Add or subtract length based on contact of face??

[odshot68]

If you are slightly missing toward the heel would you want to add or subtract 1/4" from length. thanks!

[rymail00]

I was going to ask the same thing...my miss is 1/4" on the heel...should i cut and 1/4 off?

[wundej]

This may be a dumb question, but have you tried addressing the ball a bit further away from it? I heard from a very good fitter, that this is actually his first suggestion when people come to him and say "I miss on the toe, I need 1/4 or 1/2" over". You may need a lie angle adjustment but this is a cheap way to test without messing with your clubs. it is often hard to break habits, but try it at the range (use some alignment aid to ensure that you are in fact actively addressing the ball a bit further away).

[Hstead]

There are more experienced guys that will chime in and their opinion is probably more valuable than mine, but I am not sure I would cut the length or add etc based on contact. For me anyway, the length is completely determined by whatever puts me in the correct posture. If I am hitting the ball on the toe or heel, it is my swing. I recently went through a stretch of hitting toe shots, very thin, no divots. I could have lengthened the clubs, but that would not have solved the problem and really would have made it worse. I was coming out of my posture on the down swing, "humping the goat" which has completely unrelated to shaft length and totally related to my swing issues. Just a thought, check out your swing first before you attempt to fit clubs to faulty mechanics.

[odshot68]

[quote name='odshot68' timestamp='1362884457' post='6581075']
If you are slightly missing toward the heel would you want to add or subtract 1/4" from length. thanks!
[/quote]

Just looking for an answer to this. Not really looking for advice on a lesson or setup. Thanks.

[Dpavs]

you would either shorten the club or flatten the lie if you are hitting towards the heel.

[odshot68]

[quote name='Dpavs' timestamp='1362885411' post='6581195']
you would either shorten the club or flatten the lie if you are hitting towards the heel.
[/quote]

Thank you!

[kwooten31]

[quote name='odshot68' timestamp='1362885500' post='6581205']
[quote name='Dpavs' timestamp='1362885411' post='6581195']
you would either shorten the club or flatten the lie if you are hitting towards the heel.
[/quote]

Thank you!
[/quote]

I would try and fix my swing first, then worry about the rest!!!!

[DallasSteve]

Where does this nonsense come from? Let's take your 7 iron; if you are considering shortening it 1/2 inch, don't you already have a club that long -- an 8 iron? Are you hitting the 8 iron perfectly, or missing it the same way? If you're missing it the same way, why would you think that shortening your 7 iron would help the 7 iron? If you think that lengthening it 1/2 inch is going to help, don't you already have that club -- a 6 iron? Do you hit the 6 iron perfectly or is your miss the same as the 5 iron? Why would length change where you hit it? If you address the ball with it in the middle of the clubface with each iron, and you miss all the time on the same side of the center with each iron, what difference does the length make??? The clubface is not being brought back to the same position as at address -- the problem is with getting the club back to the same place you started. That seems completely independent of the length. Having a 5 iron 1/4" longer or shorter isn't going to change the fact that you don't get the clubface back to the same place you started from.

[wundej]

[quote name='odshot68' timestamp='1362885090' post='6581167']
[quote name='odshot68' timestamp='1362884457' post='6581075']
If you are slightly missing toward the heel would you want to add or subtract 1/4" from length. thanks!
[/quote]

Just looking for an answer to this. Not really looking for advice on a lesson or setup. Thanks.
[/quote]
It isn't as simple as answering that question because we don't know why you are missing like that. Equipment may not fix your issue, this is why a fitter would need to evaluate the situation. Changing length may just end up with you doing the same thing. Why wouldn't you want to know the real cause? You might save the time/cost of the club work. In the end it may be length but it may not be.

[Golfrnut]

[quote name='wundej' timestamp='1362895632' post='6581843']
[quote name='odshot68' timestamp='1362885090' post='6581167']
[quote name='odshot68' timestamp='1362884457' post='6581075']
If you are slightly missing toward the heel would you want to add or subtract 1/4" from length. thanks!
[/quote]

Just looking for an answer to this. Not really looking for advice on a lesson or setup. Thanks.
[/quote]
It isn't as simple as answering that question because we don't know why you are missing like that. Equipment may not fix your issue, this is why a fitter would need to evaluate the situation. Changing length may just end up with you doing the same thing. Why wouldn't you want to know the real cause? You might save the time/cost of the club work. In the end it may be length but it may not be.
[/quote]

+1

I really don't understand someone's theory that the answer to getting center-face contact is to shorten or lengthen the shaft length to compensate, make zero sense.

During setup, you are compensating for shaft length already by lining the club face up to the ball. So how is changing the length going to solve anything.

To the OP, you may not like the answer, but it has already been given to you. Get a fit by someone qualified to do so. There are 100 other things that can be causing the issue, and I would rate lenght being very far need the bottom.

[TJCDAS]

[quote name='odshot68' timestamp='1362885090' post='6581167']
[quote name='odshot68' timestamp='1362884457' post='6581075']
If you are slightly missing toward the heel would you want to add or subtract 1/4" from length. thanks!
[/quote]

Just looking for an answer to this. Not really looking for advice on a lesson or setup. Thanks.
[/quote]

No.

[Dpavs]

I agree that going to a fitter is a great idea... the end result will still be to either shorten the club (if that is right thing) or flatten the lie (if that is the right thing). Good part is if you find a fitter that is also a swing coach, he may spot something that is causing the hits towards the heel which is neither related to length or lie. I see you are from GR MI so one place I can recommend is GGalaxy and seeing Ken who is the Pro there and does fittings too. He's a really decent guy.