Iron Shaft Length

ObiwanForAll · October 11, 2018

Ok so here is the story....

I've been playing my driver at 44.5" in length. The idea was to get more control but I tend to miss left and it got worse the shorter the driver became.

I went to a fitting at Club Champion and 44.5" driver did indeed close the face by about -5 degrees (drastic). We increased the shaft length and each 1/4" was getting closer to 0 degrees. When we reached 45.5" I was at 0 degrees face and 0 degrees club path. Perfect, and I've never driven the ball better.

This got me thinking....if I'm playing my driver longer than standard.....should all my clubs be longer than standard? Or is each category (fairway woods, irons, wedges) fitted independently?

Stuart_G · October 11, 2018

Was the swing weight (or shaft weight) adjusted as you went shorter? It's good you're getting good results - and that's all that really matters - but weight issues would be a much more likely candidate for why the left miss got worse than the playing length really being to blame. e.g. I'm guessing you don't have to play your 3wd at 45.5" to avoid the left miss getting worse for that club :-) Proper length fitting (particularly with the longer clubs) involves much more than just trying a club at a given length.

But no, the longer club playing lengths should be fitted independently from the irons/wedges. The factors to consider vary a bit.

Socrates · October 11, 2018

So...., you went for a fitting at Club Champion and only did the driver? Why wouldn't you do the whole set?

MarkAJones · October 11, 2018

I got 3 Glide wedges (50, 54 and 58) made up to the same length as my i200 PW. So my 58 is effectively an inch and a half longer than standard (I'm +1 across all clubs anyway)

I haven't noticed any significant opening of the face as a result. I guess it may have slightly affected bounce as they each designed to be progressively shorter. But what i might have "lost" there (haven't noticed tbh) I gained by not hitting skulls and chunks any more. My "wedge swing" is consistent throughout all 4 wedges now.

So for me, adding length definitely helped at the opposite end of the bag.

ObiwanForAll · October 11, 2018

Was the swing weight (or shaft weight) adjusted as you went shorter? It's good you're getting good results - and that's all that really matters - but weight issues would be a much more likely candidate for why the left miss got worse than the playing length really being to blame. e.g. I'm guessing you don't have to play your 3wd at 45.5" to avoid the left miss getting worse for that club :-) Proper length fitting (particularly with the longer clubs) involves much more than just trying a club at a given length.

But no, the longer club playing lengths should be fitted independently from the irons/wedges. The factors to consider vary a bit.

It was interesting but the 44.5" swingweight was D2. When we went to 45.5" we started at D7 and spin was way up. I was casting the club but face and path were still close to 0. Once we adjusted to D3....bingo. No question it plays a part. Thanks for the insight!

So...., you went for a fitting at Club Champion and only did the driver? Why wouldn't you do the whole set?

Money. One thing at a time. FYI, I think they are having a discount come November for anyone interested.

arbeck · October 11, 2018

So...., you went for a fitting at Club Champion and only did the driver? Why wouldn't you do the whole set?

I don't want to speak for the original poster, but there are many reasons one might not do a full set. Number one is cost. If you add fairways, it's an additional cost. Irons, additional cost. Wedges additional cost. Putter additional cost. Number two is time. Every component is going to take 30-60 minutes to fit. You could easily spend 4-5 hours for a full bag fitting. Related to time is that taking that many swings is hard and you might be so tired by the end that the fitting is not really very good.