I’m making mine longer!

[OldMate]

I got my irons back today after having had them lengthened by 1 inch. I hit 200 balls tonight and struggled initially with quite a few s****s. I was told to get them lengthened during a lesson when the pro noticed that my arms are a bit shorter than normal for my height which causes me to hunch over the ball a bit. Once I got the hang of the longer clubs the main difference I noticed tonight was a substantial increase in height of my shots. This is a good thing as I generally hit it lower than I would like. Also my standard draw was quite a lot softer and I as hitting the odd unintentional fade. Distance is not a priority and it is hard to gauge accurately with range balls in the wet air, but it seemed like I was hitting mid/ short irons about half a club longer.

 

[ManinBlack]

Having used mine a lot more now I love them. Like you, I find they fly higher but this is good because the ball stays in the air longer & goes further. This is especially good in the long irons. I carry a 3 & 4 iron & find them easy to hit. I'm sure it's the lack of loft & not extra length that makes the long irons difficult to hit.

 

[SocketRocket]

Another way is to consider a standard length shaft through the set. There was a company that did that and based them on the mid range club you hit best.

Just found this:

[video=youtube;dvSjjq_ilEU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvSjjq_ilEU[/video]

 

[OldMate]

Having used mine a lot more now I love them. Like you, I find they fly higher but this is good because the ball stays in the air longer & goes further. This is especially good in the long irons. I carry a 3 & 4 iron & find them easy to hit. I'm sure it's the lack of loft & not extra length that makes the long irons difficult to hit.

I also play long irons but had been struggling with them a lot lately mainly due to swing problems causing low ropey hooks. I've managed to soften this back to a draw following a lesson which coupled with the substantial height increase looks like it will make for a nice shot shape that I haven't had for 10 years.

 

[delc]

I had a TM Burner 09 driver a few years back, which had a rather long shaft and a slightly high swing weight, about D6 I seem to remember. The good thing about it was it almost forced you to take a long smooth swing and it was difficult to get too quick with it (one of my many faults). Unfortunately some low life broke into my car when it was parked in the golf club car park one evening and stole my clubs, including said driver. Which was a pity, as I have never found one quite as good, although my current TM R1 comes close.

 

[SocketRocket]

I had a TM Burner 09 driver a few years back, which had a rather long shaft and a slightly high swing weight, about D6 I seem to remember. The good thing about it was it almost forced you to take a long smooth swing and it was difficult to get too quick with it (one of my many faults). Unfortunately some low life broke into my car when it was parked in the golf club car park one evening and stole my clubs, including said driver. Which was a pity, as I have never found one quite as good, although my current TM R1 comes close.

I had one of those and agree they were very good. Mine eventually developed a crack down the face.

 

[delc]

I had one of those and agree they were very good. Mine eventually developed a crack down the face.

I spent some time trying to buy another TM Burner 09 on eBay, but they rarely came up. I guess that people were happy with them and just not selling. I thought the next model, the Burner Superfast, was rubbish in comparison and I have recently tried a friend's Jetspeed and wasn't too impressed with that either. Why do manufacturers mess around with a good product? I went back to using an old Callaway driver that I hadn't got round to selling, and used that until the TM R1 came along. Luckily I was able to get a good deal on a pristine secondhand one from a local golf shop.

 

[Foxholer]

...Why do manufacturers mess around with a good product?...

Several don't! Others have been sucked into it by TM's dominance partly created by that policy.

Btw. I know several who believe the Superfast was the best of the Burners. It's all about confidence in the individual club imo.

 

[delc]

Several don't! Others have been sucked into it by TM's dominance partly created by that policy.

Btw. I know several who believe the Superfast was the best of the Burners. It's all about confidence in the individual club imo.

I tried a Superfast on a range, and it just felt light and tinny to me. It didn't seem to swing properly, and I was all over the place with it!:fore:

 

[SocketRocket]

I spent some time trying to buy another TM Burner 09 on eBay, but they rarely came up. I guess that people were happy with them and just not selling. I thought the next model, the Burner Superfast, was rubbish in comparison and I have recently tried a friend's Jetspeed and wasn't too impressed with that either. Why do manufacturers mess around with a good product? I went back to using an old Callaway driver that I hadn't got round to selling, and used that until the TM R1 came along. Luckily I was able to get a good deal on a pristine secondhand one from a local golf shop.

I replaced it with a RBZ which is similar.

 

[ManinBlack]

Final update.

The clubs were going really well and very easy to hit. I found that all the clubs were launching quite high and I had no problem getting even the 3 iron airborne. Decided to have 2° taken off all the lofts so I now have a set which effectively starts with a 3 iron with a 2 iron loft at 19° (which I can still hit well) 1½" longer than standard to a standard length 9 iron with 40° of loft. The pitching wedge is now 44° and the gap between that and the 50° wedge isn't a problem.

The set works well, the main advantage being that I get maximum length into the wind with a 3 iron instead of ballooning a hybrid, bringing some par 4s within reach which weren't before.

 

[3565]

I saw a club fitter in Tamworth at the weekend as I wanted my lies checked due to new standard length shafts being put in. His first thought was he would of added an extra half on the shafts if he done them, he explained why but I had info overload that day, but in the end he bent them 2degrees upright which is going to help my posture which I've been working on after a biomechanical lesson. Tried the irons out at the range which took some getting used to but after a while I hit a couple of balls with a black vertical marker pen line on the balls and the line was imprinted vertical and centred. I've also extended my putter from 34" to 35.75" and altho not used it yet on the course, I feel more comfortable with better posture.

So im wondering if by lengthening your shafts you have better posture?

 

[dewsweeper]

Another way is to consider a standard length shaft through the set. There was a company that did that and based them on the mid range club you hit best.

Just found this:

[video=youtube;dvSjjq_ilEU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvSjjq_ilEU[/video]

I think these were Tiger Shark irons,cannot remember the maker.
Quite a few older, mid handicap guys at my club went for them,they seemed to work for them.I think they were 7 iron length
shafts.
Mid 80's I would think it was.
Dewsweeper

 

[ManinBlack]

Reviving this thread, I've had my standard length JPX850s for over a year now and, with the thinner Boron heads, they've been as long as the lengthened MX 23s. I have recently wondered whether some extra length on the current set would work. So I took the plunge & added between 1¼" & ½" onto the 4 to 7 irons. The lofts have been strengthened in such a way that the 4 to 6 are 2° stronger, with a gradual progression to 44° for the pitching wedge. At the same time, convinced that the lie of the club's was too upright, I got the fitter to flatten them to between 3° & 4°.

Results at the range today, in less than ideal conditions, were much better than I could have expected. Ball flight with, in particular, the 4 iron was long & penertrating, with none of the usual low pulls, which I am now convinced are caused by the heel of the club digging in. The extra swingweight feels nice, I know where the clubhead is all of the time.

I got some grief from the fitter for messing with my custom fitted clubs (he didn't fit me, by the way) but I'm convinced that the changes are for the better. The change in the lie angles seems to have had the most effect. I've probably been playing with clubs set too upright for 50 years.