Tiger, Shaft Change, Distance...

In the June 2006 edition of Golf Digest Tiger talks about gaining distance in his drives, by among other things, "switiching to a lighter and longer shaft (45 inches instead of 43.5)

Would that increase in shaft length add that much more distance? I relaize a longer shaft is supposed to be harder to control - but what about if your taller - what about the guys five foot five using a regular sized shaft as oppossed to a guy 6'2 using a shaft a little longer.... isn't still easier for the taller guy..... or is it that a longer shaft is more difficult -perod.



Thanks,



James

Hi James,

The new Taylormade burners have a 45 inch shaft, usually stepping up to a 45 inch, you need to have a 50 gram shaft.

I think it's 5mph club head speed for every extra inch when fitted to a machine not a human, 45 being max. As for taller guys, they have long arms also creating width but this does not always mean distance, Woosnam was once the longest hitter on tour at 5ft odd, clubhead speed is created by arms, wrists and body core strength not just a longer shaft.

I have a Burner TP with a 50 gram shaft, I quite like the lighter shaft.

Hope this helps

Ian.

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All other things being equal; A lighter shaft will increase CHS and a longer shaft will increase CHS.

As for the taller/shorter thing, by all means a taller guy is going to use a longer shaft - and undoubtedly find it easier to swing as he'll be in a more athletic position. We need to look at how long the shaft is relative to your ability to control it. 7'7" with no arm strength my find a 48" driver difficult to leverage, while 5'8" with no arm strength could struggle with 42". However, 5'8" with a ton of strength can easily handle 48".

I've been talking to a fitter in Indiana who swears by a heavier shaft at the same length, and only use flex for feel. His results with it are pretty good. I've subscribed to the 'use the stiffest shaft you like the feel of' theory for a while. If you can hit it Tour distances, then shouldn't you be using Tour flexes? Not one of those guys is using anything softer than X - and in fact, their X flex gear is usually tipped some more. Why? For consistency and accuracy.

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It's closer to 1mph per inch. I've seen Veejay swing his 9i to about 98mph for a total distance of 168 yards. Considering that he can hit his driver 300 yards, and for 300 yards the ball must be launched at a minimum of 110mph, 1mph per inch sounds just right.

A long club is more difficult to use than a short club. Even with a large head with a large sweet spot, the driver is still the most difficult club to use because of its length. For any extra length to make a difference in total distance, the ball must be struck at least as well as with the shorter club. Since the longer club is more difficult to use, any clubhead speed gain from the additional length is overwhelmed by the extra difficulty of that same extra length. For clubhead speed to mean anything, it must be transmitted to the ball.

Tiger may have used a longer driver for a while. He went back to a shorter club with a steel shaft for a time. Maybe the longer club wasn't right or whatever. But that should tell us something about the shorter club.

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