One length irons WOW!!!

[himebaum]

Thanks for all of your thoughts.  I appreciate different points of view as I work to get better.  

 

I have and continue to get coaching on my swing.  Two years ago I began to switch to a single plane swing with Kirk Junge as my model.  It has helped my game but I am no where close to being done.  I'm 68, 5' 11" and 220#.  I swing my 7 iron about 65mph.

 

For two years I used Ping G700 irons with 1 degree up.  The irons have Alta CB senior flex graphite shafts (66g).  These irons are 37.5".

 

In September I bought the EQ1_NX irons, hybrid and fairway wood.  The EQ1-NX are 36.5" and have a Wishon white regular graphite shaft (75g).  The builder also added 30g of counter weight in the butt.

 

The Ping G700 are about .4 pounds lighter than the EX1-NX irons.  Additionally, theEQ1-NX are balanced 2.5 inches further up the shaft.  (So, the balance point of the club is higher up the shaft vs the G700 which is balanced very close down to the head.)

 

I was hoping of course that the single length irons and hybrid along with my single plane swing would really help me with my consistency but alas that has not been the case.  I hit the EQ1-NX virtually the same as I hit my old G700.  

 

Because of your comments, I really analyzed and compared my Ping G700 to the new EQ1-NX.  I have to say that I am really surprised how different they are.  Maybe 7 months is not long enough of a trial to really compare.........

[betarhoalphadelta]

39 minutes ago, himebaum said:

 

For two years I used Ping G700 irons with 1 degree up.  The irons have Alta CB senior flex graphite shafts (66g).  These irons are 37.5".

 

The Ping G700 are about .4 pounds lighter than the EX1-NX irons.  Additionally, theEQ1-NX are balanced 2.5 inches further up the shaft.  (So, the balance point of the club is higher up the shaft vs the G700 which is balanced very close down to the head.)

 

Because of your comments, I really analyzed and compared my Ping G700 to the new EQ1-NX.  I have to say that I am really surprised how different they are.  Maybe 7 months is not long enough of a trial to really compare.........

 

Are your G700 the standard loft or the "power spec" loft? 

 

EQ1-NX 7i is a 32* loft. 

Ping G700 7i is a 29.5* loft in standard, 28* in power spec loft. 

The Ping "power spec" 8i is the same loft as your EQ1-NX 7i. 

 

If you're in power spec loft, I would expect to lose at least a club of distance there. 4* of loft difference will affect your distance WAY more than 1/2" of length. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

One more thing... The Ping G700 is designed to be a game improvement iron. I consider the Wishon EQ1-NX to be more along the lines of the players distance category. So the G700 will probably be more forgiving by design, and more helpful at getting the ball launched high. 

 

Something like the Cobra LTDx one length would probably be more in the same category. 

 

That may or may not make a difference for you and your swing, but wanted to highlight that there is a difference there. 

[clinkinfo]

On 5/2/2022 at 10:52 AM, Ghostwedge said:

Since the OL detractors hit the posts recently I'll state the obvious once again.

OL \ SL clubs aren't for everybody, especially guys that refuse to think outside the box. To state they don't work is wrong, sure they don't work for guys that are high caps to begin with. If you can't  repeat your swing with decent results you probably need lessons first anyway.

I p!ay OL irons as 3-4 hndcp, the guys I play with didn't even know they were in my bag. ALL my irons shots looked normal to them. They actually looked better to me, coming in a little higher and softer. 

I still play a couple normal length long irons and sand wedge.

 

You seem to have missed the fact that many of the OL negative posters have clearly indicated they've played OL sets and they don't work.  Long irons are too low, short irons are too high and the longer shafts are harder to control in the short game.

 

It's not speculation, many of us have played OL sets to try them. Over time the negatives clearly start to outweigh the positives.  THAT is why they've been around since the 80's but never gain any real substantial traction.

[Ghostwedge]

5 hours ago, clinkinfo said:

You seem to have missed the fact that many of the OL negative posters have clearly indicated they've played OL sets and they don't work.  Long irons are too low, short irons are too high and the longer shafts are harder to control in the short game.

 

It's not speculation, many of us have played OL sets to try them. Over time the negatives clearly start to outweigh the positives.  THAT is why they've been around since the 80's but never gain any real substantial traction.

Actually they do work or they wouldn't manufacture them.

Guys that try them and can't adapt or won't, thats fine. 

[clinkinfo]

1 hour ago, Ghostwedge said:

Actually they do work or they wouldn't manufacture them.

Guys that try them and can't adapt or won't, thats fine. 

 

No, if they universally worked, every manufacturer would make them.  They work for a tiny percentage of golfers.  Again, these have been around since the 80’s, it’s not a new concept.   If they work for someone, great.  However, coming on the forums and trying to tell everyone they will universally work for them….they just won’t, as many of us are trying to tell you.

Edited May 7, 2022 by clinkinfo

[lisevolution]

So I went from my traditional Cobra irons to a used set of F8 OL that I picked up at a good price 4h-60deg.

 

I've been playing them from October/November to today and I'm still not sold on keeping them in the bag.  My personal experience is somewhat similar to many who have chimed in thus far.  I wanted to try them as I'm a 6'3" lefty who was having trouble getting down to the ball on my shorter irons and wedges but was pretty consistent with my 5-7i.  I play hybrids for my 3 & 4i.

 

What I've found is that for the wedges and short irons they are fantastic and I am way more consistent.  Due to the higher ball flight you the distance gapping is almost identical to my standard lengths but I have way fewer fat/thin shots.  Chipping is no issue as you can just grip down a bit if you want that feel change.  I also haven't had much issue with pitches.

 

Where they've hurt me is in the longer irons.  I'm actually much less consistent in the 5-7i than I was with my standard set.  Part of this i'm sure is still the mental part of remembering to set up like a 7i on those shots and not put the ball forward like i've been doing for the rest of my golfing life.  That said even when set up properly I still don't hit them nearly as consistently nor as straight as I do my standard set.  I'm not quite ready to give up on them and am at the point where when I go get fit for my next set at the end of this season I'm still going to put a set of them in the mix to see if that's the issue or if I'm just better suited to standard irons.

 

They're definitely not a magic cure-all solution to golf by any means.  I do still think the concept makes sense and works but it may just not be for everyone even if it logically makes sense.  Either way I'll probably still keep my shorter sticks a bit longer in the future as this experience has shown me that I definitely hit them better with the extra shaft length and more upright stance.

[Perrkka]

17 hours ago, lisevolution said:

They're definitely not a magic cure-all solution to golf by any means.  I do still think the concept makes sense and works but it may just not be for everyone even if it logically makes sense.  Either way I'll probably still keep my shorter sticks a bit longer in the future as this experience has shown me that I definitely hit them better with the extra shaft length and more upright stance.

 

My experience is the following:
Pros:

- Better strikes with all clubs in the bag.

Cons:

- Large distance gaps in the the high lofted irons.

- Small distance gaps in the low lofted irons. My swing speed is 85 mph wich is a bit too slow for 4, 5 and 6 irons in OL.

 

As for now I feel the the pros out weigh the cons. Also I think its fun with something "new". I played VL irons for over 30 years and OL irons for less than 5 years.

[canuker]

I'm an ultra high handicap beginner golfer. Only ever went out once or twice a summer to hack around with buddies in the past.

A few weeks ago I decided I wanted to actually take golf seriously and start playing. I'm an athletic 28 year old. 5'6" 150lbs (I'll explain the relevance of this down below)

I heard about the idea of single length clubs and my engineers brain fell in love with the concept.

I found a used set of Cobra Forge Tec Black. 3i-LW with Jumbo Max grips for $500. I pulled the trigger and they arrive on Monday. 

I'm pairing my OL journey with a single plane swing (Kirk Junge style). To me, this looks to be a simple way to ease into the sport.
 

I set up a janky hitting net in my backyard so I'll be practicing my swing lots. 

So far I'm worried about the 7i 37.25" length of the Cobras. I'm more drawn to the shorter 36.5" EQ1 length. Based on Wishons sizing charts I assume he would then shave an additional 0.5" off of that length to account for my static measurements. Making my single length set 36" long. This is why I mentioned my height above. I see that a lot of people who enjoy OL clubs are super tall. 

Anyways, I'm invested now and excited to be getting my clubs. 

Can't wait to see how the experiment goes!

Edited June 11, 2022 by canuker

[ChaosTheory]

9 hours ago, canuker said:

I'm an ultra high handicap beginner golfer. Only ever went out once or twice a summer to hack around with buddies in the past.

A few weeks ago I decided I wanted to actually take golf seriously and start playing. I'm an athletic 28 year old. 5'6" 150lbs (I'll explain the relevance of this down below)

I heard about the OL concept and my engineers brain fell in love with the concept.

I found a used set of Cobra Forge Tec Black. 3i-LW with Jumbo Max grips for $500. I pulled the trigger and they arrive on Monday. 

I'm pairing my OL journey with a single plane swing (Kirk Junge style). To me, this looks to be a simple way to ease into the sport.
 

I set up a janky hitting net in my backyard so I'll be practicing my swing lots. 

So far I'm worried about the 7i 37.25" length of the Cobras. I'm more drawn to the shorter 36.5" EQ1 length. This is why I mentioned my height above. I see that a lot of people who enjoy OL clubs are super tall. 

Anyways, I'm already invested and keen to put in a good effort.

Can't wait to see how the experiment goes!

I think you are on the right path with the choice of swing.

You can always choke down an inch on the clubs to make them fit well.  It makes for some counterweight above the hands, which can help balance the single axis swing.

[betarhoalphadelta]

On 6/9/2022 at 2:24 PM, lisevolution said:

 

I've been playing them from October/November to today and I'm still not sold on keeping them in the bag.  My personal experience is somewhat similar to many who have chimed in thus far.  I wanted to try them as I'm a 6'3" lefty who was having trouble getting down to the ball on my shorter irons and wedges but was pretty consistent with my 5-7i.  I play hybrids for my 3 & 4i.

 

What I've found is that for the wedges and short irons they are fantastic and I am way more consistent.  Due to the higher ball flight you the distance gapping is almost identical to my standard lengths but I have way fewer fat/thin shots.  Chipping is no issue as you can just grip down a bit if you want that feel change.  I also haven't had much issue with pitches.

 

Where they've hurt me is in the longer irons.  I'm actually much less consistent in the 5-7i than I was with my standard set.  Part of this i'm sure is still the mental part of remembering to set up like a 7i on those shots and not put the ball forward like i've been doing for the rest of my golfing life.  That said even when set up properly I still don't hit them nearly as consistently nor as straight as I do my standard set.  I'm not quite ready to give up on them and am at the point where when I go get fit for my next set at the end of this season I'm still going to put a set of them in the mix to see if that's the issue or if I'm just better suited to standard irons.

 

 

Yeah, the biggest thing I've had to learn to do is to take the low-lofted clubs and use the same setup and swing. It was a mental thing, and I've worked my way through it, but it took time to not try to swing those clubs "harder" than the higher loft irons and just let the loft and club design do the work. I now get a nice beautiful high trajectory even from my 20* 4h. 

 

I'm 6'5", so I have the same "tall guy" problems as you with the shorter clubs. As you can see from my sig, my Wishon are built over-length at 37.5", which is basically 6i length but was a 9i length in my previous (+1.5") set. My current wedges are all built to 36.75, so they'd be between a 7i and 8i in a "standard" set, but between PW and SW in my old set. For me, anything shorter than 36.5" feels like I'm swinging junior clubs, so the bottom end of any standard set is just WAY too short for me. 

 

The one area I'm not sure I'm happy with is gapping and distance at the top of the bag. Going from my old set where my 3i was 40.5" long, to my lowest-lofted SL club being my 4h at 37.5", I worry that the lack of length has just taken too much swing speed away from the low-loft clubs. That was why I ended up buying the Sub70 3u (fit a gap above the 4h, where it's only 0.5* less loft but 2" longer), but it has taken a while to learn to swing it as the weight of that graphite shaft is MUCH different than anything I'm used to swinging. 

 

How long I stick with one length is TBD. I'm not a club ho so I don't see myself dropping them soon--I'd rather spend money on practice, lessons, and actually playing golf. When I set up my next set of clubs, though, I might go with VL, with extra length in the short irons, and then reduced gapping up to the long irons so the top of my bag isn't as extreme length like my old set. 

[canuker]

Question:

I know that Cobra used different lie angles on their One Length clubs because they had data that showed most players swung harder with lower lofted clubs VS higher lofted clubs. 

Does this mean that I have to maintain this pattern to get the most use out of my Cobras? If I were to swing each club equally hard would this lead to a decrease in performance due to it being against their design tweaks?

Edited June 11, 2022 by canuker

[canuker]

2 hours ago, Snowman9000 said:

I think you are on the right path with the choice of swing.

You can always choke down an inch on the clubs to make them fit well.  It makes for some counterweight above the hands, which can help balance the single axis swing.

That makes me feel better for sure. I did notice pros like Fleetwood, Garcia, and Brooke Henderson seem to choke down on every club which gives me confidence. 

Alternatively I have my eyes on another set:

GigaGolf offers a single length set of irons (5i-SW) with somewhat of a "custom" fit. They have a club fitter on staff and they will adjust your clubs at order to account for static measurements. Meaning I could get this set at 36" with a -2 lie angle (Wishons and Gigas lie angle adjustment recommendation) for just under $300 all-in. 

https://www.gigagolf.com/club_detailsHTML.jhtml?manufacturer=GigaGolf&groupnum=MI-GGTM20-SET

This is obviously a way less quality club than the Cobras, but the custom aspect intrigues me. I wonder if a better fitted but worse club would ultimately be better for me.

I even saw one Youtube commenter say this:

"Giga golf are the best OL's I've tried and least expensive. Played Cobra F7 and F8, played 1 Iron Pro's, played Gria's, got fitted for Wishon's new EQ line...at the end of the day, the Giga's felt the best and played the best. The Gria's were really great as well, so easy to hit and hit high, but I already hit the ball high and they cost me a fair amount of distance...yet I would still highly recommend the Gria's." 

Edited June 11, 2022 by canuker

[betarhoalphadelta]

25 minutes ago, canuker said:

Question:

I know that Cobra used different lie angles on their One Length clubs because they had data that showed most players swung harder with lower lofted clubs VS higher lofted clubs. 

Does this mean that I have to maintain this pattern to get the most use out of my Cobras? If I were to swing each club equally hard would this lead to a decrease in performance due to it being against their design tweaks?

 

I'd say stick with the Cobras and see how it goes. My advice would be to try to swing the same with every club--that's kinda the point of SL, right? 

 

Lie angle can cause you to have a tendency to start the ball left or right of your intended start line, even with a square face. If the lies are off, you may miss different clubs slightly left or right depending on how the lie angle fits your swing. As you progress with your game and get consistent, then you can always take them to a clubfitter for a loft/lie fitting. That can help you dial in whether the lofts are right for your distance gapping, and whether the lies are right for your swing by individual club.

 

A good test is to go to the range with a Sharpie. Put a vertical line right on the back of the ball where the club will make contact. Hit the ball and look at your clubface. If the line on your clubface is vertical, your lie is fine. If it's slanted off of vertical, the lie needs adjustment. 

 

15 minutes ago, canuker said:

That makes me feel better for sure. I did notice pros like Fleetwood, Garcia, and Brooke Henderson seem to choke down on every club which gives me confidence. 

Alternatively I have my eyes on another set:

GigaGolf offers a single length set of irons (5i-SW) with somewhat of a "custom" fit. They have a club fitter on staff and they will adjust your clubs at order to account for static measurements. Meaning I could get this set at 36" with a -2 lie angle (Wishons and Gigas lie angle adjustment recommendation) for just under $300 all-in. 

https://www.gigagolf.com/club_detailsHTML.jhtml?manufacturer=GigaGolf&groupnum=MI-GGTM20-SET

This is obviously a way less quality club than the Cobras, but the custom aspect intrigues me. I wonder if a better fitted but worse club would ultimately be better for me.

I even saw one Youtube commenter say this:

"Giga golf are the best OL's I've tried and least expensive. Played Cobra F7 and F8, played 1 Iron Pro's, played Gria's, got fitted for Wishon's new EQ line...at the end of the day, the Giga's felt the best and played the best. The Gria's were really great as well, so easy to hit and hit high, but I already hit the ball high and they cost me a fair amount of distance...yet I would still highly recommend the Gria's." 

 

Remember that the shaft is critical. I don't know what shaft is in the Cobra irons and whether it's well-fit to you, but the shaft is IMHO a lot more important than the clubhead. Giga seems to have a pretty limited shaft selection, so I don't know how well you'll get on with the shafts they offer. 

 

If they have a shaft that works for you, I'm sure the clubheads will be just fine. They look to be perimeter-weighted irons, which are not *that* different as a category than players distance, which are the Forged Tec. 

 

But I'd spend some time seeing how the Cobras, which you've already paid for, work for you rather than mess around with buying another set before you've even swung the Cobras. 

 

Question:

 

What's your 7i distance (carry if you know it, total if you don't) and what shafts are in the Cobras? 

[canuker]

23 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

Question:

 

What's your 7i distance (carry if you know it, total if you don't) and what shafts are in the Cobras? 

I was hitting around 135-140 with my 7 yesterday at the range yesterday. We have a white flag at 150 that I always aim for and usually come up just shy of it. I was just playing with my buddies 7 in preparation for the Cobras lol. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

1 minute ago, canuker said:

I was hitting around 135-140 with my 7 yesterday at the range yesterday. We have a white flag at 150 that I always aim for and usually come up just shy of it. I was just playing with my buddies 7 in preparation for the Cobras lol. 

 

Do you know what shaft is in the Cobras? 

 

[canuker]

4 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

Do you know what shaft is in the Cobras? 

 

Ah sorry forgot about that. KBS Tour Regular if I remember correctly.

[betarhoalphadelta]

27 minutes ago, canuker said:

Ah sorry forgot about that. KBS Tour Regular if I remember correctly.

 

Got it. If that's the case, the shaft should be in the "close enough" category, which is all you can really ask for without getting a fitting. 

 

I'd say play the Cobras for a while, see how it goes, before dropping any additional money on the Giga set. 

[canuker]

8 hours ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

Got it. If that's the case, the shaft should be in the "close enough" category, which is all you can really ask for without getting a fitting. 

 

I'd say play the Cobras for a while, see how it goes, before dropping any additional money on the Giga set. 

Good call. 

Someone locally is also selling a 4i-SW set of pinhawks for $250 which I'd be tempted to try. They are similar to the Gigas and have regular flex shafts (apollo I think). 

The main thing is I don't want to get stuck hoping around between sets of clubs. I'm a big believer in just picking something and getting used to it in all of my other sports like skiing, surfing, mountain biking etc. I want to do this with golf too as it's worked for me well in the other activities. 

Pick one set. Focus on it. Learn its quirks. Make it work for you. Wizard not the wand etc etc. 

 

[solarbear88]

Been playing my EQ1NX since about March and they keep getting better and better.  Just love the sound they make and gapping and ball flight are much improved over the Sterling's I also own.  

 

Wasn't sure going into it if SL was the answer or if it would work. But it definitely works and am not sure if I could go back to Variable Length Irons.  I just feel so much more comfortable with one swing set up and shaft angle.  

 

I really reckon that Wishon has the gapping and ball flight down pat with the Eq1Nx.  I also have a set of Sterling's and the 9-sw flew too high and 5-6 were not quite high enough.  The way he has adjusted the centre of gravity has made these irons awesome.  Not to mention the hollow body is a good looking and forgiving design.

Edited June 14, 2022 by solarbear88

[canuker]

13 hours ago, solarbear88 said:

Been playing my EQ1NX since about March and they keep getting better and better.  Just love the sound they make and gapping and ball flight are much improved over the Stirling's I also own.  

 

Wasn't sure going into it if SL was the answer or if it would work. But it definitely works and am not sure if I could go back to Variable Length Irons.  I just feel so much more comfortable with one swing set up and shaft angle.  

 

I really reckon that Wishon has the gapping and ball flight down pat with the Eq1Nx.  I also have a set of Stirling's and the 9-sw flew too high and 5-6 were not quite high enough.  The way he has adjusted the centre of gravity has made these irons awesome.  Not to mention the hollow body is a good looking and forgiving design.

That sounds sick! EQ1’s look like a great set of clubs. Everyone seems to be really pleased with the gapping. Glad they’re working for you.

 

I wish I had heard about Wishon before getting the forge tecs! I’m worried about the gapping. But 3i-LW for $500 was too hard to pass up. 

[canuker]

Does anyone have experience getting Cobra Forge Tecs fitted for gapping purposes? Would a regular club fitter be able to do good work on a set like that? Or would I be best off seeing a cobra fitter?

 

My local guy said he had never worked with a OL set before and seemed a little hesitant.

Edited June 13, 2022 by canuker

[Mych]

I'm still sold on my Cobra Forged One's, but I think everyone should approach any new set as an experiment. I reshafted my OL's with graphite and made the long iron shafts slightly longer because there wasn't enough of a distance gap at the top. I also use traditional wedge lengths starting at PW. The result is that I have a very consistent and reliable 10 yard gaps from 200 to 150 (4i-9i), while still feeling like I have all of the normal "workability" with my wedges from 130-70. 

 

I also had to get comfortable with losing some distance in my long irons. Prior to the OL's, 4 iron was my 220 club, but now it's my 200 club. My gaps also went from 15yds to 10yds. But every round I've scored below 80 and most of my rounds below 85 have come with the OL's.  I definitely feel like they help me more than they've ever limited me. 

 

I tried the Cobra OL driving iron, hybrid, and wedges, but didn't quite get along with them. My Forged One's are still performing well, but when it's time to replace them I'll probably experiment with either reducing the shaft progression on a VL set or building another 2-length set . I definitely won't trade or sell my OL's, so if I begin to struggle adapting the new set, the old trusty Cobra's will be waiting to jump back into the bag. 

Edited June 13, 2022 by Mych

[boggyman]

3 minutes ago, Mych said:

I'm still sold on my Cobra Forged One's, but I think everyone should approach any new set as an experiment. I reshafted my OL's with graphite and made the long iron shafts slightly longer because there wasn't enough of a distance gap at the top. I also use traditional wedge lengths starting at PW. The result is that I have a very consistent and reliable 10 yard gaps from 200 to 150 (4i-9i), while still feeling like I have all of the normal "workability" with my wedges from 130-70. 

 

I also had to get comfortable with losing some distance in my long irons. Prior to the OL's, 4 iron was my 220 club, but now it's my 200 club. My gaps also went from 15yds to 10yds. But every round I've scored below 80 and most of my rounds below 85 have come with the OL's.  I definitely feel like they help me more than they've ever limited me. 

 

I tried the Cobra OL driving iron, hybrid, and wedges, but didn't quite get along with them. My Forged One's are still performing well, but when it's time to replace them I'll probably experiment with either reducing the shaft progression on a VL set or building another 2-length set . I do know that I won't trade or sell my OL's, so if I begin to struggle adapting the new set, the old trusty Cobra's will be waiting to jump back into the bag. 

Doesn’t seem odd/different that the wedges are standard? I’m 4-SW with my Rad Speeds and wondering about either adding a standard LW I have or just not carrying it,or going standard SW/LW. I really like the Rad Speed SW though. I like to hit knockdowns and bump and runs, I don’t get fancy with my wedges. Pretty straightforward. 

[Mych]

18 minutes ago, boggyman said:

Doesn’t seem odd/different that the wedges are standard? I’m 4-SW with my Rad Speeds and wondering about either adding a standard LW I have or just not carrying it,or going standard SW/LW. I really like the Rad Speed SW though. I like to hit knockdowns and bump and runs, I don’t get fancy with my wedges. Pretty straightforward. 

 

Not really... I rarely hit full shots with wedges, so it actually gave me a good separation from my "full swing" clubs to "partial swing" clubs. The way my bag is currently set up, there's a very distinct type of shot that I hit with each club (or group of clubs), and I don't have to think very much to get the result I want. I don't have to flatten my swing on a 4i, then get steeper on a 9i, so I think I've embraced the strengths of the OL concept without force-fitting it into areas where it really didn't suit my desired outcomes.  

Edited June 13, 2022 by Mych

[boggyman]

1 minute ago, Mych said:

 

Not really... I rarely hit full shots with wedges, so it actually gave me a good separation from my "full swing" clubs to "partial swing" clubs. The way my bag is currently set up, there's a very distinct type of shot that I hit with each club (or group of clubs), and I don't have to think very much to get the result I want. I don't have to flatten my swing on a 4i, then get steeper on a 9i, so I think I've embraced the strengths of the OL concept without force-fitting it into areas where it really didn't suit my desired outcomes.  

Thanks! 

[Mych]

3 hours ago, boggyman said:

Thanks! 

 

To expound a little, for me part of the appeal of OL clubs is to reduce the amount of unique swing thoughts/setups in my bag and to create larger groups. Rather than having 14 clubs that each require individual approaches, I have 5 -- Driver, FW/hybrid, full swing irons, partial swing wedges, and putter. Driver and putter are unavoidably unique, so I really reduced from 12 thoughts/setups down to 3 which theoretically simplifies a lot of the process. 

Obviously, the dream would be to have one setup, one swing, and be able to apply it to every shot on the course. I may never quite get there, but I have definitely benefitted from the experiment. 

 

In a given round of 80, I'm likely to hit driver 10 times and putter 30 times, so ignore those 40 strokes for this conversation. Shotscope says I usually hit 20 shots with wedges (includes approach, greenside, rescue, etc). Fw/Hybrid is about 6-8 strokes (tee, distance, punch shots). That leaves 12-14 shots for my 4i-9i irons, which is an average of about 2 shots each per round. A club that accounts for 2 shots out of 80 isn't a good use of my limited practice time, but OL allows me to group those together so that same practice applies to 14/80. Seems like a no-brainer to optimize that time and spend more of it on my wedges and putting. 

Edited June 13, 2022 by Mych

[boggyman]

40 minutes ago, Mych said:

 

To expound a little, for me part of the appeal of OL clubs is to reduce the amount of unique swing thoughts/setups in my bag and to create larger groups. Rather than having 14 clubs that each require individual approaches, I have 5 -- Driver, FW/hybrid, full swing irons, partial swing wedges, and putter. Driver and putter are unavoidably unique, so I really reduced from 12 thoughts/setups down to 3 which theoretically simplifies a lot of the process. 

Obviously, the dream would be to have one setup, one swing, and be able to apply it to every shot on the course. I may never quite get there, but I have definitely benefitted from the experiment. 

 

In a given round of 80, I'm likely to hit driver 10 times and putter 30 times, so ignore those 40 strokes for this conversation. Shotscope says I usually hit 20 shots with wedges (includes approach, greenside, rescue, etc). Fw/Hybrid is about 6-8 strokes (tee, distance, punch shots). That leaves 12-14 shots for my 4i-9i irons, which is an average of about 2 shots each per round. A club that accounts for 2 shots out of 80 isn't a good use of my limited practice time, but OL allows me to group those together so that same practice applies to 14/80. Seems like a no-brainer to optimize that time and spend more of it on my wedges and putting. 

Totally agree. I like to say “it simplifies things”, for me. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

22 hours ago, canuker said:

Does anyone have experience getting Cobra Forge Tecs fitted for gapping purposes? Would a regular club fitter be able to do good work on a set like that? Or would I be best off seeing a cobra fitter?

 

My local guy said he had never worked with a OL set before and seemed a little hesitant.

 

Gapping fittings are basically loft/lie fittings. They can look at your consistent gaps with clubs and adjust lofts to try to equalize if there are outliers. That should have nothing to do with OL vs VL. 

 

All that said... You've got the clubs. You're new to the game. Focus on a few things NOT related to clubs right now:

 

1. Lessons.
2. Practice.
3. Playing as much as you can. 

 

At 28 years old and self-described as athletic, I would expect you to gain significant swing speed as you work on fundamentals and make your swing more efficient. If you look at PGA golfers, there are plenty who are not especially tall, so it's not like your height will be a detriment to increasing distance once you work out the swing. Money spent on lessons, practice, and play will be FAR more consequential to you right now than money spent fiddling with your clubs. 

 

Give it a year or more. There's no reason at your age and fitness that with a year of lessons and practice that you shouldn't be hitting the ball a TON farther and getting probably into stiff shafts (maybe more, maybe less, depending on a ton of factors I can't predict as I don't know you). After a year, go get fit for new clubs, as you'll have a different swing, and a more consistent swing, such that a fitting will be a lot more "real" for what you actually need with your clubs. 

[canuker]

 

4 hours ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

Gapping fittings are basically loft/lie fittings. They can look at your consistent gaps with clubs and adjust lofts to try to equalize if there are outliers. That should have nothing to do with OL vs VL. 

 

All that said... You've got the clubs. You're new to the game. Focus on a few things NOT related to clubs right now:

 

1. Lessons.
2. Practice.
3. Playing as much as you can. 

 

At 28 years old and self-described as athletic, I would expect you to gain significant swing speed as you work on fundamentals and make your swing more efficient. If you look at PGA golfers, there are plenty who are not especially tall, so it's not like your height will be a detriment to increasing distance once you work out the swing. Money spent on lessons, practice, and play will be FAR more consequential to you right now than money spent fiddling with your clubs. 

 

Give it a year or more. There's no reason at your age and fitness that with a year of lessons and practice that you shouldn't be hitting the ball a TON farther and getting probably into stiff shafts (maybe more, maybe less, depending on a ton of factors I can't predict as I don't know you). After a year, go get fit for new clubs, as you'll have a different swing, and a more consistent swing, such that a fitting will be a lot more "real" for what you actually need with your clubs. 

Thanks for the sage advice! Definitely skill > equipment always. I agree. 

I just started sending in videos daily to Kirk at setup4impact and his tips have been great so far. Seeing lots of day-over-day improvement in my form. 

Swing speed has definitely been increasing already too.

The Cobras just arrived today and I took them to the range. They have JumboMax Ultralight XL on them and they actually felt great. I was launching the ball further than I was with my buddies Ping G410's.

Only unfortunate thing is it turns out I messed up the shaft selection completely. I thought they were regular flex KBS but they are actually Modus Tour120 X. Great shafts obviously but the extra stiff is definitely overkill. Oh well. Better work on getting stronger I guess haha. Or selling the set for something more appropriate. 

 

 

Edited June 14, 2022 by canuker