In the last 25 years, the average driver shaft length has gradually moved from. Tiger woods at his longest used a relatively short 43. In reality, the average length of a driver used on tour is 44. Secondlyis anyone playing a longer length driver or shorter shaft in their 3 woods, making it into a strong 3 wood or 4 woo. Most male golfers are wielding drivers that measure 45 to 48 inches, the maximum allowed under the united states golf associations rules of golf. Whats the average driver shaft length on the pga tour. Dec 11, 2018 clubs other than drivers gradually get shorter if a 44inch steel shaft driver is indicated by the chart, your 5iron will measure 38 inches and sand wedge 35. What made it confusing for me was a second set with the same length shafts that felt and played comfortably for me. Why longer shafts arent the key to longer driving golfmagic. Wishon also told me that the average driver length on the pga tour is shorter than the standard. Tiger woods made an undertheradar equipment change to his driver that no one has been talking about. The average length of drivers on the pga tour appears to be slightly shorter than 45 inches, with many pros playing drivers in the 44.
When we realized that we had never tested the concept of shorter driver shafts being more accurate. With the shorter 44 shaft you have greater confidence and can cut loose with your swing. The standard driver shaft length is around 45 inches. I have given up maybe 57 yards but have been hitting more fairways and therefore having a better chance of hitting more greens as well. That length range is fairly standard for pga tour players, but it is. If a shorter driver works for rickie fowler, chances are it could. There are two opposing schools of thought on driver length. But first i should mention that us pga tour statistics reveal that the average length of a tour players driver is 44. Is there any difference besides lengthadapter in driver shafts vs. Trying a longer shaft is a popular suggestion these days, but most players should, if anything, try a shaft half an inch shorter than whats in their driver. Driver shaft length custom fitting for the correct length to help improve your strike pattern and. So why would someone swing a longer club slower than a shorter club.
We all know how important shaft length is for an iron. In golf, everything begins with the tee shot, and almost every golfer including the pros wants to hit the ball farther. Rickie fowler finds shorterlength driver to his liking. One maintains that drivers should be shorter for accuracy, the other says drivers should be longer for distance. Clubs other than drivers gradually get shorter if a 44inch steel shaft driver is indicated by the chart, your 5iron will measure 38 inches and sand wedge 35. Michael breed give tips for driver length and distance. Would a lighter driver shaft like tiger used at the masters help me hit it farther. The prospect of being 1015 yards shorter in fairway sounds a whole lot better. Driver length creep may be why you cant hit your driver. Interested to know because tiger has used several different lengths in his career. Heading into the 2019 pga championship at bethpage state parks black course, which demands long and straight tee shots, pgatour.
Each player hit seven drives with each of three driver shaft. We immediately set out to fix that and discover whether golfers are helped or harmed by longer driver shafts. The average driver length on the pga tour is around 44. Driver shaft length are you shorting yourself using a 46. Driver shaft length is shorter better than standard. Standard club lengths for women are one inch shorter than for men. On how manufacturers have too long shafts in most current drivers. Wed jan 15, 2014 by dave phillips drivers generally come standard at 4546 inches in length, the longer the driver shaft the potential exists for more distance, theoretically your swing arc would be wider and therefore you could create more speed. Im 61 and the number of flush strikes are better and my distance has not suffered whatsoever. There is no question i have been an advocate for driver shaft length to be shorter than the current standard driver shaft lengths as offered by the various golf equipment companies. The drivers and shafts used by the top10 drivers on the pga tour. Its probably a good idea for the vast majority of amateurs, but cutting the driver shaft down is not the final word.
Nov 07, 20 if the driver shaft is so long that you are not able to make consistent sweet spot contact, all of the potential distance gained from the shaft length goes out the window. Miles of golf feels one of the very important parts of fitting a customer for a driver is the length of the driver. If the driver shaft is so long that you are not able to make consistent sweet spot contact, all of the potential distance gained from the shaft length goes out the window. The average driver you buy at the golf shop usually has a 44. Aug 20, 2015 using trackman my idea was to test the same golfer, clubhead and golf ball, but change the shaft length. For this video, weve used the gc quad launch monitor to gather real world data comparing two identical clubs that only differ in shaft length. Mar 06, 2020 the average driver you buy at the golf shop usually has a 44. Why shorter driver shaft higher swing speed tiger woods uses a driver that is very short 43. Longer shafts dont automatically equate to longer drives. Perhaps more than anything else, added shaft length has increased driver distances. Aug 28, 2018 tiger woods testing new driver shaft, loft at northern trust. Michael breed, host of the golf fix, teaches how to find the proper length of your driver shaft and gives a drill to maximize distance. I know that a longer shaft provides more speed but hell, even tiger woods uses 43.
How to measure driver shaft length the length of the golf clubs shaft in relation to the overall length of the club defines the length of the driver shaft. Feb 09, 2018 is a shorter driver shaft better for your game. Length of shafts according to height in golf sportsrec. From the beginning of the 20th century all the way through to the middle 1980s, the standard mens driver length stood at 43. Graphite clubs are slightly longer, with a standard driver at 45 inches, 5iron at 38. If its a modern driver, it is most likely 45 or more in length. Alternatively, this is the difference between the length of the overall golf club and the length of the clubhead. This edition of golf tips relates to driver accuracy. Tiger woods driver changes in 2018 before the masters golfweek. In the last 25 years, the average driver shaft length has gradually moved from 43 inches to 45.
Drivers are getting longer only because the manufacturers claim longer distances. Can a shorter driver shafts say from 44 to 42 help or aid in driving the ball more consistent as opposed to longer shafts. I doubt any tour player uses a driver shaft over 45. Remove the grip from the driver using a hook blade or a utility knife, as well as the grip tape on the shaft. Jun 23, 2011 one maintains that drivers should be shorter for accuracy, the other says drivers should be longer for distance. Com took a look into the driver setups of the top 10 players in. The standard length of a driver for men used to be 43. Jan 27, 2016 miles of golf feels one of the very important parts of fitting a customer for a driver is the length of the driver.
A recent golf test i dont remember where, showed amateurs hitting the longer shafts 45. Theres probably a lesson there for a lot of people. First of allapologies for what may be a naive question. After his thirdround 68, woods acknowledged that he did indeed switch the shaft on his taylormade m3 driver. In my case, an attempt to live with the japanese standard, which is about a half inch shorter shaft length, resulted in tired knees and a fairly bad case of poor timing and imbalance. A simple way to think about accuracy as it relates to shaft length is to compare the way you hit your wedge to the way you hit your driver.
Nov, 2011 but first i should mention that us pga tour statistics reveal that the average length of a tour players driver is 44. Thinking about cutting my driver shaft down an inch. Have you ever wondered what the average driver shaft length is on the pga. And some of the best drivers on tour use a driver with a 43 inch or even shorter shaft. There is an optimum driver shaft length with which golfers will achieve maximum clubhead speed and it will vary from player to player.
But im almost 62, and always figured, im to tall for that to work for me. Tiger woods switched to an old driver shaft and found his. That is why the cluboratory, our fitting center, has drivers of varying length. This length gives you the optimal balance of control and distance. He said it would never hit a ball and that id be back putting in a standard length shaft.
My driver woes have returned with a vengeance here of late. Bill iseri, who fit me at pings phoenix headquarters, added a little loft to the shorter driver since physics dictated it would produce a slightly lower launch angle, spin rate, and clubhead speed. Driver shaft length creep clubs, grips, shafts, fitting. In practice the average golfers failure to hit it out the middle means he hits a longer shaft no further and often shorter than a shorter shaft as he is more inconsistent. The longer, lighter driver might feel similar to the old driver that was slightly shorter but heavier. Taking a look at the driver shaft length used by the tour leaders in strokes gained. And he knows if he did use a longer driver, hed have even more trouble keeping it in play. I took my current driver, which is the titleist d3 8. Ok, i know, there have been plenty of threads on here touting the advantages of shortening the shaft on your driver.
Also does a shorter shafts allow more consistent control. I have found that a shorter shaft has kept me straighter as well. Tiger woods made a secret equipment change that nobody noticed. If he could hit the ball straight with a 45 inch clubhe would. The average driver length for all the other pros on the pga tour today is 44. If i shorten my driver shaft will it help with accuracy of. However, you will find options that go longer and shorter. Previously, the standard length for a womans driver was 43 inches.
Jan 15, 2014 will a shorter driver give you more distance. A short driver shaft may help you hit a straight shot better and also hit the center of the face more than you usually do. Kenny given that the average length of an off shelf graphite shafted driver is 45 and steel shaft is 44, then why did the club manufacturers decide to go. As most people know, the driver shaft lengths from oems are usually in the range of 4514 to 4612 long. Many golf monthly forum members are increasingly inquisitive over the distance gains we see on readerfitting days, questioning where exactly the distance.
The marketing is for those who delude with my penis driver is longer than your penis driver even though i slice 30 yards off target with a stiff shaft too. Missing the center typically results in loss of distance as well as accuracy. As tiger woods prepares for the 2018 masters, he is tinkering with his. Ill tell you what, it feels pretty good to step up there with 43. Struggling with accuracy off the tee, rickie fowler shaved an inch off his driver length at the honda classic, using a 43. Dec 18, 2019 the average driver shaft length on tour is roughly 44.
This paper will describe why shaft length is critically important in fitting a driver. Find the right driver shaft length for your game golficity. Moreover, a short shaft helps you gain better control. Aug 31, 2019 the standard driver shaft length is around 45 inches. The average driver used by pga tour pros usually has a 43. The folks at ping built me two identical g30 driversone at their standard length of 4534 inches, the other two inches shorter. Mar 03, 2017 i just read an article that asserts that tiger woods for most of his career used a driver of 43.
Does anyone here have a good fitting chart for the ideal driver shaft length based on height 62 and wrist to floor length 33. Driver shaft length too long for most players clubs, grips. I was told by everyone and even felt as if i was going to have to slip the repair shop guy a 20 just to get him to do it for me. For this test, we brought together five golfers with a range of swing speeds and handicaps. Top 50 golfers in tiger woods era tigers top 30 wins top 20 golf video games alltime. A shorter driver, he said, encourages center contact on the clubface, which leads to longer, straighter drives. The average driver shaft length on tour is roughly 44. Anybody know what length tiger is playing his m5 at. A lousy golfer will be equally poor with whatever length driver shaft, so they might as well buy the longest shaft driver and delude over hope. When i bought it the salesman recommended a diamana blue shaft. In the march hotlinks, club expert tom wishon wrote that one key to real improvement with the driver comes from a shorter length. However, in the 21st century a standard driver is considered to be 45 inches. Yet ive read on some websites like or the makers of the perfect club, that a shorter 42 or 43 inch shaft is best.
They have swing speed, the shorter length lets them square the clubface easier at impact. Tiger woods driver shaft was generally reported to be 43. The longer shaft promises more speed but possibly less control while the. As long as you dont land in a hazard, a longer drive offers the advantage of a shorter second shot, allowing you to use a more lofted and accurate club for your approach to the green, or your second shot on a par5 hole. Some woods are being made to replicate the shaft length of midirons. Except for short par3 holes, the driver is the club typically used off the tee. Well i chimed in a while back about using a shorter shaft on my driver. Jan 12, 2012 a lousy golfer will be equally poor with whatever length driver shaft, so they might as well buy the longest shaft driver and delude over hope.
Standard drivers for women are an 1 inch shorter than standard mens drivers. Extremely over active power fades, no distance, very humbling and aggravating to say the least. Each player hit seven drives with each of three driver shaft lengths. In fact, testing shows an inch of extra shaft length equals roughly 10 yards in distance. Contrary to what some might think, there isnt a run on. Jul 24, 2008 if its a modern driver, it is most likely 45 or more in length. Im particularly partial to some of the shorter shafts that we see hitting the market these days. Woods had used a driver shaft that weighed between 70 and 75. Michael breed give tips for driver length and distance golf. If a shorter driver enables a golfer to achieve more consistency with striking the center of the face, the golfer will maximize distance with that length club. Standard length for modern drivers with graphite shafts has settled at 45 inches. Im guessing hes playing the m5 at a little above 45 but any info appreciated. Im 57 with shoes on and bought a 9 d2 about a year ago. Using trackman my idea was to test the same golfer, clubhead and golf ball, but change the shaft length.
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