Between a rock and a hard place right now with my clubs

I'll try to keep this brief. I want to upgrade my irons. Right now I'm playing old King Kobra IIs which in my oppinion are a great club for me(12 handicap). However they were handed down to me. They have a stiff graphite shaft. I have a fairly low swing speed. I prefer the feel of my 7 wood and 5 wood both of which have regular flex shafts. graman 310 and voodoo respectively.

A lot of people are telling me to scrap the irons and just get a new set but that means I'm spending minimum $600 for any set of clubs I would consider an upgrade, and like I said before I really do like my irons they simply don't fit me perfectly as they were handed down.

Basically my question is, how much is this work going to cost me and is it worth it, or should I simply just get a new set and get them fitted for me?

Cliffs: reshaft/regrip and get fitted for my current king kobra IIs or spend money on a new set of irons? if so which ones assuming I like sleek classy simple etc. no blades. thx

Ebay.  You should be able to find a nice, fairly new set of clubs with a reg flex shaft if thats what you want for $300 or less.

Another option would be to just get your irons reshafted.  If your clubheads are still in good shape and you like them, reshafting to a reg flex shaft might be a great option.

How much does reshafting cost?

thanks

Depends upon what shafts you want.

touche. I want to hit the ball STRAIGHT. I don't care how far it goes, as distance and getting the ball up into the air is not a problem for me. I don't mind losing a few yards for more consistent shot.

and yes, I realize lessons will help me more than any new equiptment, which is why I am taking some this year :)

Typically, as much as a relatively new set of clubs or slightly used clubs that you find on callawaypreowned or taylormadepreowned or ebay.

Re-shafting:  It's not cost effective unless you need something hard to find like an "A" flex on a smaller head.

I don't know how old your Cobras are, but the early graphite shafts are horrible compared to a modern graphite shaft.  "A" flex graphite is best for me, but I can hit "S" in steel - just not as well because I don't compress the shaft.

"A" flex is for slow swings and any major shaft manufactures $15 shaft works fine.  It's the higher swing speeds that need to take other variables such as torque and kick point into account, and spend more money. Also there are no industry wide standards for shaft flex.  One company's  "A" is another's "R". (Or more likely an "S" is an "R".)  With out a frequency machine there's no knowing.

One local store gets $80 (Rodger Dunn)  in labor to do 8 clubs. Another asks $160 - labor. Then add the cost of gripping and the shafts. You need to shop around.

or do it yourself.

PS: With $15 shafts its a good idea to have them frequency matched (if the price is reasonable). My shaft labels point in every direction after frequency matching. (The club repairman included it in the $80)

Thanks dude. This is exactly what I needed to know. So an average of $120 or so for labour, plus the shafts and grips. So I'm looking at spending minimum 300 anyways for reshafting, where as I could simply buy a nice used set for less and then just get those clubs fitted? Thanks all for the help!

I'll elaborate on my dilema. I got the clubs from my dad who has the polar opposite swing from me. He tends to hit a nice draw, and when he miss hits it(rare, lol), he hits a nasty pull left. Always left. He reshafted the kobras with IQ HUMPS, stiff, .380 bore, as he felt these would help his pull being stiff and all. He then gave them to me....

My problem is, I have always had a fade. When I hit a nice shot it goes high and trails off a little to the right, when I miss it its always always always right. Always. Honestly I have played about 8 rounds of golf so far this year and I have yet to miss a green left. I aim way left, I dare the ball to go left, it never does. It either sticks the green or hits it and rolls over right. My chipping is incredible because I miss so many greens. Lol. A great golfer recently told me that the clubs I have are very nice for my skill level and swing, however the shafts are almost certainly working against me since I hit a fade. However with my 7 wood and 5 wood I hit it STRAIGHT AS AN ARROW. My best club in my bag is a SC PRO ( $15 adams tight lies nockoff) with a regular flex. this club will NOT FADE. I have TRIED to purposely fade this club on the range and it will NOT fade, yet with my irons I cant help but trail to the right. He says its not a conincidence that my best two clubs are regular flex.

So this is what propelled me to do research on shafts and what not.

I have come to the conclusion, since the clubs are over 10 years old and the grooves are worn waaaaaay down, new irons are more cost effective than new shafts.

Thanks again for the help.

New or slightly used irons are more economical.

Labor rates vary for reshafting clubs - depends on who does the work, and if they spine/flo or tip the shaft to your specs instead of a glue job.

If your present shafts are the correct flex for you, the fade issue may be having the club face slightly open at impact - a swing issue. Typically, a bad shaft will be inconsistent, although the pervasive thought is weak shafts go left and strong shafts go right - it's not always the case.

I know people say this all the time - but hop on a Launch Monitor and find your clubs and compare them on the same LM and see if you can find a consistent tight pattern with a club and shaft with the flight you want.

Would definitely recommend getting new irons. Considering the time of year and large amount of new releases, would look at some "year old" models that may be marked down but still have newer technology. You'll see great benefit in moving from your current irons, even if you like them a lot. The forgiveness on misses is drastically better.

The key is to get fit. You can do that at a retailer or a local Demo Day. But if you're going to invest in new clubs, do it right.

If you get new shafts for the King Cobra IIs, make sure you get the right ones. You might pay for an iron fitting to see which shafts would work best.

Cost will probably be $15 labor per club, especially with graphite shafts involved. The new shafts could range from $10 each for TT Dynalite 100 R flex, up to $24.50 for Nippon NS Pro 8950GH, or $29 each for KBS Tour 90. The mentioned Nippon and KBS shafts are both lightweight, which would improve your clubhead speed. All three of these shafts have hook prevention; note that.

Weight of the shaft will be critical. Graphite is lighter, and True Temper has a line of lightweight steel shafts, all 100 grams or below in weight, in the GS series. The lighter shafts will increase clubhead speed, just at going from S to R flex will.

Note that a set of King Cobra II irons sells for $135 on eBay.

If you get a fitting on a used set of irons, that might cost around $50. So, are you willing to spend a minimum of $300 (including fitting) to reshaft irons valued at $135?

It's your call.

New clubs all the way. My first decent set of clubs where Cleveland CG2, DGR300, I got them almost new on eBay for $200 (2 years earlier they were selling for over 1k at Golf Town). The same year I bought some Adams A1 Pros brand new for $100 on Rockbottomgolf, DGS300. I also bought a set of Demo Ping i5's from my golf club for 400 bucks. I mostly rotated between the CG2's and i'5. year later I bought some Project X shafts on eBay and put them into the CG2's, did the work myself. They became the perfect clubs for me.

2 years later (2010), I'm into a set of Cally X-forged project X 5.5 for $400 off Rockbootomgolf. I sold the Adams and i5's for what I paid and my son has graduated into my CG2's.

Bottom line, I got to tinker with a lot of different setups and it didn't cost me all that much...

You can get single 6 irons in different shafts on eBay for under $10. Get fit, then buy up a bunch of 6 irons and tinker. Then buy a set that is perfect for you.

Get fitted for loft and lie -- and then shafts. Armed with your specs, you can buy used or new. Knowing your clubs fit is great for confidence.