Driver proper shaft length...

I currently own a R580 with an aldila NV shaft, the shaft is only 44 inches long I believe. I am 6'3" tall and I dont think this shaft fits me very well. It also has lead tape along the perimeter of the club, around the back, is this much lead tape necessary? i posted this question in the clubmaking section as well, but no reply's yet. I dont want to get rid of that shaft, I bought it all on ebay for 80 bucks, is there a way to lengthen the shaft without buying a new one? I think I would need 46-48 inches maybe. Any suggestions?

If memory serves, Jon, a standard driver shaft is in the region of 45-46 inches give or take. Remember this is the total length of the shaft, not just the bit you can see. There might be an inch or so in the clubhead itself. If you have measured the total length of the club then it is a bit short. As for the 48 inch driver shaft this is a custom option most shafts are manufactured at a length of 46". Remember longer shafts are harder to control so take care when deciding on too long a driver shaft, theres no sense gaining 10 yards to lose 30 cos it lands in the hay.

The lead tape might be because the shaft is shorter. Shortening a shaft by an inch lowers the swingweight by 1 point, I think, (TeachingPro, please correct me on this if im wrong). It does sound like a lot of lead tape if its all the way round the back of the club though.

Strip the tape off and see how the club feels. If it is too light then you can just replace the tape or change the shaft out. If you want to keep the Aldila (great shaft) get a reputable and skilled clubmaker to whip it out in one piece and put it in one of your fairway woods. You can get an Aldila NV from Golfsmith for $80. I would say at 6'3" you do not really want to be playing with anything less than a standard sized driver. It wont really make a lot of difference but you may find that it only goes as far as a 2 wood now.

Good luck,

D.

Hadn't thought of putting it in my woods, good idea. Yeah right now I do hit my 3 wood around the same distance as my driver. I measured again and from the hosel to the end of the shaft it is 41", couldn't be more than 1 to 1.5 in the head itself I wouldn't think. The extra 2-4 inches could add a significant amount of yards wouldn't it? I will take it to a very good golf shop here in my area and have the switch them out and get me a new shaft, I will get them to fit me first for it. My irons are fitted perfect, for my height, they are .5 inches longer and 2 degrees upright, it's only my driver and woods that aren't fitted perfectly.

It certainly sounds like it has been a custom fit job for a shorter player or maybe one that hits a mighty long ball and wanted more control. I think the best thing would be to whip the old shaft out and stick it in your three wood and get a new shaft for the driver. Golfsmith are doing some cracking deals on clearance shafts just now you can get a Graphite Design YS-6 for $47, its a really good driver shaft.

Getting the driver back to a more standard length will add distance to your drives and eliminate the need for all that tape which will alos rob you of distance since it will lower the clubhead speed you can generate.

D.

Thats what I was thinking, if my 3 wood is on I can easily out drive my driver distance.. Thanks for the advice, I will find a time when I can get all this switched out and let you know how it goes.

Jon, you can get a graphite shaft extentions from GolfSmith. They will only extend your shaft an extra 3". I wouldn't worry about getting much above 46". It gets very difficult to control at that length.

Would something like this work?

http://www.golfsmith.com/products/257G?fcst=GSI_WEB

I would have to have it done at a shop as I have no idea how to make clubs.

Yes - that is what you need. If you are not doing the work yourself, just take the club into the shop. What needs to be done is remove the grip, epoxy the extension into the shaft and when that's set, install a new grip.

Will do, I will go ahead and order the new grip and the end to take to a shop. Thanks bud, lots of help as always

Let me know how you get on with that Jon, I have never tried an extension before but I have a couple of fairway woods I could get one added to.


D.

Will do, the stuff is on the way here from golfsmith, hopefully making the shaft at least standard for me will help me bang out those 280-300 drives easily.