what length shafts or tall golfer?

[Klap]

Interesting points here. At 6ft.9 I've tried different setups to find what works best.

The taller player simply can't swing properly with a standard club, the body gets in the way.

I followed the same paths suggested here, added 2 inch to my clubs and had them 4 deg upright.

Though the lighter shafts seemed more unstable and less stiff when lenghted, and a bit less accurate.

So I went more upright, 6 deg, and only lenghted them 1,5 inches, indeed the margin of the swing path right before impact becomes smaller with a lie angle like this, but for me these changes made the clubs more stable and better to handle. You could consider a flatter or slightly layed off swing to beat the 'over the top' move.

I also replaced my SL shafts with X100, a bit heavy but far more accurate when lenghtened

Any suggestions on this are welcome, would love to learn some more on this.




[quote name='rybo' timestamp='1298211939' post='2994470']
I have been struggling with this question for the past few months. Finally broke down and built a few test clubs that are: 4 iron @ 40" and a 50* wedge @ 37". Roughly 1.5" over standard depending on who's standard it's compared. The only way I can get center sole contact is with the additional length. Bending more upright did nothing for moving the center strikes until it was 6-7* over the initial starting lie angle and then the club looks very funny at address, it also became unplayable. So I have been getting much more mileage from additional length then I ever got from bending more upright.

Another thought, as you bend a club more upright, the ball gets closer to you and there is less space for the club to travel on an inside path to the ball. The biggest problems for tall golfers is an upright swing plane with an over the top move (and bending clubs more upright only exasperates these two problems). I'm starting to believe these two swing maladies are being caused by clubs that are just too short. Additional length allows a tall golfer to maintain proper angles throughout a swing.

Here is a link to an article I found a few months back that really got me thinking. Thankfully I found this because it expressed exactly the same thoughts I had been thinking about with relation to the club fit and sing dynamics.

[url="http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/golf-equipment-and-custom-fitting-2817661.html"]http://www.articlesb...ng-2817661.html[/url]

Couple more things. Robert Karlsson starts with his wedges at 37" and the set progress from there. Here's the link to Titleist's page where it's discussed. pay particular attention to the comments section. A lot of good information direct from Titleist.

[url="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:DSCi2MeSm6MJ:www.titleist.com/teamtitleist/b/tourblog/archive/2007/03/21/robert-karlsson-and-his-scotty-cameron-by-titleist-putter.aspx+karlsson+iron+specs&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a&source=www.google.com"]http://webcache.goog...=www.google.com[/url]

Lastly, when going longer, using standard shafts like a Dynamic Gold X100, S300 just will not work. The clubs become much too heavy and cumbersome to use effectively over say the course of 18 holes or a practice session. Try using a Dynamic Gold SL or other lighter weight shaft. Total weight is the key, not swingweight. Don't worry too much about swingweight as there is nothing in the industry that allows for an additional 1 1/2" of length. Sure Mizuno has lighter heads but that's removing mass from the thing hitting the ball and that's where you need mass.
[/quote]

[CheckJV]

[size="4"]Just to add my stats to the mix....

I am 6-4 and my wrist-to-floor is off the charts: 41.5 to 41.75 inches (depending on shoes). Long ago I went to +3 inches and 5 degrees upright. Fairway woods and driver are standard length and lie (at the moment). There is absolutely no substitute for shaft length when it comes to irons. It is just impossible for someone that is very tall with short arms and a long torso to hit the ball well with a short club. Painful too. For those of you that are "standard" size, take your shortest club and choke down about 3.5 inches. Try to hit the thing about 20 times. Your back will kill you! [/size]

[rybo]

Klap

I opened this thread not realizing I had commented in it back in February.

So here is my update:

Not long after posting here in February I had a very long and great conversation with the Cleveland Tour Rep (I'm on the Cleveland staff) during an event about what I had been trying with longer lengths and and various lie angles. His only questions to me were what iron shaft I was hitting and could he see my irons. I thought this was odd but answered and showed him the irons. I played a X100's at the time and had a very pronounced toe side hit. Must add this toe side hit never would mover with various length and lie adjustments. I always considered this a swing flaw. He then asked for me to hit a few shots. After 3 swings he stops me and quite matter a factly states the X100 was the wrong shaft for me. Honestly at this point I was thinking he was a little off his rocker. However I had dealt with him before and knew he really knew what he was talking about. So he tells me I need KBS Tour X due to the flex profile of the shaft. He also suggests only going 1* up and +1/2". I say great lets get a set together. A week later a new set of CG16 Tour irons with his exact suggestions arrived. Lets just say he nailed it!! Immediately had perfect center strikes and picked up about 7 yards a club. Honestly can not believe the difference. I had not played anything less then 3* upright for as long as I could remember. My divots went from quite toe heavy to perfectly level.

I never would have thought a shaft change would change my fitting dimensions so drastically. It did and my iron play has dramatically improved. This experience and the conversation I had with him really opened my eyes to the dynamics the shaft can have on your results.

[scs1070]

6' 6". Play my irons +2" and 2* upright.

[navykip]

Totally agree. I did the same thing to my clubs and had fantastic results. I think if we taller golfer try to imitate a standard golfer' swing, we are only asking for trouble. Like the post rybo linked to, if the golfer is 25% percent larger, he doesn't need to be increase his lie angle. In my opinion you increase the likelyhood of missing the ball by 25%.