All things being equal, 

“I’m convinced that a longer length shaft
will always out-perform a shorter shaft”

… in the bedroom that is

As for a longer shaft in your driver, well, that’s another story…

When it comes to the length of current day driver shafts (see full list below)…

“I think most Manufacturers are Giving
most Golfers a firm SHAFTING”

The marketers at these manufacturers must all be men… and being men they’ve all got EGO’s.

So, they all like to spruke how much longer their’s in than the next guys.

It’s simple MALE psychology

… and without it, without the burning desire to say or show that you’ve got MORE than other men… there would NOT be a market for Ferrari’s, Bugatti’s Lamborghini’s and such.  I love them, but from a practical standpoint, they’re all predominantly EGO driven.

Back to your shaft…

Golf club manufacturer’s have all gone FRIGGIN crazy in trying to prove who has got the biggest and longest!!!

 This may be good for selling new drivers, but it’s killing plenty of golf scores.

You see, back in the day, the driver was originally called the “Play Club”.

The job of the Play Club was simply to get the ball in play

And before the Marketing Moron’s started screwing with the game, the Play Club was well designed for its intended purpose.

Prior to graphite shafts, the shaft of the now called “Driver” was 43 to 44 inches… give or take, current driver shafts are waaaayyy longer than that (but much less accurate). 

As you know, I love Swing Speed… of course it’s EGO driven, but it’s heaps of fun to smash one past your buddies.  And if you can control it, it does give you some playing advantages.

However…

It’s not fun, when you smash it out of bounds, into the trees or off into a lake!

Any increase in Swing Speed with a longer shaft is well and truly negated by the loss of accuracy and control.

And…

Your distance will typically suffer from a decrease in the quality of your ball striking (miss the middle of the clubface and your ball speed drops).

It’s reported in a number of places that a large majority of Tour Pro’s today, play with drivers that are 44.5 to 45 inches long.

• These guys are good!

• They’re coordinated!

• They play and hit balls nearly every day!

• They can find the middle of the clubface of their driver and they can control the impact position of the clubface!

So if a large number of these guys are playing drivers that are 44.5 to 45 inches in length, why are the god damn manufacturer’s dishing up crap…

 THEY KNOW most golfers CAN’T HIT!

Here’s a list of current drivers and their stock standard lengths (which is what most golfers buy):

PING G10 - 45.75″ (awesome driver by the way, but stupid stock standard length)

Taylormade Burner - 46″ (totally stupid length and ugly)
Taylormade Burner TP - 45.5″ (interesting how the TP model for better golfers is shorter)
Taylormade CGB Max - 45.5″

Titleist 907D1 - 45″
Titleist 907D2 - 45″ (very sweet driver )
custom +3/4  to minus 2 inches (Congratulations to Titleist for offering 43 inch option)

Callaway FTi - 45.75″ (Choppers model longer than Tour… dumb)
Callaway FTi Tour - 45″
Callaway FT5 (both tour and standard) - 45″
Callaway Hyper X (both tour and standard) - 45.5″

Mizuno MP-600 - 45″ (looks good, waiting to have a hit)
Mizuno MX-560 - 45.5″ (Again, hackers model longer than “players” model)

Nike SQ SUMO2 5900 - 45.75″  (both stupid lengths)
Nike SQ SumO 5000 - 45.75″

Wilson DD6+ - 45.75″ (great driver, I’ve got one, but dumb length, got a nice Titleist look about it)
Wilson Spine - 46.5″ (the craziest length of all and a totally ugly driver)

I love the spiel, Wilson give for serving up the longest of all stock standard shafts.

“Because of the superior stability produced by the non-traditional head, the standard shaft offering is longer to maximize distance while maintaining control.”

Maintaining control… what a load of Bull Sh*t!

Now for their star player Padraig Harrington… who is an enormously talented golfer, a long shaft is not a problem (I think he was playing an extra long shaft when he won the British Open at Carnoustie).

But, it’s just plain crazy to throw a 46.5 inch shaft in and expect the “average” golfer to be able to control a driver.

Look, if YOU can control a longer shafted driver and it gets you in PLAY… that’s excellent.

If, like the majority, you can’t… ignore all the crap those SELLING drivers tell you about their equipment and either:

•  get your current driver cut down (it’s quick, cheap and easy)

• or demo a bunch of drivers and find the one, with the right length for you, that gets you in PLAY more often than it sends you out of bounds or into a hazard (you may have to hunt around to find a place with shorter than standard length demo clubs)

Now get out their and rip it

Sean Cassidy “Real Men Swing Fast” (ideally with control)

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