Will a shorter Driver help square face at impact

[wn1998]

playing a slice

I have been toying with cutting down my driver from 45.5 inches to 44 (i'm 5'10"). Currently I am hitting a 15-25 yard slice that will roll another 10 yards straight right upon landing with my driver. The distance is typically 220-240 yards. The funny thing is I play can typically hit my irons and hybrids pretty straight with the exception of the occasional slight 3-5 yard fade.

On my drives, I try to focus on rolling my wrists on impact and sometimes I can hit is straightish but never a dead straight shot. The only problem is I don't want to cut down my shaft and not like it, them I'm out a shaft.

Suggestions would be appreciated.

[duffer888]

It does for me, but I'm only 5'5". Moved to 44.5 this year and I'm in the short grass more often with no real loss in distance.

[MadGolfer76]

I think it is something you just have to try. My recently-assembled driver is at 44 inches, and I picked up yards and accuracy immediately. I don't know that it is something that you can generalize, but at least you could scratch one more "don't" off the list if it doesn't work out.

[Colej]

Most people would be better off in a shorter length driver. Things that need to be considered about your current setup. Is the face angle open? Is the shaft to stiff? If any of these things are true it may not help cutting the driver down. It's easy to do though and could be worth a shot if you can do the work yourself.

My advice go to a fitter and see what your current setup is measuring out at. Then hit some other clubs and see if you still have that slice. You might still have a fade but it could be better than a full on slice.

[Air Jordan]

I am 5'-11" and I cut my driver down from 45.75" to 44.5" last week and was immediately hitting the middle of the clubface more often, providing extra distance. My driver was bought for $110 used at the PGA Store (Ping G15) so I was more willing to risk it.

I'd definitely recommend giving it a try.

[ptjn1201]

Shorter drivers usually will bring straighter shots, but you have to watch out -- I've found that going too short often exacerbates any over the top swing, leading to bigger slices.

[Colej]

Sometimes that is true. The shorter driver will give a over the top move to just a few select people.

[DrCRHop]

Just a quick question. Rather than cutting the shaft length down, couldn't you just choke down on the club? I am always reading on these forums that people want to cut the shaft to shorten it; but it seems to me you'd get a good idea whether it works or not just by choking down. Am I missing an advantage?

I actually have had all of my clubs made to 3/4" longer than normal and choke down about a 1/2". The club just feels better in my palm.

[Sean25rp]

I just cut my driver down to 44.5" from 45". I'm very pleased after one round. Once I'd adjusted I was hitting everything very straight and was more consistent than previously. So far it seems a good improvement but time will tell.

[JLew27]

I would assume cutting the shaft down will change the swingweight so you might want to have that checked before you put it into play.

I generally choke down when I am having driving issues.

[Georgie Z]

Are there any other adjustments that need to be made if you shorten the shaft? Would there be issues with lie?

[Confiado]

make sure you add some lead tape near the heel to adjust for the swing weight. a shorter driver will help you hit is solid, assuming there aren't any bigger issues with your swing. but in general, a shorter shaft on the driver will help you find the fairway on the hole that you are playing.

[inthefairway]

[quote name='wn1998' timestamp='1334518334' post='4726612']
I have been toying with cutting down my driver from 45.5 inches to 44 (i'm 5'10"). Currently I am hitting a 15-25 yard slice that will roll another 10 yards straight right upon landing with my driver. The distance is typically 220-240 yards. The funny thing is I play can typically hit my irons and hybrids pretty straight with the exception of the occasional slight 3-5 yard fade.

On my drives, I try to focus on rolling my wrists on impact and sometimes I can hit is straightish but never a dead straight shot. The only problem is I don't want to cut down my shaft and not like it, them I'm out a shaft.

Suggestions would be appreciated.
[/quote]
I'm the same height as you and am a driver ho!! I've had 46", 45 3/4 " and 45 1/2 " driver shafts. With these lengths, I couldn't hit the driver consistent for crap. So in trying to find out what was happening I'd put a little bit of car wax on the face(just in practice because is illegal otherwise) and noticed was not hitting the driver on the sweet spot from the ball mark left. So what I found out was that making the driver to 45" and checking my consistency of hitting the sweet spot improved tremendously!!! I am hitting bombs now and have any driver that I use at 45. I have one driver at 44 1/2 but I was not happy and turning the head over too much but this length does work for many. So my recommendation for you would be to start at 45 and you should notice an improved consistency and accuracy in your drives and probably won't even notice any loss in distance. I do not re weight any of my club heads and have no problems. Some day I may try it for the sake of just trying it but am happy with it for now. I won two tournaments in a row with my recent g15 driver that I'm using with it cut down from 45 1/2 to 45. I will say that there is not instant magic when you cut it down but with a few rounds and some practice I zeroed right in with the change with much improvement. Even put a brand new grip on to add some more excitement to the club. Have fun and good luck!!!!!!
So for me and I believe as well for you, yes a shorter driver shaft should help square the driver face at impact because you should be finding the sweet spot more at impact with the change.

[Dien]

I cut my R9 down to 43" and I don't bother trying to hit drivers at the store unless I choke down(which feels weird on driver).

Slices still happen as it's a swing issues but most of my misses are more of a slight draw nowadays unlike my older huge slices.

[jayh3]

Try placing the ball further forward in your stance so that the club head will not be open by the time it reaches the ball. The more expensive route is to buy a slightly stiffer shaft. I purchased a Miyazaki 43r for my Burner head and I now have a slight draw or it goes straight. Before I had to hold back or it would go right. And I have to place it further back in my stance. Now I can hit it as hard as I want. The shaft is the most important part of the driver, but most people don't want to spend money on it. Demo the Cleveland series with the Miyazaki shafts.

[RogerinNewZealand]

Visit your PGA Proffessional for a Quality half hour lesson.
I revisited my Coach yesterday, first lesson since xmas. Had me sorted and hitting
right through the bag in minutes...i'm a believer in 44 inch drivers!

[jayh3]

[quote name='wn1998' timestamp='1334518334' post='4726612']
I have been toying with cutting down my driver from 45.5 inches to 44 (i'm 5'10"). Currently I am hitting a 15-25 yard slice that will roll another 10 yards straight right upon landing with my driver. The distance is typically 220-240 yards. The funny thing is I play can typically hit my irons and hybrids pretty straight with the exception of the occasional slight 3-5 yard fade.

On my drives, I try to focus on rolling my wrists on impact and sometimes I can hit is straightish but never a dead straight shot. The only problem is I don't want to cut down my shaft and not like it, them I'm out a shaft.

Suggestions would be appreciated.
[/quote]
Don't try rolling your wrists over at impact. In fact try not too and keep them going towards the target until they have to roll over naturally. Sounds like your shaft may not be stiff enough if your ball flight is fading to the right all the time.

[rthodges]

A thought not mentioned ...try shortening the shaft and if you do not like the results, put it back to its previous length with a shaft extender. Its an insert that fits into the grip end of the shaft and under the grip. You will not notice it is there.

I shortened my driver, did not like it and have used this fix for the last year or so.

[scooterhd2]

keep in mind that when you cut down the shaft, it will get stiffer.

[hollowbox]

Equipment changes or mods probably will have little impact on your slice as it is a swing flaw. And if you are over the top as is the case with most slicers the only thing squaring the club face will do is pull the ball. I tried every thing possible from short drivers to closed heads and the only thing that ever stopped it was learning how to swing from the inside and down the line.

[A C]

before cutting down the shaft (if you haven't done so yet), I would just tape a sharpie, and mark 0.5", 1", 1.5" mark down from the butt of your driver shaft on your grip.

When you swing next time, try to choke down at 0.5" down, 1"...etc, and see if it makes any difference at all. You may hit better 45" than 44" or vice versa.

This way, you find your sweet length, before making a permanent change, and give you an opportunity to experiment with it.

Some may say choking down on a club is different, but it is better than going to 44" then, add extender to go 45", then cut it back down to 44.5", etc.

Good luck.

I've done the same thing going to 46 to 44.5". Love the results

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

I own two drivers, a Callaway at nominal 46" (actually just a bit over that by my ruler) and a Titleist at 45". Both of those are definitely in the "hard to get the clubface to close" category. I cut the Titleist down to 44" after finding that playing it choked down let me make more solid contact. Unfortunately, as it already has a stout NV65 shaft in it (albeit R flex) I just can't get any real elevation or spin on the ball unless I swing really, really hard. Being an inch shorter has somehow seemed to exacerbate that, probably because I have a habit of still choking down slightly even on the cut-off driver.

But the 46" one is still harder to get squarely on the ball. That one has a real whippy senior-flex shaft and I have a little feel/mental issue when I can feel a shaft "kick" during the rather abrupt start of my downswing. So on the rare good days when I can slow down my backswing, tame that transition move and give the club plenty of time to stay square to the ball the 46" whippy driver hits it pretty long. But that sort of "good day" is maybe a few times a year at best.

Lately I've been teeing off with my 43" 3-wood with 15 degrees of loft. I hood the face a little and play for a low, running draw. No problem squaring that one up at impact. In fact, even if I get a little quick or abrupt with my swing at 43" I'm still strong enough to keep the club more or less on line coming into the ball. So I give up a little max distance on my best days but just my basic, mediocre everyday swing hits the 3-wood every bit as far and much straighter than any 44", 45" or 46" driver I've tried.

[glock35ipsc]

5' 10" here too, I play both of my drivers at 43.5". Probably not the ideal length for everyone, but I'm on the "shorter is better" train. But shorter could be 44", 44.5" just as well.....

[menkhoff]

i cut down my 46.5 inch rip shaft to 44.5 but i tipped it 1" and took the other inch off the butt.... tremendous results... keep in mind that you may want to revisit you swing weight after doing so - there are excellent posts in this forum on what to look for. Having said this, you may want to consider attacking the ball more from the inside rather than looking for club adjustments to fix that dreaded slice. If you are hitting it 240 with that ball flight than you have good swing speed, just need to tune up the swing plane... good luck

[Xir]

I'm 5'4" and I just cut my 910D2 down to 44.25". I decided to do so after some careful thought. My irons are -1/2" for starters and deciding to cut down the driver led me to cut down my 3 wood, 3 hybrid and wedges. I'm headed to the range sometime this week to see how I do, but I can tell just from holding them that I'll be more comfortable. I simply wasn't tall enough for regular length clubs.

[KCCO]

Maybe choke down before affecting swingweight? I dunno worth a try before cutting if u like the shaft....

[gb350]

I choke dn on driver and 3 wood the ball seems to have a lower flight and straighter also

[dp4sc]

[quote name='hollowbox' timestamp='1340060839' post='5124024']
Equipment changes or mods probably will have little impact on your slice as it is a swing flaw. And if you are over the top as is the case with most slicers the only thing squaring the club face will do is pull the ball. I tried every thing possible from short drivers to closed heads and the only thing that ever stopped it was learning how to swing from the inside and down the line.
[/quote]

+1 We don't like to admit it, but it IS a swing flaw. Slow down the take away, focus on inside and down the target line and releasing the clubhead through impact is the only way to get consistent results. I find when I get too quick through the ball either my hands get through first, leaving the face open or I hit a pull if I do close the face down. Think "Johnny Miller"...."Johnny" on the backswing, "Miller" coming through the ball. Slows you down and keeps tempo in sync. Sounds stupid, but that mental though makes you concentrate on timing/tempo.