39" Driver

[jakewilliams]

I’m a 5’6” 18 year old. I’m relatively short with relatively short legs. My outseam is 35” (30” inseam) and i recently trimmed my driver to 39” (was 42) and i’m hitting absolute bombs. When it was 42 i would struggle to make accurate, consistent contact. My average drive now is about 190-220. I’m mainly just a sunday golfer. Was this a dumb idea?

[sjduffers]

I am 5'7" also with a 30" inseam. I would learn to hit a 42 to 44" driver instead of shortening it that much. You are robbing yourself of a lot of distance. Sure, shortening from 45 to 43 is done quite often in order to increase centeredness of contact, but to 39" is a bit extreme in my opinion. FWIW, my previous driver was 44" and my current one is 45"...

[MarvChamp]

9 hours ago, jakewilliams said:

Was this a dumb idea?

There is much discussion of this on TST. I personally needed to cut down my driver a bit to achieve better forgiveness and consistence, according to the pro fitter who helped me. He was right. Others want to control a longer driver (which is what the manufacturers are selling). So, no, not dumb if it works for you. Best, -Marv

[Patch]

My question would be, if you also carry a 3W, do you hit your 39" driver farther than the 3 metal?

[jakewilliams]

2 hours ago, Patch said:

My question would be, if you also carry a 3W, do you hit your 39" driver farther than the 3 metal?

i don’t carry a 3w i carry a 5w. i have used a 3w and yes i do drive farther. first time using my shortened club my farthest drive carried almost 300. 

14 hours ago, jakewilliams said:

I’m a 5’6” 18 year old. I’m relatively short with relatively short legs. My outseam is 35” (30” inseam) and i recently trimmed my driver to 39” (was 42) and i’m hitting absolute bombs. When it was 42 i would struggle to make accurate, consistent contact. My average drive now is about 190-220. I’m mainly just a sunday golfer. Was this a dumb idea?

I went to the range and used my trimmed driver for the first time today and hit 250-280 consistently. My farthest carried almost 300. I will say i’m slowly going to work my way up the a 44 inch shaft. 

[Lihu]

16 hours ago, jakewilliams said:

I’m a 5’6” 18 year old. I’m relatively short with relatively short legs. My outseam is 35” (30” inseam) and i recently trimmed my driver to 39” (was 42) and i’m hitting absolute bombs. When it was 42 i would struggle to make accurate, consistent contact. My average drive now is about 190-220. I’m mainly just a sunday golfer. Was this a dumb idea?

6

Not at all. Whatever works best for you. An average of 205 actual yards is perfectly fine for 90% of the courses. . .

I hit a 3W on most holes.

[Buckeyebowman]

As others have said, it's whatever works best for you! There is absolutely no reason to compare yourself to someone else. If they want to hit a 44" Driver, fine! If you can hit the ball where you want with good distance with a shorter Driver, that's also fine!

[jakewilliams]

6 hours ago, Lihu said:

Not at all. Whatever works best for you. An average of 205 actual yards is perfectly fine for 90% of the courses. . .

I hit a 3W on most holes.

exactly, i’m really only a sunday golfer and can do 205 easily with a heavy 5H

[Lihu]

5 hours ago, jakewilliams said:

exactly, i’m really only a sunday golfer and can do 205 easily with a heavy 5H

As long as you are truthful to yourself about your distances, it really doesn't matter how far you hit so much as what works for you. Some par 4 or even par 5 holes, I might tee up with a 6i while on others I tee up with a driver. If there's trouble in your shot zone, use a different club that doesn't overlap trouble. Pretty simple really.

If shortening your driver helps you, then do it. I just had mine shortened to 43" or so. An inch off the tip and 2" off the butt end.

For people with slower swing speeds, a 46" driver might work fine. Then there are some people who are more coordinated than the rest of us, and can bomb a 46" driver 350 yards or more.

[jakewilliams]

13 hours ago, Lihu said:

As long as you are truthful to yourself about your distances, it really doesn't matter how far you hit so much as what works for you. Some par 4 or even par 5 holes, I might tee up with a 6i while on others I tee up with a driver. If there's trouble in your shot zone, use a different club that doesn't overlap trouble. Pretty simple really.

If shortening your driver helps you, then do it. I just had mine shortened to 43" or so. An inch off the tip and 2" off the butt end.

For people with slower swing speeds, a 46" driver might work fine. Then there are some people who are more coordinated than the rest of us, and can bomb a 46" driver 350 yards or more.

i played baseball in my younger years and have a pretty quick swing, that’s why i wasn’t surprised when i shorted my driver and could actually square up the ball that it would go far. once i started squaring my driver more, i started squaring up other clubs. i wasn’t really surprised when i hit 250+ consistently. 

[Lihu]

On 7/1/2018 at 2:54 PM, jakewilliams said:

i played baseball in my younger years and have a pretty quick swing, that’s why i wasn’t surprised when i shorted my driver and could actually square up the ball that it would go far. once i started squaring my driver more, i started squaring up other clubs. i wasn’t really surprised when i hit 250+ consistently. 

If I had to guess, shortening the driver reduced the spin quite a bit which allows you to hit it better in addition to the reduced length being easier to control.

Get properly fit so you can hit even farther and straighter...

[jakewilliams]

On 7/2/2018 at 9:53 PM, Lihu said:

If I had to guess, shortening the driver reduced the spin quite a bit which allows you to hit it better in addition to the reduced length being easier to control.

Get properly fit so you can hit even farther and straighter...

my distances were off very, very bad. with that short of a driver my max may have been 210-220. I currently swing a 44 and love it. I just dedicated myself to squaring it up. I hit my longest drive today on the course at 315 (we used a range finder). 

[Lihu]

19 hours ago, jakewilliams said:

my distances were off very, very bad. with that short of a driver my max may have been 210-220. I currently swing a 44 and love it. I just dedicated myself to squaring it up. I hit my longest drive today on the course at 315 (we used a range finder). 

That’s great! I also like my 43” driver quite a bit! Lower spin keeps the drives much straighter. 

[BaconNEggs]

I'm so confused.

"i recently trimmed my driver to 39” (was 42) and i’m hitting absolute bombs. My average drive now is about 190-220."  - June 30

"I went to the range and used my trimmed driver for the first time today and hit 250-280 consistently. My farthest carried almost 300." - June 30

"with that short of a driver my max may have been 210-220. I currently swing a 44 and love it. I just dedicated myself to squaring it up. I hit my longest drive today on the course at 315 (we used a range finder)." - July 19

So you switched your driver from 42 to 39 and were hitting "absolute bombs" (June 30), averaging about 190-220... and then the very same day, you posted that you hit your trimmed driver for the first time 250-280 consistently... and then a few weeks later, you reference how with a short driver your max was only 210-220 (the one you just said you were hitting 250-280...), and now you're swinging a driver 5 inches longer and are hitting it 300+.

Either you're lying, or you really need to learn how to write better, because this is totally incoherent and makes no sense. From start to finish, you went from 42 inches to 39 to 44, and apparently went from ~220 to ~270 to ~300. It just... it doesn't pass the internet sniff test. Sorry mate.

Edited July 19, 2018 by BaconNEggs

[iacas]

@jakewilliams, rather than reporting the post above, maybe address the points raised. I too am confused about where and when and why you were hitting it 190-220. Players hitting it that distance don’t often suddenly start hitting it 300+.

[3jacker]

Seems like this thread may have been an attention-seeking device rather than an actual thing, but just for the sake of the topic... I recall back in my 20s I tried a friend's Founders Club steel driver (with steel shaft) at 42."  I did in fact hit bombs with it, straighter/easier and they had a more pleasing trajectory (high parabola).  Then like an idiot I went back to my std length driver.  I should probably try it again (the shorter shaft idea, not a steel Founder's Club).