A few years ago I was having issues with my driver and bought a TM Mini Driver. A driver head on a 3 wood shaft. I found being consistently on the fairway better than being twenty yards further on in the rough. For the higher handicap golfer this is a great way of solving, short term, the problem of a wayward driver. Long term, coaching and practice is the real answer.

Perhaps Lester can try a 48” shaft to see what impact it has on strike and distance. Useful video

Agree with Lester, take about an inch of driver. This is what my Cobra fitter did with me, negligible loss of distance, but dispersion was much less, best thing I’ve ever done.

Have a good time in Scotland Dan - and a good birthday!

Morning! What a great week on the channel 👏👏👏

I put a 3 wood shaft in my M1 over a year ago, early doors got the same heely strike that Lester was seeing. changed my tee height slightly higher and now much better. I get about 20 yards further than my 3 wood, but my accuracy compared to long shaft driver is different level

Great vlog, I took 2 inches off my driver and 3 wood, not a big hitter but I now have confidence with both as I feel I am making normal swing!

What lengths were Lester's Driver & 3Wood shafts?? The manufacturers have been increasing the length of their "stock" shafts over the last few years (to make their Trackman numbers look better in the driver H2H's), so there isn't really a "standard" driver shaft length any more. I always play a 45" driver shaft length, which I find optimum for me. Putting the 3Wood shaft in the driver will have changed the Swing weight of the driver, so to make the "experiment" valid you should have measured the swing weight (with the driver shaft) then measured it again with the 3Wood shaft and added weight to the head to get the Swing weight back to the original Swing weight. PS Happy Birthday & I hope that you enjoy the Old Course

Happy birthday Dan May this coming years brings you happiness and more golf

Many thanks for that guys, truly fascinating, and much appreciated! I actually now have a 1“ shorter shaft in my new driver, fitted by the Titleist rep‘ here, going well, with a more consistent strike. Like Lester though, I use my 3 wood mostly on my home course, as if you miss-hit it there, you are reloading with a new ball... Many thanks once again! 👍🏻

Have recently bought, after trialling, a Callaway Sub Zero Driver with a 1 inch shorter shaft. Results are fantastic. Much straighter, more fairways hit and hardly a lost ball. When you hit a ball 275 yards + I'd take any reduction in length for consistent straightness. To be honest, haven't noticed any loss in length as I'm now more confident!!

"Happy Birthday Dan" hope you have a great day at St Andrews....

Happy birthday Dan!

Happy 40th Dan.... must have been an uphill paperound 😜🎂🥳

HAPPY 50th BIRTDAY Dan looking good for it

As always...Great Sunday 'evening' (in NZ) entertainment and instruction guys...but where's the dancing...gota have the 🕺 now I've just got to hit any club relatively straight 😅

I have a slightly shorter driver shaft for accuracy but now I hit my 3wood basically the same distance as the driver which is showing on the course having to hit slightly longer irons in. I think I will have to go back to an original length driver shaft. But having the shorter shaft has given me now end of confidence off the tee! Great video guys, keep them coming! Enjoy you birthday round DH and hope Barnes hasn’t destroyed the shop 😂

Happy birthday 🎂 Danny boy hoping you had plenty of birdies at St Andrews 👏 👍

‘If i put that in my hand now, i wouldn’t be able to tell it’s shorter’. Ooohhhh, suits you sir

Good experiment. Be good to see you take this a little further and add some weight to the head to get swing weight back up. I believe it would be something like 12 grams an inch 👍🏻

You have to change the swingweight by adding weight to the head if you shorten the shaft. It will affect feel and tempo if you don't.

I have been thinking about this.... but I havent tryed. Good of you boys to do this for me😊

Happy Birthday Dan!

I tried my 3 wood shaft in my driver and seemed to have better contact but did not hit it any farther. I have gone to a lighter weight stiffer shaft and like it very much!! Both contact and distance have improved.

Happy Birthday Dan!!! Hope you enjoy St Andrews

Happy birthday, Dan. Hope you had a good round at St. Andrews. I did the opposite, added an inch to my driver. Getting an additional 10 yrds. of distance, with very little negative dispersion. Will get an occasional pull shot left.

Happy birthday Dan.

Happy birthday Paul's brother . .

No intro 🤔, I played an rbz driver with a shorter shaft for a couple of years it made little difference. I spent some money on lessons and that improved my driving massively compared to tinkering with equipment.

Great vid, thanks

Happy Birthday to Dan. 🎁

Thanks guys. I tried this once and it felt like hitting the ball with a garden tool! Also do you have any thoughts on swing weight and lie angle? Personally, I don’t game a driver any more. I use 3 wood off the tee now. Driver had good results in 2 out of 10 shots. The rest were in the trees, pond, hazard, other fairway etc. Hope you enjoyed the old course Dan 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏌️

Morning, got to agree with previous comment re swing weight, as 6 swing weights per inch I'm guessing about 9 swing weights difference swapping shafts, did you consider adding weight to the head to get a fairer comparison ???

Good experiment. For me, it depends on the course I’m playing. If it is a tight tree lined course, I will just have a 3wood in the bag and then de-loft it slightly for the few driver shots needed (today’s 3wood heads are larger then the driver heads I played with as a youth, so the size difference is not a problem for me). If the course is more wide open, I carry a driver instead, and grip down plus add a little loft for any 3 wood type tee shots needed. I rarely carry both a driver and a 3 wood in the bag at the same time, just keeps the bag less cluttered for me. Hope Lester sells a lot of Mars bars while you are away 😁.

Lost 9 swing weight points boys. Needed to add weight to the head for a valid test. Cobra sell the “tour length” version with 2 14g weights already. Need to go back to fitting school boys🤣

There he goes.. Top Gun! Would also be good to see what Lester could do with a 48 inch shaft... after some adjustments would he lose accuracy? What yardage gains are possible?

No mention of swing weight change. It's something like 3 sw points for every half inch you chop off.

I went to a 44" shaft a few years ago and haven't looked back since. Saw immediate improvements in strike, accuracy, GIR and shaved a few strokes from the handicap. But, as others mentioned, you have to take into consideration the swing weight. I actually ended up going with a heavier shaft, as well. Love the combo. It may not be for everyone but this nonsense with Bryson and such going to 48" drivers is silly in my opinion.

Happy birthday Dan

Have a great birthday Dan, which course? I've played the new course (which is still old) and loved it. This test eas interesting, I have a mini driver in the bag and like the shorter shaft, I also like the deeper face than a 3 wood for off the tee. Not sure Lester's swing speed has much to do with muscle 🤔

I had a recent fitting at Ping. Their standard length driver is 45.75", I was fitted at 45", (which is the same length as my old Titleist driver), and was getting better strike, more distance and better dispersion, although 1 shot with a 45.75" did carry 10 yards further, but my average was worse. Happy birthday, Dan, hope you had a good round at St.Andrews, with Laura?

I been playing with a 3wood shaft on my driver this season and it has improved my driving a lot. The misses, especially the slice are not as obvious as they used to be. May lose some yards, but once I got used to it I dare to smash it when I need to get more distance.

Got a question for ya, what impact does the weight of shaft do to a wedge?

Good morning all! ⛳️

Seconds into the vlog and up pops muy home town.

Nice vid once again lads. Just an idea.... I would like to know what length, loft and lie angles you both use? Have you ever changed the lie angle of your sets over the years, or have you stuck with one? How much difference would it make if you were to have the wrong Length and lie angle for your swing?

I purchased a TM Original One driver and removed my 3-wood. Looked at several reviews on it before trying it out and deciding to purchase. It's what I need for my particular course as it's narrow and tree-lined, which puts a premium on accuracy over distance. I use it nearly for half of the tee shots during my rounds. I have a 5-wood and 4-hybrid in the bag as well. I'm 61 and play off 11 HC.

As always Dan, making great points. This brings me to my question.....I play to a 7 at 5'5" with my club head avg at 98-100mph. I can't seem to get my smash to avg anything over 1.37. Could the length and lie of my driver affect my smash factor average?

What a wonderful trip you’ve just had . When will the decider match be ? 😉🏌️‍♂️⛳️🍻

Next Sunday morning show can we address mincey's resemblance to Prince Hans of the southern Isles. The kids want to know if there is some chance of reconciliation with princess Anna. 😄

what is the difference between the two shafts in length and would one the same length longer give more distance

Had my speedzone xtreme shortened by 1 inch and changed the weight up to a 14g from original 6g . Massive difference to me as I can’t hit driver very well . I’m actually able to hit it and feel comfortable using it iut on the coarse rather than just at the range

Would have liked to see a swap the other way, i.e. driver shaft in the three wood head, would the result be longer carry but with greater dispersion ??

This was really interesting and reading the comments below it has given me some food for thought. I can hit my 3 wood well from he tee and it out distances my driver because I am not that great with my Driver, however, I might have a look into shortening my driver shaft to a 3 wood length to see if this makes any distance to my driving. As long as I can outdistance my present set up which won't be hard, and keep it as straight as my 3 wood then it would really improve my chances of reducing my handicap as I feel this is one area that is now holding me back. Once again great content and Happy Birthday Dan!!!

Will you be reviewing the TSi range Dan?

Another good video, I tried this myself a few months ago and on the first round it was amazing I hit it well finding every fairway, the second time not as many and by the third round it was as wayward as my driver length so swapped back concluding it was more to do with having no expectations and being relaxed made me hit better shots but then tried to hit it harder and reverted to type. Never tried the 3 wood with the driver shaft though! Less about the shaft more to do with the idiot on the end!

Driver shafts are getting longer, I made a decision to keep my driver shaft at 45" so I get a better strike on the club face... Works for me. 👍😁⛳

This is really interesting. I’ve never seen this test carried out before. I’m a 20 handicapper and struggle with my driver off the tee, I can’t keep it straight. I’ve been very tempted to buy myself a bigger headed 3 wood to replace the driver and current fairway wood. This could be the answer. I’d love to see you carry out this test with a mid to high handicapper. I may give it a go on my next visit the the range. 👍

What about 3 wood shaft in a hybrid? My hybrid (20*) and 4 iron (23*) go almost the same distance...and the gap between my 3 wood and hybrid is about 20-25 yards. how would it affect the hybrid putting in a 3 wood shaft......i will be doing a little test on the range next week as i would like to be gaining an extra 10ish yards on my hybrid.

I tend to hit my driver dead straight (but only 240!) so I’ve never thought of trying this experiment. I have tried swapping 3/5 wood shafts tho. Wasn’t happy with the results. LOL Cheers boys!

I would have liked to see the results of the 3 wood with the driver shaft fitted too 🤔, what do you think that would have done?

Aren't 3 wood shafts tipped more than a driver shaft so would play tighter and lower spin & launch compared to a driver shaft which has been shortened to 3 wood length from the butt end?

Can you do a comparison like this just opposite with a 3 wood? 3 wood standard length vs 3 wood w/44 or 45 length.

I once won a free fitting with titleist at Walton heath and the fitter there put me into a shorter shaft but I’ve never got it made I’ve still got my old driver as I wasn’t really sure if it was the best thing and I was never shown anything by the fitter to convince me otherwise

Good Demonstration.

Been choking down the shaft on my driver into the wind seems to have similar effect.

Happy Birthday. What about going the Bryson way with 48" shaft

Should have put some lead tape on the head to keep the swing weight the same after switching to the shorter shaft

Agree that for you guys there’s no point in doing that. For high handicap players that hit driver all over the planet, might be something to look at. Have fun birthday golfing at St. Andrews!

I shortened the driver shaft a little bit - from 45.25" to 44.5" and it made a big difference to confidence, and because I was more confident I hit it better.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY 🥳 ENJOY THE HOME OF GOLF 🏌️‍♂️

I've put a 5wood shaft in my SIM do I try it out? Feels awesome 🤣

It would be interesting to see if Lester can swing his three wood faster than the driver with three wood shaft. Surely the smaller head must make it more aerodynamic. Obviously strike would be more important on the three wood!

Would love to see this test repeated the other way round. Pop the driver shaft into the 3 wood !

I tried a shaft that was only 1” shorter and found I was having more heel strikes too. I’m not a big bomber so have stayed with the standard shaft length to eek out as much distance as possible. Happy Birthday Dan.

Well done! Of course, the follow up test would be with a *longer* shaft; esp. considering that Bryson D. is testing a 48-inch driver. Yrs ago, I think it was Golf Digest that reported on a test showing average golfers getting the best (length & left-to-right dispersion) results with, IIRC, a 47-inch driver. Dan, Happy Birthday!!

Really good explanation of what you may get.I agree with Lester, probably wouldn’t make enough difference the shaft length. Excellent Sunday show as usual. Happy birthday Dan .Hope we see some of your St Andrews day out.

Maybe of the tee the bigger head give more confidence well would me lol

Different results to what Peter Finch got when he did the same experiment?

With a 5mph change in shaft length. Would the difference as an addition to the driver shaft? ie 46 or 47 inch driver produce 5mph additional speed and length off the tee? Or would the direction or control be lost?

do you think it could be better if someone around 5. 6-7 should do this test as their height with the 45;5 is harder to control than 44

I am 5 9”. Most of drivers I think are built for taller people. I have taken a bit of length of my driver shaft with pro consultation.

should check out Peter Finch who used a G400

Interesting - can you put Bernie in a longer shaft maybe get him carrying the magical 300 yds Is that a hole in the screen btw - worn it out with your accuracy 😂😂

I play a 44” driver to keep my ball in play. With a 12 handicap I rarely found the sweet spot on a 45” driver. Now I seem to find the sweet spot a lot more often and it keeps the ball in play a lot more as well. I also find no difference in club head speed (around 100 mph regardless of length), but with finding the sweet spot more often with a shorter shaft, then my ball speed has gone up around 5 mph. All other launch characteristics are about the same, launch angle 12-14, spin 2300-2500. To ‘build’ the driver then I got a R9 supertri with Fujikura Motore 6.1 s flex at D4 as. Then butt cut the shaft (most Fujikura shafts can be butt cut down as far as 3 wood length as per Fujikura tipping instructions [check online]), installed an stm series s1 grip at 46g and then added weights to the head until it felt right. Turns out that feeling right was with a swing weight of D1.

Try driver shaft in 3 wood see what happens? 🤗🤗🤗

Hi Dan, which would you pick .. Laser rangefinder or GPS Watch??

'All that in one gun ! Wow !' haha. Ask Lester to have a quick look at his hotmail account, message for him/you

Now I am wondering what would happen if you put a driver shaft in a 3 wood ?

Current driver has 44.5 shaft and strike is so much better so distance is similar , would not change back at the moment

Stock driver length getting up to 45.75” these days. My sweet spot is around 44,25” and I’m faster at that length. Just feels like i can swing more freely 🤷🏼

Hello , Great video i was thinking about doing the same aswell shortning my driver. quick question since his club speed slowed down have you considered changing the club loft to 11-13 and set up the ball position different on how you would set up a driver, cant you set up like hitting a 3 wood or between driver and a 3 wood ? How it would be tee it would be different aswell i guess since the loft is higher 🤷 i would think if they shorten irons with higher lofts i would guess if you shorten your driver shaft wouldnt you need to do the same make the loft higher? 🤔 cant pass 15-18 that woukd be going back to a 3 wood 😂🤣. Thanks again for sharing that that was great alway s curious what would happen

45.5" seems like my sweet zone with driver. I can hit 45.75 and 45.25 pretty much the same. Longer is easier than shorter for some reason...

Tried with shorter shafts that have been cut down but sold via eBay as standard. No benefits. Stance, setup just feels wrong. Didn’t see point as three wood would hit same distances with similar consistency.

I played St Andrews quite a few years ago & must confess I was not a fan. I am currently having issues with driver and I am in the process of fixing them. I know the old saying drive for show etc but I always feel it underpins the game & can take pressure off the rest of the game if you drive well.

This test has a weakness in it, IMO, When you use a shaft two inches shorter you will loose a lot of swing weight points. So you would need to add about 20-24 grams to the head of the driver with a 3 wood shaft. That would get the strikes more towards the center for sure. And also Cobra heads are light compared to Titleist and Ping heads in the first place. If you do the same test with Lee, and adjust the head weight in the 3 wood you would see a different result. Up for it Lee?? :-D

I swapped my 3 wood shaft into my driver still went right but not as far up the fairway lol

Cobra makes a Tour Length version of the the Speedzone, making it 44.5 vs 45.5. Also, isn’t a shaft for a 3 wood “tipped” usually, about a 1/2 inch? Be more realistic using a shorter, but untipped shaft, plus adding weight to the head of the shorter club to keep the swingweight similar.

44.50 Tensei White Pro 70 TX ..my desire is to be as fast I can through the ball.

There are those of us who don't have such long levers and as such are at a physical disadvantage. Everytime I see a clip like this, the bloke swinging the club is tall. As such they don't have to work as hard to get the numbers and their dispersion is tighter because of this. A short middle-aged man playing off a 12 handicap would have understood the point of the exercise.