It's always fun following what kind of equipment the pros use on tour. I was going through some old magazines and came across an old Golf Classic mag. In it there was some really useful data about driver shaft specs for pros in Japan and a small sampling from the Masters in 2005. What I found very interesting was how almost half the Japanese pro MEN used a driver shaft shorter than the standard 45". And while the Japanese men may be shorter than their US counterparts in average height, I really couldn't find a correlation between player height and shaft length. Some of the players playing 44-44.5" lengths were close to 6 feet tall. My only guess is that the pros create such great driver head speed, what they might lose in distance, if any at all, they gain in accuracy through the shorter shaft.

Read more and see the data at http://www.inpakuto.com

This post has been edited by gocchin: Jan 8 2007, 10:09 AM

I'm 6"2'' and play a 44.5'' driver.

The "old" driver length when I was growing up was 43". I've pretty much always payed 44.5'', however the interesting thing is way back then 44.5'' was considered extremely long.

I have experimented with longer driver shafts, however I can't quite get the head to the ball quick enough. At 44.5'' I can give it a rip.

I know that a lot of the lady pros play long driver shafts, but if you watch their swing with those drivers it looks like the driver is swinging them as opposed to them swinging the driver. Annika Sorenstam case in point. Her swing looks much much better with a short iron, than with the driver.

I'm 5'4" - 5'5" in height and I hit a 44.5" driver. I was hesitant to go shorter because I thought I'd lose too much distance (especially since I'm not long in the first place) but I guess 44" is not out of the question especially if it allows me to be more accurate. I've also been used to hitting a driver in the C8-D0 range... but I'm sure for a lot of you that would feel too much like nothing!

Well I guess I was not the only one that would spent $20 for a copy of Golf Classic at J-Town that costs 700 yen (not anymore). There is nothing wrong playing with a SW of C8 to D0 as most JDM are design for those SW and those particular length. I like to play with JDM because the shafts are lighter, grip slightly smaller and better feel all around. 44'' to 45'' would be a nice compromise for length and accuracy. We just need to improve our swing to be more accouracy. I am 5' 6'' and play with a 45 to 45.5 drivers. My older brothers play with a 46 and 47'' drivers (in their late 60s and early 70s) can still shot consistently in the low 80s and beat me. It is all in the swing.

Haha I'm not buying from J-Town, all my magazines come directly from Japan... it's still way cheaper than buying here!

All the same cool stuff and info I hit the PRGR clup screen and saw the new irons they struck me as very interesting looking, I wonder how they look at address.

6'3", 44.5"

I'm glad I'm not alone.....6' 2", 44.5, D2.

Spending time at the range, I feel 'inadequate' b/c my driver is shorter....: )

You're not alone thinking that way L, I'm seeing this shorter shaft trend now, but before I, and probably others, were hesitant to go too short cause of our egos. (IMG:http://www.tourspecgolf.com/forum/style_emoticons/TSG_Smileys/atsg_smilie_roll.gif)

Because of my wrist to floor distance and height my club fitter said I could actually go 44" or shorter even but I said NO!!! (IMG:http://www.tourspecgolf.com/forum/style_emoticons/TSG_Smileys/tsg_smilie_laugh.gif)

You know, I really tried this shorter and lighter method a few years back and it wrecked my game for a short time. I really bought into it but I just couldn't find good results. Since then, I've gone back to what feels right to me. I went heavier and longer and am much happier for it.

I'm 6' 1.5" and my driver is 45.75 inches long with a swingwieght of D5+ and I think it "fits" me to a tee. I mean I do respect all the talk of being well fit but when it comes to driver, because the ball is up on a tee you do have a little leeway in the length of the club.

As far as gaining distance by changing the length of the club I don't think its noticable. I do think length of the club matters to one's personal charcteristics which helps on contacting the ball with the sweetspot of the club. I think you start with being fit, but from there go ahead and experiment a little and find what really fits you well. I know that my irons are all one inch over standard but if you fitted my according to the charts I would be standard or even 1/2 inch less. But for me, one inch over just works.

What one really has in being fit is static measurements being applied to a dynamic move. When you swing the club, you're in motion and what fit when you were standing still may not fit when it matters and thats the swinging of the club meeting the stationary ball.

Well said. I guess if Tiger experiments with the length of his driver the rest of us are entitled. Tiger at one stage went back to 43.5" in order to improve his accuracy from the tee, although he is now back to 45".

I think it really is a matter of experimenting to find out what is right for the individual. That said I think there is actually an optimum length for each person and once that length is passed, not only does accuracy suffer, but distance deceases as well.

I am using 44.25" and im 5'10" tall.