driver length

Unfollow Thread

By Spezza

  • 0 Likes
  • 28 Replies
  1. Spezza

    Spezza
    Summerside, PE

    what are your thoughts on cutting a standard off the rack shelf driver from 45 to 44?? i play to a 7 handicap and drive it depending on conditions 270-310. swing speed is around 105+ i don't mind losing a few yards to get the all important FIR% up.

  2. I did exactly that and it's the best thing I ever did. Cut my Diamana ahina stiff to 44. I added the 12 gram titleist weight to the head to get back the swingweight. Feels amazing, more balance when swinging and definitley more accurate. I'm also hittin it longer as I am catching the ball more consistently off the sweet spot. I found I was heeling the ball a lot with the 45 inch shaft. For info I'm about 5 ft 9.
  3. MLB12

    MLB12
    Fredonia, NY

    Rory O said:

    I did exactly that and it's the best thing I ever did. Cut my Diamana ahina stiff to 44. I added the 12 gram titleist weight to the head to get back the swingweight. Feels amazing, more balance when swinging and definitley more accurate. I'm also hittin it longer as I am catching the ball more consistently off the sweet spot. I found I was heeling the ball a lot with the 45 inch shaft. For info I'm about 5 ft 9.
    I'm looking to do the samething to my D2 9.5, if i where to have it cut to 44 or 44.5" what would be the recommened swingweight to be added? also does the surefit wrench that came with my driver fit the swingweight screw?..thx
  4. Cath D.

    Cath D.
    Carlsbad, CA

    Mikey said:

    I did exactly that and it's the best thing I ever did. Cut my Diamana ahina stiff to 44. I added the 12 gram titleist weight to the head to get back the swingweight. Feels amazing, more balance when swinging and definitley more accurate. I'm also hittin it longer as I am catching the ball more consistently off the sweet spot. I found I was heeling the ball a lot with the 45 inch shaft. For info I'm about 5 ft 9.
  5. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    If needed to cut more, you can change your grip from the standard 52 gram Golf Pride Tour Velvet to a Winn Excel RF. The weight diff is 10g (2 swingweight points heavier with the lighter grip). Winn Lite grips are 25g (I put this on an old TM 300 driver that I set to 43.5" a couple years ago) but I didn't like the feel. I swear by the Excel RF midsize for driver - PW. My driver is 45" and my 7 wood is 41.5" 5H is 38.75. My 6-PW are Eye 2 yellow dot and the Winn brings the swingweight to D1.

  6. David M

    David M
    Calgary, Alberta

    Quick question - while I like the idea of cutting my driver down and adding weight to get the swing weight back - what is the potential to impact the specs (spin, launch, etc). I ask because I was fitted at the Oceanside facility, and am nervous what cutting down the driver might do.
  7. Cath D.

    Cath D.
    Carlsbad, CA

    Hi David, I spoke with your fitter at O'side and he said: Cutting it down 1/2" could be good or bad for him. Technically there may be a slightly lower launch and spin, but realistically we do not see that happen all the time. Some players have more control at 44.5 and others at 45. Definitely re weight the head if it is cut down. - So the answer is go ahead and try if you feel you would like to try a shorter driver, but make sure you add weight to it as he felt that it was important for you to have swingweight.
  8. MLB12

    MLB12
    Fredonia, NY

    Cathi, Titleist Club Concierge said:

    I did exactly that and it's the best thing I ever did. Cut my Diamana ahina stiff to 44. I added the 12 gram titleist weight to the head to get back the swingweight. Feels amazing, more balance when swinging and definitley more accurate. I'm also hittin it longer as I am catching the ball more consistently off the sweet spot. I found I was heeling the ball a lot with the 45 inch shaft. For info I'm about 5 ft 9.
    I'm looking to do the samething to my D2 9.5, if i where to have it cut to 44 or 44.5" what would be the recommened swingweight to be added? also does the surefit wrench that came with my driver fit the swingweight screw?..thx
    [/quote] Each 1/2" that you cut off will reduce the swingweight by 2-3 depending on the balance point of the shaft. The 12 gram weight is the heaviest that we offer and if you cut your driver 1/2", that weight (if you started with the red or 7 gr.)should get you back to standard. Your wrench will work on all 910 metalwood heads and for the weight screw, too.
    [/quote] That is good to know my weight is red dot, another question i just check the shaft length, how does titlest measure? from end of shaft end straight down? or mid face or impact face to end of grip? I have a Kail 65 stiff and i'm not sure if i'm measuing it correctly as it's showing from heal or end grip to shaft heal at 44 1/2? tis club was purchased from a Titleist dealer.
  9. Cath D.

    Cath D.
    Carlsbad, CA

    When they measure, it is from the bottom of the sole to the end of the cut shaft. They do allow an 1/8 of an inch so you can get a variance (due to differences in grip caps) of 3/16" long.
  10. I was fitted by Eric with the west coast Titleist fitting truck and we went from a 46" driver to a 44" on my D2.  When the fitting was done he showed me the distance numbers and they looked the same to marginally better for teh D2.  Couple that with the fact that my dispresion was greatly narrowed and I'm a believer.  I carry a 4 wood and am considering being fit for that next. 

    Cathi - I assume they built my driver to the correct swing weight off the fitting Truck? Can you tell me what my swing weight would be? I need to change this grip and want to make sure I keep it the same.

    D2 9.5* / Javln M8 Stiff 44" / TV 360 grip 

     

    Thanks

  11. Cath D.

    Cath D.
    Carlsbad, CA

    Hi Jess, I asked the FittingWorks van and they said your swingweight should be D2.
  12. Cathi, Titleist Club Concierge said:

    Hi Jess, I asked the FittingWorks van and they said your swingweight should be D2.

     

    Thanks Cathi!

  13. Rory O

    I did exactly that and it's the best thing I ever did. Cut my Diamana ahina stiff to 44. I added the 12 gram titleist weight to the head to get back the swingweight. Feels amazing, more balance when swinging and definitley more accurate. I'm also hittin it longer as I am catching the ball more consistently off the sweet spot. I found I was heeling the ball a lot with the 45 inch shaft. For info I'm about 5 ft 9.

    Good Morning Cathi,

    I need information about the same subject.

    The shafts of my driver and fairway wood (917D3 & 917F2) were damaged and I would like to replace them. I would like to buy the same (diamana blue shafts + velvet titleist grips) on the golf shop near my home but I’m worried to lose of the swing weight balance of origin. I would like to have information about these points:

    - Each driver & fairway woods were swing weight balanced in your production line after the s
    haft has been assembled?

    - I need to send my driver & fairway wood to your Titleist production line in order to get the exactly swing weight balance of origin (via my golf shop) ?

    - The swing weight would be the respected (can be exacly the same as origin) if I buy the same shaft with same grips and I change them by my own ?

    Thank you.
  14. Cath D.

    Cath D.
    Carlsbad, CA

    Rory O

    I did exactly that and it's the best thing I ever did. Cut my Diamana ahina stiff to 44. I added the 12 gram titleist weight to the head to get back the swingweight. Feels amazing, more balance when swinging and definitley more accurate. I'm also hittin it longer as I am catching the ball more consistently off the sweet spot. I found I was heeling the ball a lot with the 45 inch shaft. For info I'm about 5 ft 9.

    Hi, There is a target swingweight (if none is specified) that the builders will strive for in each build depending on component. Keep in mind that every shaft, grip, component has a tolerance and because of that, we also have a swingweight tolerance. If you purchase the same shaft with the same grip at the same length, the swingweight should be very close if not the same. With the adjustability of our 917 metalwoods, if, for some reason, it it lighter or heavier, you can always adjust the swingweight by changing the CG weight.
  15. Hi, Is the driver still working, Thinking of doing the same with my D2 (Diamana ahina stiff) Feels too long,gotta grip down just to keep it on fairway, cheers

  16. Cath D.

    Cath D.
    Carlsbad, CA

    You can cut your driver down 1", but will lose about 5-6 swingweights. You may be able to increase your swingspeed and/or gain control, but will probably need to add a little weight to the head. If you want to experiment with all the weights, we do offer a swingweight kit at all retail stores. They may not have it in stock, but it can be ordered and will ship in 1-2 days.
  17. Yeah well worth ordering the weight kit. I was messing around with lead tape but a waste of time. Nice to know you have the properly engineers weights in the club. Oh and by the way stroke control I'm an 8 handicap with pretty much the same driving distance range.
  18. Spezza

    Spezza
    Summerside, PE

    what is the best way to add weight to a non titleist driver standard sw is D3. powder or lead tape. and if lead tape is best how many strips should i use for the 1 inch taken off.

  19. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    there's also another thing you can do to restore swingweight: change the grip from a standard 52 gram rubber grip to either Winn Excel RF (42g) or Winn Lite (25g). The Winn Excel restores 2 swingweight points. The Lite restores 5 swingweight points. Lead tape is 2 grams/point and you place it toward the sole on the rear of the head for a straight bias, toward the heel for a draw or toward the toe for a fade. If you cut the driver 1" and use an Excel RF grip, the swingweight will still be D0. The other thing is that Lamkin Crossline grips get very heavy if you use midsize (they weigh in at 63g). Winn Excel RF midsize is 43g and Lite is 27g. I keep the standard rubber grips on my Vokeys but all the rest of my clubs have Excel RF midsize. I tried the powder route on a fairway wood about 4 years ago. Remember they are putting weight on the hosel and you also have to replace the grip - it takes quite a bit of powder to add two swingweight points so you would also need a lighter grip. Lead tape isn't so bad on a hybrid but it does sometimes affect proper hitting on a driver or wood.
  20. steve b

    steve b
    edmond, OK

    Usuually a good option for players - longer shots come from on center hits and not so much the length of the shaft -  Years ago we had Titleist do some testing for us as we were developing their custom fititng program. One of them was how is ball flight affected by shorter length driver shafts.  The result was this --- 3" inches longer driver shaft only hit the ball about 5 yards further.  This was a robot test. Some players might gain slightly more length. But my experience over 20 years of fitting has been that most players gain distance with a shorter length driver -- more on center hits...  a lot of them feel like they have more control with a shorter length shaft and feel like they can swing the club more aggressively.
      All of this is quite contrary to the current day "marketing schemes" by most manufacturers and their attempt to convince players that these longer length shafts will produce longer shots. That is an easy perception to sell to male golfers...  On center hits regardless of the length is critical -- assuming the launch and spin numbers are good.     Thanks to the fantastic R & D team at Titliest for doing these tests for us and  just as importantly being willing to share it with all of you guys!  Go to the bank with this bit of information !!!

    steve ball

  21. Steve, this is a great point! Thanks for sharing it!!

  22. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    Jim McClean recommends a 44" driver in his book "The Three Scoring Clubs" and Don Trahan even recommends a 43.5" driver in his Peak Performance Golf System. I was also reading that a lot of pros use a 44.5" driver. There is quite a bit of bunk in the golf industry (does anyone remember the 52" drivers in the 1990s?). One doesn't need the big 90 degree backswing, 47" driver or extremely rotational golf swing to knock the daylights out of a golf ball. Some are talking about how 2 and 3 iron hybrids are the greatest things since sliced bread - just recently I did a side-by-side with my trusty 7 wood (2007 Burner) vs one of those somewhat newfangled (2009) "flight control technology" 2 iron hybrids and the wood just totally smoked the hybrid. Then there was the F2 wedge - the so-called end all to short games; the bottom line is nothing beats a good ole Vokey. In all honesty, probably the best hitting irons I have owned are the two sets I have at home - Eye 2 yellow dot 6-PW and Titleist DCI 981 4-GW. I also have three persimmon clubs from Louisville Golf (Niblick Vanguard 5 wood, Even Stripe 10 wood and HL3 34 deg hybrid). I break them out every now and then. Although the two fairway woods aren't nearly as forgiving as my 7 wood and my SQ 5 hybrid, they reward with good distance (I have hit the 5 wood close to 200 yards and the 10 wood around 170). Even the 34 hybrid goes around 160 (don't use it much since I hit my 6 and 7 irons very well now; had the Eye 2's reshafted and the Titleists +1/2 deg upright).

  23. Christian G

    Christian G
    Saratoga, CA

    Good ideas on the clubs but i would highly recommend doing the same cut down with the rest of your woods since your three wood and driver are both the same legnth. To decrease the swingweight or im fact gain more weig id recommend buying a shorter shaft instead of cutting down
  24. Todd L

    Todd L
    Albany, NY

    This sounds like something I should try. In my Modern club design post, I talked about having problems coming from a 30 year layoff to adjusting to today's drivers due to the shaft length and lie. I'm 6'1" but the shaft still seems like its a mile long. The 909F3 seems to be perfect for me in this regard. I guess the challenge at that point would be to determine the proper replacement weight.
  25. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    I know what you mean. When I took up the game again, the graphite shafted woods were an inch too long. I played with steel shafted wooden (laminated and persimmon) woods since 1972. I found that a driver between 44-45" is good for me. I have difficulty with a modern 3 wood so I don't carry one (besides, I have a lofted driver that I use a low tee height with). I found the perfect fairway wood is 41-42" with a 58 deg lie angle. There is only a 15 yard difference between my 7 wood and a 3 wood anyway.
  26. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    Todd L said:

    This sounds like something I should try. In my Modern club design post, I talked about having problems coming from a 30 year layoff to adjusting to today's drivers due to the shaft length and lie. I'm 6'1" but the shaft still seems like its a mile long. The 909F3 seems to be perfect for me in this regard. I guess the challenge at that point would be to determine the proper replacement weight.
    I'm also 6'1" (was 5'11 3/4" from high school but found somehow I gained height in 2005 at age 47 during an insurance physical). When I took up golf again in 2006 (not much playing since 1993 and not even swinging a club between 2003-2005), I was trying to adjust to using graphite shafted clubs and using a driver (I played with laminated and persimmon 3 and 4 woods since 1972). I was cutting fw woods and hybrids 1" to get them to hit properly and played with steel shafts up until the end of 2009. I'd also been using off the shelf clubs up until the end of 2008. I found that a 45" driver is just about right for me. With 44" (and I hit both a 975D and a Ping G2) I tended to have a bit of a fade). Also found out the ideal fairway wood had a length of 41.5-42" with a lie angle of 58*.
  27. Does anyone know the swingweight of the yonex ceramic head circa 1990's?, and how i could get the same feel with my d2? Seemed like the head was much heavier. I am really struggling, to feel the head working my hands.

  28. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    In regards to cutting woods.....

    I have a Burner HT Draw that I just shortened to 44.5" (which is 1.25" shorter than stock; I bought it 45" with Winn Excel RF grip).  I installed a Winn Lite Dri Tac Jumbo grip.  All my drivers since 2007 have been that length.  I can swing away with it and still hit it dead straight (before if I would get anxious, I would hit a push fade).  There is only a diff of 1 swingweight point vs stock.

    My 7 wood is 41" and I gained 10 yards on the launch monitor by shortening it 1/2".   I use this in place of the 5W and 4H when I want to play a light bag.

    I also have a couple Superfast clubs (5W and 4H) that are 1/2" shorter than stock and I hit them very solid. With a Winn Lite Dri Tac jumbo grip, they weigh in at D4.

    So here we have some clubs that about 32g lighter than stock with the same swingweight - faster swing speed.   The other thing is that TM is long to begin with. 

  29. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    Lou G said:

    In regards to cutting woods.....

    I have a Burner HT Draw that I just shortened to 44.5" (which is 1.25" shorter than stock; I bought it 45" with Winn Excel RF grip).  I installed a Winn Lite Dri Tac Jumbo grip.  All my drivers since 2007 have been that length.  I can swing away with it and still hit it dead straight (before if I would get anxious, I would hit a push fade).  There is only a diff of 1 swingweight point vs stock.

    My 7 wood is 41" and I gained 10 yards on the launch monitor by shortening it 1/2".   I use this in place of the 5W and 4H when I want to play a light bag.

    I also have a couple Superfast clubs (5W and 4H) that are 1/2" shorter than stock and I hit them very solid. With a Winn Lite Dri Tac jumbo grip, they weigh in at D4.

    So here we have some clubs that about 32g lighter than stock with the same swingweight - faster swing speed.   The other thing is that TM is long to begin with. 

    Quite frankly, when it comes time to upgrade to new driver and fairways, Titleist is the choice (tax refund present!).  The other vendors are an inch longer and 1 degree more upright (TM and CG) and having them fit would be a bit of a Herculean effort to maintain proper swingweight (for instance, TM is using the Lite grips already on stock clubs).  1/2" from stock length on a Titleist club is not a huge deal because it is quite easy to make up 3 swingweight points.   

Please login to post a comment.

Sign In

Haven't registered for Team Titleist yet?

Sign Up