Impact of shaft lengthening

What is the impact of lengthening driver shaft from 45" to 46"?

Other than additional weight at the handle tip, Will the addition affects the end swing results?

It'll affect the overall swing weight.

Swingspeed goes up ... However, this does not neccessarily translate to more distance , as smashfactor may go down

After reading about cutting the length and increasing the loft in this forum.
I experiment it with a 11.5* driver and 44.5 inch shaft.
My fairway accuracy went up to almost 100%!
Not much lost in distance.

All things being equal, i.e. swing and golfer, then I suspect that you'll gain distance at the expense of accuracy.

Smaller head.

there are fewer people who will benefit from increasing length than there are in reducing length.

with accuracy comes distance, with inaccuracy comes doubt.

so you go figure that out.

DGman

I agree. Also...

"Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."

Technospaz wrote:

I agree. Also...

"Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."

suffering leads to KACHIINGGG $$$

based on my 2 years of studying physics.....lengthening of shaft...is suppose to give rise to distance

based on my 7 years of studing my golf ......when I choke down, I get cleaner hit....when I choke up, I choke literally...

based on common sense which I had accumulated for the past 10 years.....I choke down

seebayho wrote:

After reading about cutting the length and increasing the loft in this forum.
I experiment it with a 11.5* driver and 44.5 inch shaft.
My fairway accuracy went up to almost 100%!
Not much lost in distance.

Seebayho,

the 11.5 degree might have helped too.

See Tom Wishon's article in this thread

http://www.golfrepublic.org/t2777p195-what-is-club-fitting#276046

after going to Big Fish Golf a few days ago, Eric told me, I would be surprised how many pros play with c6-c8 swing weight. and...

i am with Duval on this. i choke down on driver 1 inch and irons too after watching Anthony Kim, lo and behold, i hit further, and straighter. Go figure.

Technospaz wrote:

I agree. Also...

"Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."

Bro TS, wa...u sound like starwars 'master Yoda, em....i can sense fear! The darkside!

Quote :

Quote :

hkhamateur wrote:

Technospaz wrote:

I agree. Also...

"Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."

Bro TS, wa...u sound like starwars 'master Yoda, em....i can sense fear! The darkside!

wait till you play with him..

remember pearl harbour.....some jokers happy happy go and whack somebody's play ground..

that somebody...woke up...and 'farted' at the somebody's playground to a worse effect....

thats Techno..

LOL! Duval_S' new title should be SBTCSS... si beh tok kok seeng soong.

Anyway, back to topic. I tend to choke down a little as well. I get better control over the club and as DGman mentioned, a better shot which (oddly enough) translates to better distance too

Bro LLP, I am currently gaming a 48" driver with E1 swing weight (Cobra Long Tom)... IT IS FUN!!! Try it.

To answer your question, length increase, swing speed increase, accuracy decreases (normally) and impact factor decreases (normally). The swing plane also changes (I swing my 48" driver like a baseball bat)

My numbers experimenting with different driver lenght across the year:
48" - Avg Swing Speed:118mph, Smash factor:1.29
46.5" - Avg Swing Speed: 109mph, Smash factor: 1.34
44.5"- Ave Swing Speed: 101mph, Smash Factor: 1.45 (my swing for a 44.5" and 48" is different)

So 48" gives me the greatest length and let me play two fairways more often...

P.S. I am changing back to a 47" as it is a pain to get the driver into my car boot

Duval_S wrote:

based on my 2 years of studying physics.....lengthening of shaft...is suppose to give rise to distance

based on my 7 years of studing my golf ......when I choke down, I get cleaner hit....when I choke up, I choke literally...

based on common sense which I had accumulated for the past 10 years.....I choke down

This is pure wisdom!

LousyGolfer wrote:

Bro LLP, I am currently gaming a 48" driver with E1 swing weight (Cobra Long Tom)... IT IS FUN!!! Try it.

To answer your question, length increase, swing speed increase, accuracy decreases (normally) and impact factor decreases (normally). The swing plane also changes (I swing my 48" driver like a baseball bat)

My numbers experimenting with different driver lenght across the year:
48" - Avg Swing Speed:118mph, Smash factor:1.29
46.5" - Avg Swing Speed: 109mph, Smash factor: 1.34
44.5"- Ave Swing Speed: 101mph, Smash Factor: 1.45 (my swing for a 44.5" and 48" is different)

So 48" gives me the greatest length and let me play two fairways more often...

P.S. I am changing back to a 47" as it is a pain to get the driver into my car boot

your ball speed with the 44.5" is much higher than 46.5 but the ball speed from the 48" with the low smash factor is still higher than everything else.

eiji wrote:

LousyGolfer wrote:

Bro LLP, I am currently gaming a 48" driver with E1 swing weight (Cobra Long Tom)... IT IS FUN!!! Try it.

To answer your question, length increase, swing speed increase, accuracy decreases (normally) and impact factor decreases (normally). The swing plane also changes (I swing my 48" driver like a baseball bat)

My numbers experimenting with different driver lenght across the year:
48" - Avg Swing Speed:118mph, Smash factor:1.29
46.5" - Avg Swing Speed: 109mph, Smash factor: 1.34
44.5"- Ave Swing Speed: 101mph, Smash Factor: 1.45 (my swing for a 44.5" and 48" is different)

So 48" gives me the greatest length and let me play two fairways more often...

P.S. I am changing back to a 47" as it is a pain to get the driver into my car boot

your ball speed with the 44.5" is much higher than 46.5 but the ball speed from the 48" with the low smash factor is still higher than everything else.

Length, SwingSpeed, SmashFactor, BallSpeed
48.0", 118, 1.29, 152.22
46.5", 109, 1.34, 146.06
44.5", 101, 1.45, 146.45

Changing back to 47" (or 46.5") doesn't seem to make any sense IMHO ... as it gives you your lowest ball speed out of the three options!

If I were you I would continue with 44.5" (or 45") as the additional distance (approx 12m-15m) gained by the 48" is at the expense of a "poor" smash factor of 1.29 which, I imagine, would result in you spraying the ball all over the place.

In the mean time you can practice with the 48" on the range , and try to get the smash factor to at least 1.40 before you take it on the course! my 2 cents

just curious, by means of extending the shaft, would it make it easier for a taller guy to hit?

bigrockshow wrote:

just curious, by means of extending the shaft, would it make it easier for a taller guy to hit?

I would assume so... depending on your height...imagine trying to whack a kids driver...

for a normal iron? i mean normal length irons that would come from stock standard iron sets.

as a beginner, i tend to bend more/ squat more to centre my body when i'm using a 7 iron.

This usually results in tired back after 1hr or so. Just curious if anyone has lengthen the shaft due to the same problem ( or is it just me?)

@Tourswing.... agreed that moving to 47" makes no sense, but it is more fun. If I had a choice, I may keep the 48" (mmm... instead of switching drivers, maybe I should upgrade my car instead so that my driver can fit in).... the occasional time when you catch the ball flush is really SHOIK!!!

Having said that, most golfers looking to improve their games (esp those just starting out) should avoid lengthing their drivers to this extend (44.5" is actually a very good lenght to train on) as the longer driver does create some bad habits which will impact how well you will play golf in the future. I'm already dead-wood so this doesn't matter

bigrockshow wrote:

for a normal iron? i mean normal length irons that would come from stock standard iron sets.

as a beginner, i tend to bend more/ squat more to centre my body when i'm using a 7 iron.

This usually results in tired back after 1hr or so. Just curious if anyone has lengthen the shaft due to the same problem ( or is it just me?)

You can go to a fitter to get yourself measured... other than your height, ideal lenght of your clubs will also depend on your setup. Stock irons are not suitable for all and if you just starting out (esp if you are extremely tall or short), it is best to get fitted.