Driver Shaft Length question

[Youngun5]

I've got a notion that mine is probably too long and is costing me accuracy. oddly enough that i had the shaft picked for me off of a launch monitor, but wasn't measured for it or anything.

ideally, what length of a shaft would someone 6ft tall need?

and another question, not really equipment related, but so that i dont' need to make two threads.

what significance does your stance width make on a shot. because mine really seems too wide. i think i need to shorten it, but everytime i try i fall over, i need to tone down my swing, but things are working so great right now i hate to change anything, would it be worth it in the long run?

thanks

 

[GregInOz]

Shaft length for the driver is dependent less on your height etc, and more on your swing and what suits your eye. I am 6'1" and currently play a 45" driver. I have played 43.25" and 44.5" drivers with equal comfort.
Vijay and Mickelson used 47 and 48 inch shafts respectively in the FBR, where accuracy was less of a concern. Jack Niclaus was one of the longest hitters on tour for ages and his driver was 42.75" long. You can make of that what you will.
Try gripping down to about 43.5". Hit some balls and see how it goes. Then try longer incrementally until you feel you are losing accuracy. You'll find the length for you.

Your other question I won't answer because I have never thought about it. I just put my feet where they feel comfortable.

 

[Rockford35]

Most people use drivers that are too long for them, as they think that the standard is 45", which isn't true at all.

You'd be better off with a 43" driver and increasing your accuracy over increasing the length of your driver and increasing the distance of your mistakes.

R35

 

[ezra76]

I saw on that Pinnacle Driving Competition thing that the guys would widen their stance if they needed to try to get more on it. I heard this also a few times during PGA tour coverage. I mess around with it all the time. As far as shaft I am thinking of getting one an inch longer. I always find myself gripping the driver as far up as I can. I might try to find a cheap used one with a longer shaft and play around with it. I would think that widening my swing path would allow more time to pick up speed. As for accuracy, that's why I have a 3wood.

 

[GregInOz]

Unless you're wearing out the sweetspots on your clubs I would doubt that you'd gain much with a longer shaft. It takes a lot to hit a long driver in the middle of the club, and you lose more distance from missing the sweetspot by 1/2" than you do by lengthening by twice that. Many handicap golfers find that they actually gain distance from shortening the driver to say 44".

 

[ualtim]

Tiger played a 43.5 inch driver for many years until recently (which also happens to coincide with his wildness off the tee.) 43.5 inches was considered standard length in steel shafts for many years, but with current trends going towards a 45 inch driver length the standards are increasing. All of my drivers are 44 inches or less with just one exception. I have an older steel headed driver (205 cc, boy does it look small now) with a bubble shaft that I tried at 45 inches. When I got a hold of it, it went far, but more often or not I ended up further off the fairway. Unless you have been fitted and are in longer than standard clubs through out the set, I would stick with a driver 44 inches or less.

 

[Youngun5]

i measure mine at 44 now. doesn't seem long now for some reason, i guess i finally toned my swing down to the right amount. i'm not looking for more distance, accuracy was what i was looking for. and i'm pretty sure i found it... for now. if things get wild i may choke up a half inch or two till i find the rhythm again. or just go to my sweet 3 wood.

 

[Lloyd Hackman]

It is not the length of the shaft that determines accuracy. The shaft frequency or stiffness that matches your swing timing is what really provides the accuracy. If your swing timing is right you can be just as accurate with a 48" driver as a 43" driver.

 

[obagain]

The longer the shaft the farther the ball goes. Once you get above 44 1/2 it goes farther into the trees but dang, does it go a long way.
If it was frequency, and you could find a 48 inch shaft you could control all the tour players would have one. Believe me, they would kill to find 5 more yards, even tiger.

 

[Don]

There is no doubt that the new drivers are coming with longer shafts. I purchased two drivers this winter. A Ping G2 that's 45.75 inches long, and a Mizuno MP-001 thats 45 inches long. I have to admit, the other day I was having some problems with the G2 hitting the ball solid, and when I gripped down an inch, it pretty much solved the problem. Now what I want to do, is work on finding a good swing that will work with it at the full length. Maybe start with choking down an inch, and then slowly going to the full 45.75". It's all a matter of how much you can handle. If you can't make solid contact at 45 inches, then you need to go shorter until you can make solid contact. With time and practice, you might be able to slowly go longer. In the end, it's solid contact that will give you the best distance and accuracy, which should be what you are looking for.

 

[Lloyd Hackman]

I just saw some where that VJ and Michelson are using 47" drivers now. I play a 48" driver and miss only 1 or 2 fairway in 18 holes. I was recently ask to extend a freinds driver to 48" and he has lowered his handicap by 3 or 4 strokes in the last mouth. Getting the proper flex or shaft frequency helps alot.

 

[wirehair]

The Physics teacher & I did the math on clubhead speed. Going from 45 to 46 will get about 2% more clubhead speed, that outta convert to less than 5 yards given the same swing, ball, etc.

Right now in my game, I'm perfectly willing to give up 5 yds in distance to get 2 more fairways per round. 230-235, I'm still looking at needing a pretty good 2nd to hit green in reg, but it's lots easier from the fwy than the trees.

 

[Rockford35]

Tom Wishon has been studying the dynamics of clubs for 35 years. In his new book, he writes:

"Tiger Woods has swung a 43.5" driver most of his career on tour. If he could hit the ball straight with a 45" club - he would. He can't so he doesn't. He knows that if he played with a longer driver, he'd have even more trouble keeping it in play. The average length for drivers on Tour right now is 44.5". Now, if Tiger and the rest of his pals can't control a 45" stick, what are the chances that you can?"

To further his point:

"If I give you a 10" shafted club and tell you to hit the ball down the middle of the fairway, you could easily do it. Now, if I told you do do it with a 10 foot shaft, it would be impossible."

I'm sure there are success stories of those that "think" the longer driver is better for their game (like me 45.5"), when really being more accurate would improve their scores immensely.

It's the same thing with having a stiff shaft in your driver. Some guys need it, some guys don't, but more often than not, almost everyone has one. And for what? So they don't get labeled.

I'd take 15 of 16 fairways at 285 over 11/16 at 315.

Think about it. This isn't rocket science.

R35

 

[ualtim]

Tom Wishon has been studying the dynamics of clubs for 35 years. In his new book, he writes:

"Tiger Woods has swung a 43.5" driver most of his career on tour. If he could hit the ball straight with a 45" club - he would. He can't so he doesn't. He knows that if he played with a longer driver, he'd have even more trouble keeping it in play. The average length for drivers on Tour right now is 44.5". Now, if Tiger and the rest of his pals can't control a 45" stick, what are the chances that you can?"

To further his point:

"If I give you a 10" shafted club and tell you to hit the ball down the middle of the fairway, you could easily do it. Now, if I told you do do it with a 10 foot shaft, it would be impossible."

I'm sure there are success stories of those that "think" the longer driver is better for their game (like me 45.5"), when really being more accurate would improve their scores immensely.

It's the same thing with having a stiff shaft in your driver. Some guys need it, some guys don't, but more often than not, almost everyone has one. And for what? So they don't get labeled.

I'd take 15 of 16 fairways at 285 over 11/16 at 315.

Think about it. This isn't rocket science.

R35

I love that book. I just cracked it open the other night to re-read it for the third time. Really good stuff. If you ever get a chance, give it a read.

 

[Rockford35]

I love that book. I just cracked it open the other night to re-read it for the third time. Really good stuff. If you ever get a chance, give it a read.

Where do you think I got the quote from?

Kidding, 'Tim.

Great book. It really puts alot of the myths and stereotypes that many, many golfers think they know alot about. And, quite frankly, i'd be more apt to take the advice of a guy that's probably fitted more people of all game types that any of us here would care to dream about.

R35