How Far Can You Bend a Golf Club?

[Adam C]

Okay. Feel free to take a guess below and then check out the video and see how close you were. Keep the results secret, interested to see what people guess??

Club 1- Mizuno MP18 MMC 4 iron

Club 2- Generic Turbo Power I Pak component 5 iron

 

 

[coachjimsc]

Club 1 - 8 degrees

Club 2 - 6 degrees

[pganapathy]

Am gonna say around 15 degrees for each club

[boogielicious]

37 minutes ago, Adam C said:

Okay. Feel free to take a guess below and then check out the video and see how close you were. Keep the results secret, interested to see what people guess??

Club 1- Mizuno MP18 MMC 4 iron

Club 2- Generic Turbo Power I Pak component 5 iron

 

 

Another great video Adam! I especially liked the vein in your neck as an indicator of the amount of force you were using!

[Zippo]

I really enjoy your videos, @Adam C. Very informative. Thank you. Couple questions, if you don't mind:

How far, comparatively, can you bend the lie in the other direction?

And, what about changing the loft? How far stronger or weaker?

[Adam C]

10 hours ago, Zippo said:

I really enjoy your videos, @Adam C. Very informative. Thank you. Couple questions, if you don't mind:

How far, comparatively, can you bend the lie in the other direction?

And, what about changing the loft? How far stronger or weaker?

There is no reason you shouldn't be able to get the same amount of adjustment going in any direction with a club. That being said, some cast clubs with multi material construction will most likely bend less and possibly be slightly different in different directions. But assuming that the most anyone would bend a club would be a few degrees, it should be the same in any direction.

I chose going flat in the video because it's the easiest to film as you don't move your body much and everything stays in focus better.

[RayG]

Just reading the title, I was going to say "Depends on how hard you hit that tree". 

But going back to the subject. Back in the day... when Cast clubs first came out, you were warned about this very scenario. Cast clubs might be stronger, but were much more brittle and any modifications would be small and VERY carefully done. Forged always had a lot more wiggle room and larger adjustments could be made.

but I suppose the days, materials and construction methods have changed a bit where Cast clubs can be adjusted more than they used to. 

[Pretzel]

I have to say that this video is very reassuring, because just last Saturday I discovered an issue with the 5-iron in my set of MP-4's that my local shop was unsure would be fixable or if it would be best served by replacing the clubhead (due to overbending of the iron).

That's the 5-iron on the right, 4-iron on the left. A little tricky to tell from the angle of the clubs (trying to line them up side by side), but the 5-iron actually has some substantial curvature in the hosel. 

I've been playing these irons for 4 years now, and unwisely ignored the advice to have your lofts and lies checked annually if you're playing forged irons. In that time I've probably played somewhere north of 300 rounds of golf, and my 5-iron specifically has always been my "go-to" club for hitting low punch shots to get myself out of trouble. The ground in Colorado is pretty firm (especially in winter), and I have a fairly high swing speed so this is a somewhat extreme example.

It turns out that over the years my 5-iron has been slowly bending backwards until today, where it now actually measures half a degree stronger than my 4-iron (which is still at the original loft)! I knew my gap between 5 and 6 iron was large, but it wasn't until I went out this spring to create an updated distance chart for all my clubs (it's been years since I made my last one) that I realized just how big a problem there was and looked to find the cause.

It's reassuring to see the test where a club with very similar design and metallurgy (the MP-18, compared to my MP-4) could be adjusted that far without breaking, so here's to hoping mine can be bent back without overly work-hardening the steel. If not, then I suppose it's as good excuse as any to go out and buy new clubs!

[Adam C]

16 hours ago, Pretzel said:

I have to say that this video is very reassuring, because just last Saturday I discovered an issue with the 5-iron in my set of MP-4's that my local shop was unsure would be fixable or if it would be best served by replacing the clubhead (due to overbending of the iron).

That's the 5-iron on the right, 4-iron on the left. A little tricky to tell from the angle of the clubs (trying to line them up side by side), but the 5-iron actually has some substantial curvature in the hosel. 

I've been playing these irons for 4 years now, and unwisely ignored the advice to have your lofts and lies checked annually if you're playing forged irons. In that time I've probably played somewhere north of 300 rounds of golf, and my 5-iron specifically has always been my "go-to" club for hitting low punch shots to get myself out of trouble. The ground in Colorado is pretty firm (especially in winter), and I have a fairly high swing speed so this is a somewhat extreme example.

It turns out that over the years my 5-iron has been slowly bending backwards until today, where it now actually measures half a degree stronger than my 4-iron (which is still at the original loft)! I knew my gap between 5 and 6 iron was large, but it wasn't until I went out this spring to create an updated distance chart for all my clubs (it's been years since I made my last one) that I realized just how big a problem there was and looked to find the cause.

It's reassuring to see the test where a club with very similar design and metallurgy (the MP-18, compared to my MP-4) could be adjusted that far without breaking, so here's to hoping mine can be bent back without overly work-hardening the steel. If not, then I suppose it's as good excuse as any to go out and buy new clubs!

Hard to tell in the pic but looks like it could be shaft tip bend not hosel. Just something to be aware of since certain shafts have a propensity to bend at the tip. If it is the shaft, bending the hosel would not be the answer, replacing the shaft would be.

[Missouri Swede]

Quote

"The Mizuno had a much nicer feel when it broke the hosel."

That's almost poetry.  I'll add it to my list of swing thoughts. 

(Even though I play Ping cast iron.)

[JuliWooli]

On 3/5/2021 at 9:05 PM, coachjimsc said:

Club 1 - 8 degrees

Club 2 - 6 degrees

I guess 11° and 8°

[Billy Z]

Most golfers don't bend more than a couple degrees, I suspect. I was at a Golfsmith and the tech got very nervous when I asked him to flatten my iron lies 2*. They worry about having to replace them if they snap. I don't blame them, but even after I said I would take responsibility myself he didn't want to bend them.

[JuliWooli]

20 minutes ago, Billy Z said:

Most golfers don't bend more than a couple degrees, I suspect. I was at a Golfsmith and the tech got very nervous when I asked him to flatten my iron lies 2*. They worry about having to replace them if they snap. I don't blame them, but even after I said I would take responsibility myself he didn't want to bend them.

There's not many pro shops here with this equipment. I'm guessing its quite pricey. Is there a home tool shop method for this?

[Adam C]

36 minutes ago, JuliWooli said:

There's not many pro shops here with this equipment. I'm guessing its quite pricey. Is there a home tool shop method for this?

You can buy a very basic clamp for the head that fits into a vice, then you can bend it. That runs around $150-$175. Then you also need a bending bar, say $50, and a protractor to measure results, $20.

The basic machines start around $350 and go up.

[Billy Z]

1 hour ago, Adam C said:

You can buy a very basic clamp for the head that fits into a vice, then you can bend it. That runs around $150-$175. Then you also need a bending bar, say $50, and a protractor to measure results, $20.

The basic machines start around $350 and go up.

okay, but I think most pro shops have them but are leery to use them for bending clubs. I don't blame them because people do what people do, and blame the technician for breaking their club. I was impressed with the video, and how much a head can be bent. I wouldn't think 2* either way should be an issue.