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Choking down on driver...does it work?

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huhhh

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Okay, I know there has been a recent thread on cutting down vs. choking down. The result seems to be cutting down (properly) is much better. My questionis for those that don’t have the expertise / money to cut down, re-grip, hot melt, counter balance, and precisely measure a driver… does choking down an inch or so… do anything?

Can it help or does it create more problems than it solves?

I'm basing this on all the stats and articles that say drivers are way too long now, even for standard people...and that many (if not most, at least according to Wishon) pro's use drivers that are shorter than anything you can get off the rack.

Bottom line... can choking down help control the big stick (even a little), or is that a myth and it does nothing or can actually make things worse?
 
I choke down on every club in my set from time to time on the course. Never had a single issue. Its a way to play a club at different distances for many. I dont buy the premise that choking down makes an issue compared to cutting shorter. Mentally it might bother someone, but we have tested this numerous times on multiple launch monitors.

THP Event with UST Mamiya showed that for just about every golfer in attendance, a shorter shaft did not show more accuracy.

In the end, someone should play what they want and what they think works best for them.
 
I don't think driver shafts are too long. What JB said, UST event was fascinating to follow along with what everyone said about longer shafts.

I do think choking down on a driver assists with accuracy. I read somewhere once that is because it feels more balanced or its like having some back weighting or some such thing. I don't know. I'm not a scientist, but I do believe that choking down on a driver vs cutting down a driver will not necessarily lead to the same result.

In the end, do what works. But when my driver is getting a bit wayward, I choke down on it.

~Rock
 
I choke down on my driver when I'm looking for a little bit more control over total distance. Whether it works because of physics or just mentally helps me, I don't know, but it works for me.
 
I really don't think there's one proper course of action that every amateur should follow, in this case or in any other.

For me personally, gripping down on my driver felt awkward so I just had someone lop off about 1.5 inches and regrip it. I didn't adjust the swing weight at all to compensate, just played it like that for the end of last season and this season. I'm almost 6'4" tall and using a ~44.25" driver seems to work great for me. To be honest though it's hard to say how much of my driving improvements have been a result of the shorter shaft vs just swinging more consistent and controlled.
 
Don't know if choking down helps "control" shots. However, the shorter the arm on a lever the better chance you have of hitting the center of a target. But keep in mind, that the shorter the arm the lower the amount of energy transferred down the length of it. That's not me talking, that's science.
 
When I got my newest driver, I choked down on it and was not hitting it all that well. As an experiment, I went back to the end of the grip, and am now hitting it better. No science was injured in this experiment.
 
For some it works but any more than 1/2" choking down on the driver does not work for me. The grip gets too small in my hands and I tend to hook the ball. I'm much more likely to find the fairway if I'm looking for control to hit my 2Deep.
 
I choke down on my driver often. It's always when I am willing to sacrifice some distance for the added accuracy I get.
 
Interesting...so far this is more split than I thought it would be.
 
I have choked down on it when I find I been struggling with it. Last year I went through a very rough time and finally choked down about an inch and was able to hit it well again. Whatever my issue was (I'll never know) but it went away over the winter and now this year I am back to full length again. If I should struggle for any significant amount of time again I would definitely choke down again till I figured it out. So yes I absolutely believe it makes for better control.
As for cutting the shaft vs choking? I couldn't see any possible difference with that other than perhaps personal feel.
 
My 2 cents.

I'm squarely in the cut down/adjust swingweight camp. I've done that on a couple of drivers this year and I am both longer and more accurate with it cut down. I posted on my experiments with cut down vs. choking up and, FOR ME, the results were very clear. I'm real happy with the results and was at the range a couple of days ago and was hitting consistent carry 280+ with a 44" (down from 45.5") Nike SQ Dymo swingweighted to D2. YMMV

BTW - the cost for cutting and getting the club reweighted was all of about $20. I used a guy who is a PGA pro, played a little on the Champions Tour and worked as a tech for a bunch of years for Adams on the tour. He did great work at a great price. He's doing two more drivers/3 shafts for me right now.
 
tahoebum said:
For some it works but any more than 1/2" choking down on the driver does not work for me. The grip gets too small in my hands and I tend to hook the ball. I'm much more likely to find the fairway if I'm looking for control to hit my 2Deep.
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Everybody is different, but can you really tell that much difference over a 1/2" down the grip? That's about a pinky width.

Fwiw, I side with the group that choking down with the driver doesn't really do a whole lot. I'm playing the shortest driver of my life right now. The playing length is 45-3/4". I don't think It's improving my accuracy, but it sets up nicely to my eye.
 
I cut the shaft on my driver to 44.5". It did help me with accuracy and it lightened the driver a bit allowing me to swing it a few mph faster. With it at D2 I was getting 90 mph, but with it at C8 I was getting around 95-96 with it and I saw carry distances increase. Shortening the shaft didn't change the MOI.
 
If I choke down, it's an inch or more. I torque the shafts on my woods a good bit, so when I choke down I tend to hit a controlled draw versus my normal straight/fade. I don't lose a lot of distance, if any. Maybe a few yards.
 
JB said:
I choke down on every club in my set from time to time on the course. Never had a single issue. Its a way to play a club at different distances for many. I dont buy the premise that choking down makes an issue compared to cutting shorter. Mentally it might bother someone, but we have tested this numerous times on multiple launch monitors.

THP Event with UST Mamiya showed that for just about every golfer in attendance, a shorter shaft did not show more accuracy.

In the end, someone should play what they want and what they think works best for them.
Click to expand...

Well said JB! I have been one to cut down my last three or four drivers and I think I gained nothing from it. My new driver is 46 inches and I'm hitting the ball farther and hitting more fairway's than ever.

It may seem harsh to make this statement, but I really don't care what anyone else is playing as far as brand or specs etc. etc., I only care what works for me.
 
I used to think shortening a driver or choking down on a driver would help with accuracy. So much so me and my instructor would spend before or after my lesson discussing it. He felt it was a placebo to give people confidence. His thought was cut it if you want, you still gotta find the sweet spot. In order to find the sweet spot you have to have a consistent swing path and set up.

He helped me get a constant set up and gave me tips in case I ever get lost. I am one of those guys who thought they couldnt hit a driver. I went from hitting a driver, to a driving iron, to a mini driver and now back to a full circle to a driver.
 
I started choking down on my driver. Seems to work better for me, I do not have the big pull hook when I choke down.
 
HoosierGolfer said:
Well said JB! I have been one to cut down my last three or four drivers and I think I gained nothing from it. My new driver is 46 inches and I'm hitting the ball farther and hitting more fairway's than ever.

It may seem harsh to make this statement, but I really don't care what anyone else is playing as far as brand or specs etc. etc., I only care what works for me.
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I "think" JB was referring to no accuracy difference being found between choking down on the club to make it shorter vs actually cutting the shaft down to make it shorter. But imo he wasn't implying that accuracy was not gained from swinging the shorter club. Two different things there.
At least thats the way I understood the post.
 
I've done both - cut down and choked down. Choking down was an issue for me as I felt like I wasn't gripping the club properly, which led to hooks. Now that I have midsized grips, I feel like I have a firmer grip and it's far easier to choke down. Choking down on my X2Hot vs using my cut down K15 gives me a good 10 yards more distance with no difference in dispersion.
 
Gripping down on driver helps me when I start to get a little wild. On the other hand, I ordered a driver with an inch shorter shaft and was difficult to hit well until I added a one inch extension. My vote would be for "standard" length and gripping down instead of cutting it down.
 
Those who believe that choking down an inch on a driver plays the same as a inch shorter driver must also believe that there is no reason for anyone who is fitted for shorter than standard irons to actually have their irons shortened. Just choke down! They must also believe that 6 point swing weight change is insignificant and grip size doesn't matter either. IMO, all of these are faulty logic. I play irons slightly shorter than standard and am absolutely more consistent and more accurate with those irons than I would be if I just choked down on them. I'm also 100% sure that I'm less accurate with a driver that has a C-6 swing weight vs. one with a D-2 swing weight. People can believe what they want, but fitting with a driver matters and length is part of that fitting. To me it's humorous that most bogey golfers play their driver at whatever off-the-shelf length that model comes in which is likely to be a longer driver than the average tour pro's and believes they are better off for it.
 
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tahoebum said:
Those who believe that choking down an inch on a driver plays the same as a inch shorter driver must also believe that there is no reason for anyone who is fitted for shorter than standard irons to actually have their irons shortened. Just choke down! They must also believe that 6 point swing weight change is insignificant and grip size doesn't matter either. IMO, all of these are faulty logic. I play irons slightly shorter than standard and am absolutely more consistent and more accurate with those irons than I would be if I just choked down on them. I'm also 100% sure that I'm less accurate with a driver that has a C-6 swing weight vs. one with a D-2 swing weight. People can believe what they want, but fitting with a driver matters and length is part of that fitting. To me it's humorous that most bogey golfers play their driver at whatever off-the-shelf length that model comes in which is likely to be a longer driver than the average tour pro and believes they are better off for it.
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I agree, play what's fitted as your "standard" but have no problem occasionally gripping it down a little with every club. For example, with irons grip it down to get the "between clubs" distance.
 
I think the biggest fear with some about cutting down the shaft is how it affects the swing weight. Especially those who do not live close to a club fitter/builder who can fix the swing weight change back to factory specs.
 
My normal set up with every club has me gripping in what I would consider to be the middle of the grip. About equal parts above my hands as below. So choking down to the bottom of the grip is less of a deviation from normal for me and I do it all the time. Early in a round on a tight fairway, I will choke down on my driver, tee it lower and play a stinger type drive that hopefully goes straight and can still roll out pretty well. It is just as much about the controlled swing as it is the choking down but it results in better accuracy.

I've also been having much more success hitting 5 & 6 irons choking down a little more than normal. I think the way the iron lengths in my set increase that cutting the 5 & 6 down maybe something I will check into next time they are re-gripped.
 
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