Shortening length of driver?

[Bamberdele21]

Just had mine cut by half an inch which has reduced it to 45.

I’m the lower end of 5’10.

Yet to break it in, anyone done anything similar and did it make any difference?

 

[Rlburnside]

Similar, my driver shaft broke after a flight I was going straight from airport to a golf society competition.

I always think driver lengths are to long so I got the pro to put a 3 wood shaft in , little bit of distance lost but the benefit of hitting more fairways was worth it.

I don’t think taking half inch will have any adverse affect on your driver you might loose a bit of distance but I bet you drive the ball straighter.

 

[Ye Olde Boomer]

Shortening works but you may need to add lead tape to get a playable swingweight.

My smallish TaylorMade driver [ 307cc clubhead instead of 460 ] comes in at a hair under 44" which works quite well for me.
And Callaway's brand new Apex UW woods match it perfectly as a compact wood set.
Only had them for the very tail end of our season--just one round with the fairway woods--but was quite pleased with them.

 

[ManinBlack]

Height is immaterial, it's the wrist to floor measurement which is important.

I've experimented a lot with different lengths of driver. I've got a shaft that makes it about 47½". When I catch it it goes a long way but I rarely find the middle & I've given up on it. Also experimented with shorter shafts with more weight in the head to maintain the same swingweight but I found I lost distance & didn't gain much accuracy against a standard length of 46".

I can't imagine you'll notice much difference losing ½an inch.

 

[HeftyHacker]

I took about an inch off mine and bought an extra weight to maintain the swingweight.

Ended up scrapping the weight off so it plays pretty light now but I love it, finding many more fairways and for a pretty minimal loss in distance as I'm finding the middle more.

Over the winter I'll try and dial it back in with my longer shaft but I'm not going to force the issue.

 

[4LEX]

Just had mine cut by half an inch which has reduced it to 45.

I’m the lower end of 5’10.

Yet to break it in, anyone done anything similar and did it make any difference?

45 is still long for the average golfer. You could take it to 44 with no issue as long you had it swing weighted. The more you cut it without adding weight to the head or bottom off the shaft, the lighter it'll become and tougher to feel the head on the backswing.

I guarentee 99% of golfers would score better with losing 10 yards and gaining accuracy than vice versa.

 

[jim8flog]

Similar, my driver shaft broke after a flight I was going straight from airport to a golf society competition.

I always think driver lengths are to long so I got the pro to put a 3 wood shaft in , little bit of distance lost but the benefit of hitting more fairways was worth it.

I don’t think taking half inch will have any adverse affect on your driver you might loose a bit of distance but I bet you drive the ball straighter.

Putting a 3 wood shaft in to a driver does more than shorten it. It also stiffens the tip.
Shortening is done at the butt end of the shaft.

Just had mine cut by half an inch which has reduced it to 45.

I’m the lower end of 5’10.

Yet to break it in, anyone done anything similar and did it make any difference?

I am presuming you initially tried just gripping half inch lower down the grip, liked it and went for the chop. As per Boomer it would also have meant a slight change to swing weight and it could be this that you like as well.

 

[RichA]

When I'm struggling with the driver, I sometimes choke down on the grip a couple of inches and use a more compact swing to focus on hitting the centre of the face. After half a dozen shots, I find I can go back to a normal grip and maintain the good strike.
No idea why it works, but it does for me and doesn't involve screwing around with the club itself.

 

[Oddsocks]

Just had mine cut by half an inch which has reduced it to 45.

I’m the lower end of 5’10.

Yet to break it in, anyone done anything similar and did it make any difference?

I did this with a callaway xr, purchased exactly the same shaft and cut it to the same length as the fusion. Was great during a bad spell but didn’t notice enough difference to stick with.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Not sure 5'10 is that short but it's a bold move. It'll affect swing weight for sure and may also take some getting used to. Good luck with it

 

[SteveJay]

I have read on the Sand Trap https://thesandtrap.com/forums/topic/111004-driver-vs-3-wood-hit-driver/#comment-1554395 that most club golfers are barely any more accurate with a 3 wood than a driver, so does a shorter, 3 wood length shaft in a driver actually improve accuracy? The margins were so small that the sacrifice of some distance was not worthwhile.
The advice was to hit driver rather than 3 wood. I would think shortening the driver shaft is a similar concept, it will reduce distance but barely improve accuracy so may not be worthwhile.

 

[Rlburnside]

Putting a 3 wood shaft in to a driver does more than shorten it. It also stiffens the tip.
Shortening is done at the butt end of the shaft.



I am presuming you initially tried just gripping half inch lower down the grip, liked it and went for the chop. As per Boomer it would also have meant a slight change to swing weight and it could be this that you like as well.

Yes I know all about where to shorten a club, I tried a experiment shortening a old Ping driver I had, all went well and re-gripped, only to realize that it wasn’t my driver that I shortened but my son-in- laws who left his more modern driver in my garage. ??

 

[Rlburnside]

I have read on the Sand Trap https://thesandtrap.com/forums/topic/111004-driver-vs-3-wood-hit-driver/#comment-1554395 that most club golfers are barely any more accurate with a 3 wood than a driver, so does a shorter, 3 wood length shaft in a driver actually improve accuracy? The margins were so small that the sacrifice of some distance was not worthwhile.
The advice was to hit driver rather than 3 wood. I would think shortening the driver shaft is a similar concept, it will reduce distance but barely improve accuracy so may not be worthwhile.

I wonder how they get those statistics, Probably the way to see if there is any difference is to try yourself or ask someone that has done it, look how many on the forum that say they have ditched their drivers in favour for a 3 wood.

The marketing ploy of modern drivers is to push for more distance increasing length of shafts to the detriment of many amateurs.

 

[harpo_72]

I used to play 44.5” I currently have an Epic with no change from off the shelf apart from the head settings.
I don’t think I have gained or lost because the club is set up the way I need it.
I would say if your all over the face with your striking, shorter is better and you will get no yardage loss or a gain simply because your strike pattern improves.

 

[4LEX]

I have read on the Sand Trap https://thesandtrap.com/forums/topic/111004-driver-vs-3-wood-hit-driver/#comment-1554395 that most club golfers are barely any more accurate with a 3 wood than a driver, so does a shorter, 3 wood length shaft in a driver actually improve accuracy? The margins were so small that the sacrifice of some distance was not worthwhile.
The advice was to hit driver rather than 3 wood. I would think shortening the driver shaft is a similar concept, it will reduce distance but barely improve accuracy so may not be worthwhile.

This graph is worthless as the head of a 3 wood is vastly smaller. The standard shaft to head three wood to driver ratio is still smaller. Plus a 3 wood is designed to be hit off the deck, hence the shallow face. Matching up the shorter shaft and bigger head will definitely improve most peoples driving off the tee. I've seen it numerous times. I'm not talking about a 42 inch driver shaft but bringing it back to 43-5 to 44 will help.

 

[Dingy]

I got a shorter shaft when I bought a new driver at the start of the year and definitely started hitting it straighter.

 

[sunshine]

Not sure 5'10 is that short but it's a bold move. It'll affect swing weight for sure and may also take some getting used to. Good luck with it

Welcome back homer.

I'm not sure half an inch will make any difference to feel or swing weight. Driver is the longest shaft already, so half an inch is relatively immaterial.

I ordered my current driver from TM with half an inch off, and I really can't tell the difference. And I still like to grip down on it.
Also ordered a 3 wood with half an inch off and could definitely notice the shaft was shorter than normal - I love it, best 3 wood I've had and I reckon it's due to the shorter shaft helping me to strike the ball more consistently.

 

[BubbaP]

Been a few threads recently on this theme, I've finally scratched the itch but with a slightly different goal.
Mostly just wanted to try cutting and playing around with lead ?, but the 'mission' was to see about replacing the 3 wood as an off the tee option during the muddy parkland season.

Found an old Hyper X Tour 10.5 in the garage - I recalled generally hitting a high ball with it. It is now down to around 43.75 shaft.

My usual bag in the drier conditions is 8.5 driver and 13.5 FW.

Just had the one range session and it mostly did as expected. Will see how it plays out on the course. Bit of fun during winter if nothing else ?

 

[Billysboots]

When I'm struggling with the driver, I sometimes choke down on the grip a couple of inches and use a more compact swing to focus on hitting the centre of the face. After half a dozen shots, I find I can go back to a normal grip and maintain the good strike.
No idea why it works, but it does for me and doesn't involve screwing around with the club itself.

^^ This with knobs on.

I’ve never entirely understood why there would be a need to shorten a driver, certainly by as little as half an inch, when gripping down the shaft works just as well.

I regularly grip down my driver - it might cost me a few yards but it straightens me out and, perhaps more importantly given the exposed location of my club and the often windy conditions, lowers my trajectory considerably.

 

[HeftyHacker]

^^ This with knobs on.

I’ve never entirely understood why there would be a need to shorten a driver, certainly by as little as half an inch, when gripping down the shaft works just as well.

I regularly grip down my driver - it might cost me a few yards but it straightens me out and, perhaps more importantly given the exposed location of my club and the often windy conditions, lowers my trajectory considerably.

It certainly won't apply to everyone but I have quite large hands and I use a baseball grip so I used to feel that I was running out of grip when gripping down. That was until my coach told me to wrap the bottom thumb as well to stop me casting.