How many of you are playing cut-down drivers?

[stevestrike]

Going back to 44" and under--took the plunge today

Today, I cut 1" from the butt of a 45" driver. I was debating on going to 43.5", but I figured I can always lop more off. I added 12 grams of lead to the heal of the club. I knew this would soften the shaft a little, but that was OK on this particular driver as it plays a bit stiff for me anyway.

I took it out today and hit a bucket of balls. Not bad. My ball flight seemed lower, which I was surprised at. After adjusting to it, I was hitting it fairly solid (for me) and reasonably straight. The results were twofold:

1. I would have been happy with the results on any given hole. Straight, and long enough for sure.

2. I did not care for the lower ball flight, or the feel of the cut down driver. I didn't really care for th shaft much to begin with, and this didn't help as much as I would have hoped.

So I'm wondering about you guys here. Have you cut down your driver in search of a more reliable, more accurate club? What worked, or what did not? I wonder if I'll need to just replace the shaft in this driver to find something I like more?

[sandwedge59]

The Nike Sumo driver i played at the end of last summer i cut it down from 45 1/2 to 44 1/2 with good success , i really did not lose any distance and i was able to hit it a lot straighter , i doubt i will ever play another driver over 45 inches at most

[longdrive55]

I've gone back to 44.5" driver and 42.5" 3 wood. I'm much straighter and a little longer as a result. I may go even shorter this year, but I feel very comfortable with the new club lengths.

[Cloran]

I play a 43.5" Cobra F-speed, stiff Alila NV driver. Love it. Long and straight. Played the first round of the year 2 weeks ago. No roll what-so-ever... but I still carried 250 every time I gave it a swing. My swing speed isn't anything to write home about, between 95-100... but I've had this driver for 2 years and have yet to find anything to knock it out.

[stevestrike]

Can you get the same results by simply choking down down 1/2 - 1"? Or do you have to cut the driver to make the change effective?

 

To those of you who went to 44.5" (-1/2) what adjustments did you make, if any to the weight/swingweight of the club?

[ctgolfnut66]

I made the switch to a 44.5" driver last year and I love it. I don't feel like I lost that much distance, I think that being able to hit the center of clubface more consistently will help out on any loss of distance. When I tried my 44.5" driver out against other drivers on a launch monitor, I got much more favorable results even with distance for my driver. I think the switch would be a good idea.

[Pinehurst1999]

I am 6'4" and I have both of my drivers cut down to 42.75" by Callaway and Nickent...so they took care of the swing weight adjustment. I was choking down for almost a year before I finally decided that it would be easier to have them cut down. My Nickent Square shaft broke in the hosel and they sent it back cut to my length. I have a pretty short backswing, going to maybe 12-o'clock at most and a smooth 102-105 swing speed. Usually have a 250-270 drive on a normal day.

[MARK918]

I cut down my TM burner w/ ust v2. I went from 46 inches to 43 inches. I am very pleased with the results. The very little distance that I may have lost, if I did lose any at all. I have for sure made up with control. I am alot more confident with this setup. I also added about 8 grams on lead tape to the head to bring the swingweight back up. Stock it was D5, now its somewhere around C9-D0. That was after adding the lead tape. I prefer the lighter swingweight so it works out. Btw, my driver ss is 100-105.

[longdrive55]

I think you do generally get more control by choking down....unless you need a heavier swingweight to get your tempo right.

 

I prefer to cut my drivers down then add lead tape to get the swingweight back up to weight. I could use tip weights, but then I worry about increasing draw bias. Plus I can tweak the lead tape as much as I want to.

 

 

Can you get the same results by simply choking down down 1/2 - 1"? Or do you have to cut the driver to make the change effective?

 

To those of you who went to 44.5" (-1/2) what adjustments did you make, if any to the weight/swingweight of the club?

[stevw]

i play a 425tp with a diamana whiteboard at 45.5". what's the best way of bring that down by an inch. given the shaft plays a little soft of flex (stiff) i was thinking of pulling it and having it tip trimmed. alternatively i could butt trim it. thoughts?

 

also, to fix the swingweight, could i just change a 2g weight for a 4 or 6g?

 

thanks,

steve

[Fischputza]

Maybe we could ask for an expertise from Tadd Fujikawa-his driver must be about 38" max.! :drinks:

[Tbull1984]

My hibore xl plays at 44"

 

Have not lost any distance at all although control has not improved a great deal either but its early days yet maybe might see a bigger difference when i get the chance to play more than once a week.

[MCDavis]

When I re-shafted my G5, I had the new shaft installed at 45" instead of 45 3/4" and weighted accordingly. I've also picked up a J33 460 that comes at 45". I've been more accurate with both of these drivers than I ever was with the stock Ping or the stock 45 3/4" Adams 460D I have at the beach.

 

I doubt I'll go over 45" again in a driver.

[titaniummd]

I use a Nike SQ Diamana R that is cut down to 43.75". It is less 'whippy' than before.

[latingolfnut]

I love these topics!

 

I too shorten my "R" after reading golfdigest's tips

to improve prior to the season's opening drive, i got

the followings;

• lower ball flight/ no ballooning.
  
• no carry distance gain but/ excellent roll on my drives (20 to 30 roll for 300 yard drives, first time ever)
  
• more control, draws and fade on demand.
  
• more solid hit or a higher smash factor.
  
• heavier head weight almost like a three wood which i love.
  
• so much lead tape i think i got a D5 swing weight, you kill the ball at this weight.
  

I think of my swing not so much as a pendulant but more like

a upsidedown "catapult" now. The more weight at the head the faster i'm

going to swing with less effort.

 

Lately i've been toying with the idea that i can do the same with a standard

45 or 45.75" long driver and just add lead tape until it feels great like the shorter

ones.

 

LOL, the tweaking will never end! :D :drinks: :beach:

[pbenson1167]

I'm expecting delivery of a new Nike 5000 that I had built with the Pershing shaft and I'm debating on how much to chop off. I play my current FT-5 at 44.5". The stock Nike is 45.75...

 

I may take off .75" to 45" and test it and see what to do from there...

 

Just curious if anyone else has chopped down a stock new Nike driver...

 

PB

[shooter mcgavin1]

Can you get the same results by simply choking down down 1/2 - 1"? Or do you have to cut the driver to make the change effective?

 

To those of you who went to 44.5" (-1/2) what adjustments did you make, if any to the weight/swingweight of the club?

 

i dont know about the first part.

 

but i have a 44.5 inch driver. it does make the driver feeel substantially lighter and i will be adding a good bit of lead tape to the back portion of the driver to compensate. i would imagine it depends on your personal likes/dislikes in terms of static weight and swingweight as to how much lead tape you would add.

 

i like a heavier feeling club so i will be adding alot when i go to the fitter today.

 

but so far i like the shorter club and it seems to make it easier to get the clubhead around. and it is about 15-20 yards longer than my launcher 460 and i expect that number to improve when i get the swingweight back up to around d4 where i like it.

[HEMIPHIL]

Been playing 44.5" Drivers for 3 years now. Best move I ever made. Hit a ton of fairways. No issues for lighter SW. Previous to this year's gamer, I used an r7 Quad TP with 28g worth of weight screws in it. Mind you, the Harrison Pro 2.5 X (Tipped 1.5") kicked perfectly with the extra head weight. This L4V I have is a monster...no SW issues here. At 44.5", the SW is just a touch over D4...which is very manageable. I don't think I'll game anything over 44.5" ever again. Simply too accurate to mess around with.

[westender]

This topic is coming up on several golf forums with most players who have cut down their drivers reporting success. For the majority of golfers the driver is the hardest club to control and yet the OEMs continue to churn out 45"+ drivers which most players struggle to control. I've cut down my G2 to 43.75" with great success. I'm hitting more fairways and no noticeable loss of distance.

[jjj912]

Is the shaft length measured from the top of the grip to where the shaft intersects the head? If not, what are the end points for the measurement?

[press007]

Jack Nicklaus use to say that he would take a 1/4 inch off a club at a time until the club played and felt like he wanted. I have been doing this for many years. No matter what the clubs length is I start at 44 1/2 " I usually test each new length for 3/4 range sessions and a couple games, if not acceptable I then I cut it another 1/4 " do the same all over. I have not played a driver over 44"s in years. I do add lead tape to the bottom of the head and around the hosel. You can save money on all the grips required to do this by buying Golfworks .99 Grip One grips for testing.......Dont rely on just one range session to make your mind up

[chfd098]

I bought a Nike SQ last year on clearance. I never checked the length on it until I took it in to have it reshafted. The clubmaker at Golfsmith told me it was playing 44 1/2" and asked if that was what I wanted the new shaft to play. I thought why not lets not mess with success.

 

Last week I get the club back and take it to the range. I can't hit the club at all, all my shots are high slices or fades. Now I think I made a huge mistake. I do notice that it seems longer than normal, so I lay it out next to my 3 wood which I know is 42 1/2" and my driver is way longer. I decide to choke down an inch or more on the club. Well I am killing it off the tee, so I take it home and put it on my club ruler and sure enough the club is 45 1/2" long. I am going to cut it back down to 44 1/2" this week.

 

I could not believe the differenced that the 1" of extra shaft length made. The new UST V2 shaft is flat out awesome, and I don't really have to worry about swing weight since the club was already 44 1/2" and I upped the weight by 10grams on the new shaft. I highly suggest trying shorter driver lengths to increase your control.