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I'm not six feet tall, so in order to feel comfortable over the ball on the tee, I cut my driver 1/2", hoping that the new length would give the driver head a better lie at address. And it did.

But now I want to know if there are drivers out there that have heads/shafts at an angle that at proper address will give a guy like me the opportunity to swing, say, a 46-47" shaft and still be able to get the head properly placed at addressed. In other words, do companies make long shafted drivers for shorter players?

It seems when I've played longer shafted drivers, I have to point the toe of the driver up a little at address....

Mahalo nui!

For a driver, the low loft and the fact that it doesn't interact with the turf, means that lie error angles are very minimal. The higher the swing speed, the more the shaft will tend to "droop" through the impact zone as well.

All the above combined is why lie error angles aren't very critical to fix with a driver. They are very critical to fix with a wedge however, because an improper lie can lead to significant errors right and left (pushes and pulls). The more loft a club has, the more important getting the lie exactly right is.

If I remember correctly, Black Rock golf back in the day was making longer shafted drivers {46" +}. I do not remember if they were specificly for shorter players, but they professed a greater club head speed because of the length with the same swing speed. All you are doing by cutting your shaft shorter is slowing your clubhead speed and shortining your drive....theoreticly.

Not sure if this will help you or not....and Big Nose hit it right on the head with lie angles for drivers and fairway metals.

My "best" suggestion is find a local club fitter and get yourself fitted for a proper shaft. Shaft flex, torque, and kick points have way more to do with ball flight than the club head.

HOWEVER.......there is nothing more important than feeling comfortable at address...so even the color of the shaft and the look of the head can be as important as anything.

The Back 9

Thanks, Bignose, for the info. on lie angles. And to B9 for the Black Rock lead.

Happy holidays to you both!

If everything is equal, then yet, a shorter driver length does = shorter drives.

But, very, very rarely is everything equal. For most people, cutting down their driver shaft to somewhere in the neighborhood of 44 inches or so ends up in far superior drives. The shorter shaft is significantly easier to control. And better control = more often hitting drives on the sweet spot = net longer drives.

It is only one data point, but I've never hit my driver better than when I cut it down to 44 inches.

Here are several more data points: the average length of drivers on the PGA Tour is 44.5 inches. Even with all the improved technology and better driver, the best players in the world still average 44.5 inches.

I have encouraged many people to use a shorter driver, and I have only heard back 1 person who hit the ball worse. The overwhelming majority of cases, the players hit the ball better.

At the very least, have it cut down, and see if it works out for you. If not, you can always install a shaft extender and put it back to its original length. Based on the current cost at a nearby shop, even if you buy a new grip each time, this cost is less than $20.

I remember Chi Chi Rodriguez saying that every extra inch on a driver was worth 7 yards in the length of the drive. That was more than a few years ago. I used to play with a 50 inch driver until the USGA rules cut the max to 48. And immediately it cost me 15 - 20 yards of the tee.