Testing Shaft Length in Drivers: What Does Extra Length Do?

How Does the Length of Shaft affect Driver Performance?

Earlier in the year we did some testing on the effect of different lengths of shafts in Driver performance. Typically, shorter shafts give more control and longer shafts give more club head speed. Is this true and how much of a difference is there between them?

We tested four lengths, 44.25, 45, 45.75 and 46.5 inches. All were 75 grams in weight and stiff flex. We used the same PXG 0811X 10.5 degree driver for all the shots. Also a swingweight of D2 was used for all lengths, meaning weight was added or subtracted from the head to maintain the same balance in all lengths.

 

 

 

The testing was done on an April day, about 14 degrees Celsius and a slight breeze approx 5mph helping. The golfer performed a warm-up before the testing. The ball used in the test was the Titleist ProV1. The methodology of the test was to hit 3 shots with the 44.25, then 3 shots with the 45, 45.75, 46.5, returning to the 44.25 and following the same procedure until 12 shots were hit with each.

 

 

Results

Shaft Length	Club Speed MPH	Ball Speed MPH	Carry Yards	Total Distance Yards
44.25	100.4	149.0	239.3	269.1
45	101.5	150.0	240.3	268.9
45.75	103.2	150.1	245.4	269.8
46.5	104.7	152.8	249.3	274.1
	Dispersion- Feet	Launch Angle	Spin Rate	Height - Feet
44.25	27.7	11.3	2565	73
45	38.6	11.3	2503	78
45.75	45.1	11.6	2968	84
46.5	30.2	11.5	2639	88

What we are mainly looking for length and accuracy. Dispersion is the indicator used for accuracy. Ball Speed, Club Speed, Carry and Total Distance are the indicators used for distance.

The 44.25 length gave the best accuracy with an average distance of 27.7 feet off the target line, the 46.5 length wasn't too far behind with an average of 30.2 feet. The 45.75 length was the worst with an average of 45.1.

The best ball speed, club head speed, carry and total distance came from the 46.5 length. The lowest came from the 44.25 with each shaft length gaining in distance performance over the previous one.

The 46.5 length had 4.3 mph more club head speed, 3.8 mph more ball speed, 10 yards more carry and 5 yards more total distance then the 44.25 length.

Shaft Length	Attack Angle	Club Path	Face to Path
44.25	-0.3	-0.5	-1.0
45	0.0	-1.3	-0.1
45.75	-0.2	-1.6	-0.3
46.5	0.3	-0.8	-1.5

 

While we were mainly looking at distance and accuracy we also checked the impact factors. At times shorter shafts and move the club path more in to out and longer shafts more out to in, meaning that slicers can have a much more significant gain in accuracy with a shorter shaft.

For this golfer who has a relatively neutral swing we didn't see big differences in club path.

Analysis

The best accuracy was with the shortest shaft and the longest distance was with the longest shaft. This is not always the case, many times with longer shafts centredness of contact gets worse and as a result ball speed is lower. When fitting for length we test the 4 lengths and use the one that gives the highest ball speed, while keeping an eye on accuracy.

The percentage breakdown of the lengths that work best in our fittings are

Length

 

44.25 inches 14.4%

45 inches 49.4%

45.75 inches 22.9%

46.5 inches 13.3%

 

 

 

Also note in the results, the club head and ball speed in the 44.25 length is 100.4 and 149, in the 46.5 length it is 104.7 and 152.8, a 4.3 difference in club head speed and only a 3.8 increase in ball speed, we normally would expect to see more ball speed but this is explained from the swingweighting of the clubs. With a shorter shaft more weight is needed in the head to keep the swing weight up, less weight is needed in the longer shaft, more weight in the head means a slightly better transfer to ball speed from club head speed and the lighter head in the longer shaft means a little worse transfer of ball speed. The lighter head also means a little more club head speed.

The change in club head speed for this golfer from shortest to longest shaft was 100.4-101.5-103.2-104.7. Jumps of 1.1, 1.7 and 1.5 mph. We could surmise that you gain around 1mph club head speed with each added inch to a driver with the little extra gains seen from the lighter head as the length increased.

Conclusion

For this golfer a longer shaft did give more length and the shortest shaft did give the most accuracy. The longer shaft does add club head speed but not to the degree where we might see 20 or 30 yard gains. Ultimately the test shows again the need for every golfer to test to see what works best for them, a 45 inch shaft works best for nearly 50% of golfers that come to Drive Golf Performance but that also means that 50% can find extra performance out of a different length.

Any questions and comments are welcome.

Comparing the Taylor Made M4 to the M2

Every year Taylor Made launches a new driver. This year the M4 replaces the 2017 M2. A valid question is how much of a difference there is between the two. A couple of days ago we put this to the test. I compared both using a Trackman Launch Monitor.

I hit 24 drives with each club. Alternating from one to the other after 3 shots so not to get used to swinging just the one driver. The ball was teed at the same height for both drivers. Both drivers had 10.5 degrees of loft. The same Accra 372T M4 shaft was used in both drivers, which played at 45 inches. The ball that was used was the Titleist Pro V1. It was a nice May day, temperatures around 15 degrees Celsius and a helping breeze (around 8mph).

The main performance numbers that we looked are were club head speed, ball speed, carry, total distance, accuracy, launch angle and spin rates. Ultimately the main ones to be interested in are ball speed, carry, total distance and accuracy. Essentially a driver can be longer, more accurate or both. This is what we look for in drivers, there isn't much point in changing a driver unless the performance improves.

For the M4, the changes are the 'Twist Face' and 'Hammerhead' technology, the Twist Face changes the roll and bulge on the face potentially leading to more accuracy and the Hammerhead increases ball speed leading to more distance.

Here are the results.

Club	Clubhead Speed(mph)	Ball Speed	Launch Angle	Spin Rate	Carry (yards)	Total Distance	Height (feet)	Distance from target (ft)
M4	101.7	149.8	13.5	2745	245.7	271	94	33.42
M2	101.6	149.8	12.5	2730	242.1	268.3	87	38.95

The results are interesting.

Club and ball speed are identical. The M4 does give more distance and accuracy. It was 3.2 yards longer carry and 2.7 yards longer over all. It was 5.53 feet closer on average to the target which is 14.2% closer. Launch angle and height were both higher in the M4 too.

Conclusion

 

The M4 is this test does give longer distance and more accuracy. The distance is coming not from increased ball speed but a slightly higher flight, the launch angle was 1 degree higher and especially with a following wind this leads to just a little more carry. As the ball speeds were the same from the 2 drivers we can say that there is no real distance gain from the M4 over the M2. Distance ultimately comes from ball speed.

However there is an accuracy gain, 5.53 feet closer on average or 14.2%. This is a substantial enough improvement and does follow on from what Taylor Made are saying about increased accuracy from the Twist Face.

Should a golfer switch from an M2 to an M4? If they are looking for more accuracy, yes. If they're looking for more distance, no. The M4 does have a different sound then the M2 which can also influence the decision too.

If you have any questions, please comment.