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Single Length Irons


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Single Length Irons  

92 members have voted

  1. 1. What do you think about single length Irons?

    • Legitimate
      32
    • Gimmick
      13


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30 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

I agree. What I meant was Bryson seems like the type who could be 'stubborn' and think 'my calculations show that this is the best way to (x), it HAS to work.' 

Ah...ok, I see what you're saying....

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I've messed around the last few months with a partial set of the Cobra King F7 One length irons. I'm afraid that after a lifetime of playing normal length clubs, jumping to single length does not seem like an easy transition to me. Maybe if I were to stick with them for a longer period I could get adjusted to them, but since they only sent a partial set that's not going to happen. I can't exactly play all the time with three clubs.

Still, I think single length can work for some. For instance, if a newbie started  using them early on (and had sufficient swing speed to get a reasonable separation between long irons), there could be some real benefits to playing single length. I'll be sticking with variable length, though.

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I guess I am in the minority (6% at this point on the survey) who really like the SL iron concept.  I am have been playing for 35 years, switched a year ago, and I have played some of the best golf in my life.  I am a taller player whom has always hit my shorter irons better than my long irons, so it was no brainer for me.  What I realized is that I have been playing too short of wedges most of my life as I love the longer length 9-SW, I am playing mine at 37.5" 6-SW.  

It's easy to say it is a fad, its weird, won't work, etc but results are results.  If you have an open mind and are willing to try them for an extended period of time, I think a lot of people would like them.  They do reduce a number of variables in your set up for each shot and for me, they put me in a good posture for all of my irons.  Most people in this game are not willing to try "different" approaches to the game even though year in and year out their HC stays within a stroke or two their whole life.  If that is "normal" you can have it.  I am by no means saying they are any better that variable length irons nor are they a magic bullet, you still have to have a golf swing, but that doesn't mean that they do not have a place for some in the game.  

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Give it a couple of years, the magic will wear off.  The design is improved from decades ago but not enough to be called major improvement.  The biggest issue of trajectory could not be fixed unless with new material or major fitting project.  Not a cut and glue solution.

No matter how others said this is supposed to be the new wonder of the golf game, I had yet to see a set being played in local golf courses.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On Mon Mar 20 2017 at 6:22 PM, 1badbadger said:

I was checking out Bryson's stats since I wasn't sure if "flop" was an accurate way to describe his pro career so far, and admittedly it hasn't been stellar, but he's had some top-10s and 1 win on the Web.com and in less than 15 tournaments in 2016 won over $700k.  But he also had a lot of missed cuts.

The thing that struck me is his GIR isn't very good.  In 2016 he didn't even average 60%.  What's crazy is a week like his pro debut at Harbour Town his GIR was 57%, Fairways were 48%, sand saves 50% and he finished T4.  At the Byron Nelson his GIR was 80%, fairways 61%, sand saves 100% and he missed the cut.  But overall he doesn't seem to be hitting many greens or fairways.

Interesting that the guy had pretty solid stats and performance when he was playing the Edel SL irons through college.  Edel has been working on the SL option for some time. Then Bryson jumps for the big money contract with Cobra (who can blame him) and goes to a manufacturer who put a SL option together pretty quickly.  And now he's not performing as well. Cobra may have some smart guys/girls, but as you all know, there are a lot of issues to overcome in putting together a workable SL option. 

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I'm at a point in my golf "career" that I'm not sure how much better I can ever get.  I'm a short knocker and don't think at my age I have much hope to lower my HI much in the future.  Part of the problem is my career and family override my motivation to practice.  So, I actually bought the Cobra single length irons as a way to spruce up my golf enthusiasm (believe it or not, my wife supported this :).  I thought it'd be something new and would inspire me to practice a bit more.  FWIW, my regular clubs are Maltby TE forged 5-GW  and a 3 and 4 hybrid.

I found it very easy to transition to these irons.  Although, I will admit, visually it is weird at first (i.e. hitting to a 115 marker with a GW with the stance of a 7 iron and seeing how lofted the club seemed to be).  My feelings on these clubs are mixed...  I get pretty good performance out of the 7 iron through GW.  I hit them higher, further, and get more spin.  Accuracy is at least as good as my Maltby's.  For example, in my normal game this weekend, I had 137 to a back pin location and hit a 9 iron (my normal 9 iron distance is usually 130-ish).  I ended up double bogeying the hole because I flew the green.  I've also spun some balls back with my shorter irons, which I never did before (before, it was a bounce and check up).  So, I like the short irons...

Maybe it's a mental thing knowing that these irons are cut to a 7 iron length, but I have been hitting low bullets with the 5 and 6 irons.  More so the 5 than the 6.  This has been awfully frustrating because that's my 160-180 range.  If there's no chance to roll the ball up to the green, I am in danger of dunking it into the trouble short.  Also, my normal irons have very little offset throughout the bag.  These clubs have, what I would consider, a LOT of offset.  This doesn't really seem to affect my shorter irons, but I can hook the 5 iron easy-peasy...  For me, that's not a good thing.

I'm still going to give these things a try.  If I can't figure out how to get some height and distance out of the 5 and 6 irons, I'll have to either go back to my other clubs, or simply use the 5 and 6 irons from my other clubs and play the single length for the 7i thru GW.

At the very least, I think I've accomplished my goal.  I am motivated to practice and see where it takes me.

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The thing that stands out to me when watching Bryson is the chipping and pitching, and I think this is where single length fails.

Sure it's great to have a shorter length long iron, but a longer wedge? a longer 9? that only makes the short game harder and Bryson has showed us this with some questionable chipping.

But I always fall back to my first impression of this gimmick- when it comes to golf better tools always rise to the top, like the hybrid club, and if single length really were a better wrench we would see it a lot on tour, because better golf = more money, but we haven't.

 

Edited by MrDC
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Lol I'm the only person that voted legitimate.

I voted that way because I believe it's sound... for SOME people.

Sure, there's the distance gaps AT THE SAME LOFTS, but most people will (should?) rectify that with decreased loft or taking clubs out of their set... so that they do have good gaps.

Of course, the problem I found was that at the same club head speed trying to make the ball go further, you're going to have progressively dissimilar ball flights which may be problematic.

However, only learning one swing should improve ball contact right?

Trade off.

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On 1/19/2011 at 9:13 AM, Deryck Griffith said:

 

Personally, I think the single length irons is band aid solution.  I have traditional 3-PW irons and my swing is not by any means "drastically different" throughout the entire set.  Sure, my 3i may flatten out on the backswing more than a PW due to the length but my "swing" per se isn't different.  I still have to hit all the proper positions with my body, shoulderes, arms; hinge correctly and transfer my weight correct (ie. to the left foot at impact).

 

 

If I don't execute those positions correctly, a single length iron set won't magically help my ballstriking.

 

How much has your game improved (handicap wise_ since you purchased the irons?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Red_on_the_head View Post

 

I switched over to SL irons last season.  My HC went from a 10.5 down to a 6.5 over 40+ rounds last year.  I don't get to play a lot of rounds each year so I have found the SL irons to be a real benefit in my consistency.  This year will be interesting to see if the improvement continues or if it was just a honeymoon period.  I can only tell you that golf was fun last year due to improved consistency in distances, ball flight and direction.  I do get a kick out of all of the people on this thread who who go out of their way to bash the idea, most who haven't even tried them.  I don't quite understand why people care what other people play or enjoy playing or why they feel the need to theorize why SL irons are wrong and they are right.  To each their own.  Fairways and Greens....

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Wishon 919 Driver 9.5
Wishon 4W 16.5
Wishon  21 degree hybrid
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On 2/28/2017 at 11:31 AM, RandyBobbitt said:

Since reading about Bryson Dechambeau, the tour rookie whose irons are all the length of a 6-iron, I've became fascinated by the topic. I believe that while in college he manufactured his set himself, but since going on tour plays a set that Cobra built for him. Cobra is now marketing a set of irons, all 6-iron length, with oversize heads and very light steel shafts -- obviously marketing toward high-handicappers. I saw them last night at Dick's. While the heads were too big for me, I would be interested in finding out what other brands are trying this. I've heard that some companies experimented with the idea many years ago and some of these are available on the used market, but I've not seen them on EBay. 

Has anyone on this forum had experience with brands other than Cobra?

Also -- here's a question for the custom club-fitters out there -- if I were to walk into a repair shop with seven graphite shafts from 6-irons, along with iron heads 4-PW, and asked the clubfitter to attach them, what would the resulting set be? Would the problem be overall weight, swingweight, or lie angle?

 

all of the above.....Now buy a set of I-WIN sl irons and be happy..PG

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50 minutes ago, pgone said:

all of the above.....Now buy a set of I-WIN sl irons and be happy..PG

I would recommend Pinhawk single length irons as a way to try this technology without spending an arm and a leg - you can have a set of 5-PW built for about $250. 

  • Informative 1

Chris - Single Length Irons Guy

No Driver (yep)
Pinhawk Single Length Fairway Woods ( 3, 5, 7 )
Pinhawk SL Single Length Irons ( 4 thru PW ) 
Pinhawk SL Single Length Wedges ( A, S, L )
Happy Putter

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  • 4 weeks later...

I am new to playing golf, I have been playing at it for 30 years, mostly to fill a foursome or pay for a tournament, now, new girlfriend, new hobby to focus on. Wanting to know what you all think of single length irons. It makes total sense to a new player. I purchased a grab bag of clubs off of CL and made me a set of irons 4-9, all the length of around  6 iron. 37.5". I can say my consistently has really improved. I know this was tried by a manufacturer a couple decades ago with no one really catching on. Now there are major brand name irons available with standard length shafts. My distance changes were none to slight. Actually, they are better because they are more consistent. Look forward to hearing what you think. 

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There have been several threads about the subject.  Here's one that you might find interesting.

I don't have any personal experience with single length clubs, but I do know that if all you did was cut all the shafts of normal irons to the same length, you will find your "single length" set almost unplayable due to differing lie angles and swing weights of the club heads that were designed for varying length shafts.  

Welcome to the forum, and to the game itself!  :beer:

 

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Irons: Titleist 695cb 5-Pw

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Thanks Dave. I totally know what you mean about the lie angles. I was worried about that, which is why I only spent $65 on a couple of hodge podge bags of clubs. I ended up with Wilson C100s heads and a hole pile of true temper 100gm low kick shafts from the other clubs. However they are surprising good except for the 9 iron. I know some irons can have the lie adjusted a little. I was just playing with the concept because no one around here had a set I could try out. 

Thanks again. 

Edited by Houselr69
forgot a word
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I am sure you realize you can't cut down clubs because it will do very odd things to the swing weights and your gapping will be a mess.  I think single length clubs are an interesting idea but you have to go buy a set made for that purpose.

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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. 

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@Single Length Irons Guy has a TST blog  on this topic.

In the blog, I commented on my demo day test experiences with Cobra ONE offerings. I also inserted specs info for the irons and stock shafts.

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37 minutes ago, WUTiger said:

@Single Length Irons Guy has a TST blog  on this topic.

In the blog, I commented on my demo day test experiences with Cobra ONE offerings. I also inserted specs info for the irons and stock shafts.

I am starting to be convinced that as the OEM's come up with more ways to fiddle around with clubs, it is only confusing the issue and that the whole thing will go full circle back to the experienced club fitters, using standard, fixed lofts, a variety of shafts with different flexes and kickpoints, weight distribution, static measurements, strike boards, impact tape. green machines e.t.c.  Tried and true provided methods/technique in the hands of knowledgeable, professional fitters. I also see the usefulness of trackman data in the hands of these same individuals. 

"James"

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Note: This thread is 1023 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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