Driver experiment I'm considering trying

[One Planer]

Following on from the "Straighter hitting driver" thread, I'm considering a little experiment.

The spec' for my 910D2 is:

Loft - 10.5°
Shaft Length - 45"

The spec' for my 910F is:
Loft - 17°
Shaft Length - 42.5"

Here's what I'm thinking of giving a blast.

I'm thinking of getting a 3 wood shaft that plays at 43" and installing that into my 910D2.

As you can imagine there's quite a gap between my 4 wood and driver so this may help reduce that a little.

After a little reading on t'interweb it says that for every degree (°) weaker/stronger the equivalent change in distance is roughly 3 yards.

Forgetting shaft length for a minute. If I were to work on purely the differece in loft between driver and 4 wood that would be equivalent to just shy of 20 yards. Chuck in the 1/2" longer shaft and that would, probably, nudge it over the 20 yard mark.

Thinking of the pro's

It's effectively a 3 wood, with a driver head. May help me find the fairway more often, albiet a little further back.

Thinking of the con's

I'd lose some distance from my current set up.

Worth a go? Any technical reason why it wouldn't work?

What do you guys think?

 

[anotherdouble]

The experts out in forum land may correct me but I think you will have to add more weight to the head if you are reducing the length of the shaft

 

[chris661]

Before going to all that hassle why not just grip down a bit?

 

[patricks148]

Following on from the "Straighter hitting driver" thread, I'm considering a little experiment.

The spec' for my 910D2 is:

Loft - 10.5°
Shaft Length - 45"

The spec' for my 910F is:
Loft - 17°
Shaft Length - 42.5"

Here's what I'm thinking of giving a blast.

I'm thinking of getting a 3 wood shaft that plays at 43" and installing that into my 910D2.

As you can imagine there's quite a gap between my 4 wood and driver so this may help reduce that a little.

After a little reading on t'interweb it says that for every degree (°) weaker/stronger the equivalent change in distance is roughly 3 yards.

Forgetting shaft length for a minute. If I were to work on purely the differece in loft between driver and 4 wood that would be equivalent to just shy of 20 yards. Chuck in the 1/2" longer shaft and that would, probably, nudge it over the 20 yard mark.

Thinking of the pro's

It's effectively a 3 wood, with a driver head. May help me find the fairway more often, albiet a little further back.

Thinking of the con's

I'd lose some distance from my current set up.

Worth a go? Any technical reason why it wouldn't work?

What do you guys think?

Here's a novel though for you rather than looking for a quick fix, learn how to hit the driver straight...:rofl::rofl:

Or get a more forgiving GI one:ears: im sure that will take shots off your handcap:rofl::rofl:

 

[beck9965]

Gareth,
Before you try what your thinking of doing try hitting the Adams Tight Lies 3 wood, I bought one recently and played my first round with it yesterday and was, much to the annoyance of my playing partners, out driving them by 20-30 yards, lots of comments enquiring what club I was playing and total surprise when they saw a 3 on the underside. The tour 3 wood is 14deg and has a 43" shaft.

 

[One Planer]

Here's a novel though for you rather than looking for a quick fix, learn how to hit the driver straight...:rofl::rofl:

Why would I want to hit my driver straight when I have a perfectly good fade :ears:

Would that comment also apply to all the folk on tour who play shorter than standard drivers?

 

[richy]

Why would I want to hit my driver straight when I have a perfectly good fade :ears:

If it's a perfectly good fade, why the need for the experiment then?

 

[One Planer]

If it's a perfectly good fade, why the need for the experiment then?

Bit. Of. Fun.

 

[moogie]

Bit. Of. Fun.

Reckon u got too much time on your hands.......

Start stripping that woodchip paper and redecorate for your missus

That should keep u out of mischief

 

[richy]

Bit. Of. Fun.

Really?

Surely there must be other ways to have fun? You don't need the acuracy as you have a 'perfectly good fade' so all you'll be doing is decreasing distance if anything. Doesn't sound like fun to me

 

[patricks148]

Reckon u got too much time on your hands.......

Start stripping that woodchip paper and redecorate for your missus

That should keep u out of mischief

:rofl::rofl:

as someone who is short and straight, i would rather hit it miles

now get started on that wall paper.

 

[tsped83]

I'm interested in the shorter shafted driver for sure. My X Hot is 45.75" I think, and having read that Tom Wishon article on here a few days ago, thinking of cutting it down by at least an inch. I already grip down about 2 inches from the butt end though, so maybe I should just persevere with that?

Would it be a costly experiment Gareth? How much is a new shaft?

 

[One Planer]

Really?

Surely there must be other ways to have fun? You don't need the acuracy as you have a 'perfectly good fade' so all you'll be doing is decreasing distance if anything. Doesn't sound like fun to me

Just because I have a "perfectly good fade" doesnt mean the ball always finishes up where I want it to :thup:

 

[Alex1975]

I got a little lost along the way. Is loft your issue or shaft length?

The other night I hit some drives with my Swingbyte, got a swing speed reading and had a good look at where on the face I was hitting each one. I then chocked my driver all the way to the bottom of the grip and hit almost exactly the same swing speed.

I played on for a little longer, no other reason then interest and as I got more tired it was easier to keep max speed with the full length shaft but I still could get about the same speeds give or take 2 mph with the choked driver.

The club head does feel lighter when you choke it but that also has its own charm.

All in all I came out thinking I would leave things as they were.

The other day I read a long long post about driver length, it was pretty in depth and there turned out to be no rhyme or reason to it, some players gained speed from longer clubs and some gain speed from shorter ones. Some hit more fairways with longer, some with shorter.


Yesterday I read something from Tom Wishon about who should be using what driver length, I shall try and find it.

 

[One Planer]

Would it be a costly experiment Gareth? How much is a new shaft?

Not a great deal pal. eBay is littered with them

 

[Alex1975]

Here you go Gareth. Its all a good read but its point 1 that I was referencing.

http://www.golfwrx.com/166407/wishon-7-club-fitting-keys-to-improve-shot-consistency/

 

[moogie]

I'm interested in the shorter shafted driver for sure. My X Hot is 45.75" I think, and having read that Tom Wishon article on here a few days ago, thinking of cutting it down by at least an inch. I already grip down about 2 inches from the butt end though, so maybe I should just persevere with that?

Would it be a costly experiment Gareth? How much is a new shaft?

Just get your pro or a local club fitter to cut the shaft
Cost is probs just the price of a new grip, if not saved, or very little charge

Don't worry about all the BS about change in SW etc by chopping an inch, mere mortals don't notice
I've had every driver I've had in last 6-7 years or so always shortened to 45"........don't like to play any longer

On a footnote @ Gareth
I once by mistake put an R11 3 wood shaft in my then R11 driver, and it was total pants (for me)

 

[Alex1975]

I'm interested in the shorter shafted driver for sure. My X Hot is 45.75" I think, and having read that Tom Wishon article on here a few days ago, thinking of cutting it down by at least an inch. I already grip down about 2 inches from the butt end though, so maybe I should just persevere with that?

Would it be a costly experiment Gareth? How much is a new shaft?

You could cut and inch or two off, try it, if its not for you you can put a 1 or 2 inch plug in the butt and regrip it. All its cost is two grips and a plug.

 

[One Planer]

Here you go Gareth. Its all a good read but its point 1 that I was referencing.

http://www.golfwrx.com/166407/wishon-7-club-fitting-keys-to-improve-shot-consistency/

Interesting Alex, Thanks for sharing:

. A shorter driver, but also shorter fairway woods

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the percentage of golfers who have improved their tee shot consistency by going much shorter with the length of their driver is nothing short of spectacular. The only male golfers who have a real chance to play well with a 45-inch driver are those with a smooth tempo, great swing rhythm/timing, inside-out to square swing path, later release and good golf athletic ability on top of those things.

For golfers who fall short in one or more of those elements, don’t even think about a driver longer than 44 inches. If the golfer falls short in three or more of those factors, don’t go longer than 43 to 43.5 inches. Longer length only means higher club head speed for golfers with a later-to-very-late release. And even for those with a later release, for 98 percent of them longer length means more off-center hits.

But don’t just think shorter drivers for better shot consistency. Think shorter fairway woods, too. The old fairway wood length standards were 43 inches for a 3 wood, 42.5 inches for a 4 wood, 42 inches for a 5 wood and 41 inches for a 7 wood. Golfers should consider using fairway woods that are a half inch to a full inch shorter than that if they do not possess most of the above ideal swing tempo/release characteristics. You’d be amazed at the improvement in shot consistency from shorter fairway woods.

 

[Alex1975]

Yep, by his definition I should be using a 40" driver.

Clearly this is his opinion and a pretty trusted one, he has many years of experience. However I thought his long article about adjustable drivers was floored as he did not account for those who grip up with the club in the air or those who hover.

Still, all good reading innit.


To come off topic the thing that struck me in that article was the comments about hybrids and ego.