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Is there a need to get longer iron lengths even if recommended?


Trap Junior

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Any time I have been fitted for irons I am told to get 1/4''-1/2'' longer than standard.  The Mizuno optimizer also recently recommended this telling me to get a 37.25'' 7 iron.   I currently play old Mizuno standards where my 6 iron is 37.25''.  It recommends going to 37.75'' 6 iron (+1/2 longer than my current set).

 

Anyway I feel comfortable enough with the length of my current set.  Is there actually a need to get longer shafts? What would I be missing out on?  3 yds per club for the extra 1/2''?

I'm also a bit worried about total weight and swingweight getting too heavy.  I currently like a lighter feel at D1.  Mizuno was recommending getting heavy shafts probably due to my tempo 125-130g such as Project X or C Taper X, or S Taper X.

 

Should I be playing longer and is playing shorter like I do hurting my performance?  I am 6ft btw.  Mizuno numbers 90  6 4 5 4

 

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Do you know why you are being recommended longer? If standard length is fine for you like you claim you fitting should have had you at standard. The fitter had to have seen something in order to recommend the longer length. Also did you compare your current set against the recommendation? Longer in the irons should be about face contact and consistency, not about distance gains.

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1 minute ago, Jc0 said:

Do you know why you are being recommended longer? If standard length is fine for you like you claim you fitting should have had you at standard. The fitter had to have seen something in order to recommend the longer length. Also did you compare your current set against the recommendation? Longer in the irons should be about face contact and consistency, not about distance gains.

In the old days the ruler wrist to floor measurement suggested longer.  But lately the mizuno shaft optimizer club after you hit balls recommends length and lie for you. 

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Got fitted years ago. Im 6'6" so my set was +2degrees up, +1" longer. Long story short, I was on vacation and played with regular length rentals and hit the ball better than the previous 2 years!

 

Good fitter will see how you are striking the ball and make adjustments to you. The cookie cutter way of measuring for clubs is not always correct and should just be used as a starting point, IMHO.

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39 minutes ago, Trap Junior said:

In the old days the ruler wrist to floor measurement suggested longer.  But lately the mizuno shaft optimizer club after you hit balls recommends length and lie for you. 

 

So did you hit the clubs after you got the recommendations? The optimizer is a starting point. Your supposed to move on to the fitting cart and hit the actual recommendations after using it. 

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2 minutes ago, Jc0 said:

 

So did you hit the clubs after you got the recommendations? The optimizer is a starting point. Your supposed to move on to the fitting cart and hit the actual recommendations after using it. 

Well the optimizer club itself is 1/4'' longer than my own clubs but no I didn't as it was a mate of mine just letting me hop on informally to see what my specs were.  Also I prefer to test out clubs in the real world on the course rather than off a spongy mat. 

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If you're hitting it on the sweet spot then you're good. If your strike is consistently low toe side then the length may very well help.

 

From what I can tell, it seems as though the latest Mizuno optimizer recommends very heavy very stiff shafts for anybody with reasonably high speed. I've heard rumors that it also skews to their core shaft offerings, and it wouldn't surprise me if that's true. I'm way happier with the setup I ended up with via traditional fitting with an established expert vs. optimizer recommendations.

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2 minutes ago, bnperrone said:

If you're hitting it on the sweet spot then you're good. If your strike is consistently low toe side then the length may very well help.

 

From what I can tell, it seems as though the latest Mizuno optimizer recommends very heavy very stiff shafts for anybody with reasonably high speed. I've heard rumors that it also skews to their core shaft offerings, and it wouldn't surprise me if that's true. I'm way happier with the setup I ended up with via traditional fitting with an established expert vs. optimizer recommendations.

I have noticed this too but for good players they only carry a small number of shafts so they always give C Taper, S TaperProject X, DG, as top recommendations.

 

How much more distance would I get just from length? 3 yds?

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7 minutes ago, Trap Junior said:

How much more distance would I get just from length? 3 yds?

Probably around that, maybe half a club. BUT, that assumes that contact is as good or better at the longer length. Takes me back to issue #1, and that's whether or not you're hitting it on the sweet spot. If so I wouldn't want to mess with it.

 

Back in the day I wound up doing a full fitting and the results mirrored the optimizer recommendation. That wasn't the case this time around, so I'd think about finding somebody with a full selection who can really truly fit you if you have concerns about your results.

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1 minute ago, bnperrone said:

Probably around that, maybe half a club. BUT, that assumes that contact is as good or better at the longer length. Takes me back to issue #1, and that's whether or not you're hitting it on the sweet spot. If so I wouldn't want to mess with it.

 

Back in the day I wound up doing a full fitting and the results mirrored the optimizer recommendation. That wasn't the case this time around, so I'd think about finding somebody with a full selection who can really truly fit you if you have concerns about your results.

But see the thing I dont really get is if every club was the same length like Bryson then yes maybe I might hit one more solidly than a longer length.  But every club in my bag has its own length.  If I go for longer clubs my 7 iron will be like my old 6 iron just with different loft and maybe a different lie angle.  I should be able to hit any length solid enough. 

I suppose my biggest fear is as I say having the clubs feel too heavy.  I got longer than standard clubs from Mizuno 15 yrs ago and they came out very heavy dead weight and D4 and the PW was D7! 

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12 minutes ago, Trap Junior said:

But see the thing I dont really get is if every club was the same length like Bryson then yes maybe I might hit one more solidly than a longer length.  But every club in my bag has its own length.  If I go for longer clubs my 7 iron will be like my old 6 iron just with different loft and maybe a different lie angle.  I should be able to hit any length solid enough. 

I suppose my biggest fear is as I say having the clubs feel too heavy.  I got longer than standard clubs from Mizuno 15 yrs ago and they came out very heavy dead weight and D4 and the PW was D7! 

Mizuno uses A weights for standard builds and B weight lighter heads for 1/2" over length. That said, with very heavy shafts they might have a hard time getting you to D1 even at standard length. I'd just have a really frank conversation about all of that up front and make it known that if you are willing to order you need to get them that way or not at all.

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What was the reason you got fit?  I got fit end of 2018 ... after baselining my existing clubs my fitter said something like "strike pattern is ok dispersion is ok distacnce is ok BUT apex is horrible how do you ever hold a green" 

 

Ive always played 1.25"+ length & i have always monkeyed w shaft weight ...  heavy lite steel graphite blah blah blah ... after hitting 1,000 balls & what seemed like 100s of shafts i ended w Kbs130s +1" ... all shafts the same ... he gapped every head throughout ... my distances are about 1/2 longer (maybe 6-8 yds) per club #

 

I guess my point is fitting is not the same for everyone ... i wasnt professionally fit for 25 years & i didnt really knowo what i needed

 

My fitter actually used technology to help my game w an aspext other than distance

 

Itll prob be another 15 years before i even think of getting fit again unless i notice huge changes

 

Good luck 

Edited by tboh
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5 minutes ago, tboh said:

What was the reason you got fit?  I got fit end of 2018 ... after baselining my existing clubs my fitter said something like "strike pattern is ok dispersion is ok distacnce is ok BUT apex is horrible how do you ever hold a green" 

 

Ive always played 1.25"+ length & i have always monkeyed w shaft weight ...  heavy lite steel graphite blah blah blah ... after hitting 1,000 balls & what seemed like 100s of shafts i ended w Kbs130s +1" ... all shafts the same ... he gapped every head throughout ... my distances are about 1/2 longer (maybe 6-8 yds) per club #

 

I guess my point is fitting is not the same for everyone ... i wasnt professionally fit for 25 years & i didnt really knowo what i needed

 

My fitter actually used technology to help my game w an aspext other than distance

 

Itll prob be another 15 years before i even think of getting fit again unless i notice huge changes

 

Good luck 

Basically I am leaving yardage on the table.  My trajectory has started spinning and ballooing into stiff breezes.  I took out a blade and put an x100 in it and was hitting it 20 yds further into a strong wind.  My present set on Trackman say they are launching too high and spinning too high but again that is off a spongy mat so I take Trackman data with a grain of salt off mats.  In real world they do seem to be costing me distance though so they are likely not right although they feel nice to me and Ive been using them 15 yrs now.  So wanted to see what the optimizer recommended.

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20 minutes ago, tboh said:
11 minutes ago, Trap Junior said:

Basically I am leaving yardage on the table.  My trajectory has started spinning and ballooing into stiff breezes.  I took out a blade and put an x100 in it and was hitting it 20 yds further into a strong wind.  My present set on Trackman say they are launching too high and spinning too high but again that is off a spongy mat so I take Trackman data with a grain of salt off mats.  In real world they do seem to be costing me distance though so they are likely not right although they feel nice to me and Ive been using them 15 yrs now.  So wanted to see what the optimizer recommended.

 

Gotcha ... i had that same exact scenario w light weight graphites (matrix maybe) & steelfibers ... they went striagt-up straight-down ... he got the shafts im in now to lauch high & carry distances i liked

 

I spent hours on outside trackman

 

It was def worth it to me but i dont change clubs very often

Edited by tboh
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1 hour ago, tboh said:

Gotcha ... i had that same exact scenario w light weight graphites (matrix maybe) & steelfibers ... they went striagt-up straight-down ... he got the shafts im in now to lauch high & carry distances i liked

 

I spent hours on outside trackman

 

It was def worth it to me but i dont change clubs very often

Unfortunately very few places here have outdoor Trackmans that you can hit off nice grass getting fitted. It kind of makes the whole Trackman indoors pointless.  I've yet to hit a shot off a mat in a tournament.

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If your shortest wedge doesn't feel too short on fuller shots, then there's likely no benefit to going longer. 

 

If it does, then you should consider longer wedges, but keeping the rest of your set as is.  The challenge with this, is getting the wedge head weights low enough with the longer length,...but it can be done.

 

Keep in mind that advantages of a shorter length club.  Can promote precision, tighter impact pattern, and greater accuracy

 

Edited by Cwebb
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7 hours ago, Cwebb said:

If your shortest wedge doesn't feel too short on fuller shots, then there's likely no benefit to going longer. 

 

If it does, then you should consider longer wedges, but keeping the rest of your set as is.  The challenge with this, is getting the wedge head weights low enough with the longer length,...but it can be done.

 

Keep in mind that advantages of a shorter length club.  Can promote precision, tighter impact pattern, and greater accuracy

 

 

^^^^^

this.

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I'm 6'4" and started with off the shelf. When I ordered my first set of "real" clubs, the site recommend +1 length. My set was 2-PW and I struggled with the 4, 3, and 2 irons. I played them for 20+ years.

 

Last year I got newer irons in stock shaft length and I am hitting them very well. I got another set last month that are also stock and they are great.

 

So for me, stock length works best it seems. Some have talked about progressive lengths. Like stock to 7 or 8 then up to an inch on wedges.

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17 hours ago, Trap Junior said:

6 iron is 37.25''

 

Standard length these days is 38" for the 5-iron.

 

Unless your arms are extremely long I'd encourage you to make the move to standard length.  Each club is 1/2" step from each other so the only real difference in playability, as the others in this thread have mentioned, is in the wedges.  Using standard length clubs opens up a huge market of availability and cost savings.  There should be no problem achieving a low D swingweight either.  

Edited by Nessism

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Ping G30 irons w/Recoil 95

Ping G425 irons w/Accra ICWT 2.0 95
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Echoing the above, if you feel comfortable at address with standard length wedges, then I don't see why you'd add on the extra length regardless of height. I personally can't get comfortable over the ball with a club less than 36" long, so that's where I start with my wedges. I've found that even with the extra length, I address the ball with better posture and make a more natural movement with longer than standard clubs. On the other hand, I play with people slightly taller than me (I'm 6'4") who feel just fine with standard length.

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1 hour ago, Nessism said:

 

Standard length these days is 38" for the 5-iron.

 

Unless your arms are extremely long I'd encourage you to make the move to standard length.  Each club is 1/2" step from each other so the only real difference in playability, as the others in this thread have mentioned, is in the wedges.  Using standard length clubs opens up a huge market of availability and cost savings.  There should be no problem achieving a low D swingweight either.  

Yes that's right.  Mizuno's standard used to be shorter than Titleist standard length but in the last year or two have come into line and gone to 37.5'' 6 iron as standard and 38'' 5 iron.  Mizuno recommend I go to a 38.25'' 5 iron.  Are there any positives to going longer?  All I am hearing is negatives to adding length.   I am fairly comfortable with the length of my wedges.  I suppose the ego boost of getting half a club more distance with the same lofts seems to be the only reason I would change.

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24 minutes ago, Trap Junior said:

Yes that's right.  Mizuno's standard used to be shorter than Titleist standard length but in the last year or two have come into line and gone to 37.5'' 6 iron as standard and 38'' 5 iron.  Mizuno recommend I go to a 38.25'' 5 iron.  Are there any positives to going longer?  All I am hearing is negatives to adding length.   I am fairly comfortable with the length of my wedges.  I suppose the ego boost of getting half a club more distance with the same lofts seems to be the only reason I would change.

 

There's very little chance you will hit your irons a 'half club' longer, if the only change is a 1/2".  Club length is very over estimated when it comes to distance

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1 minute ago, Cwebb said:

 

There's very little chance you will hit your irons a 'half club' longer, if the only change is a 1/2".  Club length is very over estimated when it comes to distance

You'll more than likely hitting higher with more spin = distance loss

 

At least that's my personal observation 

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https://forums.golfwrx.com/topic/1840618-witb-731-full-bag/

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If you move to standard length it will only mean 1/4" longer, but that will have the benefit of avoiding the need for custom length clubs.

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Ping G400 Max driver w/Aldila Rogue 125 Silver
Ping G425 5 wood & hybrid
Ping G30 irons w/Recoil 95

Ping G425 irons w/Accra ICWT 2.0 95
Ping Glide wedges w/Recoil 110
Ping Redwood Anser - the "real deal!"

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