Equipment
It might be a good idea to cut down your driver
There are a lot of ways to adjust your clubs at home with some simple tools, and one of the easiest jobs for the DIY golfer is cutting down clubs, especially cutting down a driver, and installing a new grip.
Cutting down a driver will have a number of impacts including making the driver more accurate because at a shorter length it is easier to control and make contact in the middle of the face.
PGA Tour driver length
Bryson DeChambeau testing a longer driver
On the PGA Tour, the average driver length is 45″, even though some golfers like Bryson DeChambeau with a Cobra SpeedZone and Adam Scott with a Titleist TSi4 *Prototype, have recently experimented with drivers close to the 48″ USGA limit to help pick up extra speed. Even Phil Mickelson has transitioned to a 47.5″ driver for extra speed, and has been using it on the Champions Tour and recently at The Match 3.
The longer driver theory works well for stronger and highly skilled players because of their ability to control a longer and heavier club at higher speeds, but for average golfers and most recreational players, this extra length means bigger misses and doesn’t always lead to extra speed—this is why playing a shorter length can help most golfers.
More on PGA Tour driver length: PGATour.com – Are long drivers here to stay?
Buying a new Driver
If you are buying a new driver, you can custom order any length you want through your retailer and the driver will be adjusted before final assembly. If you are buying a “stock” driver, most in the marketplace are now between 45.5″ and 46″ and many golfers struggle to control the club at those lengths. This is why many golfers choose to cut down their stock driver after purchase between 1″ and 1.5″.
What happens when you cut down a driver
When you cut down any club, especially a driver, it will feel lighter without any adjustment because you have moved the mass of the club closer to your hands. Just like a fulcrum scale used to measure mass, the closer the mass—in this case, the driver’s head gets to the fulcrum of the scale, the lighter it will “feel” to the golfer—this is called swing weight.
Thanks to adjustable drivers, it is easy to get extra weights from a manufacturer to help the driver feel the same before it was cut down, and as a general rule, for every 1″ you cut, you have to replace 12g back into the head,
To get an idea of what swing weight is, check out the video below that covers the subject.
TXG Driver length test
To see a shorter driver put to the test, check out the video by the team at TXG, where they compare a standard length 45″ driver to a 43″ driver and how they compare for distance and accuracy.
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Equipment
Why Rory McIlroy will likely use the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper at the RBC Heritage
Although we spotted Rory McIlroy testing the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper last week during practice rounds at the Masters, he ultimately didn’t decide to use the club in competition.
It seems that will change this week at the 2024 RBC Heritage, played at the short-and-tight Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head.
When asked on Wednesday following his morning Pro-Am if he’d be using the new, nostalgic BRNR Copper this week, McIlroy said, “I think so.”
“I like it,” McIlroy told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday regarding the BRNR. “This would be a good week for it.”
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According to Adrian Rietveld, the Senior Manager of Tour at TaylorMade, the BRNR Mini Driver can help McIlroy position himself properly off the tee at the tight layout.
Here’s what Rietveld told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday:
“For someone like Rory, who’s that long at the top end of the bag, and then you put him on a course like Harbour Town, it’s tough off the tee. It’s tight into the greens, and you have to put yourself in position off the tee to have a shot into the green. It kind of reminds me of Valderrama in Spain, where you can be in the fairway and have no shot into the green.
“I’m caddying for Tommy [Fleetwood] this week, so I was walking the course last night and looking at a few things. There’s just such a small margin for error. You can be standing in the fairway at 300 yards and have a shot, but at 320 you don’t. So if you don’t hit a perfect shot, you could be stuck behind a tree. And then if you’re back at 280, it might be a really tough shot into the small greens.
“So for Rory [with the BRNR], it’s a nice course-specific golf club for him. He’s got both shots with it; he can move it right-to-left or left-to-right. And the main thing about this club has been the accuracy and the dispersion with it. I mean, it’s been amazing for Tommy.
“This was the first event Tommy used a BRNR last year, and I remember talking to him about it, and he said he couldn’t wait to play it at Augusta next year. And he just never took it out of the bag because he’s so comfortable with it, and hitting it off the deck.
“So you look at Rory, and you want to have the tools working to your advantage out here, and the driver could hand-cuff him a bit with all of the shots you’d have to manufacture.”
So, although McIlroy might not be making a permanent switch into the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper, he’s likely to switch into it this week.
His version is lofted at 13.5 degrees, and equipped with a Fujikura Ventus Black 7X shaft.
See more photos of Rory testing the BRNR Mini here
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It seems like the RBC Heritage is full of new gear to be spotted, and you can add TaylorMade’s P-UDI utility irons to that list.
We spotted a 17-degree P-UDI 2-iron in Nick Dunlap’s bag yesterday, and now have some photos of both the 3- and 4-irons. Nick has his P-UDI 2-iron setup with a Project X HZRDUS Black 4th Gen 105g TX shaft.
From what we can tell, this new P-UDI utility iron looks to have some of the usual TaylorMade technology as we can see the Speed Slot on the sole of the club for additional face flexibility. A toe screw is usually used to close off the hollow body design that will probably be filled with a version of TaylorMade’s Speed Foam that is present in the current iron lineup. This hollow body, foam-filled design should offer additional ball speed, soft feel, and sound, as well as an optimized CG for ball flight.
“Forged” is etched into the hosel, so we can assume that either the face, body, or both are forged for a soft and responsive feel. The club looks good from behind and at address, where we can see just a little offset and a topline that I would consider medium thickness. We don’t have the full details on what is under the hood or how many loft options will be available yet.
TaylorMade P-UDI 3-iron – 20°
TaylorMade P-UDI 4-iron – 22°
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage
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- Collin Morikawa what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage. More photos from the event here.
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 LS (9 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 60 TX (45 inches)
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (13.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX
5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX
Irons: TaylorMade P770 (4), P7MC (5-6), P730 (7-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Mid 115 X100 (4-6), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (7-PW)
Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 (50-SB09, 56-LB08), TaylorMade MG4 TW (60-TW11)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: TaylorMade TP Soto
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Tour 2.0
Grips: Golf Pride Z-Grip Cord
Ball: TaylorMade TP5x
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Colin
Feb 19, 2021 at 4:11 pm
I’m still working on what suits me best but, a purple ice shaft 65gms stiff works better than regular. I like to feel the head so changed from weight from 2 to 8gms, but still a work in progress lol
Rick James
Dec 20, 2020 at 9:47 pm
Having spent time w/ Launch Monitor outputs I realized neutral face to path w/ driver is where its all at and I could do that w/ shorter lengths. I found better zones of contact on the face too w/ shorter lengths too that helped reduce spin. I tried to use 2.51 yds per MPH of clubhead speed to gauge if the length was giving me efficient results. I found shorter length was consistent.
PSG
Dec 10, 2020 at 9:41 am
This article is fine, except for the part where you say a player might not pick up extra speed.
Every half-inch is worth around 1.5 mph, for everyone. They might not pick up distance (because they don’t hit the middle) but every single human on earth swings a 48″ lever faster than a 45″ lever. That part is a little misleading.
Jay
Dec 10, 2020 at 11:32 pm
I think they mean ball speed.
Ndhd
Dec 20, 2020 at 1:34 pm
This
Ryan Hurley
Dec 9, 2020 at 2:37 pm
I work as a club fitter and see so many people come in with the notion they need longer drivers to match their longer irons
Griff
Dec 8, 2020 at 10:52 am
I went from a M3 at 45.75 to an Epic sub zero cut -1 inch to 44.5 and I hit it better than any driver I’ve ever had. Hitting it in the sweet spot more often…I’m longer and more accurate. Gone from a 8 to a 5 handicap. Distance is not the issue for me…squeezing another 10 yards out of a driver is irrelevant b/c most of the time I’m hitting some type of wedge into the green. If I’m in play I’m going to score well. I’ve always struggled with driver consistency and cutting it shorter has really changed things without any performance drop off.
JK
Dec 7, 2020 at 8:59 pm
Yup – cut down my Cobra F9 driver to play 44 5/8. added some swing weight to get it to D1 & drove the ball better this year than last 5 years.
Imafitter
Dec 7, 2020 at 6:02 pm
LOL! I’ve been advocating this for years, and before I just retired from fitting, I had every customer, especially seniors, try shorter shafts. My Ping G400MAX comes standard with a 45.75″ shaft & D3, and when I was fitted by Ping at the PGA Show, they recommended 45″, which I ordered. This summer for fun I replaced the shaft with a Mits Diamana at 44″ and experimented with the weight which is now D0. Not only am I hitting it straighter, but longer than most of my senior league (and the 45″ shaft)! Others have hit my driver and done the same or similar adjustments. Amateurs need to get fit, quit buying off the rack, and experiment with different lengths.
Trent Walden
Feb 15, 2024 at 8:32 am
What about just choking down a little bit on your shaft?
Martin
Dec 7, 2020 at 5:39 pm
Its wrong. Its not 12 grams per inch. Its actually 1.6 gram per swing weight. Does it matter? Yes, to some it does, cause we are all different and some of us are extremely sensitive to even the slightest weight difference. So if you cut down a driver 1 inch you the swing weight becomes 6 weights lighter, so to figure out how many grams you need to add you need 6×1.6 grams added to the head of the driver.
Ted Noel
Jan 11, 2021 at 9:49 am
Actually, we aren’t sensitive to “swing weight.” We are sensitive to “Dynamic Moment of Inertia.” SW is only the functional equivalent of DMOI at identical club lengths. That means if you test 6-irons and find the one you like, your progressive length set will feel best at the 6-iron, and all the rest will feel less good. That’s because to keep DMOI the same through the irons, you need to change head weight by about 9 grams per 1/2 inch change in length. To keep SW the same, the change is about 7 grams per 1/2 inch. This is another reason single length irons work so well. They all feel the same, just like Bobby Jones’ clubs.
Ultimately, the best measurement point for DMOI is from about 4″ from the butt end, which puts it between your hands, which is the physical hinge point. Using that point, I can match your entire set so that you won’t be able to tell which club you are swinging blindfolded.
Issues of flex and torque are separate concerns from DMOI and SW.
Mike C
Dec 6, 2020 at 6:02 am
By 2022 half the players on the PGA tour will be using a driver between 47”-48” long. Eventually 47 1/2 inches will be the standard on tour and for off the rack purchases. I’m currently experimenting with a 48 inch Krank driver. So far so good.
phizzy
Jan 5, 2021 at 5:50 pm
I’d like to see how straight you hit that driver, lol
Charles Mclaughlin
Dec 6, 2020 at 1:34 am
You can also grip your club an inch or two lower.
Jay
Dec 10, 2020 at 11:37 pm
The problem with gripping down is you change the swing weight dramatically. When cutting down a driver, you want to restore the SW to your optimal.
Tyler Durden
Dec 5, 2020 at 1:45 pm
Just cutting off some length off the butt of your driver is a good way to ruin a club
Alan Garner
Dec 7, 2020 at 3:57 pm
Agreed, gripping down is a far safer and prsctical way. I do this on tight fairways and when hitting into the wind. Then you have the option to grip back up when the fairway is wide open and there is little trouble to give the ball maximum pencil! #bombs
Tyler Durden
Dec 8, 2020 at 4:22 pm
Exactly. I once had a GBB 8 degree driver with a aldila Longwood shaft at 47.5”. I could crank drives out at the full length, and found that I could grip down to the grip end and be more consistent than with my 3 wood. In my infinite wisdom, I was choking down pretty much every tee shot, so I decided to just cut off an inch. Long story short, totally ruined the feel of the driver, and two more purchases of the longwood shaft didn’t recreate the original feel.