 iron flies about 225 off the deck.  I'm trying to become more accurate with my drives, right now my miss is right and when I say right i mean WAYYYYYYYY right.  But my irons are dead straight every time and very pure so what I'm trying to do is eliminate that right miss with my drives.  I'm ok giving up some distance if it will come with more accuracy but I'm just curious if cutting down my driver length almost 5" will help with that or not.

 

Thanks

[saevel25]

Couple of issues with this.

First, you will be changing the tip diameter, and the golf shaft will probably not fit the driver. If you cut it from the butt end of the club then you might end up cutting down the tapered part of the shaft.

Second, you will be drastically changing the swing weight, and lie angle on the club. This will require you to make sizable adjustments with your swing or set up.

If you really want to do this, you will probably need to buy a hybrid golf shaft and trim it to length because they are designed to be in that club length range.

Again, you will have an extreme lie angle change.

 

[WUTiger]

From TM specs on original R1 driver: 
      45.5" shaft length, D4 swingweight w/ stock 55-gram Aldila RIP Phenom shaft

3 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Second, you will be drastically changing the swing weight, and lie angle on the club. This will require you to make sizable adjustments with your swing or set up.

The specifics on what saevel addresses:

• For every 1/2" you trim off a golf shaft, you drop the swingweight 3 points. So, if you trim off 5", you will lose 15 sw.wt. points. This would take you from D4 to C0.
• A second adjustment, the 25-gram increase in shaft weight would recapture 3 sw.wt. points, back up to C3.

Also, you would have a severe lie angle change.

And, with such a short shaft, it's unlikely you could get much distance, as the long shaft length helps create the extra leverage and resulting distance a driver delivers.

6 hours ago, Tommy_Boy14 said:

right now my miss is right and when I say right i mean WAYYYYYYYY right. 

Further, considering your above note:  I would say forego shaft surgery. Get on a launch monitor and see what your numbers are on the miss rights. One possible explanation: the 80-gram XS shaft  could be a bit too heavy and stiff for you to handle, hence the right error.

[Tommy_Boy14]

On 12/13/2017 at 5:49 PM, WUTiger said:

From TM specs on original R1 driver: 
      45.5" shaft length, D4 swingweight w/ stock 55-gram Aldila RIP Phenom shaft

The specifics on what saevel addresses:

• For every 1/2" you trim off a golf shaft, you drop the swingweight 3 points. So, if you trim off 5", you will lose 15 sw.wt. points. This would take you from D4 to C0.
• A second adjustment, the 25-gram increase in shaft weight would recapture 3 sw.wt. points, back up to C3.

Also, you would have a severe lie angle change.

And, with such a short shaft, it's unlikely you could get much distance, as the long shaft length helps create the extra leverage and resulting distance a driver delivers.

Further, considering your above note:  I would say forego shaft surgery. Get on a launch monitor and see what your numbers are on the miss rights. One possible explanation: the 80-gram XS shaft  could be a bit too heavy and stiff for you to handle, hence the right error.

I was having the same issue with the stock shaft and was told by my local golf pro to go to the X-Stiff because of my build and swing speed (110 average with driver).  Would just choking down on the shaft as is now help at all?  Honestly I think I just need to go get a lesson to help with my driver and 3 wood because every club from my sand wedge up to my hybrids goes dead straight every time. 

[WUTiger]

7 minutes ago, Tommy_Boy14 said:

... Honestly I think I just need to go get a lesson to help with my driver and 3 wood because every club from my sand wedge up to my hybrids goes dead straight every time. 

First, welcome to TST!

Sounds like you have a cyborg challenge (blending man and machine). Start with a lesson, and also compare hybrid numbers with Driver and 3W numbers. You haven't indicated:

• your current driver model and shaft (weight, flex).
• the pattern of your misses (left, right, hook, slice, spray)

If you're overpowering the shafts you need to get fitted for new long clubs. Compare cost of new shafts vs. new clubs... major OEMs offer quite a variety of shafts with no upcharge.

Note: When you get enough posts to let you put in a signature line, list the club mix you have in your bag. That way, we can better tell how you approach the game from a tech standpoint.

[Tommy_Boy14]

40 minutes ago, WUTiger said:

First, welcome to TST!

Sounds like you have a cyborg challenge (blending man and machine). Start with a lesson, and also compare hybrid numbers with Driver and 3W numbers. You haven't indicated:

• your current driver model and shaft (weight, flex).
• the pattern of your misses (left, right, hook, slice, spray)

If you're overpowering the shafts you need to get fitted for new long clubs. Compare cost of new shafts vs. new clubs... major OEMs offer quite a variety of shafts with no upcharge.

Note: When you get enough posts to let you put in a signature line, list the club mix you have in your bag. That way, we can better tell how you approach the game from a tech standpoint.

Driver is Taylormade R1 shaft is 80 gram X-Stiff Aldila RIP Phenom and my miss is a huge slice to the right... were talking 50 yards to the right

[WUTiger]

Start with a lesson and see if there's a set-up or a swing motion problem. It may be as set-up thing, given all else goes fairly straight.

[onthehunt526]

I wouldn't ever cut 6" off a Driver, you'll ruin the dynamics. You might be able to get one that is weighted properly at 43.5 to 44 inches... You'd be surprised what just 1 inch does for accuracy.

[chilepepper]

Half inch, three quarters an inch maybe. Once you’re  thinking of taking off multiple inches I’d have a pro look my swing. Not to mention the distance you will lose. 

[bste]

@Tommy_Boy14

Welcome

Please, don't cut your driver. It sounds like a setup problem "IMHO".

It would be best to get a lesson, but in the meantime,

Try a little experiment, for driver, setup with the ball in front of your lead foot, no I'm not kidding, see what happens, you may not be getting the clubface back to square.

Good luck

[onthehunt526]

---

That is also a very heavy X-flex shaft. (I shouldn't talk mine is 77 grams). I think if your "taking the right fielder's head off", one of two things are happening. You are not getting the face back to square or since the shaft is so stiff it doesn't have the extra fraction of a second to flex and release back to square.

@bste suggested, give your self that extra fraction of a second. By moving the ball position forward of your lead foot. Secondly, if you are going to play a shorter driver. Don't go less than 44" (unless you have a trained clubmaker do the new shaft).

Clubmakers have a way of getting the swingweight back to what it's supposed to be either with a lighter grip or other means of keeping the swing weight balanced.

[MGN]

I would not cut off the shaft as much as you mention; it will severely change the swing weight.

If you are consistently missing right with your driver, your shaft may be too stiff for your driver swing speed where you cannot close the face in time before impact.  If you move to a less stiff shaft you could combine it with a smaller length at the pro shop.

On a side note, does the 460cc head of your driver bother you?  If so, look to older drivers of the 430/420 variety; they helped me close the driver face much easier.

Edited January 4, 2018 by MGN

[Sparty5389]

Hey there,

I currently have my clubs being regripped and was having a similar problem with my driver & 3W. 

Here’s my recommendation:

- Take a dry erase marker to the range with you, cover club face with the marker, tee off a handful of drives. 

- Look at club face - if hitting the heel of club most times, re-color the club face with marker and take a few more swings, but choke down .5” on the grip. Note where your hands are, be consistent. 

- Review face - try again if results aren’t what you want, and choke further. Find your spot - should be mid-ish on club face with consistently good flight.

For me, choking just half an inch down made a world of difference. I got my driver trimmed .5” since I was getting it regripped anyways. 

I think you’ll find a difference with a much less drastic change than you think.

Let us us know how it goes!

[onthehunt526]

On 12/13/2017 at 11:04 AM, Tommy_Boy14 said:

I'm thinking about cutting down my driver shaft to the length of my 4 iron (39.5")  I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not, I rebuilt my driver with a new TP X-Stiff shaft (TaylorMade R1 X-Stiff 80g) but still have the old one (TaylorMade stock R1 stiff shaft 55g) so I could cut it down and if this doesn't work out no harm no foul.  I hit my irons incredibly well and very pure my 4 iron flies about 225 off the deck.  I'm trying to become more accurate with my drives, right now my miss is right and when I say right i mean WAYYYYYYYY right.  But my irons are dead straight every time and very pure so what I'm trying to do is eliminate that right miss with my drives.  I'm ok giving up some distance if it will come with more accuracy but I'm just curious if cutting down my driver length almost 5" will help with that or not.

 

Thanks

I've read a lot of these posts... Including my own. These are my thoughts.

1) 45.5" is a long driver. My current driver, the Tour Edge Exotics EX9 is 45.5".  I'm 6'5" and I think it's too long for me...

2) Choking down is a good idea. You won't screw your club up by doing this. Don't be surprised if you hit a few low hooks to the left to begin with. In theory, with some practice you'll be hitting some straighter shots.

3) A shorter driver will help your consistency of strike, but if you go too short (the length of your 4-iron) you'll lose a lot of distance. If you must go shorter... Do not under any circumstances, cut the current shaft. Get yourself an R1 adaptor, a shaft that when installed and tipped to normal length gives you a heavier than what you want swingweight, then butt trim to 43.5"-44"

4) Why don't you just tee off with your 4-iron? 225 yards is plenty long enough to score decently, and you still have approach distance over people, so a 400 yard hole for you would be 4-iron and a 7-iron... I'm not trying to be mean or come as across as such. But you can get around the course with that while you sort out your driver.

5) Your probably missing way right because your shaft is really too stiff and probably too heavy. You can probably go a little shorter or hell just to 45" with a shaft that is perhaps 15 grams lighter than what you play now and in standard stiff (however there is no such thing as standard in shaft flex).

I personally think it's probably more number 5 than anything and it's you don't have the right shaft. You can go shorter with the proper shaft, however there is nothing wrong with that.

The way that driver heads are manufactured and the materials that are used, the shaft has to be longer than the "old" persimmon head and steel shaft standard of 43". 

There is a whole thread dedicated to the "Driver Shaft Length Creep" which you might want to check out. 

 

[Mr. Desmond]

Welcome!

No, don't do it.

It's easier to change your swing than do what you want to do. Leave driver out of the bag and go with the longest club you can hit somewhat accurately.

Take a lesson or two. Put your swing on video and put it in a swing thread here.

[Buckeyebowman]

On 12/18/2017 at 1:21 PM, Tommy_Boy14 said:

I was having the same issue with the stock shaft and was told by my local golf pro to go to the X-Stiff because of my build and swing speed (110 average with driver).  Would just choking down on the shaft as is now help at all?  Honestly I think I just need to go get a lesson to help with my driver and 3 wood because every club from my sand wedge up to my hybrids goes dead straight every time. 

Wait a minute! Your average driver clubhead speed is 110 and your "golf pro" told you to go with an X-Stiff? Doesn't surprise me you're going right! No way that shaft will let you square the clubhead unless you jump like a maniac from the top.

I'd resist chopping that much off a driver shaft. There must be other remedies available to you.

[1badbadger]

On 12/13/2017 at 4:49 PM, WUTiger said:

From TM specs on original R1 driver: 
      45.5" shaft length, D4 swingweight w/ stock 55-gram Aldila RIP Phenom shaft

The specifics on what saevel addresses:

• For every 1/2" you trim off a golf shaft, you drop the swingweight 3 points. So, if you trim off 5", you will lose 15 sw.wt. points. This would take you from D4 to C0.
• A second adjustment, the 25-gram increase in shaft weight would recapture 3 sw.wt. points, back up to C3.

Also, you would have a severe lie angle change.

And, with such a short shaft, it's unlikely you could get much distance, as the long shaft length helps create the extra leverage and resulting distance a driver delivers.

Further, considering your above note:  I would say forego shaft surgery. Get on a launch monitor and see what your numbers are on the miss rights. One possible explanation: the 80-gram XS shaft  could be a bit too heavy and stiff for you to handle, hence the right error.

John, I was just reading through this thread, but I haven't read all the posts yet, so if someone else caught this, I apologize and just disregard this.

I noticed a math error that has a pretty big impact on your answer.  You stated: "For every 1/2" you trim off a golf shaft, you drop the swingweight 3 points.", which is correct.  The OP is thinking about trimming 5" off his shaft.  1/2" = 3 points, and 1" = 6 points, so it should have been 6 points x 5 inches = 30 swingweight points.

Again, if you already got hammered by others, I'm sorry!  Not trying to pile on, just wanted to point it out before I saw a shiny object and got distracted and forgot.

Cheers!

[WUTiger]

2 hours ago, 1badbadger said:

... I noticed a math error that has a pretty big impact on your answer.  You stated: "For every 1/2" you trim off a golf shaft, you drop the swingweight 3 points.", which is correct.  The OP is thinking about trimming 5" off his shaft.  1/2" = 3 points, and 1" = 6 points, so it should have been 6 points x 5 inches = 30 swingweight points ...

Good catch, BB! Not sure how the calculation went wrong.

Hopefully even the wrong answer showed the OP it wasn't that good an idea.