Will Longer shafts than std increase clubhead speed

[Nickc]

If you have + standard length shafts for irons will this help increase swing speed and distance for a given lofted club.

I play standard length Mp32 s with DG r300 shafts. Recently bought a VEGA VM-01 6 with a shimida tour lite shaft just to try out a VM-01.

The vega shaft is + 1" (only realised after bought it) .

Initial trials (a 1/2 dozen balls) and VM-01 going a little further than Mp 33 (I am slow low distance old git).

Now could it be the lighter shaft - r300 123gm and tour lite 97gm or simply the longer shaft? Or both? Note loft of both clubs are the same 31 degrees.

Hoping mainly the lighter shaft as feel the r300 is too much for my aging physic.

BTW love the VM-01 but not sure whether for me a lot different on feel and consistency (initial trial very close dispersion - but for both!) - except for lighter feel. But early days and need more swings to judge.

 

[Dpavs]

Possibly both? Generally a lighter club will allow you to develop more swing speed and all else being the same... (i.e. swing speed doesn't change) having a longer shaft will result in higher club head speed.

[Nickc]

So as I am unlikely to increase my general swing speed would getting longer length shafts (+ maybe a bit lighter to help loading) be a way to go, to increase club head speed for a given loft, as one gets older and less athletic (not that I claim to ever have been athletic in the true sense of the word)?

[Dpavs]

I don't think that question can be answered yes or no with any certainty. Generally speaking lighter shafts will help you maintain swing speed as you get older sure enough, but that doesn't necessarily equate to optimizing distance if that is the goal. Same goes for longer shafts. When you start changing things like this it can affect how well (where on the face, consistency, etc.) you strike the ball, so even if you did increase the club head speed, not hitting it as well as you could will likely result in less distance not more. The best answer is the age old one... to optimize your results you really need to get properly fit with a decent fitter.

[Nickc]

Fair enough re getting fit & would be great if a fitter on here could comment whether they sometimes recommend longer shafts re this issue - but what surprised me with the longer shaft (albeit a 5 iron length on a 6 iron) that still hit it centred and as said the dispersion was all pretty close so adjustment to longer length seemed fine - I didn't notice except slightly further away from ball (perhaps a consequence of my natural slow swing speed!)

[MountainKing]

In theory yes, but there's so many variables. If you have a solid repeatable swing and can consistently find the middle of the face then it should be a yes for sure. However, longer clubs will make the clubs heavier and possibly harder to strike in the center. If you have certain swing faults longer clubs may exaggerate that fault causing you to lose swing speed. Too many things at play. Hitting the sweet spot is the biggest factor in distance. You may find you hit shorter clubs farther because you find the middle of the face more. I'm 6 feet tall but play my irons a half inch short and my driver is at 44.5, you'll find a lot of guys on tour also play slightly under what would be standard lengths. Like the previous poster suggested, go see a fitter. Irons aren't meant for distance, you should play a length that lets you hit each club a consistent distance with a tight dispersion. To fix the loss of distance as you age, move up a tee box or two.

[mosesgolf]

What are the oems going to do when their customers start hitting 150 yard 9 irons? Is the end goal to sell more gap wedges?

[Nickc]

Thanks for all comments - I am hoping it is the lighter shaft that is helping - and will (though not ideal) do some trials gripping down on the trial VM-01 and compare difference from there.

Suppose what I need to do is try The Mp 32 with a lighter shaft - maybe save me some money (as long as I can suppress my lusting after some new gorgeous blades - though looking back at my 1969 slazenger ambassadors are these so called muscle backs really blades - perhaps a topic for a different thread).

 

[Titleist_PT23]

My guess is that most people could pickup swingspeed and distance (net of any increase in mishits) for something through like a 8-iron with 1 inch longer shafts assuming the lie angle and swingweight was adjusted appropriately. My thought is basically that if you can hit your 8-iron fine, you could probably make good enough contact with that length shaft in your PW and you would get a bit of additional distance. Of course, eventually there will be some tipping point where the increased shaft length becomes too much of a detractor and the contact is worse by a noticeable amount.

 

That being said, I don't think the add'l shaft length is going to change things a ton. If you look at like a 9-iron and a 7-iron, there is probably a 1 inch difference in shaft length and 8 degrees difference in loft. I would think that the vast majority of the distance difference is driven by the lofts of the two clubs.