44 inch driver.....WOW!

[pmcuk]

I looked for an older driver that was already at 44" and came across the Callaway Steelhead III. Just got it today and looking forward to trying it out. It's 225cc, so that will be a bit different. But we're already there at 44* and D0

Update: Took it on the range and love the feel and sound. I'm not getting great distance, but it's easy to hit and seems to go pretty straight. No doubt a better player could hit it further but I'm liking it so far.

[OUZO Power]

So here is how this experiment went for me. Went to the range to do my experiment.

[b]About me. [/b]

Club: Callaway RAZR FIT 9.5* plays at 45.5" with 4gr in heel and 1gr in toe.
Shaft: Aldila RIP Alpha 60 S Flex.
Swing speed: 100-105mph.
My miss is a slice, shows up 3 out of 10 swings.

[b]What Happened Recently[/b]
I went to the range on the weekend with my wife. She asked me if she could swing my club. So I let her. Then out of curiosity I picked up hers and gave it a whirle. First thing I noticed is how heavier it felt compared to mine. I nopticed this right away. And it played at 44". I WAS KILLING IT. I felt odd. Not going to lie. I was banging my wifes club as far as my 45.5" driver and more accuratly. I just saw what I typed. No pun was intended. Then I read up on this thread and said I'm gonna look further into this.

[b]THE EXPERIMENT[/b]

[b]PART 1[/b]
I put the 3W shaft from my RAZR FIT 3W in the driver. So it played at 43.75". It's an R flex so it didn't play more stiff. I know the shafts arent the same so we arent really comparing apples to apples.
The results where a drastic improvement in accuracy. No slices. And dispersion narrowed down to 10 yards each way off centre line. Carry was the same as my Aldila RIP.

BUT. And I attribute this to the shaft. There was absolutel no role and the ball would baloon - drop and not move once it hit the turf.

I concluded that I would go cut my aldila rip down to 44.25" and give it a try.

[b]PART 2[/b]
With half a bucket left I put the Aldila RIP in at 45.5". But I said to myself lets take out the 4 & 1 weights and put 12gr on the heel and 8gr on the toe.

WWWHHHHOOOAAAAAAA. I WAS KILLING IT. Everything went in a fluidly motion. Every swing on the sweet spot and dead, i mean dead centre and straight. And most important. With role I was getting the longest drives I ever hit. Must of had 10 pass or just reach the 300 mark with role. The guy I work with and golf with came to watch. He was shocked at the results.

The added wight of the head made it feel foreign. But I loved it. From the back swing all the way to hitting the ball evertime on the sweet spot. It felt sooooo goooood. Like warm apple pie.

[b]Conclusion[/b]
It looks like I wont be joining you on this one boys. Atleast for now. If the honeymoon wears off I might give the shorter driver a whirl. But for now it's all about the weight and increased swing weight.

I'm curious. Can anyone tell me what they thing the swing weight of the club is now? I added a total of 15gr to the head.

Thanks everyone for the info you have provided untill now. Love this place.

[mikes919]

3 weeks later and I've got my cut-down driver results. First range session after cutting my Classic XL Custom's Black Tie to 44.25", I was killing it. Great results immediately. The honeymoon wore off pretty quickly though, and I went back to my old ways. About a week in, I was kicking myself for cutting it down because my results weren't any better.

I stuck with it though, and another week later things started to click. I started hitting the sweet spot more regularly, and my distance started to creep up. Now, the last two rounds and range sessions I've been driving the ball better than ever. It's incredible. Straighter and longer for sure.

[PeanutsDaddy]

[quote name='OUZO Power' timestamp='1376503051' post='7676148']
So here is how this experiment went for me. Went to the range to do my experiment.

[b]About me. [/b]

Club: Callaway RAZR FIT 9.5* plays at 45.5" with 4gr in heel and 1gr in toe.
Shaft: Aldila RIP Alpha 60 S Flex.
Swing speed: 100-105mph.
My miss is a slice, shows up 3 out of 10 swings.

[b]What Happened Recently[/b]
I went to the range on the weekend with my wife. She asked me if she could swing my club. So I let her. Then out of curiosity I picked up hers and gave it a whirle. First thing I noticed is how heavier it felt compared to mine. I nopticed this right away. And it played at 44". I WAS KILLING IT. I felt odd. Not going to lie. I was banging my wifes club as far as my 45.5" driver and more accuratly. I just saw what I typed. No pun was intended. Then I read up on this thread and said I'm gonna look further into this.

[b]THE EXPERIMENT[/b]

[b]PART 1[/b]
I put the 3W shaft from my RAZR FIT 3W in the driver. So it played at 43.75". It's an R flex so it didn't play more stiff. I know the shafts arent the same so we arent really comparing apples to apples.
The results where a drastic improvement in accuracy. No slices. And dispersion narrowed down to 10 yards each way off centre line. Carry was the same as my Aldila RIP.

BUT. And I attribute this to the shaft. There was absolutel no role and the ball would baloon - drop and not move once it hit the turf.

I concluded that I would go cut my aldila rip down to 44.25" and give it a try.

[b]PART 2[/b]
With half a bucket left I put the Aldila RIP in at 45.5". But I said to myself lets take out the 4 & 1 weights and put 12gr on the heel and 8gr on the toe.

WWWHHHHOOOAAAAAAA. I WAS KILLING IT. Everything went in a fluidly motion. Every swing on the sweet spot and dead, i mean dead centre and straight. And most important. With role I was getting the longest drives I ever hit. Must of had 10 pass or just reach the 300 mark with role. The guy I work with and golf with came to watch. He was shocked at the results.

The added wight of the head made it feel foreign. But I loved it. From the back swing all the way to hitting the ball evertime on the sweet spot. It felt sooooo goooood. Like warm apple pie.

[b]Conclusion[/b]
It looks like I wont be joining you on this one boys. Atleast for now. If the honeymoon wears off I might give the shorter driver a whirl. But for now it's all about the weight and increased swing weight.

I'm curious. Can anyone tell me what they thing the swing weight of the club is now? I added a total of 15gr to the head.

Thanks everyone for the info you have provided untill now. Love this place.
[/quote]


Very well thought out post. Experimentation - just like college.

[OUZO Power]

[quote name='PeanutsDaddy' timestamp='1376508074' post='7676798']
[quote name='OUZO Power' timestamp='1376503051' post='7676148']
So here is how this experiment went for me. Went to the range to do my experiment.

[b]About me. [/b]

Club: Callaway RAZR FIT 9.5* plays at 45.5" with 4gr in heel and 1gr in toe.
Shaft: Aldila RIP Alpha 60 S Flex.
Swing speed: 100-105mph.
My miss is a slice, shows up 3 out of 10 swings.

[b]What Happened Recently[/b]
I went to the range on the weekend with my wife. She asked me if she could swing my club. So I let her. Then out of curiosity I picked up hers and gave it a whirle. First thing I noticed is how heavier it felt compared to mine. I nopticed this right away. And it played at 44". I WAS KILLING IT. I felt odd. Not going to lie. I was banging my wifes club as far as my 45.5" driver and more accuratly. I just saw what I typed. No pun was intended. Then I read up on this thread and said I'm gonna look further into this.

[b]THE EXPERIMENT[/b]

[b]PART 1[/b]
I put the 3W shaft from my RAZR FIT 3W in the driver. So it played at 43.75". It's an R flex so it didn't play more stiff. I know the shafts arent the same so we arent really comparing apples to apples.
The results where a drastic improvement in accuracy. No slices. And dispersion narrowed down to 10 yards each way off centre line. Carry was the same as my Aldila RIP.

BUT. And I attribute this to the shaft. There was absolutel no role and the ball would baloon - drop and not move once it hit the turf.

I concluded that I would go cut my aldila rip down to 44.25" and give it a try.

[b]PART 2[/b]
With half a bucket left I put the Aldila RIP in at 45.5". But I said to myself lets take out the 4 & 1 weights and put 12gr on the heel and 8gr on the toe.

WWWHHHHOOOAAAAAAA. I WAS KILLING IT. Everything went in a fluidly motion. Every swing on the sweet spot and dead, i mean dead centre and straight. And most important. With role I was getting the longest drives I ever hit. Must of had 10 pass or just reach the 300 mark with role. The guy I work with and golf with came to watch. He was shocked at the results.

The added wight of the head made it feel foreign. But I loved it. From the back swing all the way to hitting the ball evertime on the sweet spot. It felt sooooo goooood. Like warm apple pie.

[b]Conclusion[/b]
It looks like I wont be joining you on this one boys. Atleast for now. If the honeymoon wears off I might give the shorter driver a whirl. But for now it's all about the weight and increased swing weight.

I'm curious. Can anyone tell me what they thing the swing weight of the club is now? I added a total of 15gr to the head.

Thanks everyone for the info you have provided untill now. Love this place.
[/quote]


Very well thought out post. Experimentation - just like college.
[/quote]I'm an engineer. So I have to test it out. It's in my nature.

[PeanutsDaddy]

So you did go to college/university and you did experiment. I knew it.

[JimNewton]

Are there any special tools needed or how-to videos for a DIY? I think I can figure out the [i]sawing-off[/i] part out ok ... but beyond that I'm slightly confused. Which end are we talking about cutting here, or is it preference? I'd rather not bother with a shop for this experiment because I'm [size=4]about to ditch this driver for good anyway very soon. I can probably handle it but I've never tinkered with any clubs before - and I'd like to get into it. [/size]

[size=4]Before I get fitted for a new one it'd be nice to know what I prefer between 43"-45". I bet it's going to be 43 (or even less) as I can't control this thing at all, except when I choke down on it. And then the butt end and skinny grip messes with me a bit, but it's much much better. [/size]

[size=4]I've been hitting the 3W off the tee all season long because I'm tired of losing balls in the woods. [/size] [size=4] I rarely miss with that, it's just too easy to hit a nice fade. Maybe I could cut that down .5 as well. This driver is just impossible for me to control, other one's I've tried are the same story or even worse, and my swing really isn't all that bad. [/size]

[size=4]Years ago I used to be able to hit my old Titlest 905 pretty good until my idiot [/size]roommate[size=4] broke it. I miss that club. The guy I bought it off of did have the stock shaft replaced, too bad I don't remember what kind it was, but I bet it was shorter.[/size]

[PeanutsDaddy]

Jim Newton,

If you have the tools, products and capabilities it is not a difficult project. Trim from the butt end of the shaft unless you wish to change the flex. Trim the tip section of the shaft and it will play stiffer. If you wish to pursue the easy route, Golftown charged me under $10 to remove the old grip, trim the butt section, and install a new grip. Took them 10 minutes.

Good luck. My experiment was well worth the price.

[nutted]

Well, I picked up a an i15 with Kiyoshi Black and it happened to play 46". I was going to cut it down, but just kept hitting insanely long drives. It's pretty darn straight too. I use 4 iron or 4 wood off the tee about 50% so I can afford the bomber driver. Ha ha just being the devil's advocate I guess.

[skyking]

I'm DONE playing Army golf with the driver. Cutting my 45 1/4" driver to 44" this morning. At 43" my 4 wood is virtually automatic...hit it, reach down pick up the tee and walk after it down the middle of the fairway. My home course is US Open tight and having moved from the south with Bermuda grass, I'm not use to playing a provisional just for missing the fairway here in the Mid-Atlantic because the rough is so high and thick. My irons shots are push draws, flushed, so this driver situation with slices, push slices, pulls is driving...pun intended, me CRAZY.

It was interesting reading articles about this last night and seeing the influence of manufactures have on justifying longer shafts for drivers. Even supposedly unpartial testing showing high handicap players only averaging 3-4 yards less accurate with a shorter shaft is BS. One article quoting a tour pro saying the big headed driver just didn't look right with a shorter shaft. Really? It's all about scoreboard baby.

[JimNewton]

Also how exactly are we measuring these? All the way down to the bottom of the head?

Last night I checked the two that I have, from the bottom of the head with the shaft held vertical I got 46" on both of them. But just to the hozel it's about 43" Am I correct that these are both 46" drivers? I'm just not clear on what points to measure, can anyone clarify. Thanks

If they are indeed 46, that certainly explains a lot.

Has anyone shown Tiger this thread?

[NRJyzr]

[quote name='JimNewton' timestamp='1376573936' post='7680964']
Also how exactly are we measuring these? All the way down to the bottom of the head?

Last night I checked the two that I have, from the bottom of the head with the shaft held vertical I got 46" on both of them. But just to the hozel it's about 43" Am I correct that these are both 46" drivers? I'm just not clear on what points to measure, can anyone clarify. Thanks

If they are indeed 46, that certainly explains a lot.

Has anyone shown Tiger this thread?
[/quote]

USGA "official" measurement technique is to ground/set the club at a 60° lie angle, then measure to the end of the grip (or shaft).

Generally speaking, the method most use is to ground/set the club in playing position, then measure to either the end of the ungripped shaft, or to the end of the grip.

Personally, I measure to the ungripped end of shaft, but some prefer to count the grip cap in their measurement. Neither is wrong, just preference.

It's worth noting the original Big Bertha, which caused such a buzz, was 43" in steel, and 44" in graphite. The Great Big Bertha extended this to 45" in an effort to chase distance. Somewhere in there, an OEM went to 46" (I don't remember who) and many followed. There was a backlash and the clubs squeezed back down a bit, even to under 45" for a while.

Now they've crept back past 45", once again marketing through the [i]one perfect shot per month[/i] distance gains seen by longer clubs. Generalization, of course.

edit for personal irony: This season, as part of my experiment, I've played with several 45" drivers, in an attempt to see if I could indeed play such a club, after having some success with a loaned 45" driver last fall. My index has risen from 5.2 to 8.6 currently. In the interest of full disclosure, I must note the increase in hdcp is caused by my entire game, and not only the 45" driver. But, the driver is indeed part of the problem.

[unlucky]

After much thinking and internal debating I went to a 44 inch driver and I love it. Not sure if I feel as though I am getting better strikes but I really feel as though I have better control. The next step for me is to cut down my 3 wood. I would assume most in this thread have, any feedback would be great.

On a side note anyone have a swingweight scale they want to sell me on the cheap? LOL.

Thanks

[Lord Helmet]

^ I cut my 3w and it dropped the SW dramaticlly (D1 to C8). I had to add lead tape to the sole of the club to bring it back to preferred weight. No biggie though.

[NRJyzr]

Finally jumped on the R11s train a bit ago, had an extra adapter lying around, threw an SK Fiber Tour Trac 100 in it to replace the Phenom. It plays at 44½" without adding heavier heel/toe weights, or using a tip weight.

Yeah, I know it's not quite 44", but it's still an inch shorter than the club played with the Phenom.

Early results are promising. I only played the club at 45½ for 27 holes, so I didn't exactly have a high population baseline, but so far, it seems I haven't lost a great deal in terms of distance, if any. And, I've experienced a lower rate of mishits since the switch.

We'll see what we'll see.

[OspreyCI]

After numerous rounds with my G25 driver at 45.75", I am real believer. It has been my best driving rounds in many years. I am hitting it on the sweet spot now which is reducing spin and increasing my accuracy and distance.

Do yourself a favor and try your driver a bit shorter and you will see the same results as many have posted on here.

[JimNewton]

I cut 1.25" off of mine a couple weeks ago. I guess it probably helped somewhat, a bit. But it certainly wasn't the miracle I was hoping for. Clearly I have some swing issues still ... I've got this silly whipping move at the top, my friend described it as "you look like axl rose doing that snake dance". I only do it with the driver ... with the 3W and below all is normal. What's that about, I don't know.

I have some lead tape on the waiting on the kitchen counter to see if that helps at all, but I just need a couple lessons really..

[jewofgolf]

Fast tempo is easily solved with more weight. If your driver leads to a violent swing, and you never reweighted after cutting, then you need to add weight. I suggest this:

Add 8 grams to the head, and add 5-10 grams to your shaft just below the grip (wrap it around).

[brock9007]

I have been very happy with mine at 44

[NRJyzr]

Just cut my R11s down to 44" tonight, after receiving several weights from GolfWorks. Replaced the 10g with a 16g, and the 1g was replaced with a 5g. Now I'm up to D4.5 swingweight even at the shorter length.

I didn't seem to lose anything going to 44½" from the 45½" standard length, will be interesting to see how this pans out.

Excited to hit it, though.

[nomm]

Yup, I've been choking down a lot of my 45" driver, and I've been driving the ball way better over the past 6 months. Going to keep doing it!

[xathanasi]

[quote name='DevilDog' timestamp='1366307420' post='6872351']
Tom WIshon should ring in on this. A longer driver doesn't always mean better if you struggle to square it up and hit the center of the face consistently. He has some great data on it.
[/quote]

Yes. I'm nearly finished reading his book, "Search for the Perfect Golf Club," for the second time (first time about 5 years ago) and his static fitting recommendations are short! But, of course, he's right. A few years ago I remember seeing a Golf Digest or Golf Mag. article about a short in stature pro who played his driver at 40" and other clubs on down from that. Can't remember the details, but the recommendation was for everyone to consider shorter lengths to help hit the centre of the clubface - Sergio and Tiger are good examples of the 43" pro driver (at one time).

[Gogs]

I custom ordered a Ping I20 at 44.75". I really struggled with it until I cut it to 44". I added 7 grams of lead tape to get the feel. I much prefer the shorter length. Not much of a distance loss.

[golfer64]

If you have a R1 driver and cut it to 44-44.5, how much weight do you have to add to bring it up to a D4 to D5. Besides the weights that it comes with 10-1?

[Golfrnut]

[quote name='golfer64' timestamp='1380680852' post='7940639']
If you have a R1 driver and cut it to 44-44.5, how much weight do you have to add to bring it up to a D4 to D5. Besides the weights that it comes with 10-1?
[/quote]

3 SW points per 1/2" when you change shaft length. For a driver, expect it to be around 1.6-1.7 grams per SW point you will have to add to get it back. You'll have to do the math as I have no idea what you are starting with.

[judeisnotobscure]

I just reshafted my cobra head. I'm going to try 44" and look for more consistancy.

[rbhan12]

did the same thing with my original RBZ. cut it down an inch and a half and wow. more people need to go below 45 inches

[SirPercival]

Great thread. Started playing golf some years ago, but could not master the driver. Used a Taylor made R7 Draw at that time. Then I cut down it from 45 to 44". Suddenly I started hitting FW and I got some distance from tee. Then last winter I bought a Callaway Razr Fit driver. Stock length was 45,5. This one was cut down to 44,5". In transition whether to go down to 44" for even more accuracy. Razr Fit has this extra weight screws and I bought a set to adjust swing weight. Maybe the shaft gets firmer, but there is no problem getting the ball airborne.

[jasonTeI3]

I'm currently getting a R1/Kiyoshi Purple and a RFE/ad-di6 cut to 44" as an experiment........we'll see how it goes

[Joe85]

I just cut mine down to 44 and there was a marked difference/improvement over all other driving in recent memory. Was pounding the ball quite nicely and straight.