Fair enough. I love driver off the deck, but I’m not a serial delofter. I have the other problem.
3 Likes
Once my second driver is build (Adams 12 degree is here on Monday, but needs a different shaft) I’m sure I’ll try it off the deck at some point… Back in the non-460cc days, driver off the deck was one of my favorite shots…
3 Likes
Either way, I’m going to have irons into par 5s now so it doesn’t even matterrrrrrrrr 
4 Likes
As far as two drivers in the bag, the thing that puts me off is that I play on courses with long par 5s and need that 3 wood to get it on or close to the green so it would be hard for me to make the jump (albeit I’ve been toying more with hitting the driver off the deck which I used to do a lot in the olden days of persimmon drivers). Also, my 3 wood off the tee doesn’t seem that dis-similar to a second driver for me and is a bit easier to work a fade as opposed to my driver. If anything, I’d like to working on lengthening my shaft of my 3 wood a little but as your article mentioned, just slapping a longer shaft throws off the weighting and feel i have for it.
2 Likes
I think that comes down to a personal decision. For me, the 3-wood is easily on the chopping block. I almost never use it. I’d much rather be closer to the hole on par 4s and par 5s where I felt it appropriate to use the longer driver. Now let’s say 3-wood was one of my “weapons” then I might consider splitting the difference with maybe a 45.5 or 46" driver because I feel my impact mechanics are more sound than they used to be.
3 Likes
Loved the article. I’ve been playing with longer than normal clubs for a long long time and have been using a long driver for over 2 years now. My experience is exactly as you describe.
I get the weighting and fitting aspect to your article – 100% that getting fitted is important. That being said, I also feel like the human body is pretty adaptive if you give it time. When the face of my Ping G400 caved in and Ping sent me a replacement G410 driver with a standard shaft length, I literally couldn’t hit the thing the first round until i put a longer shaft back into it. When I experimented going down to a 44" driver last summer, I gave it a could 3 weeks to try to adapt to it before going back.
The next frontier and my current exploration in maximizing hitting the ball farther is adding more weight to my driver head. For every 10g you add to the head of your driver, you get approximately 1mph more ball speed assuming you swing at the same velocity.
Since I have an older backup driver, I originally added 50g of weight to use on the range as an adjunct/alternative to my super speed clubs and found I was hitting it 3-4mph faster than my normal driver. Not being half-assed, I immediately went full-assed and added added another 60g which does in fact feel like a sledgehammer and was way too heavy to retain my CHS. 50g feels heavy but manageable, 110g doesn’t feel like you are even swinging a golf club anymore. I’ve been set back with a groin pull but I want to give it a couple more weeks of range sessions with the 110g club to see if I start adapting to it. I suspect that for me personally, I will end up adding 30-50g to my “real” driver and see how my arccos numbers change both distance and dispersion.
One caveat about adding weight to your driver head is that you have to be careful where you add the weight to keep your club conforming. I add an email thread with a USGA rules official and there is maximum club head weight but if you add that much weight to a club head, you could change the MOI characteristics and there is limit on that. A typical modern driver head is 209g-ish so adding 25-50% more weight is definitely changing the characteristics of the club.
2 Likes
Absolutely. Off the tee, I’ve changed my strategy to rarely use a 3 wood anymore. It really comes down to the par-5s and that second shot for me.
2 Likes
Okay Bryson. You got this! 
2 Likes
So did you play a driver with a 250g or so head? Sorry if I’m misunderstanding. That’s close to 5 iron head weight. I like a heavy driver and I usually build in the 205 to 210g range depending on length and shaft weight. I’ve actually found a lot of modern heads are no more than 200 since the drivers are getting longer. Some are using counterbalanced shafts and then a 205g head, but I haven’t seen any heavier that are off the rack. One of first fitters I went to years ago wouldn’t build a driver with a head weighing more than 205g as he felt they didn’t work.
2 Likes
Yeah, i believe the G400 is in the neighborhood of 206g (https://ping.com/en-us/clubs/drivers/g400). I added 50g of lead tape to it as an experiment and was able to go from around 160mph which is my normal peak speed to 163mph ball speed. I then went a little crazy and added another 60g as a test so it’s clocking in around 320g and the best I could hit was around 154mph ball speed.
2 Likes
I used TaylorMade M6 Driver a year, and to be honest, I enjoyed and experience a crazy ball speed with this golf diver.
I’ve no idea of the good or bad with TaylorMade, and I’m curious how merely adding more weight to the head means more ball speed, when CoR is limited, and smash is practically limited to near 1.5.
But I did want to chime in that, at least for me, a 45 3/4 driver is quite controllable. Likely because I’m still hitting it with gobs of backspin, which I’m in the process of changing.
To the above head-weighting poster, it’s a 425 Max, which is profoundly heavy (206 g, IIRC), and pretty much demands counterbalancing. The stock Ping shaft works well, which my wallet appreciates.
It’s almost boring to hit. Straight, 240-ish carry, 260-270-ish roll. One less thing to worry about on the course, I guess.
1 Like
Been there and done that when the longer is better and “longer”.
My gamer back then was the SMT 455 DB, had a 8 degree with 46" and 10 degree with 47" Accuflex shaft. with these set up, I went the opposite way of going softer flex. I actually went one flex stiffer because of the longer length and heavier swing weight.
Also went the conventional way of lighter head/shaft with softer flex with the third at 48".
Took me a season to horn in on the timing, and the 46" ended up being the most consistent out of the bunch.
No matter what the set up is, lighter, heavier, stiffer, softer; It demands a lot of more speed from the golfer when going longer.
Theoretically, the longer the shaft the longer the distance; in a perfect world. However, the club head has to be traveling at the same speed or faster.
Most of us will naturally slow down with longer shaft. Unless we can power the swing speed up a notch to keep the same club head speed.
Difficult to keep the hands going the same speed with a longer shaft, it requires much more effort.
Watch out, not to hurt yourself by trying to swing the longer driver. Proper preparation of your physical condition is important and that goes with someone who is younger and stronger.
1 Like
Funny I’d considered doing the same thing just a few seasons ago - had serious putting problems, tried a few different style putters, a few different setups, a few different grips, etc. … and each different thing I’d tried seemed to help either for long/lag putts or for shorter putts…
Then I finally internalized the root cause of the problem was really the dope doing all the experimenting and got to work with some actual putting drills!
Oh and during this time I carried zero drivers … couldn’t hit one well regardless of shaft length… 
1 Like
Yeah I think that may be happening with me (well over 60 now, but still in decent condition although if I “go after it” too hard I feel I definitely increase the chance of injury…).
I know it’s in my head … and it’s just not within my current golfing ability … to swing a regular driver with even semi-consistent, semi-decent results. Very frustrating.
But it’s a work in progress.
I use a Callaway Bertha Mini 1.5 as my more dependable tee option - it’s essentially a big 3W with a deep face - the head is 235cc I think, hosel is adjustable from 13-16* and the playing length is about 44.25". Gotta go with what works for you…
3 Likes
Ha! Yes same for me! I generally hit a 4i off the tee. Back then I could hit one about 225. Later I got fitted for a 12* driver with 85g shaft playing maybe 44". Now I don’t carry a 4 or 5 iron lol.
1 Like
yes, we have to comply with our age and get the most out of it.
For the seniors, the lighter is better than the added length. Just have to find out where the comfort zone is. We’re no-longer bullet proof and not built like the long drive contestants (they all looked like a fire hydrant).
Thanks to the modern interchangeable hosel. I have two driver heads sharing 5 shafts between them. Playing from 43" (steel shaft), to a lightweight graphite shaft playing at 46".
If your sense of timing is good, try the softer flex for added length. Just need to know the rhythm/timing of the longer driver with softer flex will be different than the rest of the bag.
Remember the “killer bee” driver? Used by Rocky Thompson on the Champions Tour and one of the earlier informercial selling the over length driver? If you can find a video of his informercial to study his swing with the 48" driver.
1 Like
Here’s what I found. I was using a a TM SLDR 9* for years with a S 57 Fujikara Speeder 46”. I lost distance due to an accident came back too soon started making adjustments and just messed myself up. I shelved that Driver last year as I started to work on actually fixing my broken swing as I finally healed enough from my accident (torn shoulder). Anyways at 63, you are going to lose distance, fact of life, BUT with proper swing mechanics, you can minimize that loss. In my youth I was driving the ball 255-265. That was maintained until I hit 50 something. That dropped 10-15 yards. Then I got into an accident, went a year without playing. I did little rehab work, wanted to play, experienced pain, and began self adjustment. Bad move. 2 years ago I was barely hitting it 200. I then began the process of rebuilding and exercising. Within 5 months I had gained back like 20. I then shelved my SLDR and purchased 2 Adams Drivers that were actually never used. A 9064LS 8.5 and a 9088 offset. Both are super lite. The 9064 has a Harrison Saga R shaft 46” and the 9088 9.5 has UL Matrix. Now with these guys my SS increased from 87-90 to 93-97. The launch on the 9088 is higher than the 9064. I use the 9064 when the wind kicks up. The lighter shafts, the design on the Adams to me are amazing, I guess that’s why TM bought the patents. I am now consistently hitting the ball 245-255 now, Ball speed has jumped to low 140s. I have gone to a couple of fittings to hit the Ping 420 and the TM M4. Yes, after several adjustments I actually picked up 5 more yards at the fitting with the new equipment. For me was 5 yds worth $500. Personally at 63 no. I’d rather spend that cash playing. Distance cannot be bought. Distance and dispersion must be dug out of the ground. Period! It’s mechanics, age, practice, exercise and finally decent equipment. You put all of that together you’ll do ok! I think I’ve repeated this a few times in other threads. Going to the lighter shafts, with higher kick points worked very nicely for me. Take notes when you go to a fitting that’s how I jumped to the Harrison SAGA 46” R in the 9064 I bought. Made a difference!
2 Likes
Excellent and couldn’t agree more! 
Excellent shaft. Very underrated. I had a Saga 70 S in a driver for years until my neighbor/buddy borrowed it and broke the shaft.