Please forgive the pun but I couldn't resist. Mike Stachura over at Golf Digest just did a post concerning a potential new limit on shaft length.
Here's the deal: The USGA and the R&A are considering a new limit on the legal length of golf club shafts (not putters), capping the allowable length at 46.5" instead of the current 48". Apparently they informed the manufacturers a couple years back that they were going to study the possibility, and contacted them again less than two months ago that they (the ruling bodies) were going to propose the shorter length.
You can read the whole story at this Golf Digest link. There's more to it than just "we're thinking about lowering the limit" but it would affect a few golfers like Brooke Henderson, who currrently uses a 48" driver. Brooke grips down on the handle, so the effective length of her driver is probably about the standard length. I suppose she could get the same feel with a standard length shaft that's been counterweighted. Still, any change is still an adjustment -- assuming that this rule change actually goes through.
I find this very interesting because Stachura believes it's an attempt to eliminate one possible way for golfers to buy extra distance, even though this option has yet to be used by most golfers. I don't have a problem with that, as I think we put too much emphasis on distance and I also believe that the extra shaft length is generally detrimental to a player's game anyway. (Again, most players don't grip down the way Brooke does.)
But I do wonder how it might affect the yearly long drivers competition, as they generally try to use USGA-legal equipment.
So this is another potential rule change that bears watching. For most players, it's going to be a non-issue, even if they're professionals. (Brooke Henderson is an exception, of course.) But it would be nice if the ruling bodies moved as quickly to de-complicate The Rules of Golf as they do to regulate equipment that most players don't even use.
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