Golf Clubs Lengthened?

[Indian Sensation]

I just bought some golf clubs from a friend of mine about 5 months ago. After speaking with Thrash13 and playing golf with him the last few months he said I need to get the golf clubs lengthen to fit me. I am about 6'4 to 6'5 and went to a golf pro shop to see how long they need to be lengthened. The guy did some test and after everything he said I need to add 3" to the clubs. He called me back today and he said it will be $100.00 for 12 clubs.

Now for a few questions:

1: Has anyone ever had this done with their golf clubs and does it help?
2: With the people that has had this done, did the golf club ever break where the extension is added?
3: Is 3" too much to add and breaking a good possiblity to happen?
4: Is that a good price to pay to get this done?

Finally, any ideas and what you think about getting clubs fitted/lengthened for yourself would be great and how it is actually done, thanks for any info!!!

[iacas]

3" seems like a lot. A lot of people will go to 2" but any more than that and you're venturing into "unheard of" territory. As to your questions...

1) Having clubs fit for you is a very good idea. I've never heard of anyone going through a proper fitting and regretting it. That being said, get a proper fitting with a reputable pro.

2) Don't get extensions. That's not being fit properly. Not at all.

3) It may be - I've never heard of anyone going over 2" - but if you trust the guy and if your swing warrants it, then do what's right.

4) I wouldn't have extensions added. Kick points, weight, and all sorts of other things are going to be thrown off in the process.

This is just my opinion, but I would say you need to have your irons reshafted. New shafts, not extensions tucked under the grip.

Since that'll run you ~ $200 or so, plus some money for a fitting (some pros do it free if you buy their services, some only if you buy irons), it may also be a good time to upgrade your irons to a new set as well. It's fall, so lots of 2005 irons are on clearance - you may pay $200 for a brand new set of clubs custom-built with your shaft length.

One last thing to beware of - adding 2" or 3" adds quite a bit of weight to irons. You may want to go with lighter shafts, even if you stick with steel. One pro I know fits Titleist irons with the Nippon NS Pro 970 over the True Temper DG S300 when the player adds more than one inch.

[bobkin]

Get a fitting! Did he just check your wrist to floor measurement, or did he actually have you hit some balls? 3" is really pushing an extension, and they'll feel totally foreign to you from the way they feel now. Not only are you looking at a change in swing weight, but total weight and and quite a lie angle change. You need to know what the head material is, to see if they could even be bent enough to accomodate the extra length. Get a fitting and get it done right!

[golfnut_rlv]

I could not agree more with icacs. DO NOT, REPEAT, DO NOT USE EXTENSIONS! Reshafting the irons would be the best repair course to take.

However, don't be so quick to think that you need to lengthen the shafts. While the wrist to floor measurement is a generally accepted practice, it is not completely accurate.

The best course for you to take would be to contact a PGA Professional in your area, and schedule a fitting. He will be able to tell you if any adjustment needs to be made at all.

Finally, if you do reshaft the irons, be aware, as icacs said, that the feel and swingweight of the clubs could change dramatically.

Hope this food for thought helps.

[golfnut_rlv]

Sorry, I could not agree more with Iacas! Sorry!!!

[Indian Sensation]

Well I thank everyone for what they had to say but I still am not sure what to do...everyone said to get new clubs or a whole new shaft but what is really bad about getting extensions. The guy is going to measure again for all clubs on Wednesday, he did the wrist measurement he didnt watch me hit some balls or anything like that. I am very worried about adding 3" by extensions, so the most I will do is 2", if I do it at all.

I am very nervous about getting this done now but I am confused still what is so bad about adding extensions, is this not something that everyone tries to do. I do not have the money to go out and buy a brand new set of irons and do not want to spend 200 or more dollars on fixing clubs as I just started playing 4 months ago.

I am not sure what Erik is talking about with kick points and weight will all be thrown off if I add extensions, can you please explain what they means as I am new to all of this!!!

Please, explain to me what is so bad in putting extensions in clubs in lamen terms, I would really appreciate it as i need my clubs lengthened for my height but I want to do what is best but dont have hundreds or thounsands of dollars to get brand new clubs or fix what i have now, thanks again for everyones responces. I do appreciate everything you can help me with

[golfnut_rlv]

Sorry IndianSensation, I am just so used to throwing around those techno terms that sometimes I get a little carrie away. Here is some explanation:

Extensions are basically just a piece of spare metal which is epoxied onto the butt end of the shaft. What the clubmaker will do, is remove the grip, then place epoxy the extension on, let it cure, and then regrip the club. While this is not necessarily going to cause bad performance, they are prone to break under the grip.

--->Adding extensions causes three things to happen to the club.
First, the total weight of the club in grams increases (Minor Issue).
Second, the swingweight increases. Swingweight is a less than scientific measure of how heavy the club feels to you when you swing it. You might notice that a club with a steel shaft swings heavier than one with a graphite shaft.

--->While swingweight changes are not necessarily bad, you do have to be careful. The trajectory your shot flys, and the distance it travels may be affected. The only way to be sure would be to try the clubs after the change.

--->Kickpoint is a technical term for where the shaft bends when you swing. By adding both length, and weight to the club, the bend point may change. For example, a club with a KP that is low (closer to the club head), essentially causes the loft of the club to increase at impact, causing the ball to get up in the air more easily. Conversly, a high KP, toward the grip causes the ball to fly lower. I am not sure whether the extensions will raise or lower the kickpoint, but again, like swingweight, your trajectory and distance could change.

--->And now the summary!!! Adding the extensions is probably okay, but I would not recommend it. As I said in my previous post, I would have a PGA golf professional, or clubfitter watch you hit a few balls, and watch the trajectory. That way, you will know exactly what, if anything, needs to be done to your clubs.

Sorry about being so longwinded. Any other questions please post a reply to this post, and I will help you out is i can.

[iacas]

One last point: increasing the length of a club without a corresponding adjustment in the lie angle (the angle the of the shaft when the sole of the club is laying flat on the ground) is usually not advisable: when you change one, you almost always change the other: taller players usually have a more upright lie angle to go along with their increased shaft length.

A new set of steel (even the lightweight ones) shafts will probably run you $200-$250. If you're going to spend $100 doing the extensions, we're not talking about "thousands" of dollars (new irons wouldn't be "thousands," either, but I grant that they'd be 4x what we're talking about with new shafts... but that ignores any trade-in value, too).

I don't quite trust the fitter you've been working with. I don't know him, but not watching you swing? Sounds like he cares little about your golfing and more about selling you $20 in parts and $30 in labor for $100.

[Indian Sensation]

Well this all could be for not, I just called Golf USA to see their price and if they do the extensions and the guy said they cannot do extensions for Bubble Shafts, but the guy I went to see said it could be done, so after all of this I may be stuck with what I have for a while and then have to end up buying brand new clubs after all!!!

[iacas]

Well this all could be for not, I just called Golf USA to see their price and if they do the extensions and the guy said they cannot do extensions for Bubble Shafts, but the guy I went to see said it could be done, so after all of this I may be stuck with what I have for a while and then have to end up buying brand new clubs after all!!!

Wait, so you have graphite shafts in your irons? Yeah, that changes things. A lot.

[Indian Sensation]

Well thanks to everyone posting I decided against it completely...I am going to try to sell the clubs I just bought and just get a brand new set of irons, as I already have a Driver, SW, and Putter...I will get fitted and get it done correctly as soon as I can sell my whole set of clubs