Who here plays their driver under 44.5" finished length???

[coops]

44" Mizuno 611 driver - the shaft is a 100gm Nunchuk. (Changed over all my irons to 100gm Nunchuk XI shafts also, so they all work/feel the 'same' )

[manima1]

44" here. No noticeable distance loss and the big misses are more manageable. Don't think that taking an inch or so off the driver will eliminate big misses, a bad swing is a bad swing. However, the shorter length does inspire confidence over the ball at setup.

 

Only downside is you have to add a ton of weight back and getting that dialed in may take some time. I went with the heaviest weight I could get in my 2016M2 head and also had to add several strips of lead tape to get it to where I want it. Too much weight and I had the tendency to lose it right, too little and I lose it left. You'll need a couple rounds or a long range session to get the weight dialed in as it will be different for each individual - there is no formula to get it right.

[Rohlio]

For those who replied, what weight shafts are you using? Are they more in the heavier range? Ie 70-80g?

75g is minimum...most are 85 - 95 g...plus tip weights plus hotmelt to head

[chch3]

I just set up a driver to play at 43.5". Going to give it a go here this week at the range. Cobra head with a Diamana W series 70 that was pulled from a 3 wood. I didn't measure how much weight I added to the head to get the swing weight where I wanted, but I think it was around 10 grams. I know I put a 4 gram tip weight in when I glued it up, but I just added lead tape to the bottom until it came out to D5. Before the lead tape it was around D0.

[chch3]

I’m considering cutting my driver down to 44” based on WRX threads. anyone know how many grams to add back if i cut down from 45.5”?

Trimming it 1.5 inches would drop it 9 swing weight points. You would have to add 18 grams to the head to get it back to where it was at 45.5.

[Bobb3rdown]

Gonna try a 3wood shaft in my driver when it shows up. Same shaft as my current driver. But an 80 vs a 70. Diamana d+. If I notice any major consistency changes I'll cut mine down. Choking down on my current driver shaft makes the grip feel to awkward. Do you that play a shorter driver play a shorter fairway and hybrid?

[chch3]

I play my hybrids and fairway woods shorter than stock. i play my hybrid at 40" and my fairway wood at 41.5-42"

[bladehunter]

43 1/4 here. Neutral hotmelt and a 15g weight in the rogue. Rogue black 80 g shaft. I’ll never go back longer.

[NRJyzr]

I’m considering cutting my driver down to 44” based on WRX threads. anyone know how many grams to add back if i cut down from 45.5”?

Trimming it 1.5 inches would drop it 9 swing weight points. You would have to add 18 grams to the head to get it back to where it was at 45.5.

 

 

The "rule of thumb" has always been 2g per swingweight point, but the reality is the amount varies as does the length. The longer the club, the less weight per point. It's not as important with small changes, but adds up for something larger.

 

At 44", it's 1.65g per point of swingweight. For 9 pts, it's about 15g.

[SlamMan]

For those who replied, what weight shafts are you using? Are they more in the heavier range? Ie 70-80g?

I just picked up a G400 LST any have been tinkering with a 70 and 80 g shaft along side the stock 63 g shaft all at 44". With stock head weight the 80 g plays at about D5, the 70 g at about D2, an the stock 63 g at about C9. So far the stock shaft has treated me the best.

[chisag]

43.5" for me. Until this year, I was playing 44", and occasionally 44.5". I'd had a fitting few years ago that showed I swung a 43.25" steel shafted deiver 2-3 mph faster than my then in bag 44-1/8" graphite shafted stick. Took a few years to sink in, finally started playing around with shorter last year, and have stuck with it most of 2018 so far.

 

I think I've cut down a half dozen drivers this year, giving them all time on course.

 

Can't see going back longer.

 

 

... Great post. I have had this pet peeve with every OEM driver released until 2018 when Cobra came out with their Tour Length. Meeting their VP of engineering at the PGA Show his first sentence to me was "We listened and you are gonna be very happy about our Tour Length driver". I am not saying I am the reason for the offering, but I know I played a role in it. The engineers had been on board for years, as many in R&D are but are over ruled by Sales VP's that use the info from an Iron Byron to justify longer shafts because they only care about promoting "Our driver is the longest" with a ton of fine print manipulated to get their desired results. But in the real world more often than not, real golfers get the same results as you ... shorter shafts produce more clubhead speed AND are more accurate.

 

... I know I am preaching to the choir in this thread, But if you average 275 off the tee with a 44" driver and your longest is 285, that is always better than averaging 260 off the tee with 305 being your longest. Especially if that 305 isn't in the fairway.

[NRJyzr]

43.5" for me. Until this year, I was playing 44", and occasionally 44.5". I'd had a fitting few years ago that showed I swung a 43.25" steel shafted deiver 2-3 mph faster than my then in bag 44-1/8" graphite shafted stick. Took a few years to sink in, finally started playing around with shorter last year, and have stuck with it most of 2018 so far.

 

I think I've cut down a half dozen drivers this year, giving them all time on course.

 

Can't see going back longer.

 

 

... Great post. I have had this pet peeve with every OEM driver released until 2018 when Cobra came out with their Tour Length. Meeting their VP of engineering at the PGA Show his first sentence to me was "We listened and you are gonna be very happy about our Tour Length driver". I am not saying I am the reason for the offering, but I know I played a role in it. The engineers had been on board for years, as many in R&D are but are over ruled by Sales VP's that use the info from an Iron Byron to justify longer shafts because they only care about promoting "Our driver is the longest" with a ton of fine print manipulated to get their desired results. But in the real world more often than not, real golfers get the same results as you ... shorter shafts produce more clubhead speed AND are more accurate.

 

... I know I am preaching to the choir in this thread, But if you average 275 off the tee with a 44" driver and your longest is 285, that is always better than averaging 260 off the tee with 305 being your longest. Especially if that 305 isn't in the fairway.

 

 

I'm obviously biased, but I don't think the long bombs are less frequent, or gone, with the shorter length. There's a short par 4 at my course, I've driven it four or five times this year. That's more than the last couple years combined, when I was largely playing a 44.5" driver.

 

The 45" driver is the greatest injustice foisted on the golf public...

[kb24ismvp]

drivers should only ever be played at 44.5, not a nanometer longer - all jokes aside I have used and adjust so many drivers the last 3 year, regardless of what length it is, if you can find the center of the club face, it really doesn't matter what the club length is.

 

for myself, I am 5 9.5 but I have wide, high shoulders, and long arms - great for basketball and volley ball but not so good for longer driver shafts. for me 44.5 seems to mitigate the lefts and pulls.

[Russ757]

44" Driver, 42" 4w, 40.5" hybird

[chisag]

drivers should only ever be played at 44.5, not a nanometer longer - all jokes aside I have used and adjust so many drivers the last 3 year, regardless of what length it is, if you can find the center of the club face, it really doesn't matter what the club length is.

 

... Very few hit the center with a longer club as well as the do with a shorter club. Love these guys and this is a great video on the subject:

 

[NRJyzr]

Recently decided to try taking the Rogue Black 70 that came with my LTD 3w and plugging it into my King LTD driver. It still plays about 43.5", but due to shaft weight and balance point, had to add a few grams more cotton to the head.

 

At first, I was getting what I felt were space results, a bit inconsistent. Bumped the loft up a degree, immediately saw improved results. Should have better paid attention. /rolleyes at myself

[Golfingfanatic]

Picked up a proto Matrix HD-10X which is going to be 43.75” in my G400Max.

[sdandrea]

44" here.

[Buzzkill]

Me!

[5hort5tuff]

43.75 aswell...

[slicktry]

I absolutely love my DG SL X100, mainly because it's so consistent. However, after a recent surgery my brain said that I need a lighter shaft to swing. So, I Picked up a ATX Green 80TX on the BST and plan on playing it at 44" to start. Unfortunately, I won't be fully recovered til January (Doctor's orders and I don't want to push this one) so I will only be able to mess around with it on a launch monitor before next season.

 

God Bless

Jer

[Jagpilotohio]

Funny. Using A “lighter” 80TX instead of a X100 in a driver. Nice. Beast master.

 

Makes me tired thinking about it.

 

 

[mcs4]

Mine is at around 44.25". That number came out because I bought an aftermarket shaft to replace the prior shaft that played at 44.5", and I wanted to make absolutely sure that the shaft I was buying would result in a playing length of 44.5" or less. It works well for me, and I could easily see myself going down to an even 44" at some point (with that possibility further bolstered by my positive results in using a mini driver at 44").

[boggyman]

G400 plays 43.75

[geochitown]

drivers should only ever be played at 44.5, not a nanometer longer - all jokes aside I have used and adjust so many drivers the last 3 year, regardless of what length it is, if you can find the center of the club face, it really doesn't matter what the club length is.

 

... Very few hit the center with a longer club as well as the do with a shorter club. Love these guys and this is a great video on the subject:

 

 

I agree. Great video.

 

If I could, I'd love to see if there would be any difference at the shorter length (44") with a little bit of weight added to the head.

 

He got some increase in smash factor (ball speed/clubheadspeed) with the shorter driver (44 vs 45') at the same head weight

 

For the guy in this video, it would have been interesting to see what would have happened if he went from 44 to 43.5"

 

Makes me want to get on a trackman and compare my 43.75 against my 44.25" drivers...

 

I like that the flight monitor showed (measured?) actual contact point on the face (not sure if trackman does this or not).

[gene_bryce]

I'm 5'11 and play my driver at 44". Put the standard shaft in it a week ago and tried to play this last weekend. It resulted in my worst driving round this year. Needless to say i'm throwing the 44" back in it this week.

[erock9174]

I’m at 44.25” with 68g shaft. M3 12*. D1.5” swing weight I believe.

Slower swinger but this combo works. 5’4”.

[Jeri6gt]

I’m at 44, very happy with this length.

[Russ757]

its weird.. so many play 44" driver but heaven forbid if you try and sell that shaft..

[wkuo3]

Tried 44" for awhile, gone back to 46". Really missed the extra yardage with the longer shaft length in the driver. Tee shot is all about length for the average golfer whom could not consistently put their tee shot over 280 yards.

 

Used the 44" when I was not swinging the driver well with the old injury flared up, the shorter driver did helped somewhat , but I'm not getting the Tour distance even with the longer shaft length so, gone back to the 46" and it is fine.