Club fitting Question: does -1/2" and 1 upright make sense?

[WeirFan]

Had a recent club fitting for irons. Very professional, experienced club fitter using FlightScope. Concluded I should be 1/2" short, and 1 degree upright. Seems counter-intuitive, that those would just cancel each other out, to same as standard/standard. I'm 5'7", 6-iron swing speed 90mph. Fairly consistent swing speed and trajectory during 1.5 hour fitting. The upright was based on measurement of my existing 6-iron which is 62 degrees, and 1/2" short, that I hit dead center on the on the sole on the lie board repeatedly and a vertical line on the face impact tape when hitting a ball with a vertical line drawn it. For the manufacturer of my existing clubs (Cleveland), 62 degrees was actually the standard 6-iron lie, but with the new irons 61 degrees is standard - so he indicated the new irons (TM R9 TP) should be ordered 1 degree upright - so the 6-iron would also be 62 degrees. I can't argue with the logic and the dynamic fitting impact tape results, but it just seems counter-intuitive to shorten the clubs and make them upright. I did not hit with impact tape on the demos of the new irons. Has anyone heard of shortening clubs, but also going upright (or flat and longer than standard)? Thanks!

Don't have the new irons yet, to test out. Everything else about the fitting seemed great, in terms of getting the right shaft and head combination to yield some forgiveness, but bring down a ball flight that was a little higher than ideal, and keep the dispersion tight.

[Shanks A Million]

Length and lie are not necessarily related. Length can be reduced for a number of factors that are unrelated to physical size.

Some people have an upright swing, even shorter people. My swing is quite upright due to physical makeup. Yours may be too. My height is 6', and my swing is 2° upright. This has a lot more to do with my actual build than height, the fact that I cannot bring the club in close to my body and keep my arms rigid (my left arm cannot actually straighten fully) enough requires that I take it outside and flat. This causes an upright swing, but does not require a longer club. In fact, I prefer shorter woods and long irons. These give me more control, and feel better to me.

While a longer club will require a flatter swing, they also require a more precise swing. For this reason, some fitters tend to frown upon longer clubs. Making a club more upright and shorter improves ball-striking ability more than you'd think. Cutting a 1/2" off of a club decreases the dispersion of hits by an appreciable margin, and bending it back upright will allow a flat sole at impact.

Fitting is more than just a science, there is some art to it. My fitter told me that I hit the ball too far! He was correct, though, I was hitting my 6 iron 205 yards, but only landing it about 180 yards. This information was helpful, and allowed me to rework my swing to hit a 6 iron to drop stone dead at 185. My 3 was going 235, but landing at 195. I reworked it to go about 210 and land soft. Now I can hit my 2 iron higher than most people hit their pitching wedge, and learning that has been a major step in my progress.

[jpalermo]

The fitting matches your current length and lie that work well for you based on the results.

[Danattherock]

Had a recent club fitting for irons. Very professional, experienced club fitter using FlightScope. .

I would take that suggestion over strangers online anyday:)

[Ruckus]

Makes sense to me. I play -1/4" and 3/4 degree upright (blue dot Pings) after getting fitted. I never played with irons that have been shortened (I am 5'8") but it seems to work really well with my swing.

[plugged]

I am 5'8" and play exactly those specs.