Long Driver Shaft

Shaft weight and torque make a bigger difference than shaft flex. The general golfing public has been conditioned and educated that shaft flex is the end-all-be-all.

How to Change a Callaway Golf Driver Shaft | eHow

• Jul 03, 2013  Is your driver shaft too long for you. The answer is normally yes. The average driver shaft length on the PGA tour hovers around 44.25. Most drivers.
• How to Change a Callaway Golf Driver Shaft. Callaway driver shafts are made of graphite or titanium, two lightweight materials that make hitting a driver easier than.
• The Search for The Perfect Golf Club excerpt From Chapter 1 - Getting a Head. The loft, lie and lengths of your clubs all interact with one another and your swing.

Banging longer drives has been the holy grail of golf since the days of hickory shafts. Today s grip it and rip it mentality is the result of recent advancements in swing instruction, training methods and equipment such as longer, lighter graphite shafts.

There s no denying that the farther you beat it off the tee, the shorter your next one in would be. PGA Tour players live by that mantra every day. They re perfectly content blasting drives and hitting short irons out of rough into greens. And that s fine because their misses with a driver don t go off the lot.

I ve wondered, though, if that same approach is best for rank amateurs. We know longer shafts can contribute to faster swing speeds and more distance. But the tradeoff is less control even with 460cc heads. At what length is your driver shaft too long. When does a longer shaft produce diminishing returns.

At our request, Wishon Golf built four 949 MC drivers 43 1/2-inches the old standard, 45 inches the new standard, 46 1/2-inches and 48 inches the maximum length allowed by the Rules of Golf. Four handpicked testers hit these 460cc clubs and Golf Laboratories recorded their efforts. You can learn more about these tests by picking up the July issue of GOLF MAGAZINE.

I conducted my own test with different shaft parameters. I whacked the 430cc Indio driver from SMT Golf at 44 inches, 45 inches, 46 inches and 48 inches. A stable of professional Long Drive guys use SMT Golf heads with Accuflex shafts, so I figured I d give this combo a whirl. Just to give a little background, I run very hot or very cold with a driver in my hands. Some days I look like Fred Funk while other times, well, I m just in a funk. Here s what I found:

48-incher I hit it the farthest no surprise but only marginally so. I normally make a quick transition from back to downswing and lash at the ball just in case I catch it. That fast tempo led to some control issues. I had to slow down to time it through the hitting zone. More rhythmic swingers than I would likely see a greater upside.

46-incher Didn t experience the benefit of this length. It was neither the longest nor the most accurate one of the bunch.

45-incher Obviously, this length was the most comfortable to swing. I popped my share of good ones but still hit the occasional loud foul ball.

44-incher This club matched up best with my jumpy swing. Sure, I had to catch it on the screws to keep up with the big dogs. But it s easier to flush it with a shorter club. I drove it in the short grass more often and lost fewer shots way right or left. My main concession: I didn t hit any big bombs.

Ultimately, the decision is yours to go with a longer-, shorter-, or standard-length driver. Determining your optimal length can be a fun and easy process given the abundance of custom fitting options available. Enjoy the ride.

The Perfect Shaft Length

Callaway driver shafts are made of graphite or titanium, two lightweight materials that make hitting a driver easier than ever before. Drivers are used at the tee to launch the golf ball a long distance down the fairway. Re-shafting a driver can be done at home with the correct tools, but if you are inexperienced with res-hafting clubs, you should leave it up to the pros.

Use the craft knife to remove the ferrule, or the small black object located where the shaft meets the club head. Scrape downwards on the ferrule toward the club head.

Secure the shaft in the shaft clamp to hold it in place while you are removing the shaft.

Use your heat gun to heat up the club head near the shaft. The shaft is attached to the driver head with an epoxy glue that will break down with enough heat. Titanium heads take longer to heat up than steel heads.

Use the small pry bar to press downwards on the neck of the driver head, called the hosel. Do not twist the head off. If the head is heated enough, it will detach from the shaft easily. When the head is about to fall off, catch it with your gloves and let it cool down in a dust-free area.

Clean any remaining epoxy from the hosel using a hosel-cleaning brush. A clean hosel is necessary before attaching a new shaft.

Scape the layer of paint and poly layer from the tip of the new shaft using a craft knife. Do not cut into the graphite or titanium of the shaft.

Mix your two-part shafting epoxy designed for golf clubs according to the directions on the bottle.

Apply a small amount of epoxy to the ferrule and put the new ferrule on the tip of the shaft with the small end going on first. Put the grip end of your shaft on the ground so the club end is up in the air. Put the driver head on the shaft over the ferrule. Make sure the ferrule is at the full depth of the hosel.

Remove the club head and apply the epoxy inside the hosel using a popsicle stick cut in half width-wise. Cover the entire tip of the shaft with epoxy as well. Place the head on the shaft so that the head reaches the ferrule. Use a lint-free towel to clean off excess epoxy.

Let the epoxy dry for 24 hours before use. After it has dried, you can shave the ferrule to be smooth with the hosel.

It s Easier Then You Think. Do you want to become a long drive professional. Do you want to get paid to hit the long ball. Or just want to be able to outdrive your.