Shaft shortening.

[Basher]

Would shortening the length of my driver shaft by say 1 or 2 inches make any great difference to my game?

As a high handicapper who's aim is not to shape shots (as yet) but to mainly hit them straight, would a shorter shaft make any discernible difference?

 

[RGDave]

In short, no and yes.

I had my Ping G5 cut from 45.75 to 45 (by a pro)
and I did my Wilson spine down from 46 to 44.75.

Both work(ed) very well.

The issues are;
The swing weight WILL change and to re-weight the club, you'd need to add weight to the head. BUT, swingweight is hardly noticeable and in my case, a club going from D3 to C7 or something makes no difference, but then again, a strong player might regret it (C7 is basically a ladies swingweight).

I hit my spine driver more often dead centre and more often noticeably straighter. Have I lost distance?....yes, a tiny bit, but I'd rather hit it sweet which in itself might make up for the distance loss.

My mate plays off "too many" and hits his driver out the sweet spot more often than not. I often missed mine, so it was good to see a more consistent mark dead-centre.

If you feel you never hit a sweet one, you've nowt to lose. If you often hit it sweet, then you will lose a few yards.

I hope this makes sense.

 

[Ken_A]

Can you take your grip a little lower towards the bottom of the grip? Why cut it down?

 

[Lump]

I've had mine shorted to 44.5. Not sure what the original length was, but I would slice 5 out of 10 drives high right.

Since shortening, I've lost all slice and gained a much more piercing flight. Personally I've seen a increase in distance too, about 10-20 yards. But the main part is they all go straight.

Its worked for me, but everyone thats tried mine simply cant get along with it.

 

[RGDave]

Can you take your grip a little lower towards the bottom of the grip? Why cut it down?

You can! but I found it hard to swing normally with the Anthony Kim approach. It just feels so odd...certainly for me, the lack of bulge (you know, at the top of the grip) was an issue. Also, and it might just be me (again!) but as soon as I choke down, my brain tells me "oh, it's a short swing" like trying to hit a pitching wedge only 80 yards or something.

I guess some people can and some can't.

 

[Basher]

I do grip quite low down the grip Ken. A low handicapper I was playing with suggested I grip it higher to give me more "leverage".
I understand what he meant but being a bit of a short ass I often find the driver seems a bit on the overlong side, that's why I do grip lower.
Just thought that if the shaft was shortened I would still be able to grip it from the top.

 

[sawtooth]

I took an inch of my driver myself and regripped it.

My accuracy of the tee has improved since and I am not overswinging as much.

 

[CrapHacker]

I talked to Morgan at the Ping Demo day about using a shorter shaft, and he refused to contemplate the idea.

His reckoning says that the clubs are so much better technically , eg the K15 will reduce slicing etc, so shortening the shaft length won't do much for consistancy

 

[drawboy]

As a high handicapper who's aim is not to shape shots (as yet) but to mainly hit them straight, would a shorter shaft make any discernible difference?

Therein lies the problem Basher old pal, we all have a natural shape to our shots,even top pro's like Monty and Nicklaus faded the ball, yeah they can both hit a draw when required but they became successfull by playing not fighting their natural shot shape. I think Ben Hogan used to say hitting a golf ball straight was the hardest shot in golf. If you fade (not slice) or draw (not hook) then I think you should embrace that shape and learn to accept it and play to accommodate it in your strategy.
I draw the ball, I can fade it when I have to but it's nowhere near as reliable as my draw, I do not often hit it straight.