Single Length Irons

[Houselr69]

Thanks for all the comments. I realize change is always hard but single length, lie and weight make so much sense to me. I am going to build a set of Value Golf clubs and see what happens. As improve I may go back to normal but who knows. 

I think it will be better for learning the overall game. Which in my opinion and observance needs a lot of help. In my other hobbies that required learned skills it was easy to find groups to help you with the skills and drills to improve them. Businesses that the hobby supported held seminars and workshops covering all aspects. Trying to find help, other than paid lessons, is impossible, at least in my area. 

[1badbadger]

I think the biggest issue is when you used the term "hodge podge"...I don't know if I've ever heard anyone outside of my family say that, so you're either from the Midwest or we're somehow related!

As far as your question on single length irons, I think it's one of those things that looks great on paper, but in real life there are some issues.  I don't think it's totally without merit, and I think it will work for some players, but I don't expect it to become a mainstream concept that will challenge conventional methods (Natural Golf comes to mind)

If you're interested in experimenting, by all means do so.  Just don't sell your current set of irons yet!

[EastTexasgolfer]

1 hour ago, Houselr69 said:

Thanks for all the comments. I realize change is always hard but single length, lie and weight make so much sense to me. I am going to build a set of Value Golf clubs and see what happens. As improve I may go back to normal but who knows. 

I think it will be better for learning the overall game. Which in my opinion and observance needs a lot of help. In my other hobbies that required learned skills it was easy to find groups to help you with the skills and drills to improve them. Businesses that the hobby supported held seminars and workshops covering all aspects. Trying to find help, other than paid lessons, is impossible, at least in my area. 

I also think the single length irons are a really good idea. It really seems like it could possibly make the game easier. I know this isn't the topic you posted about, but from my experience taking a lesson from a Pga pro dramatically improved my game. Just something to think about, good luck in your experiments.

[Single Length Irons Guy]

On 5/23/2017 at 3:55 PM, Houselr69 said:

Thanks for the response!  I do know that and played with some used clubs just to see if the idea was worthy and I think it is. I am at the range or in the back yard at the net everyday when I am not out of town or if it is duck, deer or turkey season. Sometimes twice a day. I am now looking into building a custom set of Value Golf components. Their lies and weights are the exact same for all irons wedges and hybrids. We shall see. 

I went through the same experimentation phase with my "standard" clubs when I first began thinking about single length clubs a couple years ago, and as @inthecup mentioned, the results were not good -- the gaps were not good, the swing weights were different (because the head weights were different), lies were wrong, etc.

But, I saw enough of an improvement in ball striking (i.e. not hitting fat as often on the long irons) that I tried the Pinhawks (ValueGolf).

Aaron @ Value Golf has been selling Pinhawks for a couple years, but increasing demand for single length irons seems to outstrip supply occasionally (resulting in stock-outs). So if you're serious about trying it, sooner would be better than later -- I recently had to wait 30 days to send a contest winner their iron heads because they were completely out and were waiting for their next manufacturing run to be delivered.

 

[golfjedi777]

I've been rocking the SLI now for 7 years my main concern in the beginning was that the 4iron wouldn't go as far and left a gap for me. I just decided to add a hybrid and allspice well.

 

Cheers all

[tinker]

The whole concept makes little sense to me. If you can hit a six iron length we’ll the shorter 7,8,9 and pw should be that much easier. On the other end shortening and delisting the 4 and 5 irons requires high swing speed to achieve the same distance and trajectory as traditional lengths and lies. The reason drivers go as far as they do is because they are the longest club generating the most swing speed. Try a 37 inch driver and see how far it goes.

[Jeremie Boop]

3 minutes ago, tinker said:

The whole concept makes little sense to me. If you can hit a six iron length we’ll the shorter 7,8,9 and pw should be that much easier. On the other end shortening and delisting the 4 and 5 irons requires high swing speed to achieve the same distance and trajectory as traditional lengths and lies. The reason drivers go as far as they do is because they are the longest club generating the most swing speed. Try a 37 inch driver and see how far it goes.

You'd be surprised, I think, at the large variation of distance that can be achieved by variations of loft and cg for irons of the same length.

[Piz]

Tom Wishon has a very interesting video on the history of the single-length concept.  It is well worth taking the time to watch.

[dennyjones]

Sterling Irons Single Length

 

 

 

Edited July 16, 2018 by dennyjones

[406pat]

I play single length in the long irons (4,5,6) and love them. The one thing I struggle with is subconciously swinging too hard with the low irons to get them to go. Don't need to but I still try on occasion.

To try it out, I cut down a set of Callawy cavity backs and used solder and silicone to get the weights right. I also had them bent to the right lie angle. Just this year, I put together a set of Cobra F7s with the long irons one lenght and "conventional" length from the 7 on down. I love it and don't see myself going back any time soon.

[iacas]

6 hours ago, Jeremie Boop said:

You'd be surprised, I think, at the large variation of distance that can be achieved by variations of loft and cg for irons of the same length.

His point still holds that you generally need good swing speed to launch the long irons in a SL set.

There’s only so much you can do with whippy shafts or CG.

[Patch]

I have a 64 year old friend who plays single length clubs. I think they are 6 iron length, but not sure. He plays well with them, and has had them for several years.. 

What he did was take some Mizuno heads, and had a club builder fit him, and put the shafts on them. 

In his case it worked out well for him. He is one of those golfers who was quite happy breaking 90 most of the time. I have seen him shoot in the very low 80s. He just wanted to play consistently well. He didn't want to spend a copius amount of time, and money on equipment, and instructors. Getting near par or even breaking 80 was never part of his golf journey. 

[Jeremie Boop]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

His point still holds that you generally need good swing speed to launch the long irons in a SL set.

There’s only so much you can do with whippy shafts or CG.

Most of the reviews I've seen, even with an average golfer hitting them, there's not much difference in distance hit. Though I do admit that the main complaint I've seen/heard is the lower flight of the higher irons and lack of spin. Point I was making was that people aren't having to swing out of their shoes to match the distance of their normal length 5 and 4 irons. Are they exact matches for distance/spin/flight? No, but I don't know that the claim was it would be. Either way, I don't really know the point of going single length irons is personally, given that anything other than those irons in the set would be different lengths.

[billchao]

5 hours ago, Jeremie Boop said:

Most of the reviews I've seen, even with an average golfer hitting them, there's not much difference in distance hit. Though I do admit that the main complaint I've seen/heard is the lower flight of the higher irons and lack of spin.

Total distance may be the same, but if the trajectory is flatter, it's harder to hold greens with the long irons - which is a problem a lot of amateurs have with long irons to begin with. There are trajectory problems with the shorter clubs, too, since they're being played with longer shafts than usual.

You'd need a combination of good swing speed and quality ballstriking (but not good enough with the long irons) to make them work. It's basically a solution to a problem very few people have.

[golfjedi777]

11 hours ago, tinker said:

The whole concept makes little sense to me. If you can hit a six iron length we’ll the shorter 7,8,9 and pw should be that much easier. On the other end shortening and delisting the 4 and 5 irons requires high swing speed to achieve the same distance and trajectory as traditional lengths and lies. The reason drivers go as far as they do is because they are the longest club generating the most swing speed. Try a 37 inch driver and see how far it goes.

I totally agree with @tinker about the driver length and maybe using a 37 inch length. The only reason why manufacturers suggest a 7 iron length as a standard for SLI is that study shows the average persons hits his 7 iron as the most accurate long club. Me myself have a 36.5" on my SLI.  that being said I have a 4-SW=58° .

Barely use my 4iron so I added a 3&4 hybrid which kills it for me.

Hope this helps

[tinker]

You can only learn so much from seminars and videos. Golf ball striking is learned “in the dirt”. I would sugest taking a lesson and practicing what was taught before taking another lesson. I also would get a set of cavity back irons with generous loft ( hard to find, used on e bay) and regular flex steel shafts and practice. If you can learn to hit the longer irons the rest will fall into place. Don’t try to kill the ball, hit the ball and let the clubs do their job.

[golfjedi777]

Welcome all. Ive been using my SLI set for 7 years now and would love to share my knowledge with you. As well as to learn from your experiences.
Feel free to make any comments and suggestions regarding Single Length Irons. Hoping to start a great data base for the SLI  experience.

Cheers

[Piz]

I am intrigued by the concept.  One suspects that the 2nd golf club, ever crafted, was the same length as the first.  That would have been intuitive.  That clubs wound up being of graduated length says more about the materials than the technology.  The only way to make a longer, hickory-shafted club, that didn't over-cook the shaft was to make the club head smaller and lighter.  Despite modern steel and graphite materials...that design ethic is still prevalent.  There isn't any reason that a single length set, these days, cannot cover a range of 100 yards...which I suspect is what most golfers get from their longest iron to pitching wedge.