HawkeyeMS
Ryder Cup Winner
Didn't you say you were doing this experiment because hitting your hybrids high made things difficult in the wind?
I’m making mine longer!
- Thread starter ManinBlack
- Start date
Didn't you say you were doing this experiment because hitting your hybrids high made things difficult in the wind?
ManinBlack
Tour Winner
I did, but the irons, for me, still go much lower, the 3 & 4 particularly.
ManinBlack
Tour Winner
Irons now bent 5° flat to it my peculiar build & swing. Just waiting now for some decent weather to try them. As an aside, the adjustments were done by a young assistant at the golf warehouse where I took them, he's an amateur who plays off scratch. To test the simulator we were trying them on he hit a shot with my 6 iron. It went over 200 yards! I nearly gave up the game there & then.
Sounds a bit like TM's "loft up" exercise. Basically, you've taken a higher lofted iron, and given it a shaft length equal to a 4 iron. Sounds like taking a driver length shaft and sticking a 12* head on it.
Sounds good to me Bill.
Sounds good to me Bill.
ManinBlack
Tour Winner
Experience so far seems to be that the extra length doesn't make the club as hard to hit as lack of loft. I've had irons de lofted before and they don't go any further in my experience. Won't get them out on the course today, possibly tomorrow.
ScienceBoy
Money List Winner
Interesting experiment, now hit 100 with a "standard" 6 iron and your longer 6 iron. Compare the dispersion disregarding anomalies (Grubbs test for outliers is my preferred method).
Personally I hit everything from a 6 iron downwards as "accuracy" clubs, I need to know "How far they go" with the dispersion I need to score rather than "how far can I hit it".
Over a 6 iron and usually I am hitting it as far as I can, unless I am going for a green of course.
At some point in a set you will have to stop longer shafts and have shorter for target hitting.
All this falls under the assumption that a longer shaft = greater dispersion, if you have any reason to disregard this assumption that is fine.
Personally I have no statistical evidence for or against, only empirical.
Short Version: Don't give up the game just yet.
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ManinBlack
Tour Winner
I would guess dispersion would be a little wider, bound to be, but, on the other hand, I'll be hitting a shorter club. There's also the option of gripping down on the club for low spin shots into the wind. It's not just the length I like but the fact that, with the extra swingweight, the clubs seem to swing themselves & stop me from hitting them too hard. I seem to have a better rhythm with them.
I'm not likely to give up the game any time soon, it's too much fun!
BTatHome
Tour Winner
Really ? So all the distance gains are due only to the length of the shaft in our sets?
ScienceBoy
Money List Winner
Keep on experimenting, we all do in some way or another. Only way to prove something is to gather the data and compare.
If you can ever actually "Prove" something with statistics that is...
ManinBlack
Tour Winner
No, but in a lot of "go longer" iron sets the irons are longer & de lofted so the 5 iron, for example, is actually a 4 iron. De lofting, on it's own in my experience, just results in the ball staying in the air for less time. "Loft up" works for irons as well.
Canary_Yellow
Journeyman Pro
I'd have thought they'd go further in total distance terms, but as you say, less carry. So not neccesarily a useful increase in distance as I would have thought the lower the trajectory, the harder distance is to judge as roll out is far less predictable.
ManinBlack
Tour Winner
Just been to the range for a brief, very windy, session. Initial impression is the clubs are 1½ to 2 clubs longer but dispersion didn't seem to be any wider, i.e. the 6 iron went 15 yards further but just as straight. 18 holes tomorrow will give a better idea.
ManinBlack
Tour Winner
Played one round yesterday and results were eccouraging, although I wasn't playing too well. The extra weight in the clubhead seems to hep square the face. I hit two yesterday where I felt I had lost them right but both shots stayed fairly long & straight where, before, I would have got a weak shot, finishing short right. I also played a shot I couldn't have hit with the old clubs, a 7 iron to the top half of an elevated green, with quite a tight landing zone. The extra height made it possible to stop the ball on the green when it would have normally rolled off the back, the way the other three did.
I didn't, unfortunately, have any shots requiring a full 3 or 4 iron because of the direction of the wind, & that's where I see the big advantage.
The experiment continues.
I didn't, unfortunately, have any shots requiring a full 3 or 4 iron because of the direction of the wind, & that's where I see the big advantage.
The experiment continues.
Foxholer
Blackballed
Bear in mind that simple geometry means that WILL produce greater dispersion - but only a yard or two more. That's why longer hitters have to be much straighter than short ones to stay on the short stuff.
As for the lengthening experiment....I soft-stepped my set (because they were 6.5s rather than the 6.0s my mate had thought they were) but didn't trim the lengths. This meant they were 0.5" longer than 'normal'. I had no problem adjusting and they did go a bit further (only a few yards) than my previous irons. If you are getting 1.5-2 clubs longer, then that's extremely good.
ManinBlack
Tour Winner
I've now played a couple of rounds with the modified spanners and they're going quite well. I had 36 points yesterday in out winter league with a couple of stupid mistakes not related to the lengthened clubs. I love the way the 3 & 4 irons play, I hit a 3 iron dead straight into a green where I would normally have had to hit a choked down 3 wood. The shorter irons seem to give me a psychological advantage too. A few times I took clubs based on my distance with normal length clubs and was well up the green whereas before I may well have been short.
I'm having a bit of trouble losing short irons left. This may be my typical OTT fault but might be because the clubs are not lying flat enough. The club fitter I used told me they were bent "to the limit" and wouldn't flatten any further (I don't necessarily believe him!). What occurred to me was to return the pitching wedge to standard length and stagger the lengthening of the 5 to 9 to fit in with the 3 & 4. The result of this would be to slightly increase the gaps between clubs, but by an insignificant amount. It would effectively flatten the lies on the shorter clubs, where it is more important.
I only wish I was a bit more consistent because that would allow me to better assess the effect the modification was having. But then , I suppose we all wish that. Anyway, it's giving me some interest at the end of the season.
I'm having a bit of trouble losing short irons left. This may be my typical OTT fault but might be because the clubs are not lying flat enough. The club fitter I used told me they were bent "to the limit" and wouldn't flatten any further (I don't necessarily believe him!). What occurred to me was to return the pitching wedge to standard length and stagger the lengthening of the 5 to 9 to fit in with the 3 & 4. The result of this would be to slightly increase the gaps between clubs, but by an insignificant amount. It would effectively flatten the lies on the shorter clubs, where it is more important.
I only wish I was a bit more consistent because that would allow me to better assess the effect the modification was having. But then , I suppose we all wish that. Anyway, it's giving me some interest at the end of the season.
ManinBlack
Tour Winner
Time for an update. The 3 & 4 irons are going great. In spite of being 1½" longer than standard they are easy to hit and have enabled me to reach greens into the wind that would have been impossible with a high flying hybrid. The large cavity & low centre of gravity make the clubs so easy to hit in spite of their extra length.
Because the need for longer clubs is not as important as they get shorter, what I have done is to measure the difference in length between the 5 iron & pitching wedge and I've gapped the lengths evenly between these two. This means that the difference from one club to the next may be 2 or 3 yards longer, but I'm not consistent enough for that to matter.
Taking them out today in our open 4BBB to see how the new configuration works. Treated myself to a new/second hand set of Vokey wedges too. Could be an interesting round.
Because the need for longer clubs is not as important as they get shorter, what I have done is to measure the difference in length between the 5 iron & pitching wedge and I've gapped the lengths evenly between these two. This means that the difference from one club to the next may be 2 or 3 yards longer, but I'm not consistent enough for that to matter.
Taking them out today in our open 4BBB to see how the new configuration works. Treated myself to a new/second hand set of Vokey wedges too. Could be an interesting round.
Nosevi
Head Pro
Hi maninblack. One result of lengthening a shaft is that you in effect make it more flexible. Depending on your swing speed it can be harder to launch longer irons than shorter if the shaft flex is the same so I wouldn't be surprised if that is why you are hitting the longer irons a tad sweeter now. Maybe you've got a mid speed, nice smooth swing and a more flexible shaft would suit better? Just a thought.
ManinBlack
Tour Winner
I think you're right, I'm more of a swinger than a hitter and the additional swingweight helps me swing more smoothly. Very pleased with them so far.
ManinBlack
Tour Winner
Final update. I love the way these clubs play. The 3 & 4 irons are so easy to hit & carry so far that I don't often need to use the hybrid, very useful on long par 4s. The addition length on the other clubs gives me a psycological advantage, enabling me to hit shots as far as I think I should hit them & I'm more often up to the hole where I would most times have been short.
They work so well I've put the MP53s up for sale.
They work so well I've put the MP53s up for sale.
Nosevi
Head Pro
Sounds like a win/win to me. Doesn't matter what helps you to hit the ball sweeter IMO, if it works - go for it 
