Golf Tips: A Longer Shaft Adds Drive Distance

Video Transcript

"This segment is on hitting to your full potential, long drives. And the longer the shaft, the wider the arc. The wider the arc, the more club head speed. The more club head speed, the further the ball is going to go. For many years, a driver could be any length. But now the USGA has set a limit at forty-eight inches. Most drivers today that you would buy would be forty-four to forty-five inches. Will a forty-eight inch driver give you less accuracy? Yes, most likely it will. But, it will also give you more club head speed. As a rule of thumb, each inch will give you five yards. So if you have a forty-five inch driver and go to forty-eight, there's a chance you're going to gain fifteen yards. Will you lose some accuracy? Probably. But if you want to experiment, take an old driver, bring it into a pro shop or an off course store. Have them put a plug in, three inches. Put on a grip. Practice with a longer driver. You will hit longer and you might be surprised that you actually don't lose that much accuracy."