Shafts that are too long

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BrendanC

BrendanC

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What are the implications/tell-tale signs that your shafts are too long?

Is an overly flat backswing a sign?

I ask this question as I have - not for the first time - beaten a ballstriking slump by gripping down 1.5 inches on every club. This improves striking. Also fixes the backswing like you wouldn't believe - no superflat backswing.

So I'm strongly considering having about 1.5 taken off each club permanently.

Anyone been down this road, either with students or by themselves?

BTW: I'm 6'0 and I reckon have longer than average arms.

Also -interesting that some of the older books say that taller golfers should use SHORTER clubs and vice versa small guys.
 
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DCgolf

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Heel hits, fats most common ball striking problems. The longer the club the more flat is does swing but if you go down 1.5 they will get stiffer, flatter and 5-6 swing weights lighter
 
BrendanC

BrendanC

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DCgolf said:
Heel hits, fats most common ball striking problems. The longer the club the more flat is does swing but if you go down 1.5 they will get stiffer, flatter and 5-6 swing weights lighter
Click to expand...

Heel hits (incl. Shanks) and fats are indeed the most common problems I have been having when timing goes off. I think my swing - even when it is workign well - is really too much of a big body heave. My body needs to be v.open at impact. And I can only really hit fades.

Driver has become best club and generally, short irons very difficult to hit. I think this is because there is more time for the 'body heave' to take effect with longer clubs.

I can say with 100% confidence that gripping down has made my swingplane in the backswing more "neutral" - it had been too flat. Would be happy to accept shaft and swingweight changes etc if contact is better.

On lie angles - if I bent them more upright, my hands would have to get even higher at address surely? My main problem is fitting my posture around the club.....

Gonna play a round gripped down this weekend before taking the shaft cutting step....thanks.
 
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softconsult

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Got it. If it were me and I was going to experiment with cutting down my irons, I would do several things.

1. Experiment with 1 club, like the 7 iron.
2. Recognize that you will need to buy new grips with the proper mouth size.
3. Then you have to deal with the issue of installing new grips on the cut down shaft. The diameter of the butt of the shaft
starts to taper more as you move down the shaft, so will probably have to build up under the grip to offset this if is a problem.
4. This should actually be first. Determine whether your heads can be bent for lie angle and if yes, by how many degrees. Then, of
course, you need to figure out what the lie angles should be for your particular swing.

Just my two cents worth - and trust me I have been there and done that relative to screwing around with clubs on my own and having financial constraints.
 
BrendanC

BrendanC

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Cheers Steve - I may well engage a pro to do the work on the clubs. I am looking to make my own diagnosis.

I have an old set that are also standard lie/length that I could experiment with as well.......but I have a feeling in my gut about cutting these clubs down!
 
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DCgolf

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I'm a teacher first and fitter second kinda guy. By that i Mean I'm always inclined to believe it's a swing issue first. I'm guessing the fats are shallow fats and the heels are in to out late hits. Just my thoughts...
 
BrendanC

BrendanC

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Gripped down all day today and hit it better with more control.....good score in 80s on freezing cold and windy links course.

I take the point on swing issue 1st/club fitting 2nd but having been round the houses with the swing, I'm convinced a 'standard' hold on these shafts contributes to issues.

I have hit it well with 'standard' grip, but I don't have to pivot like mad to get good contact when down shaft and stuff like 3/4 shots also much better, leading me to believe it is more consistent for me.
 
BrendanC

BrendanC

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Distance held up fairly well.

Slightly lower trajectory, grip a touch stronger, ball is back a bit in stance, and I am drawing the ball. Bit of a 'Handsier' feeling.

One v.interesting thing I notice is that my 'underplaner' finish - which has the left elbow very low and out to the left - is much reduced. A 'one last point' finish is naturally achieved.
 
J

Jim Kobylinski

Super Moderator
Longer clubs = heavier swing weights, you may just like a lighter swing weight. I play my 5 iron @ 37.75" and don't have any issues.
 
BrendanC

BrendanC

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Hadn't thought of that Jim. The feel is definitely better - and swingweight could be part of that. I do think I can feel the ball 'on' the clubface better if that makes sense.

But the major change is that I am more upright in the backswing.

There are lots of players with a very flat/laid off look in the backswing and wonder if shaft length (and/or lie-angle) of modern clubs is a factor - basically because any longer shaft will always cause a flatter backswing.
 
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softconsult

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"But the major change is that I am more upright in the backswing.

There are lots of players with a very flat/laid off look in the backswing and wonder if shaft length (and/or lie-angle) of modern clubs is a factor - basically because any longer shaft will always cause a flatter backswing. "

I would accept sentence one if you added "feel like". I doubt the actual is very much more upright. Comparative down line video would be interesting. I can't see how choking down, let's say an inch or so, causes much of a more upright backswing. More crisp contact? Yes, I can buy that, but distance may be shorter, which may be one of the goals of choking down for a particular shot.

Sentence two mentions modern clubs being longer as a cause of laid off swings. I think you are placing too much emphasis on club length as a cause. If anything older clubs, as in a couple of decades, despite being shorter, had flatter lie angles. Some people swing flatter, some swing more upright. Upright back does not necessarily mean upright coming into the impact zone.

Whole lotta variables in Golf
 
B

birly-shirly

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BrendanC said:
Distance held up fairly well.

Slightly lower trajectory, grip a touch stronger, ball is back a bit in stance, and I am drawing the ball. Bit of a 'Handsier' feeling.

One v.interesting thing I notice is that my 'underplaner' finish - which has the left elbow very low and out to the left - is much reduced. A 'one last point' finish is naturally achieved.
Click to expand...

Brendan - just a thought, but are you sure that what you need isn't actually smaller grips?
 
BrendanC

BrendanC

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@Steve - I agree with you that upright backswing is not necessarily a catch all fix. I'll do some video this week for comparison purposes. I checked a really old 6iron (owned by my grandfather no less -it has spots/dots instead of grooves!) and surprisingly, it is the same length. The loft is WAY different though, much more loft on the old club.

@Birly Would be surprised if I need smaller grips cos my hands are big - used to take an XL glove back when I wore a glove, and palm a basketball.
 
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birly-shirly

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Prob not then! Unless you're already using jumbo grips for your jumbo mitts... It was just a thought based on your comment about liking the "handsier" feel when gripping down a (presumably) tapered handle by an inch and a half.
 
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