I’m reasonably accurate off the tee, hitting about 65% of fairways with the driver. The problem is that my course has a really tight layout, so about half of drives that don’t hit the fairway are either OB or in a hazard, even with strikes that would be manageable on most other courses. While I really like my current driver, my thinking is that at 45.5", it’s just too long to give me the dispersion I need for the course. I can and do choke down on it and play a bunt driver, but the ball flight on that shot is a bit too low for my liking.
All this means it’s time for an experiment. I know this is something I should get fitted for, but I’m a bit impulsive with golf purchases, so I decided to jump right into getting a club built. I’m also not going to spend $500+ on an experiment though, so I went with a Maltby driver through Golfworks with a shaft I already know I like. It’ll play at 43.5" and higher lofted so hoping it’ll provide the accuracy and ball flight I want. I’ll report back here how it goes!
Which Maltby driver did you get? I was able to demo a KE4 TC driver earlier this year and I found it to be as good as any of the recent OEM drivers I’ve hit like Rogue, Epic Flash, G400, etc. Tempted to build one this winter. I’ll be looking forward to your reports.
I’ve been playing a 44.5" driver for years now. For years I didn’t play a driver until a fitter made me a ~ 44" driver with 85g shaft and 12* loft that I could hit. Eventually it became 44.5" with 11* loft and 75g shaft. At times I tried going shorter than 44.5" again, but I lost distance and didn’t gain much accuracy. Going longer I can gain distance, but lose accuracy. The 44.5" length seems the right compromise.
Looking forward to hearing more… I’m tempted to build a 12 degree 44 inch driver as a second tee club.
My driver is either 44.5" or 44.75" and I still hit it reasonably far and in control, but if I had the funds, I’d go the opposite direction, maybe shorten this one to 44 and then add a 47" bomber
Went with the M890. They have it in a 14* loft which seemed ideal for what I want to do with the club. The flat sole on it may even allow me to hit it off the deck.
Naturally, after posting this, I drove the ball great with my normal driver this morning. Didn’t lose a ball, every drive playable, and didn’t miss anything to the right. That’s the ideal for me, but doesn’t tend to happen enough.
I switched to a 44" driver shaft years ago, and have never looked back. This was the initial article I wrote on the experiment.
I still believe whatever I’ve given up in club head speed I’ve gotten back with strike efficiency, and then some. It doesn’t remove the foul ball completely, but I find that is has limited them quite a bit.
I feel like 2 inches can’t be a huge sacrifice of speed, especially if you’re more likely to keep the ball in play.
A quick and dirty way to check if it makes you more accurate is to just grip up on the driver… It’s not perfect due to the taper of the club… but it gives you the feel of at least half an inch off the driver, if not more… You can quickly determine if it’s helping you hit the ball better and then get the shaft cut.
Other option is to go real short and borrow a 3 wood shaft from the demo cart!
it’s not that much speed, I would probably estimate 2-4 mph based on how much length you’re looking to add back to the shaft
Keep us posted on your findings, this is something I’d love to tinker with next time I’m in the market for a driver. I hit the ball far enough that I’d sacrifice a few yards for more fairways/less lost balls
I feel like you do, for what you lose, the 2-4 mph you make up in accuracy. What are we taking 5-6yards max? I might have to look into this. Thanks Jon
My driver is 44.5" with 12* of loft and I can reasonably control my drives. It took a few rounds to adjust to it, but I am in the fairway more often than not unless I just completely mishit my drive.
First full round with the short driver this morning and I’d call it decent results. It seemed about 10 yards shorter or so than my normal gamer (45.5"), but I wasn’t striking it great, so I might be able to close that gap a bit once I get more comfortable with it. Additionally, the mishits were staying on the planet, so no penalty strokes off the tee. I’ll keep working with it.
Alright, couple weeks in and here’s my (semi) final report:
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Having a shorter shaft did give the expected results, slightly less distance and slightly better accuracy. In my case, having a shaft 1.75" shorter resulted in 10 yards shorter on average and around 7 yards less in average dispersion.
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Anecdotally, I believe I was striking the center of the clubface more often with the shorter driver and a much more consistent ball flight (high draw).
Despite those results, I’m going back to my normal gamer (Honma TW747 460). Couple of reasons for this, first I have my driver swing in a place at the moment where I’m confident in keeping it in play even with a bit wider dispersion. More importantly, though, the Honma just feels better than the Maltby driver, with the way it swings and the sound at impact. It’s just the club I’d rather have in my bag.
I’ll keep the short driver on the bench in case my swing gets a bit off and if/when I get fit for a new driver, I’ll definitely test short shafts. That would probably be my advice to anyone considering a shorter driver shaft, find the best way to test it if you can and see what it does for you.
Just catching up on this thread for the first time…
In August I got fitted for my first new driver. Always had second hand drivers before. Turns out my last driver - Ping G had a 46” shaft. My Mizuno ST200G was fitted at 43” (I’m a very portable 5’7”).
Apart from off days I am hitting the new Mizuno driver further and straighter. It just feels so much better to swing. And it has a little whistling quack sound when swung hard. Happy days 
The natural follow up would be— Two drivers in the bag? The mythical “thriver” and a 47” for bombs?
Why are you messing around in the middle? We dont need wedges. My son was just telling the pro during his lesson practicing pitching is waste of his time. Hes just going to drive the green.
I’ve played around with club length quite a bit over the last 15 years or so. I’ve always favored shorter heavier clubs and played a 44.5" driver for most of the time as it seemed the best compromise of distance and accuracy. I think getting weight, loft, spin, balance and MOI right and big keys for trying shorter and longer drivers and getting them to work.
I’ve been able to game a 45" driver this year (never could hit one straight enough) and pick up a bit of distance even though I just turned 55…I know I’m not that old, but I’m not as disciplined with my diet and exercise as Gary Player. I even added a older model TM Mini driver at 43.5" that I’m killing too…almost too far for what I wanted.
I think I can still improve on both if I can get the loft and spin right with help of my fitter. The driver, Ping G400 10.5 is flying really high with almost no roll while the TM Mini is hitting penetrating bullets. The Mini will be a great club as is for the windy Fall and Spring.