1 Iron Golf Clubs

[Patch]

I can tell you from first hand knowledge that the concept does work...for some golfers.  I have a couple of friends who's irons are the same length. They had them made by a club fitter/builder who used components in the assembly. Being a club fitter, he was able build these clubs to each golfer's lie angle specs. As I recall, one set was 5 iron length, and the other was 6 iron length. These guys are pretty good golfers who hover around 8-9 handicaps. They are not long knockers of the ball, but they are quite accurate, and can easily play the fairways, and greens type of game.

There key (for them) to using these clubs was to keep their 9i, PW, and SW at normal lengths. Their 3i-9i were all one length.

I once built myself a 2i  with a 6i length. Except for a loss a distance (15%)  I could play really well with this club. So I built a 3i, and 4i. Could not play with those clubs at all. Gave up on the idea, although I still have that 2i some where.

[Johnny1790]

Vangator...how long have you had the Pinhawks, and what made you make the change? Cheers

[vangator]

Vangator...how long have you had the Pinhawks, and what made you make the change? Cheers

I build my own clubs. It was Christmas of 2013, so I've been playing them for about 1 1/2 years. It did take a while to get used to the mental side of the change. I've played around with chopping down clubs for years. I thought I would lose a little distance, but I'm not distance challenged at all. Had some limited success. When I heard of the Pinhawks, I jumped on them. I've been a low to mid single digits HCP for many years, but my long irons were always suspect. With a 5 iron I was hoping to hit the green. Now I fire at the pins. I really should keep regular stats to see where my FIR and GIR are now. I know they have improved dramatically. I see you are in Perth. I had a foreign exchange teacher for 6th grade. He was from Hobart Tasmania. When the other classes were learning US history, etc, we were learning Australian history. That was pretty cool. His favorite thing to call us when he got mad was, "You great hairy twit". Is that a common phrase in Australia? Plus, I love the movie "Danny Deckchair". I have a thing for Miranda Otto. :drool:

[Johnny1790]

I see you are in Perth. I had a foreign exchange teacher for 6th grade. He was from Hobart Tasmania. When the other classes were learning US history, etc, we were learning Australian history. That was pretty cool. His favorite thing to call us when he got mad was, "You great hairy twit". Is that a common phrase in Australia?

Plus, I love the movie "Danny Deckchair". I have a thing for Miranda Otto.

I'm originally from he UK, but I can say that there are many and varied phrases that come out of Australia that you do not hear anywhere else. Light-hearted abuse is commonplace, especially during a Saturday morning medal

Have been in Perth for 20 yrs and would not live anywhere else now. Just missing mountains, but you can't have everything and good weather all the time. I remember the movie very well, and yes, what's not to like about Miranda

I have experimented a couple of years back with an R7 driver and Superspeed 3 wood. cut them both down an inch and a half, but the driver was already a stiff shaft. Work well for a while, but is just too stiff (really needs a reg shaft of similar length). My consistency was very good for a while, but I tore my shoulder weightlifting and did not play for a few months. Just doesn't feel right when I swing it now.

I currently play G25's and have found them very good, but 4&5 irons while being very good at times are just inconsistent, mostly a bit hooky, or a bit slicey (I do both extremely well, not necessarily when I want to!). Before that it was Burner 2.0. Lovely up to 7 iron (really a 6 in 7's clothing), but the long irons were just way too long a shaft for the aggressive lofts and could not hit a barn door with them.

I am expecting about 8-10 range sessions to just get some muscle memory going with the new 1-irons. My short irons have always been pretty solid, so hoping the transition will not be too painful, or arduous.

[vangator]

Your iron play sounds a lot like mine used to. Very good up to 150, then it got a little dicey. This past weekend I actually hit 2 pins with my 5 iron (my lowest lofted iron) from ~190. I would never have done that before my switch. If you're good with your 7 iron, you should be good with the longer SL irons. There will naturally be a little more dispersion, but definitely better. I plan on making a set with a little softer flex shaft (firm instead of stiff) with a mid kick point. I want a little higher ball flight. I may lose my accuracy. Right now I have TT DG S300 which are high kick point (lower flight). Hireko has TT DG R300 with Sensicore for $8.95 per shaft. That is a great price. I'll just tip them a little stiffer.

[Johnny1790]

Your iron play sounds a lot like mine used to. Very good up to 150, then it got a little dicey. This past weekend I actually hit 2 pins with my 5 iron (my lowest lofted iron) from ~190. I would never have done that before my switch. If you're good with your 7 iron, you should be good with the longer SL irons. There will naturally be a little more dispersion, but definitely better.

I plan on making a set with a little softer flex shaft (firm instead of stiff) with a mid kick point. I want a little higher ball flight. I may lose my accuracy. Right now I have TT DG S300 which are high kick point (lower flight).

Hireko has TT DG R300 with Sensicore for $8.95 per shaft. That is a great price. I'll just tip them a little stiffer.

So, are your woods trimmed down as well to the same length?

[vangator]

No. My woods are the typical length. Maybe I should though. :-) My driver is the club I get in trouble with the most. I know iron golf sells fairway woods and drivers.

[Johnny1790]

Well I will be getting mine early next week so I cam do a rudimentary comparison between it and my G25 driver when I go to the range. I know my typical distances and dispersion and having used a shorter one before I am not unfamiliar with the swing. Will let you know how I get on...

[vangator]

If I were to get a conventional set of irons, it would be the G25's. Love the look. Much more than the G20's or G30's. Keep the forum posted on your trials and tribulations. The single bit of advice I could give you is to setup and swing your 5 iron like you would your pitching wedge. If you start hitting your "long" irons low, resist the temptation to move the ball forward and "help" get it airborne. I have more of an inside out swing than most and tend to really pinch the ball off the turf. I hit my irons pretty clean and draw everything. I think people who miss hit their irons play them too much like a "flop shot" rather than a "punch shot". Playing a long iron like a flop is a recipe for every bad thing imaginable. Playing them more like a punch shot keeps them low and crisp. I'm not saying to hit them like a punch shot, but the idea of setting up a aggressively striking the ball is the way I play irons. That's what I also see the videos on this site.

[Johnny1790]

The G25's are a lovely club, and in truth the only longer irons I have ever really been able to it at all consistently. I do believe it is that the previous Burner 2.0's I used were lofted so strong my 3-iron was more like a 2 and very long and whippy, it was always going to be hard to strike them well. Not actually seen the videos yet, but will take a look. Yes, definitely will keep the site updated with my progress. It will be interesting to see if I can find a pro to do lessons with who is ok and familiar with the concept.

[Johnny1790]

So...they finally arrived and I had a very brief first trial. I couldn't help but try so here are the findings. I only hit 3, 8&9 plus driver of the one irons and used my 8 iron, 4iron and driver from the Pings purely as a feel/distance/dispersion comparison. I started with a few warm ups with the ping 8 and then started with the one iron 8 for about 20 balls. Initially was traveling slightly shorter (5-10m) but this seemed to level out to about 5m by the end. I then took the 9iron and hit another 20. This was also traveling about 5m less than my ping 9iron. Very similar ball flight, a little higher than the pings I think (theY seem to have a little more air time). I then tried the 3iron. Which was quite a experience. My ping 4-iron usually goes 160-175 depending on the day and how much draw I can put on it. The one iron 3iron was regularly dropping at the 175m flag with a little roll out up to about 180. The interesting thing about the ball flight was as has been mentioned across the 1-iron site...just straight. Like rifle straight. The dispersion was very pleasing, as every ball with the 1-irons was within the visual fairway I had in mind, and most were just dead straight. Kinda unnerving when you are used to moving longer irons. The irons actually felt very easy...and the 3 iron was surprisingly easy to smash out there. As a very first trial, this was pretty encouraging and I can definitely say that it did not overly affect distance (ie the reports of a 3 iron only flying 150yards seems to me unfounded). Obviously still a long way to go, but very positive so far...sorry for giving distances in metres but that is what we use here...just add 10% to get yard equivalents :-)

[vangator]

I'm surprised. I actually thought you'd report how bad you hit the clubs. That's usually everyone's reaction at first. Seems like you're ahead of the curve. The big plus about the SL irons is the tight dispersion. I've never heard any reports on the driver. Let us know how that compares to the Ping driver (or whatever driver you have).

[Johnny1790]

Hi Vangator...and the second bucket of 40 balls...I did hit them badly (I think after the first bucket I just tried to smash everything).

They flew fine enough but I did not "middle" anything at all...and consequently were not very long. Off to the range again tonight for the third installment.

I think they are definitely a tad short for me, so may need to insert probably 1/2" to get them around my 7-iron length and see how that affects things.

Still early days, but pretty optimistic so far.

I did find that off the turf (first session was off the mats) that they feel completely different, and I was a little "deep" with the divots...

The odd ones that were middled, did still fly very well.

I also found myself experimenting with different swings (ie short, punchy and long sweeping swings) just to see if the result changed, and kinda lost the plot in the end.

They just "feel" different, and will just take time to get used to. I had no trouble initially, so I think I was just trying too hard on the second go. I did not think that it would feel "odd" having them all the same length, but it does...and I did feel myself trying to put a long 3-iron swing on the short 3 iron...this did not work. My 8-iron swing and timing did go very well but was odd how I automatically tried to change swings for the longer distance iron. Definitely a head-space thing.

Will report more later...

[vangator]

In the long run, I feel the SL irons improved my swing immensely. Instead of the constant adjustment for every length and lie, I just put basically the same swing on each club. I think I've flattened my swing overall. I used to leave these moon craters with my wedges. Now I sweep them more. Not a real conscious decision on my part really. With my older conventional clubs, I used to draw my short irons and fade my long irons with my middle irons going fairly straight. I would have liked to draw everything, but the long irons were hard to hit consistently. Would hit some smothered hooks and some pushed fades. That's a recipe for disaster. I had no confidence in my longer irons, especially if a hazard were in play. So I'd usually go with a more reliable cut shot. This was not a way to go through life. Now it's line up the face to my target and grab my putter for the next shot. If you feel like you have to put a different swing on your longer irons to get a descent result, go with the SL irons.

[Johnny1790]

Thanks for the info....so how long did it take for you to fully transition overall, and we're there any stumbles along the way. Guess I'm just looking for a realistic outlook in case the "it's a miracle!" Takes longer than just emptying them all out of the box :-) I'm guessing a good couple of months at least?

[tomvk77]

pure shape wise i would not hit those. they look so ugly

[Johnny1790]

I will say that they are not the most pretty clubs I have seen, nor the most ugly. But from the address position the look like any other club, just a little larger face on the 3 and 4 irons

[vangator]

The results make the club look pretty. As for the time length, it took several weeks to really feel comfortable. I've been golfing for 40 years, so the swing was pretty ingrained. I think the irons helped me change my swing for the better. I finally started swinging the club like it should be. I don't think I would have done that with a conventional club. I think I would play better with conventional irons now. I just don't want to go back. I'm going to start keeping stats (FIR, GIR, putts) so I can quantify. Last round was 12 FIR, 13 GIR and 31 putts. I'm also going to start playing the Volvik S3. It really is better than any ball I've played lately. Unfortunately it is only in white. PS, I'm also an advocate of larger grips. I think the grip charts are way off. My hands aren't very big, but I use an oversize grip. Lets you relax your hands on the grip more and that's a good thing. A big improvement for me was when I consciously paused at the top of my backswing so my transition wouldn't be too quick. Keep my hands and arms loose. really improves the accuracy. When I grip too hard, the ball hooks too much.