Cut Down Driver

i have a r7 425 driver which my clubmaker suggests cutting down to 43.5"
how will it perform compared to my cobra mspeed 3wood which is 43" long.
what difference will the bigger head and 1/2" longer shaft make?
excuse my ignorance!

Slater

I have not a clue with this club fitting lark, so don't know if this will work or not, why don't you try gripping down on the driver to see how it goes?

rackster,
that is always an option but not a reliabe test as the grip narrows the further down you hold it

Have you figured out what I'm going to say yet?

are you going to suggest getting fitted for a new driver

No no, that's just my own personal recommendation for my own person (but I like trying new things - that's why I'm a club ho - I mean maker.)

Too many people are caught up in this whole half inch thing, IMO.

Now, you're going to notice a big change in swingweight if you cut off 1.5". It's going to feel very, very light (unless you add some weight back to the head).

It will still be longer than your 3 wood - even at, say, 41". Loft takes care of that.

The big head just offers more forgiveness. Way more.

To wit: I play a 13° driver. I carry it ~240 yards (thank you iGolf). With a good tailwind and a clean strike, I can take it out 270 sometimes (carry and roll). Can I slice it? Yep. But it still doesn't go as far off line as my 10° driver does. My 13° driver goes farther than my 15° 3 wood. They're the same length. (There's much more to the story, but that's another story).

So the bottom line is if you can still control your driver cut down that much, then 2 things should happen:

1) You should experience no significant distance loss. Yes, your best hits will be shorter, but overall you should be just as long, or longer for your average (ie I missed the sweet spot) hits.

2) You should find the sweetspot more often. A shorter club is easier to control (apparently).

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I say it too often: If it's golf club shaped, you can play with it.

For the record, I'm a club doctor, not a swing doctor.

I have read that cutting a shaft down 1 inch will cost around 1 mph (actually slightly less) of swing speed. That 1 mph of swing speed with every thing else being equal= about 3 yds of carry.

So I would start with how well are you currently hitting the 425 with a perfect shot. going from a 45 inch driver to a 43.5 is going to cost you less then 5 yds with that shot. I would then compare it to your 3 wood to see the diference. (Because the other variable is loft, some people a 3 wood has a more ideal loft for their swing speed then the fancey driver they purchased, if you notice Lowpost has a 13 degree driver when making the comparison but most drivers are a lot less loft)

But the big question is which club will you find the center of the club face more often with. If you are even slightly more consistant with the 43.5 driver then your 45 inch driver then your total driving shall improve and on average should increase. It also should be easier with a 425 club to find a forgiving spot then with the 3 wood.

great info lp42 and bob
does cutting the shaft down increase or reduce the flex and in so doing, help or hinder getting clubface square at impact?

It marginally increases stiffness (decreases flexing - you're shortening the rod, so to speak); but not enough to notice in a playability sense.

As for getting it to sqaure? That an indian thing, not the arrow.

you have become very cryptic lately ben!

HMMMMM

If you cut your driver down that much two things will happen one everyone has touched on i.e control etc.

There would also be a serious weighting issue, you would need some more weight on the heel side rear, luck has it with the R7 there are ports so you may get away with it if Taylormade do weights heavier than the 14g...??

Too answer your question its choice, you can't hit you driver off the deck (i'm Guessing) so a long 3 wood could be an advantage off the fairway but you will have better control if you cut 1 inch off that too just to even things up a little.

Now I'm confusing myself..............


Ian.

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I am not positive, but I believe that taking the inch or so from the bottom of the club will make it play a lot more stiff, then if you shorten it from the top.

Ian have you considered that if you go cutting your shaft, you can not undo any possible damage. Maybe it would be wiser to visit a pro and get your swing monitored. You might be able to find an easy fix this way, rather than getting the angle grinder out!!

hi rob
i know what you are saying but i am hitting straight or slight draw with every club sw-5i, hybrids and 3wood so shouldnt that suggest that my swing is pretty solid!

hi bob
excuse my ignorance is it more stiff i require?