Are driver shafts too long?

[shewy]

it's the same a the loft jacking on the irons, the only way they can claim longer drives is with longer shafts as the cor is maxed out, a robot will hit a longer shafted club longer, were not robots.
Also I think 3 woods and 5 woods are too long to hit off the deck for most people,it's not to long ago drivers were 43" and we didn't hit them off the deck then, 43" for a 5 wood is not uncommon whereas it used to be 41.5-42", that's where the distance claims come from

 

[Markw]

Another good write up from Tom wishon

http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/664636-proper-length-fitting-how-it-needs-to-be-done/

 

[GreiginFife]

it's the same a the loft jacking on the irons, the only way they can claim longer drives is with longer shafts as the cor is maxed out, a robot will hit a longer shafted club longer, were not robots.
Also I think 3 woods and 5 woods are too long to hit off the deck for most people,it's not to long ago drivers were 43" and we didn't hit them off the deck then, 43" for a 5 wood is not uncommon whereas it used to be 41.5-42", that's where the distance claims come from

Are you taking about shaft length or playing length? Shaft in my 5w is 41.5" making a playing length of 42.75" Can't see that I have seen many fairway woods with noticeably longer shafts. Recently had two Adams, a Mizuno and a Wilson 5w and possibly 0.25" a difference between them, Wilson M3 being the shortest of the four.

 

[sawtooth]

I'm 5ft 9" so I like to shorten my driver shaft a little bit.

For me it helps to promote a better strike which in turn improves distance and accuracy.

 

[Jensen]

My Adams XTD comes with stock "real" deal 45 inch Matrix Red Tie shaft

 

[shewy]

Are you taking about shaft length or playing length? Shaft in my 5w is 41.5" making a playing length of 42.75" Can't see that I have seen many fairway woods with noticeably longer shafts. Recently had two Adams, a Mizuno and a Wilson 5w and possibly 0.25" a difference between them, Wilson M3 being the shortest of the four.

I'm talking playing length, 43" for a 5 wood is ridiculous, not so long ago these were 42" max

 

[GreiginFife]

I'm talking playing length, 43" for a 5 wood is ridiculous, not so long ago these were 42" max

How are you defining "not that long ago"? I have a Mizuno MX700 c.2009 that plays the exact same length as my MP650 which in turn is the same length as Wilson Staff M3...
I have been playing for 28 years and since graphite shafts became the norm, I don't really remember fairways being all that shorter.
Drivers playing lengths seem to have slightly increased since tip adapters were introduced, or at least outside of Taylormade anyway.

 

[NWJocko]

I'm 5ft 9" so I like to shorten my driver shaft a little bit.

For me it helps to promote a better strike which in turn improves distance and accuracy.

What's yours cut down to Sean?

Certainly don't lose any distance!!!! Interesting this, might try gripping down at the range to see if it helps any.

I have been known as an erratic driver in my time...

 

[Face breaker]

What's yours cut down to Sean?

Certainly don't lose any distance!!!! Interesting this, might try gripping down at the range to see if it helps any.

I have been known as an erratic driver in my time...

Gonna try gripping down myself, I bought a "Tour Edge Bazooka" to replace my previous driver which had given up the ghost a couple of months back anyway the "Bazooka" has a 46" shaft (my previous driver was 44.5") and I've been struggling to get any real consistent accuracy out of it whereas I could hit my old driver as straight as an arrow all day long and I'm wondering if it may be the shaft length that's causing the problem !...:fore:

 

[sawtooth]

What's yours cut down to Sean?

Certainly don't lose any distance!!!! Interesting this, might try gripping down at the range to see if it helps any.

I have been known as an erratic driver in my time...

I think that applies to every golfer

I own 3 drivers, the TM Burner 2007 10.5 and Cobra Bio Cell are shortened to 45" so only by .75"

The Burner 2007 9.5 that I have used and loved for years is 44.5"

They are all pretty much of muchness in terms of distance of the tee, the Cobra is slightly longer (probably due to lofting up) than the TM's but to be fair to TM they are a lot older as well.

 

[backwoodsman]

Forgive my ignorance on this, but how/where do you measure shaft length? For example, my driver is 45 inches long from the top of the shaft to the sole of the club head. But only 41.5 inches if you measure what I'd call the 'visible shaft'. Are either of these correct and if not, what is?

 

[Stuey01]

How to measure a driver:
www.golf-components.com/usupprreleof.html

 

[backwoodsman]

How to measure a driver:
www.golf-components.com/usupprreleof.html

Ta muchly

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Will shafts get longer in a promise of more distance? Personally, I hope not as they'll be even harder to control for lots of players (including myself). For me this season I'm sticking with the G25 (or maybe that pesky Titleist 915 D2) and just trying to learn to hit more fairways. That in my mind is where the key is especially as I'll never be a forum long, long hitter

 

[Deleted member 18121]

Played today and tried gripping down the driver by about an inch..... I hit 57% of fairways and because of that 50% of greens. I'm off 17 and I shot a +9, 81! Griping down made me feel more controlled and made my drives have a baby draw. I will keep doing this!

 

[triangle]

My new X2 Hot is 46". This seems insanely long to me so I'm thinking about having it chopped down to 44". Any idea how much this would cost at the pro shop? I'm assuming that would include the price of a new grip.

PS Hi everyone, long-time lurker first-time poster!

 

[Markw]

Played today and tried gripping down the driver by about an inch..... I hit 57% of fairways and because of that 50% of greens. I'm off 17 and I shot a +9, 81! Griping down made me feel more controlled and made my drives have a baby draw. I will keep doing this!

Well done, good golf. amateurs should not have a driver longer than what the pros can handle! unless you are over 6'2" there is no reason to have a driver longer than 44" unless you like making hard work of it. My own experiences show that a 44" rather than 46" make it easier to hit centre of face more consistently which actually increases distance, centre strikes give more distance than a long playing length. It also makes it easier to keep on plane as the longer it is makes it more prone to a out to in swing path encouraging fade or slice.
The beauty of modern drivers is that with the screw in weights its easy to get swing weight right after cutting down by adding heavier weights, with mine I had to remove shaft and add tip weights to restore swingweight.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Well done, good golf. amateurs should not have a driver longer than what the pros can handle! unless you are over 6'2" there is no reason to have a driver longer than 44" unless you like making hard work of it. My own experiences show that a 44" rather than 46" make it easier to hit centre of face more consistently which actually increases distance, centre strikes give more distance than a long playing length. It also makes it easier to keep on plane as the longer it is makes it more prone to a out to in swing path encouraging fade or slice.
The beauty of modern drivers is that with the screw in weights its easy to get swing weight right after cutting down by adding heavier weights, with mine I had to remove shaft and add tip weights to restore swingweight.

I'm 6'1" my driver has a 45" shaft with which, in my last 3 rounds, I have hit 23 fairways of the 28 times I've used it.

You should use whatever club you can control. There is no generic too long or too short.

 

[delc]

Once upon a time I had a Taylor Made Burner 09 driver with a 46.25" shaft and a slightly heavy D6 swing weight. I drove the ball really nicely with this club, as it was almost impossible to swing it in a jerky manner. I am only of average height, about 5' 10" BTW. Another club member, who is smaller than me, has a 'Long Tom' driver with a 48" shaft, and he belts everything miles down the middle with just a hint of draw, although the rest of his game is not that good. A long shaft almost forces you to make a long smooth swing, and is not the disadvantage that others seem to think! Unfortunately, my set of clubs, including the Burner driver, was stolen from my car and I have never found anything quite as good!

 

[Markw]

I'm 6'1" my driver has a 45" shaft with which, in my last 3 rounds, I have hit 23 fairways of the 28 times I've used it.

You should use whatever club you can control. There is no generic too long or too short.

I agree although almost every decent club fitter will not give an amateur a driver longer than 44" That's why the average length on tour is around this length as they need to hit fairways and Tiger woods in his prime commented that he used 44" as he loses control on longer playing length.
I just took advice from someone who knows what they are talking about and hit 11 out of 12 fairways today, have you even tried a shorter driver over at least 6-7 rounds, maybe you might improve your Fairways hit.