KUDOS BRYSON - Single Length Iron Gapping

[MofoJones]

Kudos to Bryson DeChambeau and his team for all their hard work and dedication. It’s clear that their efforts are paying off. On a course that's 7,500+yards and firm, if he's playing well, I don't think anyone can compete with him. He’s undoubtedly the hardest working professional golfer in the world, and I have immense respect for him.
 

Now, I'm curious to know how Bryson DeChambeau manages to get proper yardage gaps using single-length irons. One of the main factors in the distance gapping is the progressive length change from iron to iron. In a standard set, this change is typically half an inch per club, but DeChambeau's irons are all the same length.
 

I don’t necessarily want to know about his new irons, but I’m interested in what he’s always done—what kind of club head technology is he using to get proper gaps while maintaining elite descent angles, spin, and peak height, specifically in his long irons? He should be swinging all of these clubs with very similar club head speeds.

 

 

How does he achieve playable yardage gaps, with consistent heights and descent angles, even though he's swinging all his clubs the same?

Are some of his irons designed with hollowed-out heads to promote ball speed and assist with launch? I'm very curious about this as I am seriously considering making a single-length set myself. I want to ensure I get proper gapping with having the same swing speed for every club. Specifically, how does DeChambeau maintain large and consistent gaps in his long irons? Is he just a unicorn because he can produce high swing speeds where others can't, or is there something unique about the design of his clubs?

 

I'm looking for insights into whether some of his irons are "juiced" or if his technique and physical capabilities are the primary reasons for his success with single-length irons. Any detailed information on this would be greatly appreciated as I consider making the switch.

[Andygolderson]

speed and loft.

[ode]

He also uses the "clock" to control distance when needed, like you see with a wedge.  Heard him discussing with his caddie before his shot.  Of course one would have to when hitting a wedge ~190.  He hits his irons high!

[WristySwing]

There's a guy who is documenting his SL experience here (https://forums.golfwrx.com/topic/1959457-edel-sms-pro-irons-conversion-to-single-length/page/3/#comment-25421645) and while he is faster than average, you can see his distance gaps are fairly normal. He does not have Bryson speed. When all the clubs are the exact same, you only have one variable to control distance, and that is loft (assuming the heads are identical in every way, unlike the Wishon heads that are a bit different depending on what iron it is). You just bend the loft to suit, make the same swing on it with the same ball position, and bang, done. Most of us consider clubs to be our X yardage club (my PW goes 130, my 9i 140, etc.) but the reality is for the vast majority of us that is not the case, it is 140 +/- ~4y depending on how well we hit it. Further, we also tend to round to the nearest 5 in our heads as well as that is easier to remember, when in reality too our PW might be our 127 club and our 9i our 142 club.

 

Edited June 17 by WristySwing

[AzRoger]

When you say you want to 'make' a set of single length irons are you talking about modifying a regular set of irons into single length? Good luck with that. We saw what Ping had to do to modify the heads on a set of i230's for Bryson a couple years ago. You're only sensible option is to buy a set from a manufacturer that makes them, and your choices are very limited. IMO it's a fools game trying to match up with what Bryson plays, he has the skills and strength to make them work. If they worked for the rest of us everyone would be playing them. How many other tour players use single length?

[Magicmarker7551]

They’re juiced in the sense that the lofts have to be strengthened or they would be way too spinny.

 

The weighting of the heads is probably very different than a traditional set in order to accommodate a longer shaft in the wedges and a shorter shaft in the long irons.

[WristySwing]

1 hour ago, AzRoger said:

When you say you want to 'make' a set of single length irons are you talking about modifying a regular set of irons into single length? Good luck with that. We saw what Ping had to do to modify the heads on a set of i230's for Bryson a couple years ago. You're only sensible option is to buy a set from a manufacturer that makes them, and your choices are very limited. IMO it's a fools game trying to match up with what Bryson plays, he has the skills and strength to make them work. If they worked for the rest of us everyone would be playing them. How many other tour players use single length?

 

I think this is a bit of a lame take, honestly. No other tour pros do it because no other major company that sponsor tour pros makes them. It's a chicken and the egg scenario. Bryson has been playing SL clubs for the better part of a decade (maybe longer) because he was on the quest for what worked for him. Now consider someone else, say Scheffler. Currently world #1, the odds on favourite to win when he tees it up. Do you think he's going to say screw it, let's completely change the entire way I play? No of course not. For most tour pros its a battle to get them to change grips, let alone shafts. I remember Rahm saying in an interview the only way he changes heads is if Callaway makes him a club that feels identical to the one he was currently in, but had some sort of performance benefit, so he can just unscrew the shaft he was in and put it in his new head. Will Zalatoris also mentioned this in passing in the recent article on the front page regarding the new GT driver, he said it was basically plug and play and he got an extra 1.5-2mph ball speed without having to do anything, same shaft, swing weight, length, and so on. So how much fighting do you think it would take for them to say okay, you are now going to play these clubs. It is going to take a more grass roots movement so to speak, start with the kids taking up golf now who are under 10 years old, make them SL clubs and see how it sticks.

 

I truly believe that if more single length options were available for consumers, outside of these random companies that barely anyone has heard of anymore (Orlimar, Pinhawk, Wishon, Avoda), it would become more and more common place and it may take 10-12 years, but you might see more younger tour pros adopting it and guys fresh out of college with some SL in the bag. I am also not saying its the hidden holy grail either, but from a fitting perspective it makes a heck of a lot of sense. You fit one club perfectly to that player, and then you just make the rest of the clubs the same. The only variance is now the person's delivery. You don't have to worry about length, lie angle, ascending SW, drastic flux in shaft weight (the latter two are common in variable length builds), ball position, and so on. Of course there are also some pretty big drawbacks that a lot of people complain about (lack of height in the long irons, unwieldy wedges), but again, these are not things that seal the casket for SL.  They can be fixed with perhaps overlength but variable length wedges, hybrids or lower CG and hotter long irons (like Wishon, and so forth.

Edited June 17 by WristySwing

[rx1232]

I would say that most folks dont know that BDC is using SL irons. Core fans but not the casual viewer.  Even less could be convinced to play SL irons.  It's a huge change, it's different than your friends, and they are hard to find. 

 

Quote

If they worked for the rest of us everyone would be playing them. How many other tour players use single length?

the cost of switching is high for a game that is predominantly "feel" for most folks. If Callaway/Titleist/Taylormade started pushing SL irons as much as they push AI and 10k or whatever, then maybe we would see more adoption. It could work for the rest of us, but (at least for me) i have limited time to play golf why would i bother with trying SL irons when i can top and blade my current irons just fine?