Untitled Document

THE ARGUMENT, FOR A LONGER SHAFT

If you examine the diagram below, the promotes TaylorMade's ‘SuperFast Technology' you will notice that the greatest distance gains are made because the shaft has been lengthened. Indeed the off the shelf length of the shaft in a TaylorMade Burner is 46". That is 1" longer than the 45" that manufacturers seemed to have settled on through the 90's and, remember, golfers like Tiger Woods already shorten their shaft length to help them gain more control with the club. So how is it that some manufacturers (Ping, Callaway and Mizuno have also increased the standard shaft length on some of their Drivers) have decided that golfers with less controlled swings than Tiger Woods can play with a longer shaft?
Of the 10 yards increase in distance, 50% comes as a consequence of lengthening the shaft.
I guess the first point to chalk up, when considering why the manufacturers have increased the length of their Driver shafts, is ‘Distance Sells'. Especially with the biggest club in the bag, extra distance is seriously sexy and likely to encourage golfers to empty their wallets. But this philosophy was complicated by the marketing move to make Drivers more accurate with high Moment of Inertia (MOI) heads. Some manufacturers discovered in testing that extreme geometrics, while handy in creating a straighter ball flight, actually dialed back the distance that could be achieved with a solid square contact. That problem could be solved by using the natural law of physics to create faster club head speed on the end of a longer shaft. The faster club head speed translated into faster ball speed and greater distance. This simple strategy though flew in the face of the many arguments put forward by club makers, including Tom Wishon (probably the foremost golf club maker in the US) who with experiments could prove that a slight woman with a 44" Driver shaft could out hit several much larger regular male members using a 49" shafted Driver. But here is where the advances in materials used, manufacturing techniques and design all impact on the argument. The latest club heads, shafts and grips can all be made lighter creating a golf club that, despite the longer shaft, is as easy, or even easier, to wield than a shorter shafted Driver of 3 years ago. That allows the golfer to play with a longer shaft with greater control. Then the understanding of the design of the face, allows the manufacturers to provide Drivers that have, in our language, slightly larger sweet spots. You might now have a longer shaft in the Driver but it is easier to hot that part of the face that is going to create the maximum ball speed. That design philosophy has been extended to enable the ‘fall off' in energy transfer, as you move further away from the sweet spot, to be minimised. Combined with a higher MOI that means that even if you are off-center with your longer shaft you will still get near maximum distance. Finally if your swing path or your hand action struggles with a longer shaft then there will be a ‘head weighting' in one of the Driver products (some have moveable weight technology to allow you to customize your setup) that will correct your imperfections of swing. My advice is to get fitted for your Driver in more ways than one. If there is so much technology on offer, all solving different problems and all offering different opportunity for improvement, let's set you up with a Driver that solves your problems and exploits your opportunities and then create the little tweaks that will mean you will use it more successfully more often. It's usually a big investment. So lets make the most of it.

THE ARGUMENT, FOR A LONGER SHAFT

If you examine the diagram below, the promotes TaylorMade's ‘SuperFast Technology' you will notice that the greatest distance gains are made because the shaft has been lengthened. Indeed the off the shelf length of the shaft in a TaylorMade Burner is 46". That is 1" longer than the 45" that manufacturers seemed to have settled on through the 90's and, remember, golfers like Tiger Woods already shorten their shaft length to help them gain more control with the club.

So how is it that some manufacturers (Ping, Callaway and Mizuno have also increased the standard shaft length on some of their Drivers) have decided that golfers with less controlled swings than Tiger Woods can play with a longer shaft?

Of the 10 yards increase in distance, 50% comes as a consequence of lengthening the shaft.

I guess the first point to chalk up, when considering why the manufacturers have increased the length of their Driver shafts, is ‘Distance Sells'. Especially with the biggest club in the bag, extra distance is seriously sexy and likely to encourage golfers to empty their wallets.

But this philosophy was complicated by the marketing move to make Drivers more accurate with high Moment of Inertia (MOI) heads. Some manufacturers discovered in testing that extreme geometrics, while handy in creating a straighter ball flight, actually dialed back the distance that could be achieved with a solid square contact.

That problem could be solved by using the natural law of physics to create faster club head speed on the end of a longer shaft. The faster club head speed translated into faster ball speed and greater distance.

This simple strategy though flew in the face of the many arguments put forward by club makers, including Tom Wishon (probably the foremost golf club maker in the US) who with experiments could prove that a slight woman with a 44" Driver shaft could out hit several much larger regular male members using a 49" shafted Driver.

But here is where the advances in materials used, manufacturing techniques and design all impact on the argument. The latest club heads, shafts and grips can all be made lighter creating a golf club that, despite the longer shaft, is as easy, or even easier, to wield than a shorter shafted Driver of 3 years ago. That allows the golfer to play with a longer shaft with greater control.

Then the understanding of the design of the face, allows the manufacturers to provide Drivers that have, in our language, slightly larger sweet spots. You might now have a longer shaft in the Driver but it is easier to hot that part of the face that is going to create the maximum ball speed.

That design philosophy has been extended to enable the ‘fall off' in energy transfer, as you move further away from the sweet spot, to be minimised. Combined with a higher MOI that means that even if you are off-center with your longer shaft you will still get near maximum distance.

Finally if your swing path or your hand action struggles with a longer shaft then there will be a ‘head weighting' in one of the Driver products (some have moveable weight technology to allow you to customize your setup) that will correct your imperfections of swing.

My advice is to get fitted for your Driver in more ways than one. If there is so much technology on offer, all solving different problems and all offering different opportunity for improvement, let's set you up with a Driver that solves your problems and exploits your opportunities and then create the little tweaks that will mean you will use it more successfully more often. It's usually a big investment. So lets make the most of it.