Originally Posted by Martin Levac

And I'll have to disagree with you. The modern driver is sold with a flexible 46" graphite shaft. It offsets any benefit that the larger head may provide. That's probably why the average player still plays at the same level he used to play 100 years ago or at any other time in the past. That you can hit the ball 250 is not average, it's quite above average. That your wife can hit the ball 200 is not average, it's above average as well. The average is about 200 for men and about 150 for women.

If you will compare the average length of professional player's driver shafts, you will notice that it's far from 46" and closer to 43". If the pros prefer to use 43" drivers and even then it's obvious that they aren't so accurate, why do average players expect to send the ball farther by using a longer club if because of its additional length it becomes even more difficult to make proper contact and thus transmit power to the ball?

Where I play, nobody can hit the driver and land on the fairway at will. It's all a matter of chance, it seems. They're all playing the lottery.

The original poster got it dead on. Use a shorter club, hit the ball better, play better overall, score better, have more fun.