Shorten my 4 Iron

[willgolf]

i am 5 foot 11 and i feel my 4 iron is 2 long for me how much distance will i loose if i take of an inch??

[runnerlgnd]

  willgolf said:

Originally Posted by willgolf

i am 5 foot 11 and i feel my 4 iron is 2 long for me how much distance will i loose if i take of an inch??

I am 5'11" and I feel my 4 iron is too long for me. How much distance will I lose if I take off an inch?

Some people might not understand your education in Ireland...

[willgolf]

what is that suppose 2(too) mean

[Gordon McTavish]

This looks like a question straight out of GCSE Maths.  It would be easier to calculate the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow.

[willgolf]

you are so funny

[ajschn06]

Why would you only shorten one club?  Also, if you took off an inch, that would make it shorter than your 5 iron?

[DannyB215]

"2(too)".....That's what he meant...I got you though...:)

I struggle immensely with my 4 iron, to the point I might get rid of it and getting a hybrid. Good luck!!

[EverythingGolf]

  willgolf said:

Originally Posted by willgolf

i am 5 foot 11 and i feel my 4 iron is 2 long for me how much distance will i loose if i take of an inch??

Check this out before you go cutting anything!

[topspin4hand]

Wow ... Although I've known about this chart I've never really looked at it. I'm 6'3" but have long arms ... and I just had my wife measure my wrist-to-floor measurement at 35 1/8".  That would have me at standard length clubs! Every fitter/pro that sees my height ALWAYS presumes I'll need +1/2" at least.  When I was fitted at a demo day in 2008 (my 1st summer playing on courses), the guy quickly sized me up with his and assigned me +1/2"...   At least I have a built in excuse for the past 3 summers of the occasional chunk and heavy shot!

I'm in the market for new irons and this'll help just in case the next fitter I come across *presumes* my necessary club length again.

  EverythingGolf said:

Originally Posted by EverythingGolf

Check this out before you go cutting anything!

[Old1964]

As for the distance you will lose....just choke down an inch and see how the ball flies. It won't be exact, but it should be close.

[tweaky]

using a chart is only a guideline.  your posture at address as well as your "feel" for the club must also be taken into account.  choking down on the club will give you an idea of the "feel" of the club as far as the way it's balanced.  you won't lose any distance by having shorter clubs unless they affect your normal posture to the point that you're having to swing differently than normal.

i've built my clubs to match the way the 7 irron feels and now my 4 iron is only 3/4" longer than the 7 iron.  no distance lost.

there was a study done in the '70s regarding distance vs. club length.  the results showed that if all the clubs were the same  (head weight, shaft weight, grip weight, flex, etc)) and the only difference was the loft (4* between each club) then the distances differed by 10 - 15 yards between consecutive clubs. ever hear of the 1 Iron company?

[Tom]

wow! great post, and quite apropos. i have recently gotten EXTREMELY serious about my iron game as this area is where my scores are either very low or not. think about it.. you drive to play, you putt for score.. but if you can't get your approach on and/or near the stick you can't do either. any way... a golf academy recently opened near my house. i contacted the owner and he's a world class "master" fitter (knows the founders of henry griffitts). we spent nearly two hours fitting me for irons a week ago. as he handed me different shaft/head combinations (with impact decals on club face) we determined that i needed X100s. this is good news because my current set (Taylormade R9 TP "B") has tour issue X100s.

as i continued hitting i progressively choked down to a point where the total choke down length was 1.5" shorter than "standard." interesting... when i choked down to this shorter length i zeroed in on the exact center of the club face time after time. "interesting" i thought... you see, i'm 6'2"... the fitter is 5'10"... he stood next to me and my finger tips were 3" closer to the ground than were his... "strange" i thought. how could this be? my head is 4" further from the ground than his, but my fingers are 3" closer to the ground? if my head is 4" more off the ground than his, then my fingers should also be 4" from then ground, but no... this explains why i have exceptional length with all my clubs... my arms are longer than "average..."  then he said "....and club manufacturers have standards?"

we concluded... "how can there be 'standards'?" there can't be... i've been fit before and in fact these R9 TP "B" irons were fit to me and are 3/4" an inch longer than "standard." what???? how!!!!  i've been duped!!!! the previous fitter just looked at some chart and thought "ok, he's this much taller than 'standard' so his clubs have to be longer than standard." b*llsh*t!!!

excited, i went to golfsmith and bought a shaft cutter, grips, grip tape and solvent. so i cut down ALL my clubs from standard by a total of 1.75". my "standard" PW in raw length was 36.25" and now my PW is 34.75". last night i finished cutting all my clubs... since this morning i have been hitting with impact decals and now i'm hitting the exact center of the club face and the hit is so sweet!!

[Mark5]

There's no standards because people are not standard. I'm 5'9" - short 28" inseam - long 35" arms.  (This gives me the ideal swing....through the trees.)  In order to hit clubs made over the last 10 years I need the lie angle changed. As far as drivers go.....forget it, there all way too long.