Golf Driver Shaft Length, Options (Video) - Lesson by PGA Pro Pete Styles
Golf Driver Shaft Length, Options (Video) - Lesson by PGA Pro Pete Styles

If you were to consider looking at changing your driver, most people want to change their driver for two factors. Either they want more distance or they want more accuracy. The shaft length is actually one of the biggest factors to controlling distance and accuracy and very generally speaking, very broadly speaking, if you make the shaft longer so a standard driver shaft about 45, 45 and a half inches. If we’re to make that driver shaft longer, 46, 46 and a half, you generally find it would go further. Simply that's longer. The end therefore swings quicker. More clubhead speed would equate to more distance.

But you might also find that the longer you make it, the less consistently you strike it, therefore striking it all over the club face or hitting it left and right as well. So by making It longer and swinging it quicker, you might actually give yourself less accuracy or poorer strikes, meaning you get less distance. So it isn't just an obvious thing of well, let’s make this as long as possible to hit as long as possible down here. The other factor might be that the shorter the golf club becomes, the actually more control you get. You get more control. You get more strikes on the center of the clubhead. Most people generally find that they hit their 3-wood -- which is a smaller head anyway but they hit the 3-wood better more consistently than they hit the driver. So an inch or a half an inch adjustment to a driver can make a real big difference.

So what I would suggest you do is you try out a few different length drivers. Start with your own driver, maybe 40, 45 inches and then go up and down by half an inch at a time, looking to see whether the distance that you would is worth the tradeoff of the accuracy or the ball strike you may lose. With a new driver you might be able to see where you're hitting on the face or actually tape up the club face. If you go to a golf shop and they let you try the clubs out, they'll probably tape the golf club as well to see whereabouts you hit so look for the fact that the shorter driver would give you a better contact, more consistent ball striking. The longer the driver might give you more clubhead speed but you might lose, as in a tradeoff, over distance.

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If you were to consider looking at changing your driver, most people want to change their driver for two factors. Either they want more distance or they want more accuracy. The shaft length is actually one of the biggest factors to controlling distance and accuracy and very generally speaking, very broadly speaking, if you make the shaft longer so a standard driver shaft about 45, 45 and a half inches. If we’re to make that driver shaft longer, 46, 46 and a half, you generally find it would go further. Simply that's longer. The end therefore swings quicker. More clubhead speed would equate to more distance.

But you might also find that the longer you make it, the less consistently you strike it, therefore striking it all over the club face or hitting it left and right as well. So by making It longer and swinging it quicker, you might actually give yourself less accuracy or poorer strikes, meaning you get less distance. So it isn't just an obvious thing of well, let’s make this as long as possible to hit as long as possible down here. The other factor might be that the shorter the golf club becomes, the actually more control you get. You get more control. You get more strikes on the center of the clubhead. Most people generally find that they hit their 3-wood — which is a smaller head anyway but they hit the 3-wood better more consistently than they hit the driver. So an inch or a half an inch adjustment to a driver can make a real big difference.

So what I would suggest you do is you try out a few different length drivers. Start with your own driver, maybe 40, 45 inches and then go up and down by half an inch at a time, looking to see whether the distance that you would is worth the tradeoff of the accuracy or the ball strike you may lose. With a new driver you might be able to see where you're hitting on the face or actually tape up the club face. If you go to a golf shop and they let you try the clubs out, they'll probably tape the golf club as well to see whereabouts you hit so look for the fact that the shorter driver would give you a better contact, more consistent ball striking. The longer the driver might give you more clubhead speed but you might lose, as in a tradeoff, over distance.