Tom Wishon on woods with shorter shafts . .
 

This was on the Wishon forum . . . I thought I'd post it for y'all's benefit and reaction. Tom Wishon is one smart cookie. Blake and Wishon need to meet someday! He's really close to speaking our language with the stuff below. Can y'all say extension of the lever assemblies???

The benefit of a shorter driver and woods can all be substantiated by physics and can only be overcome by those few golfers who are blessed with a superior athletic ability.

It all revolves around MOI - in this case, the MOI of the whole club as it rotates around your spine in the swing and how the longer length can create enough of an increase in the load on a golfer to potentially cause breakdowns in the golfer's ability to repeat a swing move and swing consistently.

As you may know from reading here, MOI is equal to mass times the length squared. Therefore, the greater the length of the club, exponentially that longer length is really multiplied because length is a squared quotient in the MOI formula. So the longer the club, the more load the club is putting back on the golfer. And if the golfer does not have the inherent athletic ability or swing ability to be able to keep this load small from a higher MOI club, what can happen is a breakdown of the golfer's ability to keep the club on plane, on path and within the realm of proper/decent swing timing.

Granted, we are talking about the average golfer here, or rather in my off the cuff opinion, possibly 70-80% of the people who play golf. Here's the specifics - In a proper swing, we are taught to create a wrist-hinge angle (can't write the word wrist c**k because of the bad word filter on this forum software!) at the top of the backswing, and then to hold on to that angle as long as possible on the downswing before releasing it to hit the ball. The reason why this is a proper swing fundamental is because when you do this, the club and its headweight is CLOSER to the spine, i.e. the axis of rotation for the MOI of the whole club in the whole swing. So with the wrist hinge angle held intact during as much of the downswing as possible, the distance the club is away from the spine is shorter and there is less load on the golfer from the club, and the golfer will achieve a higher swing speed.

When you begin to unhinge the wrist-hinge angle, you start sending the head mass farther away from the spine of rotation - more LOAD on the body from the club in other words. And with avg golfers, this load can cause you to shift planes, shift swing path, and of course unhinge the wrist-hinge angle too early - all of which are BAD things in the swing. The longer the club to begin with, the more potential for this all to happen to break down the swing.

Even though the total weight of a shorter driver built to say, a D1 swingweight, is higher than a D1 driver at a longer length, remember that in the MOI formula mass is not a squared quotient as is the length. So the body can easily accept a little more mass but not so easily accept a longer length when it comes to the load brought back on to the golfer by the longer length. And the only thing that can counteract this is pure athletic ability of the golfer to inherently have the swing mechanics and coordination to adapt to the higher load of the longer length club. If you don't have that built into the swing/body, the physics of this says you are risking a breakdown of the swing.

TOM

Shorter Driver
 

Did a previous quote state that most Tour Players use a 1/2 inch shorter driver than standard length?

Not sure boss.

Standards
 

I believe that the Tour average length driver is 44.5". Traditionally, standard length was 43.5" in the era of steel shafts. Today, manufacterers seemed to have settled on ~45", but I don't think this has truly been designated as a "standard". However, most OEM products tend to fall between 45" and 46".

Why not just build precision in the player to handle the longer shaft?

I liked the article and Wishon's company, but...Seriously, short for some. Long for others. There is no one size fits all.

I went to this old golf joint the other dude. . . old skool . . . and the old fart that ran the place had this piece of card board that he had put a matrix on . . . Loft Lies and Lengths from 3 different eras to current . . .

You'd have been surprised surprised surprised. The golf companies are mind-pimpin' us. You wouldn't need a gap wedge if you played with the clubs from back'n'da'day.

You should play the longest club you can CONTROL . . . I asked a question out here a long time ago about whether you'd rather have center face contact or more speed . . . HANDS DOWN HITTIN' IT FLUSH WON.

I think Eldrick was playing a 43 inch driver the year where he put everybody to shame . . . I bet most people play a driver that is too long for them and probably don't have enough loft.

More from Wishon...
 

This known as the Vanishing Loft Disease. Your brand new 5 iron has the same loft as the club they stamped with a #3 in the 60's and #4 in the 70's...Still think you need a 1 iron in your bag???

And they continue to do it as long as the consumer remains uninformed. Gotta make a buck.

The average length driver on the PGA Tour in 2004-2005 was 44.5 inches. The average club length sold to the average consumer is 45 inches. The average loft of driver on the PGA Tour at the 2006 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am was 9.2 degrees, conversely their amateur counterparts had an average loft of 9.4 (the majority of which were over a 12 handicap).

I like shorter drivers, but I just don't agree the're for everyone. I watch Jeff Hull (he didn't know I was watching) give a driver fitting one day. The guy, a hack, ended up in like a 47" driver. I know Jeff knows more than me.

Some people control a longer shaft better than a shorter one. Why? Ask Jeff.

Loft
 

Watching Lynn's videos on the swivel and roll on plane was key to learning the #3. After improving my #3 accumulator roll (lots of repetitions it did not come easy!) the launch monitor indicated that more loft was needed. My left arm roll was now delofting the club but producing a nice draw. I am tickled that my average on a launch monitor is now 260 yds versus 230 yds one month ago. I hit a few over 270 - 278 being my longest. The driver is a Nike Sasquatch 13 degree with a stock 45" shaft. Thanks Lynn and LBG golf!!

Interesting . . . What did y'all do to your #3? What was the diagnosis and what was the cure?

You don't have that 2-piece-snack-box driver do you? That thing looks flickdid.

230 to 260 . . . I hope that lil' green b@st@rd gave you your money back.

I have last years Sasqy haven't seen the box version.

I am left handed playing from the right side. I never had the proper swivel and flat left wrist ala Yoda. Reading the Aj Bonar articles helped clear the fog as well. He advises to roll those hand/arms as fast and as far as possible. I had to train my left arm to roll on plane. Lots of left arm only swings as fast as possible waist high to waist high with a weighted training club. I am convinced a proper #3 accum can add 30 yds.

Teaching Truth
 

Thirty more yards and, no doubt, a hefty gain in percentages GIR and Fairways Hit as well.

George Preisinger, PGA, then Head Professional at Marietta Country Club, Marietta, Georgia, taught me this move in 1964. His daugher, Carol, now continues the tradition as a Golf Magazine Top 100 Instructor at Kiawah Island, South Carolina. http://www.carolpreisinger.com/index.html

Thanks George!

And Carol...

You go, girl!

The rolling left arm is not natural (at least for me) - I finally figured out how Yoda does it. I am still practicing it every day so I do not lose it.

And why did I have to figure it out?
To quote Yoda from the Swivel video clip - my #1 Yoda video.

"because that's where the Golfing Machine lives, that's why"

I have only fit a few drivers of that length and usually because they simply hit it better. Most of the time it is to get the player in better posture or to allow them to make a better pivot.

An important point to remember here is that stereotypes for anyone is a bad road to travel. I have been guilty of it in the past and I hope to never do it again. The ball does not know who or what is hitting it. It only knows where it is told to go. The Teacher, The Student, and the ball should determine the correct fit for that player.

I've seen it many times. Driver that is too long with not enough loft; most beginners and mid-cappers have a hard time with a 45" driver. Give them a 43.5" with enough loft and BAM!!:3gears:

I've got a lot of respect for Tom's writing.

He found in a test of 50 golfers over a wide range of handicaps only a 1 yard difference in length between 43" and 45" drivers.

But a huge difference in accuracy.

And that 90% of golfers would be better off with shorter shafts than what is sold off the shelf.

Tom goes on to say that each 1/4" you miss the sweetspot by will cost you 5 yards in distance. I'd estimate a 2" drop in driver length to cost a good amateur about 3mph in swingspeed or about 8-10 yards in distance, so Tom's tests are certainly believable.

But of course, the only way to know what's the best length is through painful trial and error.

And besides, shorter drivers give you less area to take relief drops in. :eyes:

The other thing is the pros using shorter than normal drivers. Tom claims this, I've seen it a few other places too and maybe it's true, but maybe averages can be misleading. For instance, Ping's pro players:

DJ Brigman: 45"
Calcavecchia: 45"
DiMarco: 45.25"
Hendrix: 45"
LaBelle II: 45.75"
Maggert: 44.5"
Mahan: 45.25"
Moore: 45.25"
O'Hern: 45.25"
Purdy: 45.25"
Slocum: 45"
Stroud: 47"
Sutherland: 45.25"
Warren: 45.25"
Bubba: 44.5"

Aye, but what if you hit the sweet spot more often at 3 mph. less?! And if you play the shorter driver just remember to hit it 5-6" less off-line to ajust for the shorter drop radius:happy3: