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Looking for informed opinions from the tech or teacher or scratch guys.

I'm 54, 5' 6 1/2", about 180lbs. with good flexibility. I'm thinking I may benefit by cutting my club length about a half an inch. I bought a G5 10'5 reg flex Graffoly which off the rack was 45.75 inches and struggled with it until I had it cut down to 45 even. Now it's comfortable and I hit it with confidence. When I hit a poor iron shot, usually to the right, the feedback from those I play with is 'you're too far away from the ball'.

So I'm thinking maybe at my height, I might be better off with a half inch off my irons. I play Makser AS-4, a quality club, Graff Blue Reg. I mean a 6'+ guy is going to buy the same club off the rack, right? 5I=38 1/4" 7=37 1/4 9=36.
Should me and Big Jim be playing the same length club?

I've tinkered with the idea of cutting down one or two clubs to test, but, I figured I'd throw it out here first. Also, I tried choking up and that aint the answer.

As they say on the internet....TIA

45" on the driver is probably still too long for you, but if you hit it fine then so be it. I'm your same height and I have both my drivers cut to 43.5" and hit them as far or farther than they were at 45", plus have great accuracy now. I've continued to go shorter over the years and for me its led to better ballstriking and more distance.

Bill3508

I'd recommend you get measured by a club fitter and find out what length you should be playing in all your clubs. Just because you're shorter than average, doesn't mean you need shorter clubs. What you have to understand, is that taller people tend to have longer arms, and shorter people tend to have shorter arms. That means you both tend to cancel out each other, in terms of how far your wrist is from the ground. At 5'6-1/2", your shoulders are closer to the ground than mine, I'm 5'11". But my arms most likely are longer than yours, so my wrist may be the same distance from the ground. And the way clubs are measured for correct length, is you measure the distance from the wrist to the ground. I hope this all make sense to you. And since you tried to choke down on the grip and that didn't help, I'd say you might not need shorter clubs. The only way to tell is to measure the wrist to ground distance and go by that. Also, you should know that your address position will have an effect on club length as well. Change your address position, and you might need to change your clubs.

Hi Bill, when you say you've continued to go shorter over the years, are you talking strictly woods or any other of your clubs? I'm thinking of taking my old Tour Edge driver to Golfsmith and get it cut to your number to see how it feels if they don't have any demo's that size.


OnePutt, your post makes lots of sense and thanks for a great reply. My suit size is a 40 short, so I see what your saying about the shorter the guy, the shorter the arms, generally. When I go to Golfsmith, I'll definitely get measured.The best player of the group of five or six buddies I play with thinks although I'm a little farther from the ball than most, he doesn't see it hurting my game, because when I put a good swing on it, it works.

This game always makes you want more. Thanks again guys for your thoughts.

I cut down an Orlimar Trimetal + driver to 44" added a little lead tape to the head and I now am more accurate and sometimes longer due to closer to sweet spot contact. Try it out on an old club that you dont use as often before making the commitment to do it to an expensive club. Im 6 foot tall with WTF of 36".

just measured and I'm 32 1/4' wtf....so I guess my old, modest priced driver goes under the knife for 'the greater good'......

[quote=dyoyo]Hi Bill, when you say you've continued to go shorter over the years, are you talking strictly woods or any other of your clubs? I'm thinking of taking my old Tour Edge driver to Golfsmith and get it cut to your number to see how it feels if they don't have any demo's that size.


I ordered my last set of irons .25" short also, and hit them as far as I ever did. With the irons though, even the longest is not that long and with being 5'6" they still don't seem that long. The driver on the other hand at 45" is huge on me and creats a very flat swing plane. The shorter length has really helped my plane and being able to control my ballflight.

Bill3508

Yeah Bill, after reading you, oneputt and braveheart, the issue is basically Driver specific. And it's been my best club of late. go figure.

Funny, the best playing buddy mentioned earlier is our height too. And to me, he looks like a munchkin on the tee.

Goflsmith should be able to re-measure you and figure out the correct length for all your clubs, not just your driver. I just measured my wft measurement, and it's 35 inches. That's a good bit more than your's, so you should be better off with a short club length. I have a chart for club length adjustments based on wft measurement, and so does Golfsmith, so they can help you and cut down your clubs as needed. Good luck with this and let us know the end results, both in how much they cut the clubs, and the effect it has on your game.

Will do. If they recommend a shorter shaft, I'll probably do my old driver and my 150yd. 6I. That way I'll be able to drop some of my own balls on the marker at the home course when it's not busy. Just hope this freakish mild weather on Long Island continues a good while longer.