Length and swing weight are a wash, in my opinion. Not only are most off-the-shelf drivers too long for the mid-cap amateur, but I think they also carry too much swing weight for a club almost four feet long! I took an inch off my Callaway Great Big Bertha ('15), reducing the swing weight by more than a few points. The result: It made it easier synching my swing. I felt more in control.
I am 5'8" and had a 45" driver and was getting a lot of off center hits, like you stated maybe one out of ten drives felt good but my score card not so much. So I went all the way down to a 43" driver with a M shaft and man what a difference I gained 20 yards and finding more fairways. ⛳
Bendington III: First let me say that in longdrivegolf competitions the system for measuring clubs is different and a vertical 50" approximately equates with sixty degrees 48.50" U.S.G.A. Most of my fellow competitors use 48.50" U.S.G.A. believing that such maximises their distances. Such is not always the case: In my case I experimented and reduced my max. length drivers 0.50" at a time. I lost 2.00" inches in club length before before I lost driving distance. So I settled at 1.50" below max. club length. Reducing club length reduces swing weight i.e. how heavy a club feels) which may either increase or reduce swing speed. It depends on each player. Longer club length does not always increase s.s. But reducing club length enables each player to increase head weight, and increased head weight equates with increased driving distance provided that such does not too adversely affect s.s. The formula being: FORCE = MASS x ACCELERATION In other words, all else being equal, if a club is swung at 100 m.p.h. in both cases a 203 gramme head will drive the ball farther than a 200 g. head. So, optimal driving distance is secured by experimenting with both club length and head weight, but of course they are certainly not the only factors to be experimented with. There are multiple influencing factors way beyond ability and physical build. Both optimal factors (club length / head weight) are established by empirical experimentation, not by anything crude and silly such as wrist to floor measurement. Finally, for EVERY golfer the longer the club (bar putter) the more inaccurate the play so there is always going to be a trade off between distance and accuracy. I hope that these observations provide a broad brush stroke perspective.
Thanks for the great comment. There is no such thing as "standard" when it comes to a golf swing and the club(s) that fit that swing. It takes experimentation at the driving range and on the course to determine "what" a certain player requires. I have seen a number of combinations that sometimes do not always add up, but works for that player. Thanks again and be sure to subscribe!
Hí GI! Interesting lessen how lenght on a driver works! My tips for most amateur golfers, what I have done. It start over ten years ago for me, my Cobra LV4 is a 45inch driver, I lenghten shaft to 46". On a wide fairway I hold grip to butt end, on a tight fairway I just hold down 1-1 1/2 inch to be secure my shots is strait, just do it and You have two drivers in one club!
Thanks for watching and sorry for the delayed response as I am deployed currently. Good idea, if someone is disciplined enough to do that! A lot of people usually have a "feel" issue when it comes to shifting around the grip on the handle. Thanks for the comments!
A quick fix with the swing weight would be to add some lead tape to the driver head. Cutting off that much without adding weight can lead to MOI issues.
DRIVER CUSTOM FITTING: It occurs to me that some readers, after reading my below post, may possibly declare 'That's far too involved I'll get a custom fitting!' Sounds good, but alas in most cases such is not beneficial, leastways if you think that you'll get a GENUINE custom fitting at one of those giant golf stores who I will not name. Why not? When you enter one of those stores for a Trackman (or whatever) analysis you enter the store with a less than perfect (a) Swing, (b) Shaft, (c) Head, (d) Grip, (e) Club length, (f) Club weight. Sure, your twelve pages of computer print out are usually spot on and perhaps they indicate too low a launch angle. But by no stretch of the imagination will they indicate WHY. So what is their benefit? Such machines are great for analysing ONE VARIABLE when ideally all other variables have been optimised and set in stone. But in 99% of cases they are not used that way. They are used simply to dazzle the golfer with 'science' and soften him up for an easy sale. So what's the answer? It's almost a Gordian knot with golfers innocently drifting from one inept fitter / expert con. artist to another. Personally I gave up and trained as a master club builder and beyond just in order to source the expert equipment I need to enable me to optimally compete. And of course expertly analyse my own swing. What you get out of a sport largely depends on what you put in, but how you put in depends on each player. Not everyone can or wants to do it all themselves but sometimes agency of necessity so demands!
Thanks Ivan! Again, a player needs to be fit on a driving range. Although it can be a guide (referring to TrackMan), ultimately it is the ball flight that will be the controlling factor in fitting a player. Personally, I prefer to fit individuals to their preferred ball flight rather than static measurements. From that point, you can modify slight tweaks to produce more distance. Bottom line is if you know where your golf ball is going (ball flight), you will play much better and lower your score.
Length and swing weight are a wash, in my opinion. Not only are most off-the-shelf drivers too long for the mid-cap amateur, but I think they also carry too much swing weight for a club almost four feet long! I took an inch off my Callaway Great Big Bertha ('15), reducing the swing weight by more than a few points. The result: It made it easier synching my swing. I felt more in control.
I am 5'8" and had a 45" driver and was getting a lot of off center hits, like you stated maybe one out of ten drives felt good but my score card not so much. So I went all the way down to a 43" driver with a M shaft and man what a difference I gained 20 yards and finding more fairways. ⛳
If you would get your shaft FLO'd you will see even better results! You can watch on video about it on the channel. Thanks for watching.
Bendington III: First let me say that in longdrivegolf competitions the system for measuring clubs is different and a vertical 50" approximately equates with sixty degrees 48.50" U.S.G.A. Most of my fellow competitors use 48.50" U.S.G.A. believing that such maximises their distances. Such is not always the case:
In my case I experimented and reduced my max. length drivers 0.50" at a time. I lost 2.00" inches in club length before before I lost driving distance. So I settled at 1.50" below max. club length.
Reducing club length reduces swing weight i.e. how heavy a club feels) which may either increase or reduce swing speed. It depends on each player. Longer club length does not always increase s.s.
But reducing club length enables each player to increase head weight, and increased head weight equates with increased driving distance provided that such does not too adversely affect s.s. The formula being:
FORCE = MASS x ACCELERATION
In other words, all else being equal, if a club is swung at 100 m.p.h. in both cases a 203 gramme head will drive the ball farther than a 200 g. head.
So, optimal driving distance is secured by experimenting with both club length and head weight, but of course they are certainly not the only factors to be experimented with. There are multiple influencing factors way beyond ability and physical build.
Both optimal factors (club length / head weight) are established by empirical experimentation, not by anything crude and silly such as wrist to floor measurement.
Finally, for EVERY golfer the longer the club (bar putter) the more inaccurate the play so there is always going to be a trade off between distance and accuracy.
I hope that these observations provide a broad brush stroke perspective.
Thanks for the great comment. There is no such thing as "standard" when it comes to a golf swing and the club(s) that fit that swing. It takes experimentation at the driving range and on the course to determine "what" a certain player requires. I have seen a number of combinations that sometimes do not always add up, but works for that player. Thanks again and be sure to subscribe!
Hí GI!
Interesting lessen how lenght on a driver works!
My tips for most amateur golfers, what I have done.
It start over ten years ago for me, my Cobra LV4 is a 45inch driver, I lenghten shaft to 46". On a wide fairway I hold grip to butt end, on a tight fairway I just hold down 1-1 1/2 inch to be secure my shots is strait, just do it and You have two drivers in one club!
Thanks for watching and sorry for the delayed response as I am deployed currently. Good idea, if someone is disciplined enough to do that! A lot of people usually have a "feel" issue when it comes to shifting around the grip on the handle. Thanks for the comments!
I cut 3” off my drivers I don’t care about swing weight I do it myself and it’s helped me heaps, I used to slice it sideways not anymore
A quick fix with the swing weight would be to add some lead tape to the driver head. Cutting off that much without adding weight can lead to MOI issues.
Golfing Idiots - XJ_Jagman I cant see how it would cause MOI issues, it hasnt caused any issues for me it’s only helped
DRIVER CUSTOM FITTING:
It occurs to me that some readers, after reading my below post, may possibly declare 'That's far too involved I'll get a custom fitting!' Sounds good, but alas in most cases such is not beneficial, leastways if you think that you'll get a GENUINE custom fitting at one of those giant golf stores who I will not name. Why not?
When you enter one of those stores for a Trackman (or whatever) analysis you enter the store with a less than perfect (a) Swing, (b) Shaft, (c) Head, (d) Grip, (e) Club length, (f) Club weight.
Sure, your twelve pages of computer print out are usually spot on and perhaps they indicate too low a launch angle. But by no stretch of the imagination will they indicate WHY.
So what is their benefit? Such machines are great for analysing ONE VARIABLE when ideally all other variables have been optimised and set in stone. But in 99% of cases they are not used that way. They are used simply to dazzle the golfer with 'science' and soften him up for an easy sale.
So what's the answer?
It's almost a Gordian knot with golfers innocently drifting from one inept fitter / expert con. artist to another.
Personally I gave up and trained as a master club builder and beyond just in order to source the expert equipment I need to enable me to optimally compete. And of course expertly analyse my own swing.
What you get out of a sport largely depends on what you put in, but how you put in depends on each player. Not everyone can or wants to do it all themselves but sometimes agency of necessity so demands!
Thanks Ivan! Again, a player needs to be fit on a driving range. Although it can be a guide (referring to TrackMan), ultimately it is the ball flight that will be the controlling factor in fitting a player. Personally, I prefer to fit individuals to their preferred ball flight rather than static measurements. From that point, you can modify slight tweaks to produce more distance. Bottom line is if you know where your golf ball is going (ball flight), you will play much better and lower your score.
Your picture actually showed the Cobra Fly Z which is 45.5 inches....The Cobra Fly Z + is 45 inches.....correct data, wrong pic.
1:50 and the average tour pro is probably a foot taller than the average human male...
Rory is 5 foot 8.5 at best...
So the average pro is 6'9?