# Driver shaft length



## GoCards

I have been contemplating cutting down my driver shaft to gain some accuracy. I have a 33 in wrist to floor and am about 5'7. Based on some things I have found, it looks like it should be 44.5 instead of the standard 45. So a couple questions. How many of you have cut down your driver shaft? What did you cut it down to? Have you seen benefits from it? Any drawbacks? I have heard that it may reduce your longest drive but average should be about the same since you are now able to hit the sweet spot more often. Any info would be great.

Thanks,
Tim


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## 300Yards

You are the ame height as me, and I use astandard 45. I have been thinking of getting it cut though.


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## Fourputt

300Yards said:


> You are the ame height as me, and I use astandard 45. I have been thinking of getting it cut though.


How tall you are is only half of how you determine proper shaft length, especially in today's drivers. I'm 6'2" and I use a standard length shaft in all my clubs. It's the combination of your height and the measurement from the floor to your wrist that determines proper club length. 

See this chart - Shaft Length Chart

By the chart, a standard length shaft for the driver you choose should be right. But standard can vary depending on the make of the club.


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## BrianMcG

GoCards said:


> ...Any drawbacks? Any info would be great.
> 
> Thanks,
> Tim


The biggest drawback I see is that if you have a driver that you currently like and hit straight, as soon as you cut the shaft, you change the flex of the shaft, the swingweight of the club, and the lie angle. 

You could possibly go from a decent club, to one that would now have a shaft that is too stif, feels light and you hit nice push fades with. 

How much of a change would depend on how much you cut off the shaft.


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## 300Yards

He should go to a clubfitter to get this straightened out..


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## 65nlovenit

Here's an article that may help with your decision. Take it or leave it.

PGA.com :: PGA.com Technical Advisor Tom Wishon shows how to identify the club length that best fits your swing

This guy Wishon is supposed to be the Grand PooBah of club design. 

Del


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## Doby45

My driver is 44" and I am 5'11" and I forget my wrist to floor measurement.


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## Golfbum

6'2", wrist to floor 34 inches andI play a 44 inch driver. Cutting 1/2 to 1 inch off will not mess the flex up. That gets changed when you tip the shaft. Swingweight issues
My 44 inch driver has the same weight as my 45 inch driver. One inch of graphite does not weight much.
According to the experts you should gain some accuracy and lose very little distance. Besides if you give up 5 yards (A mere 15 feet of distance) and you are in the short grass you have gained a lot!


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## JPsuff

.


I just cut mine down to 43-3/4" and I'm 6'-0".

For the better part of twenty years I hit a steel-shafted 80's vintage TaylorMade Burner with a standard 43" shaft. My drives were plenty long and usually accurate.

I took a 6 year layoff from golf around 1997 and when I "came back" I'm ashamed to admit that I got all caught up in the graphite hoopla as well as the long shaft nonsense. After spending the last few years trying to figure out where my great drives had gone, (they were still plenty long, but all over the place), I decided to come back to reality and also come back to more sane clublengths.

I kept the graphite shafts for their light weight, but now with the shorter lengths the control is back and the distance is still there because the hits are more accurate.

All I can say about 45 1/2"+ driver lengths is "What the hell was I thinking?"


BTW, the average distance "gained" by lengthening a shaft is roughly 3 yards per 1/2".


Big deal. 

For me, that translates into a whopping (drumroll please...) 27 feet of potentially "lost" distance!!!

That's the length of a long birdie putt. But the gain in control is worth its weight in gold and for that, you can have that 27 feet with my blessing.

And because that control will allow me to have more approach shots from the fairway instead of trouble shots from God knows where, I'll likely be facing many more 27-foot birdie putts.


Oh My God! What A Freakin' Nightmare!



-JP


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## GoCards

Thanks everyone for your insight. I'm going to play this week choking down 1/2 to 1 inch and see what I think. If I like it, I'll have it cut down. Probably cut it to 44.


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## stevel1017

I just choke down on mine about 3/4 of an inch, and gives me a lot more control. I have the G2, 45 inch, but my wrist to floor is 32.5"


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## 373

If some of you are choking down and finding more control, it might be interesting to see whether your grip diameter is too large for your hands. My problem is the opposite in that I have very large hands and use a midsize grip. Without it, I'm all over the map. As soon as I put a midsize grip in my hands, I'm OK.


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## stevel1017

I just had my clubs regripped and had them sized for my hands


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