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Golf Equipment Chronicles 2003 (Part 10)

Should Amateur Golfers Play 48-inch Drivers?

By Leith Anderson

Good ideas come from unexpected directions. I struggled with a pretty technical book this month. How Golf Clubs Really Work and how to Optimize Their Designs by Werner and Grieg. I was looking for insight, clues, magic whatever . . . In an obscure reference about maximizing distance; the authors indicated that according to their computer model, the optimum length for a driver, if distance were the primary objective, is 48". I thought I had the Magic Driver just about wrapped up since the Titleist 975 LFE with the Speeder 757 shaft had given my second straight first place tie at the Palo Alto Golf Club NCGA Four ball qualifier. But it got me thinking.

Then Mr. Reynolds (a senior gentleman) walked into the Golf Lab with a home-built 50" driver and hit solid shots off a 2" tee with a head the size of a tennis ball. Made it look easy. We tried him out on a shorter and lighter driver and he lost about 10 MPH in clubhead speed (and lots of distance). He wasn’t thinking about shorter and lighter.

Finally, the Northern California Long Drivers of America (LDA) contest was held the third week of April and that got the big bombers back in the news. They use drivers up to 52".

I might left things as they were but then I played a couple of evening nine hole rounds with my friend Reed who just bought a 983E and souped it up with an Apache 65P to bring the trajectory down. Unbelievable!! Reed gained about thirty yards. We used to be pretty even off the tee, but I always felt like I had the advantage. All of a sudden he was blowing it thirty yards past me. That hurt. I considered a radical solution.

I had a social round coming up on Saturday May 10 so decided to take advantage of a low pressure day to try a couple of 48" drivers. I built two and took them to the course.

I really didn’t know what to expect. I spent the better part of the last year cutting length off of drivers, not putting it back on. The SST Tour Van is on the PGA Tour most weeks during the season and they see very few 45" drivers. The pros certainly aren’t playing extra long drivers. For normal day to day play, I feel like most amateurs should play drivers under 45".

I wasn’t particularly optimistic that the 48" driver was going to be anything but a novelty. I never expected to be tempted to play a long driver in any kind of serious competition, but with the Celebration of Junior Golf Scramble coming up; it seemed like something that might be fun to use when I wasn’t playing for score. I was in for a surprise.

How Long is Your Driver?
This sounds like a silly question but there’s another argument about “standards” going on. The LDA is trying to move itself closer to the mainstream of the golf industry. Apparently, market research determined that excessively long drivers were detrimental to the public impression of long driving as a sport. The fear was that ordinary golfers couldn’t identify with LDA members who looked like professional wrestlers swinging 57" drivers. The LDA also determined that sponsors don’t like what the public doesn’t like. So the organization moved to limit the length of drivers to 52".

Not only that, the LDA determined that the entire golf industry has been measuring clubs wrong all these years. Today, all manufacturers, golf professionals and clubmakers measure clubs in the playing position, by slipping a yardstick under the heel of the club. The LDA now measures clubs in the vertical position, standing the club on its toe. As a result, if you think you’re playing with a 45" driver, on the LDA scale, it will measure 47". For this article, I have used the traditional measurement to get 48" but by LDA reckoning, it would be 50". So now you know. As if arguing about measuring flex wasn’t enough. . .

New Technology Changes the Game
A lot has changed since Rocky Thompson was the leading evangelist for extra long drivers when he was playing the Killer Bee on the Senior Tour.

The consistency, light weight and strength of today’s graphite shafts are head and shoulders above earlier generations. Long drive shafts today are frequently 50 to 60 grams in 48 to 52 inch lengths. Manufacturing techniques have improved with new filament winding processes. The result is ultra light shafts that can withstand incredible force exerted by long drive contestants. I found that extremely light weight shafts make 48" clubs manageable for skilled amateur players.

Driver heads have also improved a great deal in just the last year. A new breed of companies has emerged producing high quality heads targeted directly at LDA contestants. If you haven’t noticed, the LDA is evolving long driving into its own sport. The requirement for high quality and performance has provided an opportunity for companies catering to this need. For amateurs intent on taking long drive technology to the course, the availability of well designed, lightweight titanium heads is an important breakthrough.

Finally, new assembly techniques including shaft alignment, electronic flex measurement, backweighting (balancing) and lightweight grips have permitted a higher level of clubmaking and fitting that exceeds capabilities from prior years. The result is a new breed of driver that might very well break away from long drive specialists and make it into the bag of skilled amateurs. Notice that I emphasize “skilled”. I’m not sure where the demarcation line is, but if you are having a hard time hitting your conventional driver consistently, you might as well forget going over length.

Palo Alto Muni, May 10, 2003
I’ll skip the blow by blow and summarize the results. The 48" driver yielded career length drives on four holes. The weather was chilly and damp, definitely not equal to hot and hard summer conditions. Three career drives were on par fives. For the first time, I began to feel like I could play to reach the par fives at Palo Alto in two. On seventeen, I hit a wind-aided 310 yard drive on a soft fairway leaving a pitching wedge into a hole that has been requiring four iron second shots lately. On a few other holes, I hit drives that weren’t particularly solid that equaled solid drives with my previous Magic Driver. Overall, accuracy wasn’t much worse than with any regular driver. When I killed one, it was dead straight. My best guess on distance was that the long driver added 30 yards. I hoped that wasn’t too optimistic, but planned to confirm results on the launch monitor.

The downside: When you miss, the ball goes way off line. I had three misses that could be politely described as “wild”. However, they were long enough and Palo Alto Muni is open enough that I was still looking at the green. When I missed, it was because I fell off balance. The longer driver creates a lot of its own momentum. If you’re not solid on your feet, the driver swings you. It demands a long swing with plenty of weight moved back behind the ball. If you try to muscle it, you’re dead.

One of the drivers hit the ball too high. Since I was building experimental clubs, I just picked a couple of shafts and heads that provided a good starting point. I was unable to do any significant testing and tweaking. I’m sure that “tuning” is going to yield better results in the future, including correct trajectories. On the other hand, those high balls were pretty impressive.

It was much easier to hit the 48" driver than I ever imagined. As many readers may know, I’m 6'5" so proportionately; the long driver doesn’t look too strange. I did no practicing other than to hit a small bucket before we teed off. If I had time to practice, I think I would work on a somewhat different swing. I would take a wider stance. I know that the long drive guys put the ball on a tall peg and try to sweep it up and out. I’m sure I’ll get some practice at that in the next few weeks.

The bottom line: If I had an individual low net tournament in the next week, I would be sorely tempted to play the 48" driver. It would be an easy decision at a course like Palo Alto Muni where you can hit it anywhere and still be in play.

Reality Check, Launch Monitor Day One
One of my pet peeves is that golfers try to select drivers in the worst possible way. They go to the range, bang a few at the back net and pick the driver that “performs” the best. Problem is, there’s no way you can see what’s going on 200+ yards down the range when the margin of comparison between average and great is ten or fifteen yards. The human mind is just not set up to remember dispersion differences in forty or fifty shots with three or four drivers. On the other hand, you can certainly compare distance if you play a familiar course with a test club because you know where you usually end up. I got good results from the on course comparison so it made sense to check results with the Golf Achiever launch monitor.

One problem probably influenced results. Our nets are not quite tall enough for a 6'5" player swinging a 48" club. I was brushing the top net which I think inhibited my swing. That said, I did get a measurable improvement of two or three miles per hour of clubhead speed, three to four in ball speed, and seven yards in carry distance. I would have thought it was more (always!!). But I know where the ball ended up on the course and the overall distance was definitely more. Maybe I was a little optimistic, but an extra seven to ten yards of carry could easily produce twenty or thirty extra yards of distance, depending on increased roll. The Golf Achiever indicated what I thought I observed on the course, the dispersion was not much worse than the Speeder-equipped Magic Driver.

On day one, my swings with the long driver were more inconsistent than with the shorter club. On good swings, increases in swingspeed and ball speed were six and eight MPH, respectively. This leads to the conclusion that the best center hit drives might be considerably longer.

Also, I was comparing the 48" drivers against a 44.75" “tuned” driver. I felt like the long drivers were not well balanced and resolved to install a lighter grip and the Balance-Certified counterweight system so we could have a fair test. In any event, here are the results of the first launch monitor session.

Long Drivers, Why Not Long Putters?
When I was in Indianapolis recently I made a visit to my favorite used golf club store, the Second Swing. This is a Midwestern chain that is expanding its company-owned stores rapidly. If you’re in the Midwest, the Second Swing is definitely worth a visit. I found a used Bettinardi belly putter and brought it home to California. It’s been sitting around waiting for a little work to make the shaft the right length to fit my belly. Since I was experimenting with the long drivers, I thought I’d make it a sweep and bring the belly putter to the course. Besides, our stakes were a $2 nassau.

My motivation? I couldn’t get it out of my mind that Fred Couples was quoted time and again saying that the belly putter should be illegal. And then he wins at New Orleans using one. More motivation? I missed out on what could have been a career-best round at the Stanford Team/Alumni matches, caused by four three putts on the slick Stanford greens. All of the misses were three or four footers pulled slightly left. I was hoping to improve my consistency on short putts.

On the first hole at Paly I drained an impossible 30-footer for a birdie. Another birdie on six from eighteen feet out of the fringe. A par saver on fourteen from fifteen feet. That’s my quota on any day. The most interesting thing was that I never three putted. I had several thirty to forty footers that I got very close. I was worried about “feel” especially distance control from over twenty feet. As far as I could tell, it was the reverse. I felt like it was easier to control distance with the belly putter. It’s important to note, however, that these were the slow and bouncy Paly greens.

It was much easier to hit the putts on line, especially on mid length putts. The belly putter is absolutely in the bag for the next month for a real serious tryout. I was beginning to think I’d never knock my trusty Odyssey out of the bag but this looks like it might be the real thing. If you’re having trouble with your putting, or if you’re just not making enough putts, I highly recommend trying out a belly putter.

Building the 48" Driver
If there is one segment of the golf industry that absolutely requires custom made equipment, it is the long drive “Tour” represented by the LDA. These guys all use clubs pushing the legal limit and there are no 52" Titleist or Taylor Made drivers at your local pro shop.

This requirement is compounded by the extraordinary punishment that a LDA contestant administers to his equipment. These are the kind of guys who can drive a golf ball through a thick phone book. It is common for them to break an average driver head with a few swings.

The New Players in Long Drive Competition -- SMT
The biggest winner in the last year is Mike Tait, who founded the SMT (Superior Metal Technology) titanium driver head company fourteen months ago. He is a golf professional who has been distributing components for many years. He built up a strong trade among long drivers but almost went out of business when the failure rate on imported Chinese driver heads started going north of 25%. His suppliers were becoming reluctant to honor warranties, so he decided to go into the business by designing and producing heads himself.

He designed his first heads sitting at the kitchen table, a source of unending consternation for companies like Taylor Made who have a staff of thirty five engineers trying to do the same thing with less success. Over the last year, despite the fact that he was a newcomer and suffered the usual reluctance of the “players” to embrace the new guy, he sold over 35,000 titanium driver heads. At last year’s long drive “Nationals” his heads won the Open Division, the Senior Division and placed third through fifth in the Womens’ division. In the recent Northern California Championships, his heads swept the Open Division. You could call that a trend.

The driving force behind Mike’s business is the desire to produce the highest quality, original design product that he can. He uses complicated manufacturing techniques and the highest quality titanium available. He wants a head that will not break. His heads come with a lifetime guarantee. Perfect? Not quite. He admits fulfilling the warranty replacement of 350 heads out of 35,000, a rate he can live with. SMT is an example of the kind of company that springs up to fulfill a need that the major OEMs overlooked. His company is also an example that the component industry is no longer made up of companies that simply clone and copy name brand designs.

Most of the business is focused on three designs. The Shinnecock is a 360 cc head with a modified pear shape. The Nemesis is a 385 cc head that is a totally original design. It was the Senior winner at Nationals last year. The 455 Deep Bore is a squarish head that won the Open Division at the Nationals and is emerging as the most popular shape for the strongest hitters. More details are available at www.smt
golf.com.

Accuflex Golf Shafts
A second company that made its name in the long drive business is Accuflex. The brain behind sales and marketing is a brilliant guy named Steve Zunich. Steve had his first success working for Harrison selling shafts to long drive contestants when Harrison was a strong contender. When Jody Baucom found a new source for high tech filament wound shafts in Taiwan, they teamed up to target the long drive segment. The rest is history.

In the last year, Accuflex has pretty much dominated the long drive tour. Their shafts won at the LDA Nationals last year in all divisions.

Most of the long drive interest is in three shafts. The Pro LD is their most popular long drive shaft, despite the fact that it’s a sheet wrapped design. It was the first ultra light weight shaft that the big guys couldn’t break. The long drivers’ code is “lighter is better”. The second model is the “Assassin”. (Accuflex naming conventions make me think that these are guys that used to name drag racers.) The third is the Vizion, an ultra light weight shaft that placed in the Women’s’ division at Nationals. If you want the complete specifications on their shafts, you can find them at http://www.accuflexgolf.com.

Kent Sports Alpha Reaction V2
I like to keep my eye on companies that are trying to do something different. Kent Sports is such a company. It has been around for ten years selling a good quality, slightly idiosyncratic brand of components. Company founder Jim Yeh is a PhD physicist by training, a fact that calls attention to a scientific bent in his designs.

I have had some experience with the Alpha Reaction line of titanium heads from prior years. Frankly, I’ve never been too crazy about them for two reasons. They have a rounded shape that reminds me to a club that the Tele Tubbies would like. Also, they seem to have a lower than normal lie angle which has never felt very comfortable with my higher than normal requirements. But they have a following.

That said there is a new Alpha Reaction V2 head in the marketplace. This is a super premium priced driver head that is manufactured by expensive two piece construction. In this method, the body is cast in one piece and the face is welded on. This contrasts to less expensive construction methods in which four pieces are welded together. The benefit is described as permitting more effective weight distribution and elimination of hot spots. You also get a better sound on contact. Another innovation is the face which shows the position of impact which you can wipe off with a damp towel, a nice training aid. The only other component company utilizing this construction technique is LaJolla. This is the most expensive head in the market. More information is available at http://www.kentsports.com.

Choosing a Long Driver Shaft
The currently most popular shaft among long drive contestants is the Accuflex Assassin.

Carl Wolter used it to win at the Nationals last year. This is a shaft that is being produced and marketed in normal lengths as well to take advantage of its celebrity. You can put it in your standard driver. It is a filament wound shaft produced with what Accuflex describes as its “A2” material - presumably a higher quality mix of graphite. I had to try an Assassin. For the first experiment, I chose a standard “S” flex.

The second shaft I chose was the Accuflex Vizion. This is the lightest shaft they make. It placed in the women’s division of the Nationals last year. I think that it’s appropriate for most amateurs to have a look at products that are popular on the LPGA Tour. Face facts, most of us match the LPGA Pros better than the PGA Pros. Since it was only 55 grams, I chose the “X” flex.

Both shafts felt very firm. I was expecting misses to be “high right”. That’s what happened the first time on the course, but after working with the longer drivers, I never missed “high right” again. That’s another surprise. I plan on finding the demarcation line of the “softest flex you can still control” in the future, but for the first round, I was playing “stiff” and “stiffer”.

Choosing a Long Driver Head and Making the Marriage
The first choice was easy. I went with the SMT Nemesis. It seems to be the head of choice for the Senior Division of the LDA Tour. It was a little big for my taste but when you’ve got a head hanging way out there at the end of a 48" shaft, you simply have to go with a larger size. Overall, the Nemesis has a little longer heel to toe dimension which I’ve always preferred. And, you can’t argue with success. I paired the Nemesis up with the Assassin shaft. That combo won the senior division at the LDA Nationals last year. I thought that would be appropriate.

The second choice was the Alpha Reaction V2 in the 400 cc size. The new shape has been trimmed down from its earlier version even though the size is technically the same. The shape appears compact - which is saying something for a 400 cc head. On the longer club, the lower lie angle seemed natural. I put the AR V2 on the Vizion shaft.

Assembly Notes
I’m going to be the first to admit that I don’t have a lot of experience with extra long drivers simply because I never really believed in them. Starting with flex, the Assassin shaft I chose was a standard “stiff” and in its full length, it flexed out to a PCS 6.5. (If you’re new to the Search for the Magic Driver, you can find previously published articles, including in-depth discussions of flex determination on the California Golf Technologies web site www.calgolftech.com.) The Vizion shaft that I chose was a standard “X” flex and it measured an 8.1 on the PCS system. On the question of “feel” it’s hard to say. The very stiff Vizion shaft didn’t feel that stiff on the course. The first follow-up experiment had to be building a slightly softer flex with a lower loft head to bring down the ball flight. There was no measurable difference in shaft performance.

Follow-up Tuning
As you can tell, the results of this experiment caught me by surprise. Consequently, I didn’t have a lot of time to explore all of the variations. I will do that with new shaft and head combinations if I find that I can finish a competitive round with no “driver induced doubles” in the near future. In the meantime, I wanted to see if balancing had the same effect with long drivers that it does on conventional lengths. I installed the Balance-Certified backweighting system. I also changed the grips to a lighter weight to promote more head feel.

A second trip to the range was also surprising. With backweighting, I began to feel that I hit the longer driver more consistently than the standard lengths. The Vizion with the V2 head took some wild left hand turns, but that was so counter-intuitive with the super stiff shaft that I wrote it off to “bad swing plane”.

The Balance-Certified counterweight system definitely improved the balance of the club which I feel is important with long drivers. When I returned to the Golf Lab for a follow up session on the GA launch monitor, the distance results were less conclusive. Overall, my swing speed was up a couple of miles an hour and ball speed off the face three miles per hour from the day before. It would have been nice if there was a more dramatic increase, but more is more, higher is higher.

The most surprising result was that the Golf Achiever measured less sidespin with the Balance-Certified system installed. Sidespin is an indicator of accuracy. With balancing, the long drivers tested equal to the shorter driver in accuracy indicators. Another surprise. It will be interesting to see how this works out on the course.

Recommendation
The search for the Magic Driver took an unexpected turn this month. If the early indicators hold up on the course and in competition, a 48" driver could lead to breakthrough performance. I’m going to be playing with a 48" driver for the next few weeks. I’ll let you know how it comes out.

Leith Anderson is a partner in the Golf Lab in Palo Alto. He will answer all questions related to clubmaking and clubfitting personally. Contact Leith Anderson by email: Leith@calgolftech.com. Cell phone 650-743-2816.