Can Golf Clubs Be Extended?

Feeling hunched over your golf ball, as though you’re swinging a club that’s just a bit too short for your frame? It’s a common issue, especially for taller players, and it can wreak havoc on your posture and consistency. You've probably wondered if there's a simple fix, which leads to the direct question this article will answer: Yes, you can extend your golf clubs. We'll walk through why you might do this, the important effects it has on your clubs, and how you can do it yourself or find the right professional help.

What Does It Mean to Extend a Golf Club?

Extending a golf club is a straightforward process. It involves permanently adding a small plug, called a shaft extension, into the butt end of the club's shaft. These extensions, typically made of plastic, steel, or graphite, are glued in with strong epoxy right where your grip goes. Once the extension is set, a new grip is installed over it, making the club physically longer. The process can be done on both steel and graphite shafts, but it's important to use the correct type of extension for your specific shaft material.

Why Would You Want to Lengthen Your Clubs?

The number one reason golfers look into extending their clubs is height. Standard, off-the-rack golf clubs are often built for a very specific height range, typically around 5'7" to 6'0". If you fall outside this range on the taller end, you're likely making some uncomfortable compensations in your setup.

Playing with clubs that are too short forces you to bend over excessively from the waist and exaggerate your knee flex just to reach the ball. This isn’t an athletic, powerful posture, it’s a compromised one that can lead to a few major problems:

• Inconsistent Posture: It's hard to replicate that same excessive hunch on every single swing, leading to variability in your setup and, consequently, your ball striking.
• Poor Balance: An overly crouched position can throw off your balance, making it difficult to rotate smoothly through the shot.
• Neck and Back Strain: Constantly playing in a slouched position can put unnecessary strain on your body, especially your lower back.

By adding length to your clubs, the goal is to allow for a more upright, natural, and athletic posture. This takes the stress off your body and puts you in a much better position to make a consistent, repeatable swing.

A Quick Self-Check: The Wrist-to-Floor Measurement

A common starting point for club fitting is the "wrist-to-floor" measurement. It's simple to do at home. Stand upright in your regular street shoes with your arms hanging naturally at your sides. Have a friend measure the distance from the floor to the crease of your wrist. This measurement, combined with your height, gives a fitter a strong initial idea of whether you might need non-standard length clubs. While not a definitive diagnostic, if you're over 6'1" and your wrist measurement is proportionally long, there's a decent chance you could benefit from longer clubs.

The Full Picture: Pros and Cons of Extending Your Clubs

Simply adding half an inch or an inch of length to a golf club might seem minor, but it can create a ripple effect that changes how the club feels and performs. It’s important to understand both the potential upside and the possible downsides before you start making changes.

The Potential Benefits (The Pros)

• Improved Posture and Comfort: The most significant benefit is promoting a more natural setup. Standing taller and more comfortably can immediately boost your confidence over the ball.
• More Centered Contact: With a better posture, you have a better chance of returning the clubhead to the ball on the right path and hitting the sweet spot more often.
• Potential for More Distance: A longer club is a longer lever. All else being equal, a longer club can generate higher clubhead speed, which translates into more distance.

The Rrade-offs to Consider (The Cons)

This is where things get a bit more technical, and it’s why rushing into extending clubs can sometimes cause new problems.

• Heavier Swing Weight: Swing weight is a measure of how heavy the clubhead feels during the swing. Every half-inch of length you add increases the swing weight by about three points (e.g., from D2 to D5). This makes the clubhead feel heavier, which can throw off your rhythm and timing. Some golfers adjust easily, while others might feel their swing gets slow or "laggy."
• Softer Shaft Flex: Adding length to a shaft changes its bending properties. The shaft will play "softer" than its indicated flex. For example, a 1-inch extension can make a "Stiff" flex shaft perform more like a "Regular" flex. For players with high swing speeds, this could lead to a loss of control and a ball flight that's higher and more prone to hooking.
• A More Upright Lie Angle: The lie angle is the angle between the shaft and the sole of the club at address. When you lengthen a club, the toe of the club sits higher off the ground at impact. For a right-handed golfer, this can cause the heel to dig into the ground first, closing the clubface and sending the ball to the left of the target. After extending a club, it’s often necessary to check and adjust the lie angle, which requires a specialized machine.

The Two Paths: DIY or Professional Club Fitter?

Once you’ve decided that extending your clubs might be a good idea, you have two options: do it yourself or visit a professional club fitter.

Go to a Professional Fitter (Highly Recommended)

My advice for almost every golfer is to see a qualified club fitter. A fitter won't just blindly add length. They will measure your swing, analyze your strike pattern with an impact board and launch monitor, and assess how any changes affect your ball flight. They have the expertise to balance the length, swing weight, shaft flex, and lie angle to create a club that is truly optimized for you. They can correctly bend your irons to adjust the lie angle and can add weight inside the shaft or use lighter grips to counteract swing weight changes if needed. It's a comprehensive solution, not just a simple modification.

The Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Route

If you're confident with tools and want to experiment, the DIY approach is certainly possible, especially if you want to test out a new length on a single iron before committing to the whole set. It's a great way to see how an extra inch feels without a big financial commitment.

A Step-by-Step DIY Guide to Extending a Golf Club

Ready to try it yourself? Here's what you'll need and how to do it. Let's assume you're extending a steel-shafted iron by one inch.

What You'll Need:

• The club(s) you want to extend
• A new grip for each club
• A steel shaft extension plug (usually 2-3 inches long)
• High-strength, 24-hour cure shafting epoxy
• A utility knife with a hook blade (for grip removal)
• Grip tape and grip solvent
• A vise with a rubber shaft clamp
• A hacksaw or pipe cutter
• A ruler or tape measure
• Sandpaper

The Process:

1. Remove the Old Grip: Secure the club in the vise using the rubber clamp. Carefully use the hook blade knife to cut the grip away from your body, from bottom to top, and peel it off.
2. Clean the Shaft: Scrape off all the old grip tape. A little heat from a heat gun can help warm the adhesive, making it easier to peel. Once the tape is gone, clean any remaining residue with grip solvent or mineral spirits.
3. Prepare the Extension: Lightly scuff the portion of the extension plug that will go inside the shaft using sandpaper. This creates a rougher surface for the epoxy to bond to. Clean it with a rag to remove any dust.
4. Mix and Apply Epoxy: Mix a small batch of the two-part epoxy according to the manufacturer's directions. Apply a liberal amount to the scuffed part of the extension and a thin layer just inside the butt end of the shaft.
5. Insert and Set the Extension: Firmly push the extension into the shaft until it seats all the way. It should be a snug fit. Immediately wipe away any epoxy that squeezes out with a paper towel.
6. Let It Cure (Be Patient!): This is important. Let the club sit undisturbed for the full curing time recommended by the epoxy manufacturer, which is typically 24 hours. Don’t rush this step.
7. Cut to Length: Once cured, determine your a final desired length. If you started with a standard 37-inch 7-iron and want it to be 38 inches, you already have extra length from the extension. Use your hacksaw or pipe cutter to cut the extension, leaving one inch of it added on to the shaft. Do not cut the original club shaft!
8. Regrip the Club: Apply new grip tape to the end of the shaft. Douse the tape and the inside of the new grip with solvent, then quickly and smoothly slide the grip on over the extension. Align it, and let it dry for a few hours before swinging.

How Much Length Should You Actually Add?

There is no universal formula here. While standard charts might suggest a 6'3" golfer needs clubs that are +1 inch long, this is just a generic starting point. It doesn't account for arm length, posture, or athletic ability.

The best approach, especially for a DIYer, is to be conservative. Start with a single club, like your 7-iron, and extend it by just half an inch or maybe an inch at most. Take it to the driving range. Pay close attention not just to how the posture feels, but to the results:

• Ball Flight: Does the ball go higher? Do you notice more of a draw (or a hook)? This could be a sign of the shaft flexing more or the lie angle effect.
• Feel: How does the weight of the club feel? Does it feel sluggish and heavy, or does your tempo feel good?
• Strike Quality: Are you hitting the center of the face more consistently? You can use impact tape or foot spray on the clubface to check this.

Extending a club beyond 1.5 inches dramatically changes its dynamics and is generally not recommended without the guidance of a professional fitter.

Final Thoughts

Lengthening your golf clubs is a totally viable solution for golfers whose equipment simply doesn't fit their body, and it can be a game-changer for your comfort and consistency. However, it's not simply a matter of adding length, the change impacts swing weight, shaft flex, and lie angle, all of which need to be considered if you want the best results. Whether you choose the path of a DIY experiment or the expert guidance of a club fitter, addressing club length can put you in a better position to play your best golf.

Once you get your clubs dialed in, the next step is building confidence with them out on the course. Feeling unsure about what your new 7-iron distance is, or how to play a tough approach shot? I want to help with that. Playing with more confidence is a huge part of the reason we created Caddie AI. Our app gives you instant advice on club selection for every shot and even lets you snap a photo of a tricky lie to get an expert recommendation on how to play it. It's like having a tour-level caddie in your pocket, ready to take the guesswork out of your game so you can just focus on hitting great shots.