I play a Ping 43" G425 Max 12° (play at 13.5°) w/ Graphite Design Tour AD XC-7 (S) - No loss in distance (may hit it farther), but hit 50% more FIR! 👍👍

@@RollYourRock That's great feedback! 👍. Thank you!

Thanks for the comment Andrew!

Was the 44.5 just the shaft or the length of the shaft and clubhead?

@@kfuehne21 That is both shaft and clubhead.

Andrew. I was wondering how tall you are? I am heading for a fitting. I am only 5 ft 7 inches. I have a feeling they might be doing mine at 44 inches. We will see.

The BEST golf instruction and reviews on KZfaq. Totally unbiased.

I play mine at 44" D4 and carry the ball approx. 280 yds. on a good strike. It's definitely the way to go for the recreational player and possibly even for professionals.

@@GT-1902 How do you have your driver at D4 at that length? Have you added head weight?

@@willadair6178 Yes. Plus the shaft is slightly heavier as well.

Curious, how did that work out?

Dude...never compare shaft length with a custom fitter...those guys are hung like donkeys!!!

Sounds like you needed extra head weight.

Are you referring to counter weighting like they do for putters?

I was referring to adding weight to the grip above the hands. Jack Nicklaus used and endorses this particular product www.golfdigest.com/story/back-weight-your-golf-clubs-wi

This is from Golf My Way by Jack Nicklaus.----- One experiment I did make a while back was to put a one-ounce plug of lead in the handle of my driver under the grip. The idea was to slow down my hands- improve my tempo by putting more weight in my hands and thus, in effect, less in the clubhead. I believe that this little-known device is helpful when your hands begin to get too fast, either on the takeaway or from the top of the swing. In fact, its effectiveness causes me to question whether the major benefit claimed for aluminum and lightweight steel shafts- that they allow a heavier head without increasing the club’s total weight- is totally valid. You may be able to move the head of such a club faster through the ball, but you’ve still got to be able to control its other end with your hands. To do that, it seems to me you need a certain amount of weight in your hands

I believe that having weight above the hands counterbalances the head of the club, thus making it feel dynamically lighter and will add speed while reducing effort. If the snow ever melts here in Maine, I plan to add some weight to my new Ping G400 to see if this true and helpful. Also, per my first question above, I have been hitting balls indoors into a net and gripping down an inch and a half feels much better than at the end of the grip. I need to see ball flight and distance before drawing any conclusions. Hey, something to look forward to.

When cut the shaft down it will make it lighter

Total build length. Good question!

@@clubchampionmedia From the butt to the sole of the head, or to the middle of the face, or to the neck where head meets shaft? I am confused as to exactly where they finish the measurement on the club.

strange that nobody answered this question for you. Yes, my experience is that on narrow fairways gripping down helps with accuracy. You will loose some distance. Good luck.

Choking up will also impact swing weight the same as cutting it down. But you can always choke up and test it out for a while. If the lighter weight doesn't bother you then it's not a big deal.

not me. I chocked all the way down and still couldn't consistently hit the center of the club on the ball. Cut it down 2" and hit near the center about 90% of the time.

Gripping down will adjust the swing weight, making it play lighter. I tipped my Taylormade r11 Stiff shaft by 1 inch (cut it at the head end), then proceeded to add weight using the screw in weight ports on the driver head. If you cut at the grip end and then add weight to the head, it will make the shaft play softer.

Heck they have drivers that are almost 46 inches . But what the heck. Shorter is much better. I use a 44 inch myself. Much better.

Great information, really appreaciate it. I'm playing an older Cleveland XL270 460cc driver with a very lightweight 46,25" 39 grams Miyazaki shaft and can do approx. 300 yard drives in fair conditions; however, it's far from a precise driver to the point that on windy days, everything but perfect hits results in strong fades or soft slices. Add sidewind to the mix it becomes totally unpredicable. I know I can produce decent swing speeds as 300 yard drives doesn't appear out of nothing, but I have just recently become aware of the importance of the length of the shaft. I'm almost convinced a shorter shaft (like you mention around 44") would be a better match for me (even if I'm 6 feet 3 inches tall). Going to a Titleist demo day tomorrow and have booked a slot for driver fitting. Will make sure to bring this up.

@vachief thanks for the tip, can I just ask how does putting it the ball of left for helps with avoiding a slice especially with an out to in swing? Just curious as sometimes I slice it so much it's not even a slice, it's half a cake..

@vachief cheers from Australia. 👍Wil definitely give it a try next week.

We'll do a video on Matt and get him fully optimized. At his speed I can get him hitting it 330+. Thanks for watching Chad. Keep the feedback coming, it helps us deliver better better content for you guys.

josh colbert I’m 6’0 and have a 46’ driver. Thinking about getting it cut to 44’.

I play a Ping 43" G425 Max 12° (play at 13.5°) w/ Graphite Design Tour AD XC-7 (S) - No loss in distance (may hit it farther), but hit 50% more FIR! *not exaggerating 👍👍

We didn't address swingweight in this particular video, there would have been a difference between the two we tested though.

Amazing how far he hit it w/ those old drivers. I looked on TMs website and Tiger said he is currently playing a 44 1/2 inch driver in the M3 440 head.

I wonder *scratches head* if we can get Tiger to go back to around the length that he used to kick everyone's butt with... I think if he went to around 44 or 43.75" He would win the Masters, this year, teach these kids a lesson or two... (that and put the 5-wood back in the bag)

Shane Jones hope you put a bet on when you wrote this haha i won £550 on tiger at augusta 2019

both moves lightened your swingweight

Comfort level is a big factor for sure Thomas. If a shorter driver gets you more comfortable over the ball then it is worth trying!

Didn't measure the total weight, sorry Walter.

Nicholas Furore you can choke up on the shaft and give that a try before actually modifying the shaft.

should have swing weighted back to the same,and tipped the shaft a touch to compensate.then test would be apples to apples

Most good players who go shorter shaft also go to a heavier weight shaft....it offsets most of the difference.

Hi Ed. Swing weight difference was 3pts D3.5 versus D0.5

Exactly Joe, that's why we used Accra 370 M5 in this case.

1 inch shorter is not going to make any difference. You don't need to add weight. It's the same thing as choking down an inch. People think too technical alot of times. For all you know the shorter the club and now the new current swing weight might be better for you. I use a 43 1/2 inch driver for years and I can tell you from years of experience that you will be more accurate and hit the sweet spot way more often and you won't see that much difference in distance with the longer club.

those are the total built lengths of the clubs

Griffin Hussong when they say 45” they mean total playing length not length of the shaft. Nobody states the length of the shaft alone because not ever driver has the same distance from where the shaft ends to where the bottom of the club is.

johnogolf I’m pretty sure it’s the total length

Total playing length

100% it did

Peter Jaeger Shafts for woods usually come in raw at 46 inches in length. They are available in A, R, S, Tour stiff and so on. You can tip trim or butt trim the shaft to customize the flex, kickpoint, and length. There are no set standards so clubmakers go by measuring the frequency of the finished club when its flexed.

Michael Kurtas, 44” is the “playing length”, from the sole of the club (just heel side of the centre).

Thanks for the quick reply! So if I understand correctly, the 44" driver is essentially a driver with a standard 3-wood shaft?

Michael Kurtas pretty darn close Michael.

About 5'11"

Marius Grigore guys*

Shortening the shaft would make the swingweight lighter.

Ping G400 Max, Mitsubishi Kuro Kage XT70 TX shaft

Yes I got that part, but is it 44" or 45", ha-ha. I think it's the later, interesting that you found 44" worked better for you 3months ago, but you went back to 45".

45" for now, but I'll be testing the 44" once I get a few rounds in with the new driver