Shortening your driver

I shortened my last driver. It meant my clubs now fit in the boot with the driver still in the bag :-)

And I did find it helped me find the middle of the club face more often. Worth trying.
 
Yep, I have. All my Irons are fitted 1/2" short and I shortened all my woods on a gradual scale up to 2" off my driver taking it from 45.75" to 43.75". I'm 5'6" tall and I feel that all clubs are generally too long for me.

Before I shortened the woods I was constantly gripping down the shaft as I found it much nicer to hit them that way with more consistency. Shortening them really improved my strike on the ball and I started hitting more fairways than I had. My bad shot had previously been a block or fade and whilst that's not changed, it happens much less often. I don't track my stats exactly but I shortened all my woods in June and I had some of my best competition results in July. So it had some affect but I couldn't tell you exactly by how much. Anecdotally, my father-in-law and I played together before and after I made the change and he'd noticed how much better I was hitting the driver without knowing that I'd changed the length.

All that said, my best result of the year came on day when I wasn't hitting the driver well at all. The short game practice paid off much more instead and in the last couple of weeks, my driver off the tee has been absolutely woeful.
 
Jimaroid said:
Yep, I have. All my Irons are fitted 1/2" short and I shortened all my woods on a gradual scale up to 2" off my driver taking it from 45.75" to 43.75". I'm 5'6" tall and I feel that all clubs are generally too long for me.

Before I shortened the woods I was constantly gripping down the shaft as I found it much nicer to hit them that way with more consistency. Shortening them really improved my strike on the ball and I started hitting more fairways than I had. My bad shot had previously been a block or fade and whilst that's not changed, it happens much less often. I don't track my stats exactly but I shortened all my woods in June and I had some of my best competition results in July. So it had some affect but I couldn't tell you exactly by how much. Anecdotally, my father-in-law and I played together before and after I made the change and he'd noticed how much better I was hitting the driver without knowing that I'd changed the length.

All that said, my best result of the year came on day when I wasn't hitting the driver well at all. The short game practice paid off much more instead and in the last couple of weeks, my driver off the tee has been absolutely woeful.
Click to expand...

Did you notice any difference in distance?
 
im just in from the golf and today i was using a 3 wood shaft in my driver. not as wild and no loss of distance nearly drove the 4 th 245 to centre from winter tee.pin high off the green:whoo:
 
Jimaroid said:
Yep, I have. All my Irons are fitted 1/2" short and I shortened all my woods on a gradual scale up to 2" off my driver taking it from 45.75" to 43.75". I'm 5'6" tall and I feel that all clubs are generally too long for me.

Before I shortened the woods I was constantly gripping down the shaft as I found it much nicer to hit them that way with more consistency. Shortening them really improved my strike on the ball and I started hitting more fairways than I had. My bad shot had previously been a block or fade and whilst that's not changed, it happens much less often. I don't track my stats exactly but I shortened all my woods in June and I had some of my best competition results in July. So it had some affect but I couldn't tell you exactly by how much. Anecdotally, my father-in-law and I played together before and after I made the change and he'd noticed how much better I was hitting the driver without knowing that I'd changed the length.

All that said, my best result of the year came on day when I wasn't hitting the driver well at all. The short game practice paid off much more instead and in the last couple of weeks, my driver off the tee has been absolutely woeful.
Click to expand...

is that 5ft 6 in your " Freddie Star, your friends will never know Cuban heels"
 
I have 4 shafts for my R9 and periodically switch them seeking the holy grail.
All summer played GDYS5.6+ or something at 'full' length whatever that is - never bothered measuring, maybe 45 or 46"?
Recently switched (back!) to a Matrix Ozik I chopped a couple of inch off a few years back. This is 2" shorter than the others. Stock Motore & Aldila NVS never get a look in - always between Graphite Design & Matrix Ozik.
I can state that on average there is NO loss of distance with the shorter Matrix against the GD. Just now I am comfortable playing with the short Matrix Ozik and that is what is staying in (for winter anyway!)
Greatest plus is same as above Carry in winter and I can put everything in the boot without removing driver:thup:.
 
My driver is 45.5" as standard and I had it cut down so it plays 44".
Fiirst time out with it it felt way too light, so I replaced the standard grip with a lightweight one.
I don't think the swingweight is back where it was meant to be, but it's close enough that it still feels good to swing.

Statistically I don't know if I'm any more accurate or shorter, but I feel a lot more in control.
 
I play with a shorter shaft. 46" standard. I have cut mine down to 44" I wouldn't game a shaft any longer now. I have no loss in distance and my shots are more accurate. I have heard Sergio Garcia plays with a 43" shaft. If it's good enough for him!!
 
I have just shortened both shafts for my driver. I too an inch off the Accra Tour Proto and a half inch off the Fubuki. All to do with me swinging it rubbish at the moment and its worked!! Im gaming the Accra at the moment and I love the confidence that massive head on a short shaft is giving me. I dont know the stats but I cannot perceive a loss of distance.
 
Grantley1988 said:
I play with a shorter shaft. 46" standard. I have cut mine down to 44" I wouldn't game a shaft any longer now. I have no loss in distance and my shots are more accurate. I have heard Sergio Garcia plays with a 43" shaft. If it's good enough for him!!
Click to expand...

Quite right Sergio does play with a 43" driver, however it is an absolute scaffold pole!!!
 
Never tried playing with a shorter driver I have my shaft 1" longer than standard and it works well for as I have a bit of width in my swing.
 
I had 1 1/2 inches taken off my previous driver. I am an average length hitter, and didn't notice any difference to the length of my longest drives, but my average driving distance did increase simply because I hit my longer drives more often from hitting the middle of the face more often.
 
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