Golf club length.

[simtaylor17]

Sorry if this has been posted before.

What is classed as standard length in golf clubs exactly? What I mean by this is, Ping charts say I should be 0.5" longer in my clubs, but more powerful clubs such as Taylormade, Nike Covert, Callaway X2 irons are already slightly longer, would I need these extending by 0.5". I know I should get fit properly but it's more of an open question rather than one about me.

 

[SocketRocket]

I'm not sure if these clubs are longer with irons, your wrist to ground measurement determines their length. With the Driver and fairway woods it's not so important so they can be longer.

 

[Maninblack4612]

This business of having clubs longer just because you're tall is daft because how they play depends on how near to the ground your hands are when you stand with them by your side. At 6' 0"I can stand beside two mates who are 6' 3" and 5'6" and my hands are nearer the ground than either of them, because of my short legs & long arms & body. In theory, I should use shorter clubs but the fact is that there isn't much point in making a 5 iron, for example, the length of a 6 iron. All you do is make the swingweight lighter and ensuring you don't hit it as far.

What I think you should do is find the iron with the least loft you can hit consistently. Make it as long as you need to make it to get the swingweight right. If you like them heavy, make them longer & vice versa. I modified my clubs, which have lightweight shafts, so the 3 iron is 1½" longer & 1° stronger. Its weight is perfect for me & I can hit it a long way. All the other irons are spaced out in length so that the 9 iron is about ¾" longer than the pitching wedge. Doing it like this is, in my view, much more important than fitting according to your height. What is also more important is to set the lie angles correctly. As you increase the length of an iron you need to flatten out the lie, this should be done for each iron individually & is more important for the short ones.

Not the traditional answer, but it works for me.

 

[Foxholer]

This business of having clubs longer just because you're tall is daft because how they play depends on how near to the ground your hands are when you stand with them by your side. At 6' 0"I can stand beside two mates who are 6' 3" and 5'6" and my hands are nearer the ground than either of them, because of my short legs & long arms & body. In theory, I should use shorter clubs but the fact is that there isn't much point in making a 5 iron, for example, the length of a 6 iron. All you do is make the swingweight lighter and ensuring you don't hit it as far.

What I think you should do is find the iron with the least loft you can hit consistently. Make it as long as you need to make it to get the swingweight right. If you like them heavy, make them longer & vice versa. I modified my clubs, which have lightweight shafts, so the 3 iron is 1½" longer & 1° stronger. Its weight is perfect for me & I can hit it a long way. All the other irons are spaced out in length so that the 9 iron is about ¾" longer than the pitching wedge. Doing it like this is, in my view, much more important than fitting according to your height. What is also more important is to set the lie angles correctly. As you increase the length of an iron you need to flatten out the lie, this should be done for each iron individually & is more important for the short ones.

Not the traditional answer, but it works for me.

f it works for you, then that's great. I too have short legs and long arms but use clubs that are +.5 relatively successfully - no less so than normal length.

However your argument about making the swing weight lighter doesn't hole water, as it's very simple to increase the swing weight during club build - with either a plug or tungsten powder.

 

[duncan mackie]

Sorry if this has been posted before.

What is classed as standard length in golf clubs exactly? What I mean by this is, Ping charts say I should be 0.5" longer in my clubs, but more powerful clubs such as Taylormade, Nike Covert, Callaway X2 irons are already slightly longer, would I need these extending by 0.5". I know I should get fit properly but it's more of an open question rather than one about me.

Ping charts and recommendations are referencing Ping clubs - that's the answer to the open question.

All the manufacturers you list as 'already slightly longer' make models of different lengths, lofts and lies; they aren't all longer, or stronger
lofts (and they aren't all weighted and set up to launch higher etc etc either)

 

[the_coach]

ask any top club fitter & they will tell you the foremost important measurement is - length: yep! .... (but it is a serious point)
lie, weight, shaft frequency, grip size etc all important to the whole right club for you.

why length, it's simply that the length of a club has direct bearing on all the other specs. & the strength of swing motion to what weight & shaft frequency.

only ways to go about it real good is to get at static & dynamic fitting.

bunch of things that influence the length of the folks clubs, their height but also has to be relative to the wrist to floor measurement.

but key too is the golfers posture some folks are naturally inclined to be a little ways more upright at set-up, some will have naturally more of a primary spine angle so hands will be nearer the ground, have to get the length right as that then leads into the lie angle etc.

plus you gotta have the dynamic fit as some folks will naturally have a tendency to have a little ways more upright swing plane, some will naturally have a more rounded so flatter swing plane.
it doesn't necessarily always follow a tall guy will have an upright swing plane, or that a short guy will always have a flatter swing plane.

static fit height plus wrist to floor measurement will put you in the general ball park of a club for you if you are just starting out. but the longer the club the little ways more difficult it will be to control through the swing motion.
then once with lessons you have the basics of a sound posture/swing motion a dynamic fit would fine tune & get the best fit possible. my 10c would say always try to seek out a good teaching pro who also fits clubs or a specialist club fitter but not so many of those around, rather than a golf store outlet, if that's possible, unless you know for sure the store has a good PGA Pro.


if for whatever reason it has to be the way, a general way to check out clubs off the shelf.
take a hopefully sound grip with around 1" of the top of the handle visible out your top hand & the middle of the sole of the club parallel on the ground, so the score lines, grooves, are parallel to the ground which will mean that there's a small gap under the toe you could slide a dime, thin coin under, & the way most sole shapes are made now there would also be a bit of a gap under the heel end.

but like shaft frequency, there's no industry standard with club length.
only USGA, R&A rules that no club should be longer than 48", with the exclusion of putters. (LDofA rule no club can be longer than 50" - RE/MAX Comps)

 

[simtaylor17]

This is the answer i was after.