To shorten or not to shorten

[PPSHW]

Hi All,

Recently I've been experimenting by chocking down on my Driver to shorten the length between my hands and the club head. This has made my Driving much more consistent and also meant the wayward shots (which there are still a few) don't go quite so badly off line.

So... Do people on here stick to stock length shafts? Have you successfully changed to a shorter shaft? (or longer?) Is there any major benefits or disadvantages to lobbing an inch of the top of the shaft?

For info, the Driver is an TM M2 on Fujikura Pro 60 Shaft at what ever length the come at.

Cheers, Paul

 

[fundy]

im in the shorten it camp, current driver shafts are far too long for most of us, the pros play them at a shorter length!!! my current driver plays at what most people would call 3 wood length

 

[Wildrover]

Shortening the shaft makes it a lot easier to find the middle of the face, what you lose in clubhead speed can be more than made up for by better strikes. I'm not sure what length is standard in your TM but I believe that as a company they are normally on the long side (around 46" or so). Taking this down to 45" will probably give you more control and you will probably hit the ball as far if not further. To give you an idea the standard on the European tour is around 45-45.5". Bubba Watson is at 44.5".
One thing to be careful of is that by shortening the shaft you will decrease the swingweight, making the head feel lighter during the swing. If you have a pro that can measure the swingweight it would be advisable to add lead tape to the sole to get it back up to it's original weight.

 

[RGDave]

I say maybe not. Stick with choking down.
You might regret it the day everything is going great.

There's a par 4 at mine where I play the driver with my right hand 1st finger basically on the graphite shaft... that's my favorite drive of the day. As it's the 18th, I'm not sure what would happen going back to full length next tee shot.

TM have always been making hugely long shafted drivers... I don't play them, so maybe you could chop it down and still be way over normal length.

 

[Driven2Distraction]

Do it!

I'm about to trim mine down from the Callaway standard 45.5 which is longer than I'm used to and I'm finding it a little unwieldy to say the least
trimming to 44.75" as soon as my replacement grips arrive

 

[Mark_Aged_42]

Took 3/4" off my stock Titleist shaft. You would not think that would make much difference, but it does.
More control.

 

[Norrin Radd]

i have been thinking of taking an inch off of my old Mizuno driver,as i think it will help with accuracy ,cant see that it cant be worth a try. im not a lover of gripping lower on the shaft as i dont like the feel of too much handle above my hands when trying it with the driver ,i dont seem to be bothered by it when hitting irons like it.

 

[jusme]

I can't remember the last time I read about anyone having a bad experience shortening the driver. It's the first thing I look to do with a shaft/driver if its at today's apparent standard silly length. Chop it and pay attention to swing weight as indicated earlier. Changed my driving for the better all round when I first done it.

P.S. When are they ever going to offer reasonable length as stock - even 45.5 would be a start. I notice the 'tour grade' shafts are often shorter than the standard stock. Where else would you see this? Give the easier to hit shaft for the so called better players and sell the harder to hit driver to the rest of us. Go figure

 

[IanG]

... and it makes them easier to fit in the car !

 

[PPSHW]

Thanks all,

I think I'll probably go for it. Not quite sure how to go about sorting out the swing weight though so I'll have a chat with the Pro about that.

Hadn't even thought about the car boot storage benefits! a win-win

 

[duncan mackie]

I can see no point in arbitrarily cutting an arbitrary amount off a shaft of unknown length.

On the other hand, when fitted for a shaft it makes sense to be assessed for length and acting on that.

 

[Face breaker]

Shortening the shaft makes it a lot easier to find the middle of the face, what you lose in clubhead speed can be more than made up for by better strikes. I'm not sure what length is standard in your TM but I believe that as a company they are normally on the long side (around 46" or so). Taking this down to 45" will probably give you more control and you will probably hit the ball as far if not further. To give you an idea the standard on the European tour is around 45-45.5". Bubba Watson is at 44.5".
One thing to be careful of is that by shortening the shaft you will decrease the swingweight, making the head feel lighter during the swing. If you have a pro that can measure the swingweight it would be advisable to add lead tape to the sole to get it back up to it's original weight.

Then you'll not be surprised to learn that 'Tigger Woods' apparently plays a 43.5" driver, having recently shortened my driver to 44" it definitely goes further but as to having more control over it well I'm probably not the best person to ask, let's just say 'FORE' is a word I'm very familiar with. 😉

 

[RGDave]

Thanks all,

I think I'll probably go for it. Not quite sure how to go about sorting out the swing weight though so I'll have a chat with the Pro about that.

I think you are doing the wrong thing, I really do.
I've been there... so I'm not just making it up.
Leave it be... have the option.

I had a Ping cut down. In the end I sold it and lost a lot of money.

Now, if you were a Pro and you access to different custom fit hardware every week, then maybe... well, definitely.

At least try it for while before you go ruining an expensive shaft.

*edit*... when it goes wrong (using it normally) are you more likely to hook or slice?

The only negative (for some players) is gripping down means using effectively a thinner grip... which can cause it's own problems.

 

[Face breaker]

About time someone came up with a shaft that's adjustable for length. :thup:

 

[bobmac]

If you shorten it and you don't get on with it, just lengthen it again.

 

[jusme]

Easy to extend again as Bobmac states if you don't like it, but just want to add - I have shortened all my drivers and never regretted it. I know literally dozens of people do the same thing and I'm yet to hear a regret.

 

[Mark_Aged_42]

Lead tape is only a couple of quid for a lifetimes supply!