How much difference does it make to adjust driver shaft length?
It doesn't take much for a driver to feel drastically different. 1/2 inch adjustments to a club's shaft length will move the swing weight by about 3 points. Cut a couple of inches off your men's driver shaft without adding weight to the head and it could easily feel like swinging a ladies iron.
What does lengthening a shaft do to a golf club?
Lengthening the shaft increases the swing weight, which makes the club head feel heavier. It may even make the club too heavy for you, which will slow down your swing speed and actually reduce your distance.
How long can you extend a golf club?
The maximum length you can add is up to an inch and a half and not over cause there is a risk of compromising the integrity of the shaft, which can make it break easily. An extension can be used in lengthening the golf club where it is fitted in the butt end of the shaft, and once dried, the golf club can be cut to the preferred length.
Should I extend my driver to 48 inches?
You can extend the driver up to 48 inches, and you can swing at it very very hard but because of the extra length, it becomes harder to actually square that club face at the point of impact. So you could add an extra five miles an hour club head speed and extra 10-15 hours of distance, but you could also add a lot more inaccuracy hitting it left...
Should I add length to my driver?
In general, taller golfers should play longer driver shafts, and shorter golfers should use shorter ones. All golfers have a different posture, which means you should also factor in the height of your wrists when addressing the ball. If you're looking to increase club head speed, a longer driver shaft will help.
Can a golf driver be too long?
“If a driver shaft is too long for the player, they can struggle to find the middle consistently. Off-centre hits not only drastically reduce ball speed and distance, but have a big impact on accuracy.”
What happens if your driver is to long?
The longer your driver shaft, the more your swing faults will be exaggerated. Assuming you don't make any other adjustments, your driver shaft will also be stiffer, which will impart less spin on the ball. The result: less curving right and left. More distance.
Does driver length increase distance?
4:5910:5848 Inch Driver vs. 45 Inch Driver Test | Does A Longer Golf Shaft Add ...YouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipHigher with the longer golf shaft. This is where it gets interesting. So carry distance did carryMoreHigher with the longer golf shaft. This is where it gets interesting. So carry distance did carry the ball just a little bit further with the longer golf shaft 286.6 versus uh 284.3 but because the
Does shortening your driver Help?
When fitting a driver, it's important to get loft, lie, shaft, and grip sorted, but better driving may be hiding in a shorter shaft. In fact, a shorter shaft should help you find the sweet spot more often and may even add distance.
What happens when you lengthen a golf club?
Lengthening the shaft increases the swing weight, which makes the club head feel heavier. It may even make the club too heavy for you, which will slow down your swing speed and actually reduce your distance.
Is 45.75 too long for a driver?
“Most manufacturers have lengthened their standard driver from 45 inches to 45.5 or 45.75, because a longer shaft typically results in more club speed and hopefully more ball speed and longer drives,” says Kevin Sprecher, a GOLF Top 100 Teacher based at Sleepy Hollow CC in Scarborough, N.Y.
Why do I hit my 3 wood farther than my driver?
Players who hit their 3- or 5-wood as far or longer than their driver are typically using too little loft with the driver for their clubhead speed. You know, it's a funny thing with the driver and its loft compared to the other clubs in the bag.
Is a 43 inch driver too short?
Tall golfers have found that they're able to play well with a 44 inch driver while shorter players are better off using a 43” driver. There are golfers who have had better control, lesser misses or slices and gained extra distance by about five yards when using a 44” driver when compared to a 43 inch driver.
How tall should your driver be?
The standard length of a driver for men used to be 43.5 inches with a steel shaft and 44 inches for a graphite shaft. However, in the 21st century a standard driver is considered to be 45 inches.
How much does driver length affect swing speed?
The maximum USGA driver length is 48 inches, the same as the limit on the Long Drivers of America tour. Each added inch can add 1-2 mph to your swing speed. So, potentially, you could add 6 mph which can translate to 15 - 20 yards going from a 45 inch driver to a 48 inch driver.
What length of driver do the pros use?
44.5" to 45.75"PGA Tour Professionals tend to play drivers between 44-46" in length. The vast majority of pros are in the 44.5" to 45.75" range from what we've been able to gather. There are, of course, exceptions in both directions.
How does lengthening a shaft affect swing?
Timing and Feel. In many ways, the biggest effect of lengthening a club shaft is how it affects your ability to swing the club. The combined changes in length and swing weight make the club feel different. In turn, these changes will affect your timing and even your mechanics, perhaps without you even realizing it.
What does swing weight mean?
Swing Weight. Swing weight isn't an actual weight so much as a comparison of the difference in weight between the club head and the butt end of the shaft. It's expressed as a letter-number combination, such as C9 or D2. Lengthening the shaft increases the swing weight, which makes the club head feel heavier. It may even make the club too heavy ...
Can you add extenders to your golf shaft?
You may add extenders to your existing shafts or you may replace your existing shafts with longer ones. The effects can be very different. Tom Wishon has written extensively about the effects of changing shafts in "The Golfsmith Practical Clubfitting Program" guide.
Does lengthening the shaft make the club head heavier?
Lengthening the shaft increases the swing weight, which makes the club head feel heavier. It may even make the club too heavy for you, which will slow down your swing speed and actually reduce your distance.
Does lengthening a golf club shaft affect accuracy?
Accuracy. As a general rule, lengthening any club's shaft will reduce your accuracy with that club. The longer the club, the more difficult it becomes to hit the ball solidly. This is especially true when the ball is on the ground rather than on a tee, since hitting the ball fat is more likely.
Is shaft length a factor?
Shaft length is certainly a factor in how far you hit a given club. However, some clubs benefit more than others. Installing longer shafts in wedges and short irons will almost always result in more distance, as most players have little trouble swinging the shorter clubs.
Do golf clubs have longer shafts?
Effects of Lengthening a Golf Club Shaft. Tall players like Bubba Watson have to use longer shafts in all of their clubs. Most players consider using longer shafts in their clubs at some time or another, believing that longer shafts equal more distance, although that isn't necessarily true. There are two ways to lengthen your shafts.
What does higher ball speed mean?
Higher ball speed means more distance. That’s the equation. And that’s how they’ve been fooling us for years. In fact, testing shows an inch of extra shaft length equals roughly 10 yards in distance. So a driver with a 43-inch shaft vs. a driver with a 45.75-inch shaft – same golfer, same club head, same ball, same shaft type – could equal 20-25 ...
Does a shorter shaft help you find the sweet spot?
Write for us! In fact, a shorter shaft should help you find the sweet spot more often and may even add distance. Who thought the simplest of golf tips could make such a difference. If you can check your ego, you may find lower scores and more 19th hole payouts.
How far can you extend a golf driver?
You can extend the driver up to 48 inches, and you can swing at it very very hard but because of the extra length, it becomes harder to actually square that club face at the point of impact.
How far can you extend a driver shaft?
Now that obviously limits how far you can actually extend the driver. Most driver shafts come in at about 45/46 inches, so there is a couple more degrees that you can actually add on.
Does lengthening a shaft add speed?
Because although lengthening the shaft will add speed, adding the speed is also not an automatic blessing and it can bring in problems of its own. So if you’re thinking about lengthening the shaft make sure you have a go with others first before you take the plunge. 2014-11-20.
How does a half inch length change affect a golf swing?
Every half-inch length change alters the lie by a degree. There will be an alteration in the way you grip the club, change in your positioning or posture while taking a swing, you may need to bend it a little to drop your hands a bit, or you may stand more upright to make up for the change in distance. Since there will be changes in the length of ...
What does it mean when a golf club is too upright?
A club that is too upright every time you swing means that the heel of the clubhead is lower than that of the toe. The tendency here is for the ball to hook, especially for those who are right-handed golfer where the curving of the shot, often takes place. An upright lie angle is more common because the golfers who are just beginning in ...
Why does my golf club slice?
There is a risk of slicing the ball when your angle is too flat. This means that the angle between the shaft and the ground is smaller. Once your club is too flat for your swing, the toe of your golf club will have a lower range than the heel when it should be leveled. Slicing happens because of such reasons.
How to increase swing weight?
Swingweight can easily be increased by using lead tape placed at the clubhead. Lengthening a club softens the shaft a fraction while increasing the swing weight of the club. Each time you add length like half an inch will also add three swing weight points.
What is the best way to get accurate golf clubs?
Club fitting is the best way to get accurate golf clubs, cause there is no standard lie angle that you can find in any golf store, and you need the fitting, so it will be according to your build, swing type, and preference.
How to get the right lie in golf?
To get the right lie, make sure that whenever you change the length of the golf club, you are also trying out the clubs to match your swing. Pro-golf shops can adjust some clubs to match it according to your need.
What does a club fitter do?
A club fitter can do this for you where they will place a piece of tape on the iron’s sole, and once this produces a mark on the ground, it will determine what adjustments need to be made to your golf club.
How long is a driver's check in?
Standard, off-the-rack drivers usually check in around 45 inches, while the USGA limits driver length to 48 inches for its competitions.
Is driver length important in golf?
Make sure you leave that task to a professional. Regardless, of how you make the final decision, driver length is important, and maxing out the club’s performance has never been easier. There may be no better way to quickly improve your performance off the tee.
Do you need to carry a longer golf club?
If not, there’s no need to carry a longer club. And before you have a couple inches chopped off your driver shaft in the name of finding fairways, just remember that cutting those inches can recalibrate the club’s swing weight and overall feel. Make sure you leave that task to a professional.
Why is the longer driver better?
The longer driver theory works well for stronger and highly skilled players because of their ability to control a longer and heavier club at higher speeds, but for average golfers and most recreational players , this extra length means bigger misses and doesn’t always lead to extra speed —this is why playing a shorter length can help most golfers.
Why does a driver feel lighter when cutting down a golf club?
When you cut down any club, especially a driver, it will feel lighter without any adjustment because you have moved the mass of the club closer to your hands. Just like a fulcrum scale used to measure mass, the closer the mass—in this case, the driver’s head gets to the fulcrum of the scale, the lighter it will “feel” to ...
How to adjust golf clubs at home?
There are a lot of ways to adjust your clubs at home with some simple tools, and one of the easiest jobs for the DIY golfer is cutting down clubs, especially cutting down a driver , and installing a new grip. Cutting down a driver will have a number of impacts including making the driver more accurate because at a shorter length it is easier ...
Why is cutting down a driver important?
Cutting down a driver will have a number of impacts including making the driver more accurate because at a shorter length it is easier to control and make contact in the middle of the face.
How to reduce slice in golf?
To reduce a slice, heavier weights are placed by the clubhead’s heel, while the club’s lighter weights are set by the toe. Reverse the arrangement to reduce a hook. Just remember that under the Rules of Golf, you can’t change the weight configuration during a round. Bryson DeChambeau and Aaron Rodgers win The Match.
How to hook a golf ball from left to right?
Step 1. Place a strip or two of lead tape beneath your driver’s toe (the outer portion of the clubhead, opposite of the clubface) if you have a tendency to hook the ball from right to left (for right-handed golfers). You can also try adding the tape to the outside of the toe. The added weight on the outside of the clubhead prevents it ...
Where is the center of gravity on a golf club?
Typically, a driver’s center of gravity is low and fairly deep in the clubhead, a bit toward the toe . Try adding tape onto the back of the clubhead, a bit toward the toe side, to push the center of gravity deeper within the clubhead.
Does adding weight to your driver improve your game?
By M.L. Rose. Adding weight to your driver may improve your game off the tee. Numerous golfers, from pros to recreational hackers, have added weight to their drivers or other clubs for years. They believe that adding weight to clubs can affect a golf shot’s path or its trajectory, but equipment experts will tell you the results are psychological.
Does lead tape affect golf ball direction?
In reality, the amount of lead tape typically added to a golf club has little, if any, effect on the ball's direction or trajectory. But if you believe, as tour pros like Phil Mickelson does, that lead tape can help your game, don’t add tape during competition.
Mike C said
If done properly, you won't even know there is an extension, but it will decrease the swing weight of the club (i.e., the head will "feel' lighter). This isn't huge as the weight of the plug will be offset a little by the increased length of the shaft.
James T said
If done properly, you won't even know there is an extension, but it will decrease the swing weight of the club (i.e., the head will "feel' lighter). This isn't huge as the weight of the plug will be offset a little by the increased length of the shaft.
What is a cycle in a shaft?
the 'cycles' is the reference term to shaft bend profile, shaft frequency - so in effect it's what's generally spoken of in terms of shaft 'stiffness' or 'softness'. if you just cut the butt end & didn't add weight to the head then the shaft would play a tad stiffer not by much though - but the whole club would maybes 'feel' light which could ...
Does the grip on a golf swing affect weight?
That's because the grip will be thinner at the point you grip down to and, , more importantly, the excess will be acting as a very slight counterbalance - which will affect the swing weight - while you are doing so.
Does taking a butt off the tip affect flex?
Much more (stiffening) effect if you take it off the tip than off the butt! Taking it off the Butt (the normal method and how it would be done if you simply specified a shorter length) has a marginal effect, while taking it off the tip typically alters the flex by half a flex per inch.
Does adding weight to a shaft make it stiffer?
Adding weight to the head will indeed make the shaft feel less stiff. Again, depending on the amount of weight, this might not be noticeable, but for those who are particularly sensitive, the tape can be added near the ferrule and balanced by some under the grip.
