Driver shaft length effect club head speed

The average driver shaft length on tour is roughly 44. In our group averages, the regular flex shaft created a little more club head speed, more ball speed, and a slightly higher smash factor. The combination of the driver head and shaft is crucial. Adding length to a driver can boost clubhead speed and distance, but the extra length makes it harder to control the clubhead, and a center face hit has the most affect on distance. Counterbalanced shafts are configured to add more weight near the butt of the club, creating a lighter head feel, reduce swing weight by 2 to 3 points, and generating more club head speed. All this translated to a total distance that was 2 yards longer than the xstiff and 5 yards longer than the stiff flex. The only way to find out the best shaft length for your game is to hit shots on a launch monitor and discover your club speed, ball speed, distance and dispersion with different lengths of shaft. And why they arent necessarily uniform throughout the industry. Importance of shaft weight in fitting dlance golfd.

In many ways, the biggest effect of lengthening a club shaft is how it affects your ability to swing the club. For the past few months, ive knowingly been flouting the 14 club rule by carrying two drivers. Since i have a problem with a wrist injury that limits my ability to create a good shaft angle to create club head speed, i concentrate on allowing gravity to do the work instead of my shoulders. Of course, you dont have to trim the shaft to shorten a club for the sake of accuracyyou could just order new shafts in the desired length. But when in doubt, always err on the side of more flexibility in the shaft. The key for hitting the ball far is to translate the club head speed into ball speed. The influence of golf driver mass and shaft length on initial golf ball launch conditions was investigated. Or, to give you another alternative, if you find that you can hit your driver better at a shorter than standard length such as. Explaining the effect of wrong shaft flex in golf clubs. You want to optimize all these factors for your swing and your ball flight.

So my question is if one inch will be sufficient or should i opt for more. Perhaps more than anything else, added shaft length has increased driver distances. What our customers are looking for is what are the best driver and shaft combinations that we have fit so far in 2019. If clubs are shortened and no weight is added back to the clubhead, the chances of the length reduction having the desired effect are somewhere between slim and none. The golf club shaft length and driving distance relationship. The length, flex, torque, kickpoint, weight and alignment of the shaft all have an effect on the performance of your golf club. Dont get caught up copying them head to a local club fitter and find out exactly what golf club shaft flex is the right fit for you. All testing was done at, and with the help of, club champion.

When discussing the manner of fitting the shaft weight and total weight of a golf club, the conversation should also include fitting the swing weight, or better stated, the head weight feel of the golf club at the same time. The combined changes in length and swing weight make the club feel different. Why drivers vary in length and swingweight do you ever wonder why drivers are a particular length or swingweight. In the march hotlinks, club expert tom wishon wrote that one key to real improvement with the driver comes from a shorter length. Our testing found no clear link between shaft length and accuracy. If you look at the picture to the left, these are just a few of the steel iron shafts available and they run the range from 85 grams to grams. A swing weight measuring machine image via golfsmith example, a golfer must then exert more force to swing the golf club. I have been reading the posts about shaft length and weight and i wanted to share what i have tried and what works for me.

Question 1 what is the effect of club length on clubhead speed. Sortable by golfer and shaft length, this tab provides a head to head. Head weights, shaft weights and balance points oh my. The longer shaft promises more speed but possibly less control while the shorter shaft promises more consi. Golf club shaft flex and the effect on driving distance.

Driver dave hits a regular shafted steel driver 240 yards. For many of you that might actually decrease your distance. Effect of driver shaft length on distance i have a 2006 ti460 cleveland launcher, with the standard cleveland sliver aflex shaft, and the clubs length is 45. As the shaft flexes and releases, the golf club s clubhead changes position. As shaft length increases, clubhead speed also increases. For example, most golfers assume that getting a lower loft on their driver will increase distance. With the longer clubs, a heavier head can be hard to swing fast and it can also make the shaft behave differently. The club head itself, of course, is one important factor. The effect of driver mass and shaft length on initial golf.

Soft stepping andor hard stepping of the shaft can also be performed to tune in the playing characteristics. This may not seem like much but weight can dramatically change your performance. There is a point when the weight of a longer shaft, combined with the awkwardness of controlling the extra length, will result in diminishing clubhead speed. Although many golfers worry that theyre using club shafts that are too soft, it may be more likely that theyre too stiff. Shaft length plays an important role in clubs head speed, path, attack angle and the players ability to make solid contact. Effect of shaft length on the club head speed in golf researchgate. That difference can really show up when it comes to shaft flex. December 29, 2014 distance, golf instruction 1 comment. Many senior golfers play with driver shafts that are too stiff for their needs, and they lose distance as a result. Lengthening the shaft increases the swing weight, which makes the club head feel heavier. These inserts flex like mini trampolines at impact to provide increased cor, ball speed. Each player hit seven drives with each of three driver shaft lengths. You need to be aware of the type of shaft material you are measuring with and make sure that it matches the clubs you would use when out on the course.

Thats why many people drop a point or two in their long irons. I now have a fubuki 50g reg shaft in my driver, but i tend to hit low hooks, which makes me think that the higher torque might be the culprit. Though there isnt a standard length for a driver, most are sold between 45 and 46 inches. I have heard that altering the shaft length of your driver by an inch canshould alter the club speed by up to 4 mph. The best 2019 driver and shaft combinations true fit clubs. Assuming a perfect smash factor rating with the longer club, we should have seen in increase of 1. What do half inch long shafts do to your golf shot. Can a shorter driver shaft length lose you clubbed and distance off the tee. I am a low handicaper and am going to lengthen my clubs because i like the comfortability in terms of posture. Anything longer than 43 resulted in erratic impact all over the face, with erratic.

Wed jan 15, 2014 by dave phillips drivers generally come standard at 4546 inches in length, the longer the driver shaft the potential exists for more distance, theoretically your swing arc would be wider and therefore you could create more speed. Then, he used a graphite driver and hits it about 250 because of the increased clubhead speed. Use our fitting wizard to see which shaft works for you. Add weight to your driver golf club for more distance pga. The maximum length of a driver allowed in golfs rules is 48 inches. I used to play with a diamana ilima r flex shaft, which have a 3. The right weight can mean an extra club in distance.

That means youre not going to find much variation in the weight of drivers, so you have to come up with different ways to make your club heavier. There is also no correlative rule between swing speed and required flexfrequency of shaft to be played. Clubfitters recommend players hit the longest driver that they can control. Every club has unique characteristics, most notably where the center of gravity is. Just as a point of reference the average swing speed on the pga tour is 112 mph, which translates into an average carry of 269 yards. Golf monthly technical editor joel tadman explores the impact. Everybody wants to play the same equipment as their favorite professional players, but they often dont realize just how different a pros swing is from that of a recreational golfer. Only golfers with carry distances above 275 yards and clubhead speeds in excess of 110 mph should use extrastiff shafts. This is because the two weights of a golf club are very much interrelated in their effect on the fitting. It is true that most of the best players in the world use an xflex shaft in their clubs, but that is because they have the power and speed to use them properly. This week gear guy explores the theory that a longer driver shaft. The shaft you use in your driver is another key, as you need to be sure your driver shaft is matched up to the dynamics and speed of your swing. Theres not a ton of flexibility when it comes to surface area and club head size for driver golf clubs available on the market today.

I was unable to control it so i got a pf v2, 86 gram, xflex and played it at 43. Optimum golf club driver length there is very little difference between a 45 inch long driver standard and a 47 inch driver in terms of club head speed. In addition, you should look at clubhead weighting face balanced, heel. In turn, these changes will affect your timing and even your mechanics, perhaps without you even realizing it. Results showed that the increase in the length of the club shaft created an increase in the head speed at the impact on all the subjects. The optimal launch angle depends on the players clubhead speed and ball velocity. A series of carefully selected player tests were used to isolate the coupled influence of club mass and shaft length on initial ball velocity, spin rates, launch angle, and dispersion of impacts across the clubface. It may even make the club too heavy for you, which will slow down your swing speed and. A shorter driver, he said, encourages center contact on the clubface, which leads to longer, straighter drives. The best thing to do is make sure your shaft flex is wellmatched to your swing by meeting with a clubfitter or at least a teaching pro in a hitting bay when buying new clubs. Im a very consistent and straight hitter but can use all the help i can get on. This causes a reduction in clubhead speed, which can reduce distance and cause the club to not feel. Stronger players can use a heavier driver without losing club head speed, generating even more distance.

Golf geeks how the shaft affects performance mygolfspy. With the driver each mph of club head speed generates approximately 2. Also the extra length helps me generate greater club head speed. Each player tested the shafts in a different, random order.

In much the same way, the golf club shaft in your driver could be considered the engine that drives you down the fairway. What is the correct driver loft for the average senior golfer. Does a shorter shaft length lose you clubhead speed. Shortening the length of your driver swing weight and shaft flex. I tend to draw the ball and my club head speed is 9697 mph. The shaft of the golf club is often ignored when it comes to performance, but it is the engine of the golf club. The same shaft with different tipping, length, or club head weight will affect the frequency of the club. Players with the fastest clubhead speeds require the stiffest shafts in their drivers. Contrary to what some might think, there isnt a run on. For this test, we brought together five golfers with a range of swing speeds and handicaps.

We typically would start with club head speed chs to try and understand a general region of flex that may work best. That should be obvious from the numbered items above, some of which in the too flexible. Proper shaft length can significantly influence the direction, consistency and. I originally started with a stiff pl red driver shaft at about 45 as my swing speed increased i went up to an xflex a little longer. The importance of shaft weight in fitting golf clubs cannot be overstated. Torque is not considered a fitting factor unless the shaft is considerably high say 4.

The answers to these questions might be more complicated than what they appear. Most manufacturers will create clubs with a swing weight in the d0 to d2 range. You might have a great club head that is used by some of the best golfers in the world, but if you dont have the right golf club shaft length, it will all be wasted and your drives will fall short of their potential. That is why the cluboratory, our fitting center, has drivers of varying length. The effect of club length on swing speed and distance. In this video we compare the same driver built first with a 45 shaft and then with a 47 shaft to see the differences in speed, distance. Saving around 1518 grams on the butt end of the club is just like adding weight to the club head but wont have the adverse effects as stated above. We believe that the shaft is the part of the club that has the most impact on distance, consistency and accuracy, so that is why we are including our shaft recommendations in this list.