Shortening long iron shafts

[doppelganger]

I've come to the realization that by choking on the long iron shafts, I obtain much more consistent ball strikung. Oddly enough, I see little to no distance loss. It is odd, but it's true. To make a long story short, the lenght of my 7 iron shaft seems to the one with which I'm most comfortable with (excluding the shorter irons of course). Thus, how dramatic an effect would shortening the shafts of the 3, 4 , 5 & 6 irons have in order to match the lenght of my 7 iron? Would this cause issues impossible to resolve?

Shaft specs: Rifle Flighted 5.0 frequency matched

Thanks

[bill reed]

Re: Shortening long iron shafts

hi
i knew that some of the Ping pro's change the lie of the clubs. so if you have say 7,6 and 5 iron standard lie then the 3 and 4 iron would be 1/2 to 3/4 drgree flatter lie and the 8,9 and wedges would be 1/2 to 3/4 degree more upright lie.
maybe lowpost could tell us why some pros do that but it does seem to work for them.
i think it sort of works in the same way as you gripping down a 1/2 in or so on your clubs.
i have my wedges now more upright lie and it does seem to work.
cheers
bill

[doppelganger]

Re: Shortening long iron shafts

Hmm... you're probably right. But you see, my club pro advised against shortening the shafts, but for some reason I disagree with that. Not because I have any technical knowledge about club making or customizing, but because of how impact feels when I choke on the shaft.

[LowPost42]

Re: Shortening long iron shafts

Most club pros only know what their Sales Reps tell them. In other words, they are chock full of misinformation and half truths.

You're experiencing what I like to call the 'TLT effect' - in a nutshell your long irons are shortened and your short irons are lengthened and the concept that length is a primary determiner of distance is proven a myth. Center contact rules all for distance.

If you were to shorten all to a 7 iron length, you'd experience the following:

Your lie angles will play flatter - and progressively flatter as you move towards your driver.

The swingweight will decrease.

The total weight will decrease.

The shafts will stiffen up.

But on the whole, I think you'll be better for it.

Or head to www.danscustomgolfshop.com/registry.html and find a TLT fitter close to you. You'll be glad you did.

[bill reed]

Re: Shortening long iron shafts

hi lowpost
if you were making a set of one length set of clubs would you start with say the 5 iron std and then go flatter for the longer iron. and go more upright with the short irons or set them all for the same loft.
cheers
bill

[LowPost42]

Re: Shortening long iron shafts

Hi Bill,

If I was going to go SL (single length) I'd use heads designed for the job - consistent weights and identical lie angles.

If I didn't want to use SL heads, I'd certainly go middle of the pack for lie angle and hope that I could bend the others to suit.

I have one guy who has full access to my shop - he recently renovated his clubs so that his 3,4,5 were the same, the 6,7,8 and the 9,P,A all the same as the shortest club. He then injured himself and hasn't been able to golf, so I don't have a report back as to how it worked out. But he sure like what he was swinging once they epoxy dried.

[bill reed]

Re: Shortening long iron shafts

hi lowpost
i see Hunter Mahan has his ping S58s 3-6 blue code.
he has his 7-9 irons black code and has his wedges black but 0.5 upright.
Daniel Chopra has his Ping S59s 3-9 blue code but had his wedges all black code.
can you see any reason for this. i would think the longer irons would make you swing flatter and the shorter irons more upright but does that not go against getting the clubs to fit you and more your fitting to the clubs.
there must be something working as Hunter Mathan hits over 70% of green in regulation.
cheers
bill

[doppelganger]

Re: Shortening long iron shafts

You guys are pretty much putting an exclamation point on what I was thinking all along. This being said, will the flatter lie angles of the 6, 5, 4, & 3 irons cause any serious flaws in my ball striking? Should I have them bent in order to get a more "normal" lie angle for those clubs? I have to confess that no, I wasn't fitted for those clubs (like you didn't know). More seriously, I too think that my game will only improve. Hey, if it feels right and hits good, then there you go!

Thanks you guys

[LowPost42]

Re: Shortening long iron shafts

Bill, it's common for players to have flatter lies and softer flexes in their wedges. The softer flex allows more feel, and the lie is flatter as there is less toe droop in a touch/feel shot than a full swing. That certainly explains some of the pros, who often swing at even less than 80% when attacking greens.

Doppelganger, incorrect lie angles will cause directional difficulty. A 48° PW at 100 yards; out by 1° in lie will result in a 22 foot miss. IOW, even if your swing was technically perfect, you missed the target by 22 feet (7 yards!) So with a 2° error, it's a 44 foot miss (14-15 yards) - which is half a green at my home course. So even aiming for the middle doesn't guarantee success!

With the flatter lie angles, the only way to 'counter' them is to stand closer to the ball and/or bend over more; steepening your swing plane. You may want to scour the 'net for some 1iron golf irons, or find someone to make you some PureFit iMatch SL's. Or, better yet, find a TLT fitter.

[rotator]

Re: Shortening long iron shafts

There is/was? a manufacturer, which made single length sets of irons. I see them pop up from time to time, when a convert discusses them in a forum. I suppose all the engineering has gone into them to make them playable.

Perhaps a bit of research will uncover discussions about the pro's and con's, from actual users and devotees of this concept.

[LowPost42]

Re: Shortening long iron shafts

The only company I know of making single length assembled sets is 1 iron golf. PureFit makes the iMatch SL heads (so you can assemble your own) or you could scour eBay for some Tommy Armour EQL clubs.

Beyond that, I don't know of any Single Length vendors.

[rotator]

Re: Shortening long iron shafts

LowPost2, Thanks.

It's EQL that I had in mind.

Ted

[doppelganger]

Re: Shortening long iron shafts

Well, I had the shafts cut to match my 6 iron instead of the 7. The pro didn't like it one bit, but hey, I'm the one playing with them, not him. I'll keep you guys posted on how this will affect my game. I'm playing 18 holes this Wednesday afternoon.

[LowPost42]

Re: Shortening long iron shafts

You can tell your pro I said he's a fool who is operating on the standards of the early 20th century.