Good advise Mike. I cut my Ping G30 9* driver to a playing length of 44 inches. Driver came stock with a 10 gram weight in the head, so I changed it to 12 gram. Never hit a driver as straight as I do now. The only thing I lost was a trip into the woods.

On a hunch and with no data to back it up I went to a 44" driver last year and it was a great decision. I'm more accurate and the feeling of control has increased. I probably lost a few yards but the consistency of strike has improved so the yardage is more consistent from drive to drive. Important to get the club swingweighted back to whatever you're comfortable with. Between the shorter shaft and a midsize grip it required quite a bit of tweaking.

Was fitted 2 months ago specifically looking at shaft length, settled at 44" shaft length, clubhead speed stayed the same with no loss of distance due to better strike location, the biggest difference was a much better dispersion, miss less fairways and have gone from 4.2 handicap to 3.1 in my last 3 comps. The game is easier from the fairway

I am 6' 2" and switched to a 44 1/2 in shaft this year with good results. At first, I lost a few yards, but the more I got used to it and built more confidence the more I was able to swing it faster. My distance is now up 10 yards from last year and I am hitting a lot more fairways.

I'm glad someone's finally done a video on this. Proof is in the results. Said this for a long time. Woods are to long for the average golfer. Even tour pros are cutting them down but for some reason manufacturers keep making them longer. Brilliant Mike just hope people take note with this.

Wow. I love your testing of the shaft lengths. I’m 5’9, and really the only club that I struggle with is any of my newer drivers. When I do, I “regress” to my old 905R Titleist, and it rarely fails me. It’s a 44” playing length. I feel like I’m always fighting the standard length, and the 905 just feels so natural. It truly is a fairway finder. After going on a Trackman last weekend it was proven for me. My old 905 was constantly straighter, and considerably longer that my new TSi2 driver.

The majority of amateur golfers have convenient memories. They remember their longest drives but very few have any idea what their average drive length is. Manufacturers know this and feed our egos to the benefit of their bottom lines. I thought maybe common sense might be making a breakthrough last year with the high MOI Ping G400 max driver. But I can see with this years offerings that those who understood the greater benefit of directional control over distance were not financially sufficient to direct continued efforts in that direction. Very good and informative video despite a few slips of the tongue. Reconfirmation that strike is still king.

I am a pga golf pro and have been playing 44 icch shaft for 6 years now. Best thing I have ever done. Easier to hit , less spin, and lighter. Win win win.

I'm a big believer in shorter clubs. My driver shaft is a Tour AD DI and we have cut it down to 43.5 inches. Interestingly my club head speed has increased with a shorter shaft as I am more in control so can swing harder. Strike location and therefore accuracy has also improved. I now have all my woods (same Tour AD DI shafts) playing shorter and also had my Mizuno irons cut down 1 inch...best thing I have done to improve my game.The manufacturers know that 80% of people will buy a driver based on the single longest shot they hit while in the shop on trackman, which has resulted in these ridiculously long Drivers.

the original driver length is 43.5" of course longer drivers do hit the ball longer! i used a 42" driver and hit the ball 330 when i was 40, jack nnicklas used a shorter driver shaft also the reason i tried the shorter shaft. find the speed of your 3 wood and then the driver! then try a shorter shaft in driver and see the speeds of short compared to long.

This is the most useful golf video I’ve ever watched, thanks

Went from a standard length driver to 44", haven't looked back. Went from truly spraying balls around the 230 mark to hitting fairways consistently carrying at 250 yards. Unfortunately, the added distance brings in parts of the course I've never played before, specifically bunkers at 260 haha. Make sure to have adjustable weight clubs, unless you don't mind the look of 15g of lead tape on your driver head.

You've got a simple, smooth and easy swing. Wish I could do the same.

I'm a senior golfer with a nine handicap, I use a Nike " Covert " driver cut down to forty three and a half inches. I'd much rather hit my drive 230 yards and be on the " short stuff " than hit it 250 and be behind trees !!

Your videos are quickly becoming some of the best presentations on the internet..........thanks for you contributions!

I'm 5' 7". First thing I do when I buy a new driver is have the shaft trimmed so that the club has a playing length of 44". Strike is more consistent.

I am 6'2" and my swing speed is around 110 mph, I cut my driver shaft to 44 1/2 inches to get more conssistency. Just like you now that I am hitting above the equator of the club I am getting better spin numbers and more distance. my average drive is around 265 carry now. So happy that I gut my driver and did not let me ego get in the way

Got the Callaway Fusion driver 44.5 inches very accurate will never a driver longer now, much easier to hit.

A few of the pros have cut it down to 43”. Rickie Fowler, Sergio Garcia and Jimmy Walker. They say.., better control and if only a few yards shorter.., rather be in fairway more. I would hv to believe other lesser known pros have also cut it down a bit. Drivers years ago were certainly not 45.5”. I cut my driver to 43.5” and yes.., more fairways. Good informative video. Thx

drivers in Japan are 44.5 inches normally, yet most Japanese are quite short. I tried a 42 inch shaft and loved it, I am 6'4" and I think most people play drivers too long

My driver is 43 1/2 which is 2 inches shorter than the norm and I'm more consistent in hitting fairways and maybe have lost only 2-3 yards. In my opinion, get your club to 44 inches and I bet you will hit more fairways.

Great review. I bet the difference would be even better with a shorter golfer too as you are quite tall. I am only 5 ft 7 inches myself. :) I have my Ping Driver at 44 inches. I have been using 44 inch shafts for a while now. I love em. Much more control and I hit further too. Easier to hit the sweet spot! Thanks for this review. It was what I suspected. Spider Dubiel

Had my Taylormade M1 Driver shorted by 1 inch today and played with it for the first time. Instant feedback was that the driver was amazingly easier to hit. Before shortening the club I struggled with a fade and now I may have to move the directional weight towards the toe to fight off a slight tendency to pull. Most drivers were slightly right of my target (left handed) but very manageable. Overall I am pleased with the adjustment.

Really great test!. Most players hit 3:woods much better than driver. Same goes for long irons.

I moved from a 45.5" down to a 43.75" this year. Best move ever. Definitely straighter and more fairways already. Noticed a bit of a distance fall off but not more than 5 yards or so.

Great video! You should add that shortening the shaft affects swing weight, though. For most golfers a shaft of 44.5 with 12g of weight added back is going to yield the best results. Amazing how few fitters actually know this, though. OEMs are setting ‘standard’ length way too long just so they can say their driver is the longest. It’s marketing, not fitting.

Great vid, John Daily said get yor driver the same length as your fairway wood.

This was a great video! I have seen this true In my own game. Taking off 1-1,5 inch makes it so relaxing to drive the ball And that also helps my game mentally. But the shock of being longer with a shorter shaft made me Laugh out loud.

When choking down on the driver to 43/44 tend to be more in control of my driver and no noticeable drop off in distance thks for this post

Your downswing..... particularly from impact to follow through, is as good as any tour pro I've seen in 40 years of watching golf swings. One of the most graceful, relaxed driver swings in the history of the world. This is the swing we all are trying to emulate. Simply gorgeous!!

I think this video is on point. I’m also 6’5 and I just purchased the new Taylormade Stealth 2 stiff driver. This driver is 46” long and I had to put it away at my last outing. I started using my GX-7 and I hit every drive right down the middle. The length is much shorter. 46” drivers should be shortened.

Great video, really interesting stuff, especially that you actually gained yards through a better strike location. Just proves again why a good professional fitting is so important

Excellent video, I am going shorter to 44.5 or 44. Will be working this out with my club fitte, look forward to better ball striking. Very informative.

Changed to a 44.5" shaft on my Aeroburner. Consistently better distance and accuracy. 260-300 yds total distance after the change. Was closer to 250 avg with less accuracy before.

Shortened my driver by 1" before I even took off the wrapper. It's a bomber. But I got too quick with my swing over just a few rounds. Now I'm hitting 3/4 swings with my -1" driver and striking fear and envy into the hearts of my buddies. 😎

I just got fitted for a driver and the guy told me not to cut down my shaft and to learn how to hit a 45 in length shaft. I been playing a 44 inch shaft and 9 degree driver for 18 years.... he fitted me for 45 inch and 10.5 degree head. Trackman said yes, golf course says no. I'm cutting down my callaway mavrik to 44 and cranking down to 9.5 tomorrow on lunch break

Nice to see the gains from the shorter shaft- anyone thinking of cutting their shaft, please be careful! That said, you can use a power miter saw with a fine toothed blade. Go slow- works great.

Thank You for black and white data. I remember playing with a player who had all his irons clubs cut to the same length and his woods were also matched in length. Very consistent ball striker.

Cut 1” off my Titleist 915d2 as I was struggling with strikes all over the face .. I changed the weight to 19g the heaviest I could find.. result much better strikes therefore average distance up but also feel more confident that I’m going to hit a good shot and I’m sure that helps too !

Tried gripping down on my driver and 3-wood yesterday to find out if it was an option to help my accuracy. Have standard length M2's, which have midsize Golf Pride MCC plus 4 grips and the lack of taper as my hands adjusted down the grip really helped to keep the feeling of the grips thickness the same versus a more standard grip that gets smaller the further down the grip your hands go. Hit a dozen or so balls with each club and immediately noticed this helped improve the left-right dispersion closer with no significant loss of distance. Need to take it to the course next.

The last two drivers that I’ve had, the shafts were 44-44.25 inches in length. I feel that I get better, more consistent hits with that length. With ‘standard’ length drivers, the strikes were all over the face with some hitting of the ground behind the ball, as well. I’ve got a lot more confidence and find the fairway most of the time. I feel that length of shaft should be a part of the fitting process. Why should a person that’s 5’8” hit the same length as someone over 6’ tall?

I have seen many videos talking about this subject and all of them have the same conclusion.

Gripping down 2 inches on my m2 driver hitting straighter and longer and much more consistent.

This is what I have been interested in for long time. Hitting the ball on the sweet spot is more important to most golfers. Thanks for the great experiment!

Michael... Best golf videos in my opinion!!! Definitely going to cut mine down. Could I suggest doing a video on a game improvement, players, and blade iron where you hit them off the toe, heel, thin, and fat and see how much distance you actually lose with each type of club? I think a bad shot will cost you with either club. Thanks!!!

Very nice. Shorter shaft, smaller arc. It takes less strength to swing a shorter driver so you should swing faster gaining (not losing) distance and accuracy. Newton, maybe you should stick with the shorter shaft and slightly adjust yourself to strike more centered. Stats don't lie. It's down the fairways we must be.

43.5” for 35 years now. I just turned 50 and I still carry it 270+.Like others have said, it’s very unlikely you will like the club shorter without adding some weight back to the head.I add hot melt inside the head to avoid adding a lot of lead tape. I usually add about 12-14 grams of hot melt and then fine tune it with a bit of tape. I like mine at D-2 swingweight.

After seeing a video about swapping a three wood shaft into the driver I decided to try it. Hit every fairway and only ten yards short of my driver. Much more solid strike and more control. Needless to say the three wood shaft is staying in the driver

Been playing with driver cut one inch shorter for years. Got that tip from from Don Trahan .. It works!!

I have the same shaft but with 2017 M2 head. I wanted to shorten the shaft but was not sure if that was the right thing to do. This video gave me confidence!! Thanks!

You gained 7 yards , you mistakenly said 7 mph. Great review 👍👍👏👏

I am 5’10”, I had my Taylormade shortened to 44. Night and day in accuracy. I had a bad slice with standard length, dead straight afterwards, only thing I changed was shaft length.

I like the tee hitting the camera! =)

HI MN, very interesting test You made! For You a shorter shaft is best. Myself a guy of 80+, former PGA teacher up here in Stockholm it is like this. My clubhead speed is very low, 75-80m/h, but I have a swing with, splendid ballhits on clubhead, made many tests with tape on clubhead on that issue. Have lengthen shaft on my two favor. drivers to 46 and 47", with those clubs I still can have a OK launch compare to other younger players. Thing is, if Y have good hits close to sweetspot You are in buisness with long shafts like me! // Thanks for good tests// Johnny

Excellent review Michael definitely worth looking at a shorter shaft. Well done very well explained.

My r15 is 3 wood length. Much more consistent! No dropoff in distance!

Would like to see you use the long shaft and choke up to match the length of the shorter shaft and see wow that works so maybe you'll have the best of both worlds. Cheers.

Shorter shaft also seemed to help your Lie angle get your club head at a much better angle in relationship to the equator line...by a few degrees closer to 0*....long shaft if I recall, toe was up like 7*, shorter was only like 3* or 4* I am definitely going to get my driver shaft cut down...as yes, I hit my 3 wood straighter & usually as far as the driver! Driver never seems to be consistent as well!

its all about shot direction and hitting fair ways

I got so tired of mis hits I took my driver out of the bag and used my 3H or 3W averaging around 230yds off the tee. I just had my Callaway Mavrik shortened from 45" to 43.5" and it feels way more controllable.

Love this video, explains why I hit it longer with less dispersion!! Only one complaint, should of done this video in April! Keep up with the great videos.

Really makes you think doesn't it. Club head speed is not everything. Great video👍🏻

Great video - very interesting and allowed me the actually pull the trigger on my fitting with Titleist TS3 with a -1" Evenflow White T1100 6.5.

Michael Newton has silkiest swing on KZfaq. Change my mind!

Good video . I like the fact you didn't have to change the head weight and still have great results.

Can you do a video on a 60g vs a 70g shaft?

Hi I am 6'6" swapped my 3wood shaft and put it in my driver head ( both clubs are Cobra driver is bio cel 3 wood is F7 both Stiff ,)best I've ever hit it hopefully seeing my pro tomorrow to get some stats .

Hi Guys! I started play this game 1979, all drivers that time was 43 ". Today it is 44" to 46". My slow swing, max 80m/h need as long shaft possible, so I play 47" om Callaw.XR. Guys with full and long backswing is not rec. to have long shaft, will be to many off center hits! I use only 3/4 swing on all clubs in bag, long driver is perfect to keep up distance for me.

Just came across this video and had to comment as I have just taken a inch from my driver after a fitting. Spin numbers are down and my dispersion is so much tighter. Carrying 266 with a shorter driver as opposed to 245 with old length. Nothing in golf is standard!

I've been saying for a long time now that these drivers are too long for the average golfer. Back in the day, the old Persimmon drivers were usually 43". Another thing to keep in mind is that these manufacturers are now producing irons that hit it farther, and they do but why is the reasoning. It's because they are strengthening the lofts. A quick check of the specs of these irons indicates that most are now offering 3-irons with 18* of loft, which is exactly the same loft as my one iron from just 15 years ago. In other words, most amateurs have no business carrying anything more than a 6-iron (yesterday's 4-iron).

Did you just use the shorter shaft or did you add weight to get that 44” back to swing weight

my driver is a flyz plus,i cut 2 inches off i get much better strikes and better accuracy and gained 10 yards.

Thanks Michael for this I think i have the wrong length of shaft - instinctively I always choke down on my drivers, but now i shall try to get a suitable length for my height which is 5"8''

Thanks mike. My Height says I need 43.75. Yup I had 45.5 length and always had to choke down with hands on grip to get a better result but that presents a problem too as the tapered grip gets smaller causing accentuated hand rotational degrees off on the face. Looki g forward to cut down.

Rather than shorten the club, simply choke down on it. A friend recommended I try this and I have never looked back. Distance is the same but drives are much more controlled and straighter.

as a guy i'm on the short side, I'm 5'4, my fitter wanted to put me into a diver legth of 38.5 inch ( I said no to that I couldnt go shorter than 40 in ) I was use to a 45.5 and was a good driver of the ball, I had the slice or hook, but for the most part it was the best part of my game, I am thinking of getting re fit at an out door fitting, that may be a better way of knowing what is best for me, I'm still good with the length its at, not as far though but the hook and slice have come down a bit.

Cut my driver down to 44 - best thing I ever did equipment wise.

Nice video, very informative. I bet dispersion left and right was reduced too! Thanks, Michael! PS. It's ku ro ka ge (ge as in "get"), 4 different syllables. It's not ku ro 'cage'.

Great advice I'll try gripping down an inch and see how it goes. Many thanks.

Good stuff! Keep up the work

I hope he says “ok” more next video!

I got fitted this year at Callaway in Carlsbad and they fitted me with a Epic that was a inch shorter.

Very interesting results. Would like to see some on course testing to confirm the consistency of each length in a gaming environment.

Took 3/4 of an inch off and added 12g of weight using lead tape.

Started gripping down on driver and fairway woods, amazing the differents

I think the craziest number is 6'5

I have wondered this myself. I'd love to take 2 identical drivers/shaft stiffness etc etc (except different length) and hit 50 balls with each. Then measure ACCURACY averages. I'd bet the shorter improves accuracy dramatically.

I recently put a callaway adapter onto an old Project x fairway shaft and started using it in my xr16 driver. It’s 3” shorter than standard and I love it. Hit the middle of the clubface much more consistently and I’ve noticed no real drop off in distance. Definitely hitting more fairways, but most importantly, on days where I’m not swinging it well, I find I’m still in play, instead of deep in the woods. Can’t see myself going back to a 46” shaft.

Great vid Mike. I have a standard 46 inch Stiff shaft in my driver which i cannot control to my liking,..looks like i will be cutting it down tonight.I did an online driver fitting and it came out 44.25 to 44.75. Interesting stuff. I have tried choking down slightly on my irons and i hit them further as well. Perhaps there is a method in the madness. Big thankyou for this vid..

That’s an eye opener. Interesting findings!

44 inches is where it's at. That's the magic number.

Great video with surprising results. When you say the shaft is 44" long, are you removing the head to measure the shaft length from tip to tip? Thanks. Dan

with a shorter shaft would you not stand closer to the ball to bring that strike pattern into the middle ?

Great review. I remember when driver shaft lengths were 43-1/2 . I'm in the market for a new driver and may try to get fitted with a shorter shaft to see if it may be a better fit for me to go "back in time ". Thanks again, great video

At the start of the season, I bought replacement shafts in identical spec to the originals for my Callaway Epic Driver, 3w and 5w. Cut the replacements to 44 (-1.5), 42.5 (-0.5) and 41 (-1 as my original was 0.5 short to start). I made no adjustments for the change in swingweight and the results have been fantastic. I'm now back to the same distances I was getting with the longer shaft, but with much higher consistency. I've eliminated driver blocks (which used to be a big problem for me). I can get the 3w up and running straight and my 5w is like a 205 yd wedge. It's amazing. The flow throughout the set is really good too. From 4h to 5w to 3w to D are all 1.5" apart. It feels very natural. I do plan on popping the long shafts back on for an extended range day just to see if the improvement is related more to the shaft lengths or my potential increase in ability.

I really great and informative video. Am going to book some lessons at local range which has ball tracking as really struggling with driver and 3w, I will now definitely ask about shaft length

Unless you are entering long drive competitions, there is nearly zero benefit, only negatives, to using a driver longer than 43.75 - 44". The old saying, 'Drive for Show - Putt for Dough', has been proven to be statistically wrong when analyzing how best to lower your score (the most important shot being chipping for scoring and the 2nd most important shot being the drive off the tee box - putting is 3rd). If a 6'5" very low handicap player can hit a 44" driver better (lower spin, tighter above center face contact, further) then there is basically no one on earth who should be using a 45.5" driver if lower golf scores is your goal. I do have one slight exception to these comments and that is if you take the approach that you are going to set up your driver to only 'fade' the ball and you also use a strongly lofted 3 wood (12.5 to 13 degrees) possibly in addition to a 4 wood (17 degrees) in your bag to compliment the fading driver (Phil Mickelson does this occasionally at The Masters, Bubba does this, and there are others). If you setup and play your driver to only fade, eliminating the left side of the fairway, then I feel that a 45.5" driver (or longer) is usable because presenting a repeated face open to path is something that is very controllable if you completely rule out a square or closed face to path.

I strictly play 44

Enjoy your Videos Michael.

I'm gaming this exact same driver head and shaft is stiff flex. I've never been consistent with this driver so I decided to cut the shaft to 44.5". At first, the swing felt awful. The combination of the shorter shaft and the change of swing threw me off. And then I added a third weight to get the swing weight to more or less what they were before. Now I'm only missing 1 or the most 2 fairways and they are still playable. I've even gained some distance as well. I'm aware that I'm modding this driver simply based on trial and error but I can only guess how much more I could've gain if I was properly fitted for the driver.