Age and the Longdriver

Most younger and better players with a late release and fast hand action don’t adapt their swing to the long driver’s high swingweight very well. (These guys usually hit the ball so far that they don’t need a long driver anyway.) A late release just won’t get the club face back to square unless you are very strong. I had a somewhat late release and maybe ended up with two swings...one for the long driver and one with a later release for my irons. But, after using them both for a while, they feel like the same swing to me.

Don’t let yourself get discouraged. Typically at first, every shot goes high and right. Then, as you begin to slow down and concentrate on swinging higher and staying behind the ball, you are suddenly hitting pull-draws. Slowing the upper body turn usually corrects this. But too much slowing (inside-out) results in a blocked shot...right but straight. An over-the-top swing and strong right hand usually results in a big pull-hook. These are all typical of swing mistakes with any length driver, but magnified with a long one. The advantage with a long driver is one of feel...a much better feel for head position, I think, so mistakes are easier to correct and less likely to happen once you’ve got the feel of a good shot. Time the swing right and a long driver is just as accurate as any other club. And, since I can feel the swing timing better with a long driver, I am more accurate with it than I ever was with a shorter driver.

The only accuracy problem I have is the result of “old man” tiredness about the 15th hole on a hot day and not controlling my hand position because of heavy swingweight, or dead legs getting body out of sync and coming over the top. The former results in a banana that gets away from me and the latter is a pull hook. This very seldom happens if I swing under control, though. This is why swingweight needs to be matched with the player’s ability to control the club (strong wrists)...and of course, length is the principal cause of high swingweight. In general, I find only players with a reasonably decent swing can handle the E2+ of 48 inch drivers, while most 60s guys and even some senior women can handle the D8 of a 47” driver.

Funny thing happens over 75 years of age...there’s neither the swing speed or the wrist flexibility in these players to make swingweight matter much at all. Only a little strength is needed. I have a stronger 78 year-old playing a 48” driver that swingweights at E6 and he’s hitting the ball with it better than any club he’s had in the last 10 years...but still only 215 yards or less. (Of course, he couldn’t get beyond 170 with a 45” club.)  Some over-70s are so locked-in to a short driver swing that they just can’t make the switch, but at any age you won’t know until you try.

Senior women who are better than beginners are fun to fit...some have really slow swing speeds, but most have some sort of natural long driver timing. With little wrist strength, they just let the release, if any, happen with any club they play, or simply make an arm swing. Swingweight’s not very difficult to deal with for arm swingers. One 72 year-old woman with a beautiful, consistent arm-swing and a tiny release couldn’t get over 150 with her 45” Cobra. A friend of hers had told her I could help her get more distance, so she called me on the phone. I picked it up and heard this strange voice saying, “I’m tired of the girls driving by me. Can you make me a club that will hit the ball farther?” After a moment of stunned silence, I said I could try and met her on her driving range across town with my limited number of demo lengths. After gaining little with the 46” and 47” drivers, I pulled out my 48”, D9 Bang-O-Matic. She adjusted to my 48” driver in one swing and was hitting hitting the ball 185 yards, high and dead straight, ball after ball. “Make me this one,” she said. (Of course, her husband had to try it and I made him one, too.) I couldn’t believe she could swing it for 18 holes, but she could. Senior women also seem to be a bit more flexible than senior men and tend to swing the club higher. All I generally have to do is show them how to keep the upper body behind the swing. The yardage these ladies pick up with a longer driver (mostly 46-inchers) is amazing…often over 10 yards an inch. I have one 5’1” lady hitting a D4, 47” really light driver (around 280-something grams, I think) right down the middle. Her husband told me jokingly that she now sleeps with that driver instead of him...and he ordered one just like it. Most do better with a 46” driver, however, especially some of the younger 50-somethings, who can still take a good rip at the ball.

Hope I covered what you were looking for. I left out the “youngsters,” because I don’t build many longer drivers for them. Some 20-somethings just want to kill the ball and don’t care where it goes. One young friend of my son told me he loves his 48” club because now he can bounce his ball off the roofs of the condos on such-and-such a hole. Geez, is that golf? One young guy was almost good enough to make the Long Drive events, but couldn’t get his swing speed over 125 mph and gave up. Wish I could swing 125. Making clubs for him was kind of fun. Most of these guys don’t need long drivers anyway, so I tend to go more by the book for them...maybe cheat an inch or so if I can get a light enough total weight.
If you are a senior, you will get some distance back playing a long driver. If you can learn to control it, you will be even more accurate than with a shorter driver. I’ve seen too many seniors succeed to believe what the nay-sayers will be telling you. It’s worth the try.-Bernie

I've put together some suggested lightweight, flexible components to use in your senior longdriver-John Muir/Clubmaker Online

Next >Senior Longdriver Equipment. Extra Long, SuperLight Shafts and Lightweight Clubheads.