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Cutting down shaft length on driver

Nippon Shafts
This is a great thread - thinking about doing this soon! Question for those of you who have cut your drivers down to 44.5” from 45.5” – how tall are you? I stand at 5’9

Thanks!
 
ShanksaloT said:
This is a great thread - thinking about doing this soon! Question for those of you who have cut your drivers down to 44.5” from 45.5” – how tall are you? I stand at 5’9

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Playing mine at 43.5".
I'm 5' 4"
Wrist to floor 32"
 
Cut my R15 from 45.5 to 44.25. I used the old SLDR shaft which is slightly heavier and launches a touch higher. I like it so far, I feel much more comfortable swinging 100%
I do have to be a little more careful with getting steep though, but that is a small price to pay and should go away as I play it more.

5'9" and usually play irons 1/4 inch shorter
 
I have been considering doing this. I feel much more comfortable with the length of a 3 wood and feel that shortening the shaft of my driver would give me renewed confidence in the club.
 
I had my winning THP/UST Helium shaft cut to play at 45" in my Vapor Pro, so will be trying this out to some extent, as both of my custom PX shafts play to 45.75". Noticeably lighter swingweight, which is kinda fun, but I need to spend some more time with it to see what the effect is on trajectory and dispersion.
 
Shanks, I'm 5'4"-ish, and I was swinging my previous driver at 43.5". I'm now swinging a different driver at 44.75" and seem to get better distance, and control. (I simply choke down on the grip about an inch.)
 
Jusy dropped off my driver. Going to cut it down an inch (down to 44.5") and see how she does!

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I play mine at 44" and I'm 5'11"
 
ShanksaloT said:
Jusy dropped off my driver. Going to cut it down an inch (down to 44.5") and see how she does!

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Click to expand...
So I just picked up the club. Taylormade m1 with 60q4 stiff flex red tie shaft set to 11* of loft. Initial results were 135-145 ballspeed, launch angle of 14.5 pretty consistently, spin was 26xx with a few getting up to 3k and carry distance was 230-240....now since it was a simulator I don't usually count total distance but I poked a few out to 280 :)
(results were from a gc2 launch monitor)

Hoping this translates to the course!

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I'm 6 feet tall and playing at 44.75. Was striping the ball today, really grooving with the M1 so far.

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currently playing mine at 45" but am going to start experimenting by choking down a little.
 
Been toying with the idea of reducing mine since I hit a few high boomers with a mates 43.5 driver, have been gripping down on mine over the month and when I swing well got more height but struggled being so far down the grip. Last couple rounds have been awful off tee so I took the plunge this week and had my pro cut it down from 45.25 to 44, and regrip with a thicker one.
Hit a few on range and could see it got airborne easier, so need to get out on the course for real.
 
Managed 9 holes practice and really pleased to see Immediate results, once I'd loosened and found my swing I hit some really nice straight drives down the middle around 240yds. Club felt noticeably shorter which gave me the confidence to increase swing speed and play some extra balls, knocking my longest out to 256yds and dead straight.
I am suddenly really excited by this, my average driver distance was 222 last night compared to last 10 rounds when it had been 195, albeit including softer course conditions.
Ive taken the next step and put my 3 wood into the Pro to be reduced by 3/4 inch and fitted with the thicker grip which also felt better. Watch this space.
 
Really starting to feel the benefits from reducing driver & 3 wood, suddenly found my swing tonight and actually by swinging much slower and smooth I nailed so many drives. Launched a high bomb driver downwind nice and high straight down middle for 293yds, also two others into wind recorded 252 & 242 well impressed.

Also 3 wood a nice easy first tee of 223 which rolled into a bunker I never reach, and one hole which had 238 to water and it stopped 3 yards short, again letting the club do the work instead of trying to smash it really helped so plenty of positives to take forward.
 
It's all about feel. Those that are comfortable swinging a full length shaft more power to them. I always felt like i get a little stuck. Shortening the shaft allows me to swing freely. Whether its mental or not is irrelevant. More confidance means better ball striking for me.
 
I recently got a good deal on a new R15 via the Bay. I am going to cut it down 1.5". Excited about experimenting with this length.


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JonD said:
Just bought a hacksaw just for this purpose... Going to chop my G30 down to 3W length to mess around with. Wish I had a higher loft than 11.5, but it will do for the purposes of my testing.
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Results?


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Found this info in an article by master club fitter, Tom Wishon. Interesting read on length fittings:

"Following is a compilation of additional points about fitting length that we teach to clubfitters to help them become more and more proficient.

Not more than 10 percent of all men should ever try to play with a driver length that is longer than 44 inches.

Most average male golfers should consider a driver length of 43 inches to 43.5 inches.

Virtually no women golfers should try to use a driver length longer than 43 inches, most women should use a driver length shorter than 43 inches.

When in doubt, err on the side of shorter length for the driver."


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Wishon now says that Driver and FW shaft lengths should be as long as they are comfortable, with wrist-to-floor still useful for iron fitting.
 
Cutting down shaft length on driver

Regarding swing weight... If you're cutting an inch of graphite off the end of the shaft, but adding a larger grip, doesn't that nullify the weight change?
 
I've never been able to find the center of the face consistently with anything longer than 44.5". I do like to keep the swing weight at D-4, which means I've been putting lead tape on my driver heads for decades. For every half inch you cut off you will reduce the swing weight 2.5 to 3 points and you need about 4 inches of half inch lead tape for each point in swing weight. BTW, the average length of a driver on tour is under 45" and some of the longest hitters like Sergio play their drivers at 44" or less. From my experience, not many golfers benefit from playing a driver at 45.5" or 46" which is the length most of them come from the factory.
 
Joe Navy said:
Regarding swing weight... If you're cutting an inch of graphite off the end of the shaft, but adding a larger grip, doesn't that nullify the weight change?
Click to expand...

You got it backwards. Shortening a shaft reduces swing weight. To raise it back you would need a lighter grip not a heavier one.

As for the "real" effect in terms of being able to feel the head more with a lighter grip is debatable.
 
tahoebum said:
I've never been able to find the center of the face consistently with anything longer than 44.5". I do like to keep the swing weight at D-4, which means I've been putting lead tape on my driver heads for decades. For every half inch you cut off you will reduce the swing weight 2.5 to 3 points and you need about 4 inches of half inch lead tape for each point in swing weight. BTW, the average length of a driver on tour is under 45" and some of the longest hitters like Sergio play their drivers at 44" or less. From my experience, not many golfers benefit from playing a driver at 45.5" or 46" which is the length most of them come from the factory.
Click to expand...

Do you recommend any particular brand or style of lead tape?
 
When I had my driver cut to 44.5, I had the Dicks club tech keep the swingweight as the original. It only cost me e few extra bucks.
 
I also had the guy cut my 7 wood down to just aboce a 4 hybrid length and keep the original swing weight. I absolutely love the 7 wood cut down.
 
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