Shortening the driver 2 inches?

CosmosMpower · June 27, 2008

Using 36" shaft currently

Picked up a Nickent 3dx square with regular shaft in 46" length since my swing speed is only about 90. I can swing much harder but a slower easier swing is the only way I can hit the ball straight consistently. Anyways, I've been reading and lots of people suggest getting a shorter driver for mid to high handicappers which is me. I sprayed quite a few shots with the driver at the range today and was hoping for some more control and consistency even if I lose some distance.

Is shortening the shaft to say 44 or 44.5 the way to go to achieve this? The guy at golf galaxy said they can trim off 2 inches and regrip the club for a minimal cost. I understand this may effectively stiffen the shaft which may be bad for my lower swing speed. Any other concerns? Do the concerns outweigh the benefits?

typhoon · June 27, 2008

Picked up a Nickent 3dx square with regular shaft since my swing speed is only about 90. I can swing much harder but a slower easier swing is the only way I can hit the ball straight consistently. Anyways, I've been reading and lots of people suggest getting a shorter driver for mid to high handicappers which is me. I sprayed quite a few shots with the driver at the range today and was hoping for some more control and consistency even if I lose some distance.

Is shortening the shaft to say 34 or 34.5 the way to go to achieve this? The guy at golf galaxy said they can trim off 2 inches and regrip the club for a minimal cost. I understand this may effectively stiffen the shaft which may be bad for my lower swing speed. Any other concerns? Do the concerns outweigh the benefits?

Are you sure it's 36", not 46"

CosmosMpower · June 27, 2008

Picked up a Nickent 3dx square with regular shaft since my swing speed is only about 90. I can swing much harder but a slower easier swing is the only way I can hit the ball straight consistently. Anyways, I've been reading and lots of people suggest getting a shorter driver for mid to high handicappers which is me. I sprayed quite a few shots with the driver at the range today and was hoping for some more control and consistency even if I lose some distance.

Is shortening the shaft to say 34 or 34.5 the way to go to achieve this? The guy at golf galaxy said they can trim off 2 inches and regrip the club for a minimal cost. I understand this may effectively stiffen the shaft which may be bad for my lower swing speed. Any other concerns? Do the concerns outweigh the benefits?

Are you sure it's 36", not 46"

Oops, 46" it is. 36" is like my putter :huh:

SacTown24 · June 28, 2008

butt cutting your shaft will NOT change the flex. if you cut the shaft at the tip, that WOULD change the flex. the length of the average driver on the PGA tour is something like 43.5". not just mid handicappers r doing this. many good players have cut their drivers down. since cutting my driver from 45" to 44.5", i've hit 20% more fairways.

CosmosMpower · June 28, 2008

Thanks I guess I'll try going from 46" to 44" hopefully this will help out quite a bit. I'm not sure the length of my hybrids but I tend to tee off well with those and they are considerably shorter. What is the average cost for a local shop to butt cutt and regrip, 10 bucks or so?

SHERO · June 28, 2008

Cutting down two inches will effect the swingweight so you may have to pile on the lead tape afterwards. Ask the clubfitter.

skinny99 · June 28, 2008

Thanks I guess I'll try going from 46" to 44" hopefully this will help out quite a bit. I'm not sure the length of my hybrids but I tend to tee off well with those and they are considerably shorter. What is the average cost for a local shop to butt cutt and regrip, 10 bucks or so?

I shorten all my drivers myself after I watched my local shop do it the first time. Although you should be able to get it done for about $10 plus whatever grip you pick. Try it yourself if you want it is really easy and once you do it you will never have to wait on the pro shop ever again. Todd

CosmosMpower · June 28, 2008

Will the club feel heavier if you cut it down or lighter? Golf Galaxy said they will do it for 4 bucks plus the cost of a grip, sounds reasonable to me. When everyone says a shorter driver will give you better control will it help a slice?

BDLz · June 28, 2008

Cutting it down that much is definitely going to change the swingweight. If it were me, I'd probably start out cutting it down to 45 and then, after a couple of rounds or practice sessions, if you still want to cut another inch off go for it. It's a lot easier (and cheaper) to cut a shaft down than it is to plug a shaft to make it longer. Good luck pards.

BDLz

CosmosMpower · June 28, 2008

Cutting it down that much is definitely going to change the swingweight. If it were me, I'd probably start out cutting it down to 45 and then, after a couple of rounds or practice sessions, if you still want to cut another inch off go for it. It's a lot easier (and cheaper) to cut a shaft down than it is to plug a shaft to make it longer. Good luck pards.

BDLz

Good point, they said they could take some measurements and take a look on the monitor to figure out how much I should cut down. I hope it does not take too long, I have a tee time at 5

BDLz · June 28, 2008

If they're not busy, it should only take them about 5-10 minutes. Maybe an hour for the grip to dry after that.

BDLz

CosmosMpower · June 28, 2008

Well I wanted to report back. They measured the club at 45.75" and had me choke down down about an inch and hit a few on the simulator. It felt really weird with the giant square head and felt out of proportion. I kept hitting the ball around the heel of the club so he suggested that I hit it a little longer at current length and come back if it's still not working. I've only hit the club at the range once so far, just bought it Thursday night. Thanks for all the comments guys.

CosmosMpower · July 8, 2008

Update to the update. I hit the range a few more times and still couldn't get a handle on the club with the stock length. Got it cut down an inch from a measured 45.5" to 44.5" and it feels like a totally different club. It's much more manageable on the backswing and feels a lot shorter on the downswing. The swing weight went from D3 to D0 which surprisingly felt good, the big slice was gone.

CosmosMpower · July 9, 2008

Played 9 today after work and hit the driver 4 times. All I can say is WOW, I used to slice it about 220-240 yards sometimes on the wrong fairway when it was playing at full length. Hit 3 out of 4 fairways with the 4th just being 5 feet left in the short rough. Average distance was 275 hitting it dead square on all 4 shots. If you're having trouble controlling a 45.5-46" shaft driver strongly consider cutting it down an inch.