3 Critical Keys to Increasing Driver Distance
What golfer isn’t impressed by the driver distance of tour players? But what about us mere mortals with our 60 to 90-something mph swing speeds? The number one thing that keeps all of us from hitting the ball farther is the physics of impact, otherwise translated to mean “if you don’t have the swing speed, you can’t hit the ball to the screen at the end of the practice range.” But there are three things in a driver which, if matched and custom fit accurately to your swing, can bring about a good bit more distance.
Critical Key #1
The LENGTH of your driver is critical. If you buy into the premise that the longer the driver, the longer the drive, you have just bought into a load of malarkey and you’ll be destined to a constant fight with your #1 wood. There is one and only one exception to this rule – if you have a rhythmic swing tempo that is as smooth as silk, an inside out to square swing path and if you have a late wrist-cock release, you can get a few more yards with a longer driver length.
Unfortunately, for most golfers those swing traits are rare which translates to mean a shorter driver length is better. The longer the length of the driver, the harder it is to consistently hit the ball on-center and solid. If you miss the “sweet spot” on the face of your driver by only a half-inch, you just gave away some 5% of your potential distance. Miss it by a full inch and you lose 10% of your potential distance.
Standard length men’s drivers today are between 45.5 and 46.5 inches in length. Women’s drivers are only 1 inch shorter. Now think about this – the average driver length on the PGA Tour since 2005 has remained steady at 44.5”. If the pros could hit a 45.5”- 46.5” driver consistently solid and accurate, bet the farm they would be using that length because distance with control is a huge advantage in this game. Unless your swing is smooth as silk with an inside out path and a late release, tip number 1 is to be custom fit for the driver length that best matches your swing tempo, swing path release and golf athletic ability.
Critical Key #2
For maximizing your driver distance is the LOFT angle on the face of your driver. If your swing speed is 90-100mph and your driver loft angle is lower than 11 degrees, 90% of you are losing distance by playing the wrong loft. If your swing speed is 80-85 mph, the average driver swing speed of a male golfer today, you’re giving up real distance increases of at least 10 yards or more if you are not using a driver with a loft angle of at least 12-13 degrees. And if you have a swing speed under 80mph and you’re not using a driver with at least 14-15 degrees of loft, you too have more distance waiting to be unleashed.
Critical Key #3
Total Weight and Swingweight of your driver is critical key #3. In other words, we’re talking about how much your driver weighs (total weight), and of that weight, how much of it is in the head (swingweight). The total weight and the headweight of your driver have to be matched to your physical strength, your swing tempo and your golfing athletic ability. Play with too light of a total weight or swingweight for your strength, tempo and ability and your percentage of off-center hits increases. Play with the right total weight and swingweight for your strength, tempo and ability and you will achieve the most successful combination of distance, accuracy and consistency.
Addressing these three points for YOUR swing through proper custom clubfitting can only be done by an experienced custom clubmaker, so FIND A CLUBFITTER near you and you will see 10 or more yards off the tee this year!
Tom
Tom you’re awesome. I joined the conversation over a year ago. I am still benefiting from your willingness to helping me grow as a golfer. Thank you Sir!
Hi Tom,my problem is high ball flight. I am an older player and after 50 years of golf I still launch too high to suit me. I play an 8.5* M4 with a senior shaft. I have tried every setting on the club (down to 6.5*) and many different shafts, different flexes as well. I am an equipment junkie so I constantly try things. At my age (70) I think I am maxed out as to length (210) but I know the ball will go farther if I could hit it lower. Do you have any thoughts about something I… Read more »
RANDY I’ll be at that same age number in 2020 so I am thinking with my experience in studying tons of golfers in fitting research that the reason for your high flight is not the club or shaft or anything to do with equipment. I’m thinking that it’s because you are allowing the clubhead to pass the hands before impact which increases loft and from that causes the higher shot. WIth the driver the proper position is a straight line down from the left shoulder, left arm, through the hands and down the shaft to the head. With the irons… Read more »
Hi Tom, I have Ping G SFT driver which I cut to 44” based on your recommendation. Looks like I need to add about (1.5” x 12g) to the head to bring SW back to original spec. My plan is to replace removal weight with 17g one and add some heavy duty lead tapes.
Could adding too much weight in concentrated spot (for example using much heavier 17g removal weight), negatively affect performance?
Thank you!
TIM For golfers with a driver clubhead speed under 90-95mph and who are average ability to below avg ability ball strikers, a concentration of 20 grams in one area of the head will not really result in a consistently perceptible change of ball flight from what they are used to seeing. But as clubhead speed increases over 100mph and especially over 105-110mph AND combined with being a decent ball striker who hits more than half of the shots on center, a concentration of 20g or more in one area of the head would result in a more consistent change of… Read more »
Tom,
I was fit for a new Titleist TS2 Driver 45.25 inches but a D7 swingweight. Do you find that to be generally a heavy swingweight? I want to say it’s 4 points above standard. What are the benefits of a heavier Driver? I’m 53 and swing around 95mph, average around 230-240 yards, including rollout. I can change the weight to 4g less with a separate weight I bought. The weight is toward the back of the head and replaceable. Thank you.
CLIFF Keep in mind there are two different weights when it comes to a golf club, the TOTAL WEIGHT and then the head weight feel which is measured as the swingweight. yes for sure D7 is a very high swingweight and would be in today’s equipment 6 swingweight points higher than average. What happens if a golfer ends up with too high of a swingweight can be, 1) a noticeable increase in the amount of effort to swing the club on the downswing to impact, in some cases so much more than the golfer starts to move around more as… Read more »
Mr. Wishon, I have an 11-year-old daughter who is a pretty good local golfer (adveraging low 40s for 9 holes on the US Kids tour). However, she’s not as long of a hitter as I would expect for her swing speed, which is 60-62 mph. She uses a US Kid’s UltraLight 54 driver. Her typical swing specs are as follows: ~4* out-to-in path with face about 3* open to path, AoA of about 1.5 to 2* up, backspin ranging from 2,400 to 2,900, and smash factor of 1.35 to 1.4. Carry on a GCQuad is about 100 yards. We’re exploring… Read more »
DANNY That’s VERY impressive your daughter is averaging low 40s in her play at just the age of 11. Wow that is a fantastic start to the game for her. Typically a golfer with a 60mph clubhead speed with the driver would average a maximum carry distance of around 110 yds depending on the loft of the driver being used. Much higher lofts will carry the ball longer for slower swing speed players. You did not say what the loft of her driver is. But if it is less than 15-16* then that would be way too low of a… Read more »
I am in the market for a new driver and looked through your recommendations. You list out a clubmaker near me but when I contacted him, he said he doesn’t do radar fittings anymore. Instead, he uses frequency of the shaft and eyeballs swing speed, tempo, and release point through a few swings at waffle balls.
Is this a true fitting by your standards or would a person need a little more data such as spin rate and angles of attach to truly fit you for the right club?
FRANK While there are some VERY experienced clubfitters who can eyeball a lot of the golfer’s requirements to come up with proper fitting specs, it is not exactly an approach that wins the confidence of very many golfers. I know I can do that and I know several clubmakers who after MANY fittings can as well, but it’s just not the way to win over the golfer and make them feel good about the fitting session. What you might do is ask him to provide you with contact information for a couple 2-3 golfers who he has fit and contact… Read more »
I’m 63 years old and have been playing golf for over 50 years. My swing speed with a driver is 85 to 90 mph. I have worked hard on increasing angle of attack and 9 to 9.5° of loft gives me my best carry and roll.I play 5.5 handicap now. You suggest a loft of more than 11° would suit my swing speed. I have tried them and they reach for the stars, a balloon flight with no roll out. My attack angle is positive. My average drive is 230 to 240 yards. Smash factor usually over 1.45. Spin about… Read more »
Graham I never like to suggest a loft based on the clubhead speed only because the angle of attack plays such an important role in determining what loft is best for what golfer with the driver. If a golfer says nothing about their angle of attack then one can only go on the clubhead speed when making a loft recommendation and in such a case there can be a situation as you describe where the loft that is generally OK for an 85-90mph speed ends up not being right because the presence of a more upward angle of attack was… Read more »
I promise this is my last question related to this… I added the 25g grip to the 44″ club and it feels very light. Weighing it on my non-digital postage scale it looks to be about 10.25 ounces. My 4 and 7 are both 12 ounces and I can feel the difference holding the club. I know you mentioned not trying to get it to a particular swing weight, but for comparison sake if I were to get the club to D3, once with a 25g grip and once with a 50g I would imagine I would have two pretty… Read more »
DAVE No problem!! At 10.25 oz vs 12oz for the other clubs, you are feeling the TOTAL WEIGHT difference which is independent from the head weight feel. These are the two separate weight feel elements of every golf club and they both USUALLY have to be balanced for a golfer to feel good about the overall weight feel of his clubs. I say USUALLY because by adding head weight through experimentation it can be possible to HIDE the light total weight of a club with a heavier head weight feel. This is because as you keep adding head weight, the… Read more »
Waiting on my lead tape and lighter grip to show up in the mail but I couldn’t help myself and cut the driver to 44″. Today I played it as is at C2.5 and that didn’t work so well. (Tried using foil tape and 2 quarters on the back of the sole, but they were gone pretty quickly.) When I get the lead tape would it be fine to wrap it around the ferrule? as far as changing any characteristics of the head and ball flight? The end of the shaft seems less obtrusive visually to me for some reason.… Read more »
DAVE It’s good you tried to play the driver after the cut with no head weight added so you can see the importance of having enough “heft” in the head to enable you to achieve the timing and rhythm you need to hit the ball ok. Now you can do the lead tape addition a little at a time and learn some more about the importance of head weight feel AND to learn what YOU react better to with your swing characteristics and sense of feel. Don’t put the lead tape on the ferrule. It’ll look way too odd before… Read more »
Well I feel like a heel for giving you the wrong information for your very descriptive response. That was a typo of sorts, the the shaft is currently 45.75 But everything you told me still applies I think, just less tape it sounds like. Right now thinking of going to 44.5 which would be -1.25″ so -7.5 in swing weight, so D3 down to C5.5. With the grip, +5 SW, gets me back to D 0.5 My fairways (4 & 7, though I can’t and don’t really hit the 4) are D1 so that seems pretty workable. But it sounds… Read more »
DAVE OK< that makes a lot more sense. Lots of companies have their standard driver length between 45-46" so this falls into that. Everything I told you still applies, yes. Your calculations in your comment are correct. You might also try cutting down the 4 wood by 1" and doing the same lead tape experimenting for the head weight feel and you may be surprised that one improves for you as well. Length in the woods and driver is a SUPREMELY critical spec for golfers. And over the past few decades the big companies have all been pushing their lengths… Read more »
I’m relatively new to golf and using a stock 47.5 regular flex G10 10.5 driver, with supposedly a D3 swing weight. I’m looking at cutting it down to 44.5. From reading this that would reduce the swing weight by 7.5 points (does that -3 per 1/2″ apply to graphite too?). I don’t know how much the stock ping grip weighs, but assuming it’s 50grams, if I use a 25 gram grip that in theory adds back 5 swing weight points. Just curious if that change in grip weight is going to help at all as far as keeping the feel… Read more »
DAVE Thanks very much for your comment/question. Yes, all of the comments have to be approved before they are posted because as you well know, these days all comments fields on websites are targeted by tons of spam. I am the only person who handles this comments part of the website because I very much like answering myself, but I do not always get to check to see what’s come in to approve it every day. But since you are reading this you are now “approved”!! Wow, I had no idea you could buy a stock driver at 47.5″ in… Read more »
Hi Tom, Great article and comment thread. Can you please help me fine tune my driver fitting? 34 years old. 5 handicap, upgrading my tech after many (>10) years. 2 recent driver fittings at different premium fitters with Trackman. Both independently arrived at the exact same driver head & shaft combo. Only difference: Fitting #1 – D3.5 swing weight. Swing speed 117-123mph, carries 295-310, 10-15 yards of rollout, many fades & hard cuts, struggled to hit it straight. Fitting #2 – D9 swing weight. Swing speed 112-117mph, carries 280-295, 5-10 yards of rollout, but much tighter dispersion and straighter flight.… Read more »
DANIEL: Happy to help. Did either of the fitters spend any time talking to you and fitting you for the proper length, loft, face angle of the driver beyond just working with you on the shaft and head model? If not, then you were not fit by a competent fitter. Period. Likelihood of you having long term success with a swingweight as high as D9 is slim unless when you swung it, it did not even begin to feel heavy when you swung the club. But the likelihood of coming out with the best driver for you and your swing… Read more »
Dear Mr. Wishon, If I know something about golf equipment I thank you, because I try to read and watch most of the stuff you publish. Thanks a lot! I’ve been playing this wonderful game since 1972. And back in those days here in Brazil we had nothing, we still don’t have much nowadays! Few golf courses, few golf clubs, few golf balls. My first iron set was a Wilson Staff forged blades that I played for more than 20 years. I used to be a good golfer, my lowest index was 3 and my lowest score in competition was… Read more »
Carlos Many thanks for taking the time to come to our website and share your experience. We appreciate that very much and I thank you personally for your interest in the technology side of golf clubs. That’s really great that you have an interest in reading and listening to what I teach. I’m 67 now and I am most definitely at that stage in my own game where I just have to accept that the body cannot function as it did so my clubhead speed has begun to decrease from what it was. I agree, it is not fair. But… Read more »
Mr. Wishon, this was a great article that taught me a lot about driver distance and its relation to swing weight. And, I learned a lot by reading your responses to comments. I think the psychology of gaining 5-10 yards gets into my head, and most golfers’ heads, way too much. I am 65 (!) years old, and the other day, I played a good 6300-yard track. I am gaming a Cobra F-Max offset driver, 11.5, light shaft, swing weight D0. With my 75-77 MPH club head speed, I hit 13 of 14 fairways and at around 195 yds. per… Read more »
ROBERT Thanks very much for taking your time to dig us up and read a little bit to help you know you have been on the right track with your driver selection and play. And thanks for stopping in to let us and the others know! We appreciate that. 195 and 13/14 fwys for 75-77mph is very, very good. The only way I can say there could be more distance out there for you is if you play moist, lush fairways that are not conducive to much roll after carry. In that case moving up to a 13* loft could… Read more »
Hi Tom, I went for a driver fitting recently and was fitted for a Titleist 917D2 9.5 degree head on a Mitsubishi Diamana Red Board 50g Regular shaft. This seemed a low loft to me, and this appears to be borne out by this blog. I have only an 82mph swing speed, though I do hit up a lot (5-7 degrees). I was shown the Trackman optimiser result for one of the shots I hit and according to that, my fit was optimised. 15.9 degree launch and 2100rpm spin, fitting perfectly within each of the optimiser bars. Am I just… Read more »
PETER Always happy to help with information and thanks very much for your interest ! The reason you can occasionally hit the optimal launch parameters with a 9.5* driver loft with your 82mph clubhead speed is in fact because you do have a substantial upward angle of attack into the ball. By swinging up on the ball 5 to 7* that is what in fact is adding loft to the shot at the moment of impact to get your launch angle up there at 15.9*. When you have such an upward A of A, that allows you to use less… Read more »
Thanks for your response. I do tend to hit my driver pretty straight, just not very long. In fairness to the fitter, we did try 44 and 44.5 inch lengths as well as 46. The 46 was WAY less consistent. There wasn’t much noticeable difference between the 45 and the shorter lengths in terms of dispersion and just a few yards in terms of distance. I felt most comfortable with the 45, which might have had something to do that. I didn’t see much difference either between the 12g and 14g weight, not just in terms of draw bias (I… Read more »
Tom, Thank you for all the great information you have provided. I have an issue finding the right driver head to match my Aldila Synergy 75 TSX tipped 1″. CHS is 125 AOA 2.4-3.0 Ball speed 185-188 Path 2″ inside/out I have played the Epic Sub Zero 9″ head weight 204 without adapter heavy weight forward. Ball flight launch around 11-12″ spin around 2300 rpm. Apex is around 130. Carry distance is around 325-330 but ball lands and rolls maybe 2-4 yards even on hard fairways. A real issue into the wind to feel confident. I recently tried a SLDR… Read more »
Harrison Thanks much for the kind words and for taking your time to stop by to ask for some help. It’s tough via email to know precisely where all the launch monitor differences are truly coming from because there are several variables involved that most people do not think of, and which happen to be factors that tend to show up only for a player of your extreme clubhead speed. In telling you what these variables are it may not help because some of them require a very advanced and experienced club technology person to dig into to find out.… Read more »
My driver swing speed is in the 95 area although my 3 wood is about 94 almost the same …using that ultra light Cleveland 12degree reg flex driver still seems not getting that much distance maybe 220 with the driver. I am now 73
Tom, I am considering trying a 8 gram weight in the butt end of a 60 gram graphite X flex shaft 45.5′ with a driver head weight 203grams. My current driver is 70 grams and with the same head of 203 grams it play at D5 at 45.5′. How much would the swing weight drop? How much weight would i need to add to the need to return to D5? What possible changes with just adding weight in the grip only do to club head speed, launch, shaft stiffness and spin? Thank you again for all your help. Harrison
Harrison For weight added to the grip end of the club, for each 4g you add there, the swingweight DROPS by one point. 8g = 2 swingweight point reduction. For each 2g you add to the head, the swingweight increases by one point. An 8 gram addition in the very end of the shaft typically would be almost undetectable because it is such a small weight increase IN THE HANDS. 8 grams in the head, yes for sure you would feel thatas being a much more pronounced head heavy feel during the swing. But if you add 8g to the… Read more »
I’m interested in adding weight (lead tape) to the shaft of my irons, rather than buying new shafts. Shafts are 85 grams uniflex. I figure it makes a difference where I place the tape, below the grip, halfway down the shaft, at the hosel. Is it better to wrap it around the shaft or at flat lengths?
MARK If you want the weight addition to the shaft to NOT change the swingweight/head weight feel of the club(s), you have to add the lead tape so it is centered on a point that is 14″ down from the end of the grip. That’s the fulcrum point for a swingweight scale. Any weight below that point adds to the swingweight, any weight above that point drops it. You should though do this in strips, with the center of each strip at 14″ down from the end of the grip. If you wrap continuously around the shaft, it will create… Read more »
MR. WISHON I AM A HUGE FAN OF YOURS!I RECENTLY CUT (2) OF MY TAYLORMADE DRIVERS DOWN DOWN 2″ AND ADDED 20 GRAMS OF LEAD TAPE TO SOLE.ITS INCREDIBLE SPLITTING FAIRWAYS AND LONG.MY TEACHER (PRO) WAS DAVE CARDY YOU MIGHT KNOW HIM AS YOU ARE BOTH FRIENDS OF STEVE MILLER.DAVE CARDY STILL HOLDS THE COURSE RECORD 58 IN DEC.1978 MILL VALLEY, OF WHICH I THINK YOU WORKED AT THAT CLUB.JUST CURIOUS IF YOU KNEW DAVE? TO ME HE WAS THE BEST BALL STRIKER I HAD EVER SEEN IN THE BAY AREA AND GREAT TEACHER AND FRIEND.I AM CURRENTLY AT 62… Read more »
JIM WOW, WOW, and triple WOW ! Absolutely – D.C. (as we called him way back then) was a great friend in this great game back in the Mill Valley GC days. I always thought it was remarkable that all three of Steve’s road crew were very good players but DC was the best for sure. He was what I used to say, “Sneaky Good” – you’d watch him swing and not be all that impressed but darn it, the ball went where it was supposed to most all of the time. By the way, DC may not know this… Read more »
Hello Tom,
I’d truly appreciate your help. I have a set of clubs with a d5 swingweight- I really have to slow down to keep a good tempo.
My father in laws old sand wedge is weighted at F5. It feels perfect!
I’m now thinking of using lead powder down the shaft to up the swingweight of my irons and driver?
Is this the best route or what should I do? I’m 6′ 7″ and I weight about 300 pounds. So I have no problems with F4 and I feel the club head the entire time.
RAY There is no question that most golfers who are much larger and stronger have to play with much higher swingweight clubs or else the clubs will feel too light and their swing tempo is going to be adversely affected. In addition, golfers can certainly “get used to” different specifications that might otherwise be thought to be too heavy or in some cases too light. Our bodies have a remarkable ability to get used to the feeling of different weight. Very often a golfer might pick up a heavier club and on days 1 to 10 it feels heavy but… Read more »
hi Tom!
one very confused golfer. hope you can help! I’m cutting 1″ off my 915 d2 titliest driver it currently has a red 9grm weight inserted! what weight would I need to replace the current 9 for? cheers!
CHRIS For each one inch you shorten an existing golf club, the swingweight is going to drop by 6 points. So that means if the starting swingweight of the driver was say, D1, cutting one inch off will make it around C5. Just a tiny bit under 2 grams = 1 swingweight point. So if you wished to get it back up to D1 after the one inch length cut, you would need to add 11 grams to the head. so the 9g weight would have to stay in the head and somehow another 11 grams would have to be… Read more »
Tom, thanks for all of the great information over the years. I have followed your comments closely and have really changed my set make up with great results. I have made sure to keep my drivers at 44″ with a loft of 11.5* or higher. With a clubhead speed in the low 90’s I have had great success getting my fairways hit up to 60% and my handicap down to 6. I have one fairway wood (Callaway Heavenwood) that has worked great for me because of the increased loft. As far as irons go, the longest iron I have is… Read more »
Steve: Thanks very much for taking the time to stop in and offer your kind words. Much appreciated for sure ! An offset driver can be a very good way for golfers to reduce a slice who dislike or are confused by the appearance of a driver with a closed face angle. I’ve seen it many times in my career when a golfer addresses the ball with a closed face driver for the first time and struggles with how to deal with the fact that he has to make the swing with the face pointing to the left and not… Read more »
Mr. Wishon, I’m a big admirer and long time reader. I’ve never asked you anything but feel you’re the only person who could give a cogent answer to my dilemma. I’ve been as low as +4 and am now a 1. My game is all about the 4 and 5 PARs and specifically HOW I’m getting off the tee. I’m strong at 6’2″ 200lbs and routinely hit the ball 290-300yds. But, 290yds in the trees left is a stinker. I’m a fast talker, fast player and fast all around so I have a fast swing/tempo with a late release. Fast… Read more »
TOMMY Sure thing and thanks very much for taking the time to visit and write. Players who are strong, very aggressive and who tend to always fight being too quick with their tempo and rhythm typically will do better with clubs that offer a lot of resistance to their swing move. Meaning much heavier overall and heavier in head weight OR. . . . much higher in the MOI of the assembled club. Don;t get confused here. I am talking about the MOI of the whole club, not the MOI of the head on its own. MOI of the head… Read more »
Hi Tom, I am wondering if you could help me figure out something. I Can hit my 3 wood as far as I can hit my new Driver. The 3 wood is standard length and has a swing weight of D3, but my new driver is 46.5 and has a swing weight of D1. Will chopping the driver to say 44.5 and adding some lead tape to make it to D3 increase its distance. I can hammer my 3 wood approx 250ish, and I only recently bought the new driver hoping to get back to my old 270ish distance but… Read more »
MIKE Sure thing and this is not as unusual as you may think. There can be a couple of different reasons for this but by far the most common reason a golfer hits his 3w as far or sometimes farther than his driver is, 1) the higher loft of the 3w gives the golfer a better launch angle for his clubhead speed and angle of attack to allow the ball to fly and carry the max distance capable for the golfer’s speed and A of A; 2) the much longer length of the driver is causing more off center hits… Read more »
Wow thanks for the quick reply Tom. I was already planning on chopping i, but I was on the launch monitor at Golftown and they said my numbers were good with my driver set to 10 degree. I hit a high ball as it is, except for the fact that I can smash my 3 wood and the trajectory is piercing and at the angle I would desire for my driver. Also, the head feels a lot heavier than my driver(Ping G). If I cut down the shaft, will I have to add lead tape to the head or can… Read more »
MIKE NEVER add the weight to the head end of a Driver with lead or tungsten powder down the shaft. 99.9% of all drivers are made with graphite shafts. ALl graphite shafts have far smaller core area down the center of the shaft than do steel shafts. That means any powder ends up being much higher up inside the shaft in a graphite shaft than it will in a steel shaft. Then you have the problem of securing the powder down there. With larger ID steel shafts, there are corks made of a proper size that can be tamped down… Read more »
Thanks for all the help Tom. I will defo be checking you out for my next purchase.
Hey Tom one last question if you don’t mind. If I cut down this 55 gr regular shaft 1.75 inches will it affect the flex of the shaft? I have been reading that by cutting it from the butt and adding weight to the head that it will make it even more whippy. Do I have to cut from the butt and the tip? and if it is as D2 right now, how how many grams of weight will i need to add to the head to get it back to where it was?
Sorry for so many questions Tom.
MIKE Not at all, that is precisely why I am here and the reason I enjoy helping with as much info as you need is because it is so hard to get good, truthful info about golf clubs what with all the misinformation out there. WRONG on a butt cut making the shaft more flexible. yes you are cutting from the stiffer part of the shaft, but you are making the shaft shorter in length by a good bit. EVERY time you cut a shaft shorter, no matter from what end, you make it stiffer. By cutting from the butt,… Read more »
ok, this will for sure be my last question. I am going to also re grip my driver, and all of my clubs and i need to go to an undersize grip due to small hands. The Ping round5lL is 52 for standard size which is on my club now, but I want to go to the Cp2 undersize grip which is 45 grams. Will I need to another 2 grams of head weight on top of the 20 grams for this if I wanted to return everything back to D2? I will tinker with it but I just wanted… Read more »
Cut the club, install the lighter grip, add weight to get the club back to around C9 to start with, not all the way to D2 yet. What you are seeking is enough head WEIGHT FEEL during the swing so your tempo is not quick, so you don;t have to keep telling yourself to slow down to hit a good shot. When you shorten a club, the more you shorten it, the more it changes what the head weight feel will be for any given swingweight measurement. So start this out after the length cut and new grip installation at… Read more »
Tom, I just bought a Taylormade R15 driver partly because it has the highest swing weight I could find. Even then it’s only D4 as apposed to D3 or D2. I haven’t found woods I like the feel of since my Hogan persimmon woods I had in high school. I know that velocity has an exponentially greater impact on distance than mass but If you can’t hit it on the screws it’s all mute. Just wondering what the pros use, and if there is a way I can tinker with swing weight without spending a lot of money. At least… Read more »
RICK: If you have had a considerable lay off from the game, then yes, take some more time to practice and when you feel that you are somewhat back where you were or rather, sensing that you are at a point where you are “consistently inconsistent” with your shot pattern, then think about going for a good fitting analysis with an experienced clubfitter. If you find the right fitter, he would have the ability to take your old persimmon driver if you still had it and measure all of its specs including its swing moment of inertia and use that… Read more »
Tom, I noticed that the only post you did not respond to was from May 25, 2013. The question that was presented was a very legitimate question that seems to be fairly scientifically based. To restate the question, given the same swing/ clubhead speed, attack angle, swing path, loft, and lie, will a ball travel further if struck by a club with an identical overall weight but higher clubhead weight versus one with a lower clubhead weight. I don’t believe that they were trying to say that your clubs were inferior or that you would avoid the question based on… Read more »
BRAD Very sorry if I missed a question. I don’t dodge any questions so I am not sure how I might have missed that. All other things being equal it is possible for a club with a heavier clubhead to generate a higher ball speed to thus have some potential for more distance. However, the difference is so very small that it’s unlikely any golfer would notice the difference before the head weight got so heavy that the golfer started to have problems making decent swings or having a problem with losing clubhead speed and losing distance that way. But… Read more »