----- Original Message ----- From: Ralph Harwood <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, July 24, 2002 1:57 PM
> I have just about given up on using graphite in my driver. I have Rifle > shafts in my 3 and 5 woods and hit those pretty well. My 3 wood is 43 > inches long. ... > > My questions are if I go to a Rifle shaft in my driver, am I going to > have swingweight problems if I extend it to 44 inches and use a metal > head? You say you have a Rifle in the 3w @ 43", and hit it well. The typical driver head is a good 10 grams lighter than the 3w, which just about counterbalances an extra 1" of length. So I think the Rifle will give a fairly similar swingweight at 44". > Would my distance increase any or no change? Well, you didn't say much about your current driver, so I can't say. Let me assume that it is graphite-shafted and something like 45" long. If you hit the ball more squarely with the shorter driver, you will probably gain distance, even though you are likely to lose a little clubhead speed. When my driver swing is not great, I find that a 44" driver helps limit the damage. I don't lose much (if any) distance, and have more drives in play. The last couple of weeks, my swing has been much better, so I've been using a longer driver and getting longer drives. Actually, let me be a little clearer. When my driver swing is not in order, I hit the 44" driver FURTHER than the longer ones -- because I'm making good contact and not losing distance to a banana slice. But when I have a good driver swing, the longer drivers make the ball go noticeably further. Hope that made sense. > Being a hobbyist I > have limited resources to work with and I would appreciate any opinions. I'm a hobbyist too. (Love seeing the occasional guy that spells "hobbyist" right!). And the opinion above is well worth what you paid for it. :-) Good luck! DaveT
