Adjusting to TM Burner Plus shaft length

It was only last summer that I started consistently going to the range. Before that, I rarely played. I picked up some Wilsons from a big box store, and did pretty well. This year, I hit range balls about 2x a week, and thought I'd 'upgrade' to a game improvement iron. I bought a set of TM Burner Plus irons. They've alway gotten great reviews from what I can find, so I felt confident. Now that I"ve taken them to the range a few times I'm less impressed. They don't fit me, or i'm swingin' 'em wrong. The shafts are about an inch longer than standard, but as far as I can tell, the lie is the same, or only very slightly flatter. Anyway, I"m always smashing them into the ground. I"m also trying to change my swing to the S&T;, so I have NO consistency at the moment.... What concerns me though, is that when I clean all the mud off my club, most of it comes off the heel. I get better results if I choke up a bit on the club... but that's a crappy thing to do with $300 worth of new clubs!

What to do?

I'll most certainly lose money selling them to buy another set. I wouldn't mind cutting and re-gripping them myself, if I didn't think that maybe I've just got a wonky swing that puts the heel into the ground.

I'm curious as to what others have thought about this model club and/or if anyone else could magically adjust to a club with an extra inch stuck onto the end.

thanks!

oh, and can anyone confirm that the lie is 'standard' on this model?

thanks again.

Choke down a bit.  If you start hitting them consistently then think about having them cut down.

I recently started playing the TM Burner Plus irons as well and love them. I decided I wanted more forgiveness than my Titleists had been providing. I don't know what Wilsons you were playing, but the TMs are essentially one club stronger across the set from most irons I have checked out. My TM 4 iron has the same specs(loft and length) as my Titleist 3 iron(and my old 1972 Walter Hagen 2 iron). I just ignore the 4 on the sole and treat it as my 3 iron and so on. The stronger loft and added length is how the TMs can provide more distance than the competitors. I also tried the S&T; swing a few years ago and found myself "chuncking" behind the ball alot, I got that body drop at the top of my swing and couldn't get it back on the downswing. I am now back to my old school swing. Hope this helps.

The Burner Plus irons are slightly longer than most other brands out there today.  When I was fitted for mine back in January they were 1/4" longer than the Pings G10's and Cobra S2 Max's that I compared them to.

I am 5' 4" and after hitting a lie board they determined I needed 3/4" off the club and 2 degrees flattened.  I had them make the adjustments.  Now that I have begun to play them, I choke down an additional 1/2" or so with the 4-7 irons as I feel more comfortable that way.

My suggestion would be to take them back where you got them and have them properly fitted for you.  At a place like Golf Galaxy if you bought the clubs there, they take off 50% on labor costs.

If you bought them online, shops like Golf Galaxy or Golfsmith will fit them for a fee.

Normally its about $50 for the fitting fee and $3 per club for lie adjustment, $3 per club to have them shortened and $3 for the re-grip fee + the cost of a new grip.

They will be able to tell immediately if they need shortened.  All they do is place an impact sticker on the bottom of the club and have you hit a few balls on the strike/lie board. Once they determine length then they will place an impact sticker on the face of the club to see if your lie needs adjusted.

It might cost a little bit more, but believe me it's worth it.  So far this year with my new clubs I have actually shot in the 80's the first 2 out of 3 rounds this spring.  I haven't shot in the 80's ever in my life after 15 years of golf.   Now if I could just clean up my chipping and putting...lol

I"m 5'8"... they are certainly too long for me too. I knew they'd be long, but assumed/thought an appropriately adjusted lie would make up for it. I see now that they are merely longer, but with the same 'standard' lie angle. Choking up some seems to get me back to my usual 'in'consistency. I intended to have them cut 1/2" when it came time to change the grips in a few months.

I didn't have them fit as I bought them out of state. There is a local shop here with the ability... for the right price I suppose!

Once I feel I have a consistent swing I"ll go have the lie looked at. That makes sense to me; as whatever swing I have in the shop (and consequently get the lie adjusted for) may or may not be what I eventually develop into.

Is this wacky reasoning of am I close to base here? The club sits with only very slight toe up at address, but when I emulate a ball strike, it's level (from what I can tell). This is all with the club choked up about half an inch.

Can a true fitting hold off until I'm ready to change the grips anyway?

The Wilson's were a cavity back club from Academy. I've been able to find NO info on them on the internet, and very little from the box the came in. They say LCG Tour Control on the head, and 431 SS on the hosel. They're being sold this year at Academy as well. I probably moved on from them only out of vanity. I see now that their quality was good, and probably a club I should have worn out before I moved on. My wife would kill me if I tried to sell the TMs now though, so I"ll keep working with 'em. As far as the club numbering goes, I think they should just mandate that the degree be written on them... varying lofts of degree for the 'same' club only creates customer confusion, and makes it that much harder to compare... I guess that's the point though. How far I can hit my 'x' iron is meaningless if I can't do it consistently. Besides, I have no one here to play with to brag to anyway! er, um :(

The S&T; for me is surprisingly GREAT for my driver... I mean WOW. I went from uncontrollable slices except on the very easiest of swings (which is SO hard to do) to arrow straight BOMBS.... but I can't hit my 9 anymore... AT ALL. Which is quite the contrast, before I could 'ding' the 100 yard marker 2x out of 90 balls, and plop the majority of the remaining within' 10-15 feet.

I"ll give the S&T; a few more hundred range balls, and take a class at the local college this summer II if I haven't figured something out by then.

That's the plan for the moment. I'm thinking 1/2" - 3/4" is just right. which would make them 1/8 - 3/8 of an inch longer than the previous Wilson's, and the same for an assortment of Adam's GT2's I keep behind the seat for those emergency driving range sessions.

You are 4.5" taller than me and I went 3/4" shorter.  If I were you I'd probably only do 1/2".  You can always grip down more but can't add back length unless you reshaft.  So better to err on the side of caution.

Right now I still grip down about 1/2" on my longer irons (4-6) just so I can control them a little better.  But I can still go full length if the ball is below my feet.

The more lofted clubs feel perfect with the 3/4" shortening.  Any shorter and I don't think they would feel right.  If you went 3/4" I have a feeling they would feel too short for you.

If you don't mind gripping down then hold off until you need grips.  I'm not a big fan of gripping down so that is why I had mine shortened when I bought the clubs and since the labor was 50% when buying new.

One thing you might want to try before shortening is, buy some impact tape designed to go across the face of the club (Dicks or any golf shop should carry it).  Or another cheap method is to put some masking tape across the face of your club.  When I was fitted they had me do this with my 7i.  Write over the tape with a dry erase marker.  Take 3 swings while gripping down 1/2".  See where you are striking the tape.  If in the center then you know a 1/2" shorter is a good length.  I believe if the club is too long, then you will be hitting the ball off the toe end of the club.  If off center, repeat the process gripping down 3/4" and see how that works.  That in a nutshell was how Golf Galaxy determined I needed 3/4" off.  You could even go as far as seeing how your lie is.  Basically put the impact tape on the bottom of the club and place a ball on a very thin piece of hard plastic or very thin piece of wood panel and take a couple swings.  See where you are striking the sole of the club.  Just because its a tad upright at address, alot can happen during the swing to change the angle at impact.

Just for comparision... I hit the TM Burner Plus as well and I'm 6'2" and they fit me perfect. I bought them from Golf Galaxy and had a fitting... they didn't make one adjustment to the clubs......