Urban Legend Confirmed: Miguel Angel Jimenez Has The Longest Shaft On Tour

Steady on ladies, I haven't even started yet.

Over the years I've heard many 'stories' about Tour players using special long shafted drivers to hit it further, but even more frequently about players who cut down their shafts in order to "hit it straighter."  In order to get to the long and short of all this I put it to Dominic Griffiths, who looks after all the Ping Tour staffers on the Ping Tour Truck.

I asked Dominic what is the average length driver shaft of the Ping players in his stable, whether there is any truth to these urban myths about players getting the hacksaws out, and if its really true that The Mechanic's shaft is the longest out there.

Here are Dominic's definitive answers.

45.75" (inches) is the most used driver shaft length including grip, we also have many players are 45.5" but 45.75” is by far the most common.

Occasionally we have players that play shorter at 45” (Tom Lewis) or 44.5” (Louis Oosthuizen). Usually these are players with more physical strength and as a result require the shorter shaft to gain some control and to increase the quantity of on-centre hits on tee shots. Often these players will play a heavier shaft to compensate for the shorter shaft weight.

Miguel Angel Jimenez uses a shaft at 46.25” which is the longest we have and this is borne out of his natural ability to control the ball and wanting to achieve maximum distance.

It is always a balance between distance and accuracy and this depends on the player. Often a player can reduce the length of the driver and increase ball speed as he is hitting more frequently in the centre. It is always a balance, which is why you need a good fitter, feedback from the course and discussion about what you do with your game.

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