More control, better feel, hitting the sweet spot every single time. Shortening driver changing shaft swingweight golfwrx. Whats the average driver shaft length on the pga tour. Also does a shorter shafts allow more consistent control. As the swing changes so do the clubs part 1 the heavier and stiffer club setup update part 2. The dreaded driver many of us dream of hitting our driver long and straight consistently but the truth is that for many of us, hitting a driver is our worst nightmare. No matter where you put the lead tape, the actual weight of the club will be identical. A simplified definition of swingweight is the relation of weight between the head end of the golf club and the grip end. A golfer can manipulate either end of the golf club to adjust his swingweight. Shorter clubs require a bit more weight in order to achieve a 1 swingweight change. About a year ago i had done a fitting at petes golf shop with kirk oguri. You would actually want to add weight to the club head if you are shortening the shaft.
The best thing i ever did, period i am driving it a good 20 yards further than i ever have. 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. If, for example, we were to add 2 grams of weight to the handle end of a d9 club, this would reduce the swing weight to d8. Inspired by rickie fowlers driver used on tour, the king f8 tour length driver features a shorter, 44. Lets say the balance point of the shaft is in the center. This is not an exact science but it can be useful in helping golfers determine how much they can feel the weight in the club head during a swing. So there has to be a reason why these shorter drivers go farther, right. By making your driver shorter, you are moving closer to the golf ball and actually stiffening your club shaft slightly, which can help beginning and intermediate golfers with their swing timing and improve the center of gravity to square up the clubface properly.
Swing weight is an arbitrary measurement of the relationship of weight in a golf club about the 14inch fulcrum point on a swing weight scale. Apr 25, 2016 in the case of swing weight, however, there is a clearer relationship between weight and speed. Dechambeaus driver also features a 121gram conventional is around 50 grams jumbomax xl grip. A club with a heavier swing weight will feel heavier to a golfer than one with a lighter swing weight, because its balance point is closer to the club head. For longer clubs, a lesser amount would be necessary. So why would someone swing a longer club slower than a shorter club. The folks at ping built me two identical g30 driversone at their standard length of 4534 inches, the other two inches shorter. This will help create a more balanced feel and gain back some of the swing weight lost when cutting down the length of the club. Oct 01, 2018 a web site offers light weight driver heads which would use 44. The heads had weight ports so i swing weighted each at d 1 which meant the shorter drivers were a little heavier. In reality, the average length of a driver used on tour is 44.
The average driver shaft length on tour is roughly 44. Average swing weight and length on tour clubs, grips. Swing weight is the measurement of the headweight feel of a club. A shorter driver, he said, encourages center contact on the clubface, which leads to longer, straighter drives. When fitting swing weight, good club fitters really know that they are instead fitting for the head weight. As the shaft gets shorter the swing weight will get lighter will can aid in loss of control. Driver swingweight diagram we already stated that the shaft is shorter than the club or in this case 43. The ratio is the bottom 23 weight to the of a golf driver or golf club. For clubs shorter than 38 34, a bit more weight than 2 grams will be needed for a 1 swingweight increase. Remember, swing weight is not an actual measurement of weight as are grams, ounces or pounds. So if a longer driver will increase swing speed, why write about it. Last year we were provided a couple of 44 12 shafts but not specifically heads that were heavier to keep the swing weight at d2 ish. King f7 double weight driver more views equipped with two 12g heavy weights and a oneinch short length shaft, the f7 double weight driver is designed to help golfers achieve their straightest, most accurate drives without sacrificing distance. For what its worth i would add lead tape to the head to bring sw back up.
That will keep the swing weight high at shorter length. That is, if the lead tape is placed on the clubhead, or at the middle of the shaft, or on the grip, the clubs actual weight will be the same the original weight of the club plus the weight of the lead tape. Looking at the two pictures to the right, the top image is from a driver with a 45. Shortening the length of your driver swing weight and shaft. My club is lighter also so i can swing it faster but not harder. Importance of shaft weight in fitting dlance golfd. Driver distance secrets what manufacturers wont tell you duration. In nontechnical terms, swingweight is a measure of how the weight of the club feels when you swing it. If you are playing a shorter driver, say 44 inches instead of the standard 45 inches, you should consider a slightly heavier shaft, say 10 grams heavier. For example, a golfer with an 7580 mph swing speed and a smooth tempo would play roughly a 50 gram shaft in his driver, 60 gram shaft.
Actually swingweight one word it is not a standard measurement parameter but a ratio of weight distribution. Or better yet, have a new driver customfit and custombuilt not only at a shorter length, but also for loft, face angle, shaft, total weight, swingweight, and grip size. Jan 15, 2014 the heads had weight ports so i swing weighted each at d 1 which meant the shorter drivers were a little heavier. Contrary to what some might think, there isnt a run on. For the past few months, ive knowingly been flouting the 14club rule by carrying two drivers. I understand that shortening a club will change its swing weight and i can see if you cut an inch or so off you would might want to add weitght to the head to make up for the weight that was lost from shortning the shaft. Ts3 weight at shorter length golf clubs team titleist.
Ive gone through a long series of cobra drivers, and cut them all down to 44. Rickie fowler finds shorterlength driver to his liking. Count onetwothree to the top, then one down to the ball. Im not sure if manufacturers do anything to get the swing weight back if you order a shorter club, but they should do if you ask them to. Jul 30, 2019 you might be thinking well wouldnt a driver with a longer shaft go farther. The precise amount of increase or decrease will depend on the clubs overall characteristics. Golf club swingweights are one of the most misunderstood concepts in the game of golf. Shortening your driver is a weighty matter youtube. I would say it will feel lighter to swing and you will notice it, and it will be fractionally stiffer but you wont notice it. The general golfing public has been conditioned and educated that shaft flex is the endallbeall when it comes to shafts and that simply is not true. However the distance loss could definitely be swing weight, as when mine was shorter it was wayyy too light. Dechambeaus new driver has b9 swingweight this is the. Stefan, also instead of reducing the grip weight 4 5 grams you could if you want add 2 grams to the head weight to increase the swing weight 1 point.
You may or may not like the lighter swingweight, its a suck it and see job. If you have the red 9g weight in your driver now you would want to put in the blue 11g or maybe even the black 14g weight. Youll need to find a way to add that weight back to get it close to your original. Driver shaft length is shorter better than standard length. An interesting thing that goes along with shorter length drivers is that they often end up heavier in the total weight than longer length drivers, especially if the shorter length driver is made to have a normal d range swingweight. It is not a standard measurement parameter but a ratio of weight distribution.
Well, the actual loss of distance when doing tests with swing robots shows a loss of about 7 yards between a 43 and 46 driver. That being said, when you go to a shorter length, just remember that the swing weight on your driver will change. For example, a weaker senior golfer would possibly buy a 176 gm lighter than usual driver head to be installed in a 55 gm light shaft for a 47. This is a very important concept that simply means longer clubs should have lighter weight shafts than shorter clubs. Just wanted to find out what the average length and swing weight for each of these club category. I ran the idea by him of shortening my shaft to make a more accurate driver, but he didnt think it was a good idea to cut it down because it would affect the weight too much. To shorten your backswing, load your weight into your right foot and thigh above, left. Discussion shortening driver changing shaft swingweight. A golf clubs swing weight measures its resistance to being swung in a circle, according to. And if we instead added 2 grams to the clubhead, this would increase the swing weight to e0.
In order to keep the swing weight up you have to add weight back to the head and be careful where you put that weight. Also the shorter shaft will reduce the effective playing lie by 12 degree so if that becomes an issue not likely i would suggest you have your club s. As a demo day fitter i often get people that want to try a shorter driver length. For example, if one of the identicallyweighted clubs has a heavier head, it will have a greater swing weight. It is not the same thing as a clubs overall or total weight, and isnt even expressed as a weight measurement swingweight is expressed through a letterandnumber combination code explained below. Oct 30, 2012 shaft weight and torque make a bigger difference than shaft flex. Even my playing partners couldnt believe how much straighter i was hitting my driver. Swing weight does not measure a clubs total weight, but rather its distribution. Or, to give you another alternative, if you find that you can hit your driver better at a shorter than standard length such as 44 or 44 14 inches you may ultimately hit it even better by reshafting it with a heavier weight shaft like an 85 gram or 95 gram shaft. A quick and easy way to increase a clubs swing weight is to add lead tape to the club head. When i put them in standard heads, i did not get any comments about feeling the he. When clubs are ordered at shorter or longer lengths the desired swing weight needs to be specified as titleist cant anticipate the reason why the specific length was requested.
All things being equal, having a longer driver shaft will enable you to swing. Shortening the length of your driver swing weight and. Youll hear about how the 2 will effect swing weight, etc. Information on swing weights in golf clubs golfweek. Mar 28, 2016 the current driver i have is a callaway razr fit tour that has a 45. Shaft weight and torque make a bigger difference than shaft flex. The weight of the shaft is going to help keep the players swing on plane. As the driver length got shorter most of the golfers actually gained distance, with the. Swing weight is measured on a swing weight scale and is referenced with an alphanumeric code. Be aware of a change in lie angle, less of a problem wa driver, but be aware nonetheless. Head weights, shaft weights and balance points oh my.
I repeated that exercise so i would have more data. Many golfers believe they can add yards to their drive by making their driver golf club longer and lighter. The quest for a more accurate driver practical golf. For our fastest tester player 1 the difference between 45. However you should understand that just cutting down the shaft is not the answer. Swing weights range from a0 at the lightest to g10 at the heaviest, with most mens clubs coming in around d0d2 and womens clubs weighing c5c7. To be exact, a club that was 38 34 long would require 2 grams for a 1 swingweight change. As with the fitting of the shaft weight, the club fitter also. Cutting driver shaft the 19th hole mygolfspy forum. Distance was a little shorter, but i think that was more the club and the gd tourad ysq just not matching my swing more than the 1 inch shorter shaft. Jan 04, 2012 driver distance secrets what manufacturers wont tell you duration. Swing weights range from a0 at the lightest to g10 at the. In past tests, like our shaft weight study, weve shown mixed results for the theory of lighter is faster. Each of our testers recorded their slowest average swing speed with the 44.
Rickie fowler shaved an inch off his driver length at the honda classic, using a 43. Your rhythm on tee shots should follow a ratio of 3to1. A golf clubs swingweight can be changed by altering the club head, shaft, grip or length of the golf club. Im hoping i can find more fairways with a shorter driver. I added lead tape while on the range to find what swing weight felt the best and settled on around d5d6 and took the lead tape and weighed it to find i needed to add about grams. Removing weight from the head wasnt the only thing needed to achieve that feathery swingweight. Oct 17, 2017 to shorten your backswing, load your weight into your right foot and thigh above, left. Aug 02, 2016 in this video i cut down a driver to 42. A short driver has a lesser static weight and makes it necessary to stand closer to the ball than a long driver. You are probably in the d0 or lower range on your swing weight. As a general rule, however, to increase swing weight from d2 to d4, add four 2inchlong strips of. Your address posture will remain intact, letting you unwind into impact in a perfect, powerful sequence. Indeed, two clubs that weigh the same may have different swing weights. I think the real factor here is that the shorter, stiffer shaft actually plays more into the carry factor.
Further, here is a calculator to check the swing weight, assuming you use a standard weighted grip. More technically, its how much the club tips towards the club head when you balance the club on a fulcrum. You might be thinking well wouldnt a driver with a longer shaft go farther. Bring swingweight back up with a combination of a heavier shaft andor grip in combination with adding weight to your clubhead. I guess it is because of the shorter shaft and not the. Wishon also told me that the average driver length on the pga tour is shorter than the standard lengths equipment companies sell us. Can a shorter driver shafts say from 44 to 42 help or aid in driving the ball more consistent as opposed to longer shafts. A short driver shaft covers a lesser distance and lesser raw swing speed for some golfers when compared to a long driver shaft, although not all players cover a longer distance with a long shaft. It starts with the driver and goes progressively heavier from there. Using a swing speed meter i hit several balls with each club and average out the swing speed. In simple terms, swing weight is how heavy the club head feels when you swing it.