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Single Length Irons


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Single Length Irons  

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

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It's really got me thinking about it, as I do try to kill the long irons as I feel I need to swing harder on them.  I got an email from Tom Wishon which was cool in its self tonight advising going to a local clubfitter,  so after using his site I've found one in Glasgow and sent him an email.  Kenstl would you consider going back to a standard set again or are you sold on the single length now? 

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On 9/13/2016 at 5:31 PM, Steviestuboy said:

It's really got me thinking about it, as I do try to kill the long irons as I feel I need to swing harder on them.  I got an email from Tom Wishon which was cool in its self tonight advising going to a local clubfitter,  so after using his site I've found one in Glasgow and sent him an email.  Kenstl would you consider going back to a standard set again or are you sold on the single length now? 

Yes, Tom Wishon only sells wholesale to club fitters although I have found him to readily respond to any inquiry in an honest, straight forward manner. To me it makes sense, if he has you go to a club fitter first, and get personally fit, you are less likely to be dissappointed and blame the club as chances are you will be out the gate a little better than with off the shelf,garden variety, tools. I also learned that most of the Wishon designs have a bendable hosel, making tweaks and adjustments later on easier. Like the fitter I am talking with, he does a complete fitting, using a plethora of checks and dynamics, but insists on waiting until you have a few rounds under your belt before making any lie angle adjustments so any flight problems can be identified.This guy used to head up San Diego Golf Academy fitting school, but decided to go into business for himself.

Edited by Hacker James

"James"

:titleist: 913 D3 with Aldila RIP Phenom 60 4,2 Regular Shaft,  :touredge: Exotics XCG-7 Beta 3W with Matrix Red Tie Shaft:touredge: Exotics EX8 19 deg Hybrid w UST Mamiya Recoil F3 Shaft:touredge: Exotics EX9 28 deg Hybrid w UST Mamiya Recoil F3  shaft, / Bobby Jones Black 22 deg Hybrid:touredge: Exotics EXi 6 -PW  w UST Mamiya Recoil F2 Shaft, SW (56),GW (52),LW (60):touredge:  TGS),/ ODDYSEE Metal-X #7 customized putter (400G, cut down Mid Belly)

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On September 13, 2016 at 7:31 PM, Steviestuboy said:

It's really got me thinking about it, as I do try to kill the long irons as I feel I need to swing harder on them.  I got an email from Tom Wishon which was cool in its self tonight advising going to a local clubfitter,  so after using his site I've found one in Glasgow and sent him an email.  Kenstl would you consider going back to a standard set again or are you sold on the single length now? 

On your first question, it took me a few range sessions to get comfortable with them but I started having good rounds right away.  I also went from steel to a lighter graphite shaft so I had to get used to a lower overall weight   I always thought I was a pretty good iron player but these have really stepped up my game.  I was a 10.2 HC when I got the SL irons.  I shot a 76  and a 72 in my first three rounds (easy course at 68/114, but I had never shot under 77 in my life and would normally only shoot in the 70's a couple of times a season.  Since the beginning of June, I have had 7 rounds in the 70's, one of them on a 71.6/136 course.   To be fair, I have also had three 87's and a 92 over 17 rounds (that's golf) but my HC has dropped from a 10.2 to a 7 and I have never shot this many sub 80 rounds.  

I am tall and normally play 1/2" over std - 2 deg up, so I these made up 1/4" over 8 iron and 2 degrees up.  I love the longer higher lofted clubs, they very comfortable for me.  Unless things get crazy, I do not see myself going back to reg length irons any time soon.  I play the 6-SW (7 clubs) that cover 175 yds and less, a hybrid, 4w and driver.  

I agree it is a commitment to try them due to the cost, but they have been a success in my eyes.  

In The Bag
Wishon 919 Driver 9.5
Wishon 4W 16.5
Wishon  21 degree hybrid
Sterling SL 6 - SW
Seemore CS FGP

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Thanks for the replies and info guys.  Going to go hit the demo clubs that the fitter has and see how they feel.  Some great scores there glad to hear that they are working for you.  Perhaps when cobra release theirs in January and if Bryson wins a big tournament next year this could really take off! 

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 9/12/2016 at 11:24 AM, newtogolf said:

There are some rumors that Cobra will release a single length iron set, so maybe wait to see if they do.  

 

On 9/16/2016 at 11:37 AM, Steviestuboy said:

Cobra forged one,  this is apparently the club here. Screenshot_20160916-203511.png

This just popped up on my facebook feed: http://www.golfdigest.com/story/dechambeau-cobra-bringing-two-single-length-iron-sets-to-marketplus-two-standard-length-sets-too?mbid=social_facebook

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I looked at the Wishon Sterlings.  They are pretty nice looking. I am not sold on the idea though and I think the fitters have a learning curve to go through as they adapt from SW fitting to MOI. fwiw, Wishon uses an 8 iron length. 

"James"

:titleist: 913 D3 with Aldila RIP Phenom 60 4,2 Regular Shaft,  :touredge: Exotics XCG-7 Beta 3W with Matrix Red Tie Shaft:touredge: Exotics EX8 19 deg Hybrid w UST Mamiya Recoil F3 Shaft:touredge: Exotics EX9 28 deg Hybrid w UST Mamiya Recoil F3  shaft, / Bobby Jones Black 22 deg Hybrid:touredge: Exotics EXi 6 -PW  w UST Mamiya Recoil F2 Shaft, SW (56),GW (52),LW (60):touredge:  TGS),/ ODDYSEE Metal-X #7 customized putter (400G, cut down Mid Belly)

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  • 2 weeks later...
On October 13, 2016 at 2:43 PM, Tat14 said:

http://www.cobragolf.com/f7-irons

Most of what I read re: SL irons says the major makers won't bother because people won't buy them. I suppose we'll see what happens after Xmas...

it will be interesting to see if the SL grows in sales.  I have been using them this season and they have been a game changers for me.  I think it will take a PRO winning with them for them to come to the forefront.  Most of the golfing world is still very negative on the idea and they talk about they do not know.  I heard a well known guy on one of the PGA radio shows the other day talking about SL irons and I he basically stated that they will never work because they will all go the same distance if you do not have the swing speed of a tour player.

Nothing could be further from the truth, 80% of distance is due to the loft, then club length.  Here is a past tour player, whom many people probably take his word as fact, and he just goes on and on about how the idea is silly, has been tried before, and you are just going to have people hitting all of their clubs the same length.  I think they can simplify the game for a lot of people, but it will take a lot to overcome the stigma in the marketplace.  

 

In The Bag
Wishon 919 Driver 9.5
Wishon 4W 16.5
Wishon  21 degree hybrid
Sterling SL 6 - SW
Seemore CS FGP

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Cobra went all-in offering their F7 and King Forged in Single lengths.  That's a pretty significant investment in an untested market.  

Joe Paradiso

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  • 4 months later...

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?

 

Edited by RandyBobbitt
typo

What's in the bag:
Driver: TaylorMade Rocketballz (non-adjustable), 10.5 degrees, stock graphite shaft R flex
Hybrids: Kasco, 17 and 25 degrees, stock graphite shafts
Irons: Golfsmith Tour Cavity Forged, 4-PW, graphite shafts R, 2 degrees upright
Wedges: TaylorMade Black Oxide, 52, 56, and 60 degrees, graphite shafts
Putter: Rife Barbados w/SuperStroke grip 
Ball: Bridgestone RXS

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14 minutes ago, 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?

 

Bryson definitely has brought attention to the single-length concept, but like you mentioned it's not a new idea.  The set Dechambeau originally played was a custom set built by Edel Golf.

The first single length irons were introduced in 1986 by small Canadian company, then in 1989 Tommy Armour released their EQL model.  They sunk a ton of money into bringing them to market, and it was such a flop that it caused them to go bankrupt. Currently, Cobra is the only major OEM that offers single length irons, however companies like Wishon Golf, One Iron Golf, Sterling Golf and Value Golf are some others that offer either heads or complete sets.

If you took a set of heads to a club builder along with seven 6 iron shaft to have a set of single-length irons built, the results would not be good unless the heads were specifically designed for single-length use.  A traditional set of heads won't work because the long iron heads will be too light and the short iron heads will be too heavy. The lie angles will also have to be adjusted to be the same as the 6 iron, so forged heads would need to be used. Cast clubs are much harder to bend, and even if they are adjusted without breaking, they will tend to creep back to where they were.  They don't "hold" very well.  The other issue is typically a player will hit the short irons longer than a traditional set, and the long irons shorter, which will compress your yardage gaps.  To compensate for this, the lofts would need to be adjusted, but this also affects the bounce, so as you can see it opens up so many cans of worms that the chance of a successful outcome is slim to none...and slim just left town!

Bridgestone j40 445 w/ Graphite Design AD DJ-7
Callaway Steelhead Plus 3 wood w/ RCH Pro Series 3.2
Adams Idea Pro hybrids (3 & 4) w/ Aldila VS Proto 
Bridgestone j33 CB (5-PW) w/ original Rifle 5.5
Bridgestone West Coast 52*, j40 satin 56* & 60* w/ DG S-300
Odyssey White Hot XG #9
Bridgestone B330-RX

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  • iacas changed the title to Anyone Here Play Single Length Irons?
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46 minutes ago, RandyBobbitt said:

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

His original college irons were by Edel, and they're in the process of releasing their SLI (single-length irons) as well.

@1badbadger lists some others. One of them even lives near me.

46 minutes ago, RandyBobbitt said:

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?

The resulting set would be a mess. Wrong head weights, wrong lofts, wrong lie angles, etc.

SLI sets require more tinkering than just slapping regular heads on a 6-iron shaft.

BTW, @RandyBobbitt, I merged your post into some of the existing SLI topics.

Here's a video from PING and the first question we ask is about SLI.

 

 

 

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Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
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Well if the PGA Tour's (soon to be web.com tour's) only advocate who happens to have a physics degree and an almost obsessive tinkering habit can't make it work,not too sure it would do much for any one else. I just don't see the logic in it. Seems like another attempt to try to 'short cut' the 5 keys which we all know just isn't feasible. Maybe not short cut, but thinking one can arrive at the 5 keys more easily? I don't buy it. Golf is hard.

:ping: G25 Driver Stiff :ping: G20 3W, 5W :ping: S55 4-W (aerotech steel fiber 110g shafts) :ping: Tour Wedges 50*, 54*, 58* :nike: Method Putter Floating clubs: :edel: 54* trapper wedge

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23 hours ago, Vinsk said:

Well if the PGA Tour's (soon to be web.com tour's) only advocate who happens to have a physics degree and an almost obsessive tinkering habit can't make it work,not too sure it would do much for any one else. I just don't see the logic in it. Seems like another attempt to try to 'short cut' the 5 keys which we all know just isn't feasible. Maybe not short cut, but thinking one can arrive at the 5 keys more easily? I don't buy it. Golf is hard.

And a reminder: He studied physics, but is not a physicist. I don't think he even graduated. 

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Scott

Titleist, Edel, Scotty Cameron Putter, Snell - AimPoint - Evolvr - MirrorVision

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2 hours ago, boogielicious said:

And a reminder: He studied physics, but is not a physicist. I don't think he even graduated. 

Correct. Physics major, didn't graduate.

:ping: G25 Driver Stiff :ping: G20 3W, 5W :ping: S55 4-W (aerotech steel fiber 110g shafts) :ping: Tour Wedges 50*, 54*, 58* :nike: Method Putter Floating clubs: :edel: 54* trapper wedge

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when i tried the one length irons out. 7-5i felt like i could really work with it, wedges ate one length, idk bout that. that was the only thing that kinda threw me off, seeing that much loft at that length but im sure anyone who works with a one length shafts for a week could actually do good with them, i do wanna try it out some time

WITB:
Taylormade M2 - 10.5º 
Taylormade M2 - 3w 15º
Callaway - Apex CF16 9i-3i
Vokey - 46º F Grind
Taylormade MG - 54º, 60º   
Scotty Cameron - Newport M1  - 4.5º
Taylormade - TP5X #7
 

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