Nov
12
2008

Shortening Your Driver for Added Control

Posted by Double Eagle in Driving Tips, Equipment

Stack and Tilt Golf Swing Videos by Medicus Golf

Recently, I found myself reading Tom Wishon’s book, “The Right Sticks“, where he topples a mountain of long-standing golf equipment myths.  It’s a great book that I’ll be reviewing shortly, but one of the myths stuck out to me.

Wishon tackled the myth about longer drivers producing more distance.  Myth #18 (out of 37!) is: “The longer the length of a club, the farther you’ll hit the ball.“  That’s right, it’s a myth.  Well, to be fair, it’s a partial myth.  It’s true that physics dictate that a longer shaft can allow the club head be swung faster, but Wishon holds that only a small number of players possess the right combination of swing fundamentals and athleticism to do it.  The rest of us suffer with lessened control and diminished contact.

He also pointed out a stunning fact.  While we’re buying 45 and 46 inch drivers off the rack, the average driver length on the PGA Tour from 2005-2007, according to Wishon, was 44.5 inches.  Remember that small number of players able to hit longer drivers effectively?  Well, it seems many Tour pros don’t count themselves among that group.  Why?  Because they can’t control the longer drivers as well.

If a Tour pro can’t control a 46 inch driver effectively, how can I hope to do it?

After reading that, I had to give a smaller driver a shot.  I went out to the driving range prior to playing 9-holes (my first post-knee injury round this fall) and after warning up, I broke out the driver and started hitting drives while choking up well over an inch.

To my amazement, I was hitting much better drives.  They were more on-target and I felt like I hadn’t sacrificed much distance, if any.

I took my experiment out to the course and found that I was driving better than usual.  Keep in mind that I hadn’t played much since August because of my knee trouble.  I had practiced on the range a few times, but that’s it.

My swing felt much more in control and I felt like I could take a rip at the ball and not worry as much about hitting it off the property.  I noticed an immediate boost in confidence, too.  I hit one drive up the left side of a tight hole with out of bounds on the left, straight as a laser beam and out to about 300 yards.

A few weeks later, I started to read the December issue of Golf Magazine and I was surprised to see a feature on Anthony Kim that pointed out that he chokes up about two inches on his driver!  His rationale is that it gives him much greater accuracy and control and only costs a handful of yards.  However, he’s 159th on Tour in driving accuracy, so I’m not sure where he’d be without the added control.  His total driving stat is somewhat better, but not stellar.

(Update: the day after writing this post, I found that Golf Digest also featured AK this month, and also talked about his driver.  In that article, AK indicates that he has a 44.5 inch driver that he plays at about 42 inches after choking up.)

Playing with a shorter driver is something I’m going to continue to do.  In the long run, I’ll probably actually gain some distance because I’ll be able to be put the sweet spot on the ball more often.  But as my game improves, I may sacrifice a few yards, but the added control will be well worth it.

I recommend giving it a try.  It’s hard to find men’s drivers that are shorter than 46 inches so just try choking up an inch or two at the range like Anthony Kim does to see how it feels.  I think you’ll find that you have a little more control and you might even add distance with more consistent contact.  Tom Wishon would probably recommend getting a driver fitted properly instead of simply choking up, which is something you can certainly look at doing, as well.

Did you like this post? Get free RSS updates!

Leave a comment | Comment Policy | Trackback URL

There are currently 8 responses to “Shortening Your Driver for Added Control”

  1. 1

    Nick@Golf Swing Tips said:

    I recently recommended this tip in a post that I published about reducing a golf slice. It definitely helps you to keep control. I am surprised that Anthony Kim is shown as being 159th in driving accuracy. I need to do some research to see how long his driver shaft really is. It may be longer in the first place and so when he chokes down it is closer to the length of other Tour Players. I’m not sure, though. But if his overall shaft length is equal to everybody else and then he chokes down, he needs some more practice off the tee. But it also proves that driving is not the most important aspect of the game, because he is ranked near the top overall. His mid and short game is what saves him.

    Posted on November 13th, 2008 at 10:36 am

  2. 2

    bobby said:

    I could not agree more on driver length…As a high handicapper (coming down steadily) I built my 10.5 degree with a 43 inch length and couldnt be happier. As I get better I may add a half inch at a time and see what happens!

    Posted on November 13th, 2008 at 10:50 am

  3. 3

    Double Eagle said:

    Nick, by sheer coincidence I found out this morning that Golf Digest also featured AK this month, and they also covered his choking up with the driver. They actually say that he has a 44.5 inch driver that he chokes up to an effective length of about 42 inches!

    Also, with respect to the 159th stat, I just pulled that from PGATour.com. That’s his stat for 2008.

    Posted on November 13th, 2008 at 12:46 pm

  4. 4

    Greg B. said:

    The Wedge Guy had a similar post. I just got that book Mike and I’m actually considering a professional fitting for my sticks, even though I’ve been pretty vocal against it.

    I have tried the choke down on driver thing too with similar results. The problem for me is that after a few solid shots I think I can ease it back out. I think I need to actually have the shaft chopped a couple of inches. Problem there is that I paid $40 to have a new shaft installed with the spine allignment and all that good stuff.

    In both cases, I’ll likely continue on without doing either… :/

    Posted on November 13th, 2008 at 5:00 pm

  5. 5

    Double Eagle said:

    I’m hoping to do a professional fitting this winter, Greg. I might wait, though, because I feel the rust starting to build as the days are shorter and colder. I’d prefer to have it done when I’m playing regularly.

    Wishon talks about chopping the shaft down and he recommends against it, because it affects the swing weight of the club (not to be confused with the mass of the club).

    Posted on November 13th, 2008 at 5:05 pm

  6. 6

    Kenneth Holland said:

    You see alot of players doing the long shaft thing (I’ve seen some with 50″ shafts) and all it does for most players is lessen their accuracy…sometimes gives them LESS distance! You have to be awfully good to benefit distance-wise for going longer.

    Stay to a medium length and work on your game. Too many get caught up in gear.

    Posted on November 19th, 2008 at 3:31 am

  7. 7

    Progress Update: December 14, 2008 said:

    [...] still having good success with choking down on my driver.  I hit one poor drive (the first of the day), and after that, the rest of my drives were [...]

    Posted on December 15th, 2008 at 12:40 am

  8. 8

    Dreaded Shots: Tee Shots on Tight Driving Holes said:

    [...] is something I’ve been experimenting with for months.  If you decide that driver is the club to hit on the hole, then don’t be afraid [...]

    Posted on December 28th, 2008 at 2:46 pm

Leave a Comment

Comment Policy

*
To prove you're a person (not a spam script), type the security word shown in the picture. Click on the picture to hear an audio file of the word.
Click to hear an audio file of the anti-spam word

Subscribe without commenting

Shop.CallawayGolf.com Get Camilo Villegas' Golf Secret

  • Random Tip

  • The Secret of Golf...

  • Sunday, I promised I’d share the secret of golf that I discovered in a lesson over the weekend.

    It was said that Ben Hogan supposedly was coaxed to share his “secret”, but that he kept the real secret for himself.  Many now claim to know the lost secret move that gave Hogan’s swing the magic.

    Well, I’m afraid that it has nothing to do with angles or positions.  If golf swings were meant to be a series of geometrical checkpoints, then players [...]

  • Read More...

  • Poll

  • What is your most dreaded shot?

    View Results

    Loading ... Loading ...

  • Twitter Updates

Follow Me on Twitter

  • Advertisements