Shaft length question

[mmoan2]

I'm gonna splurge this weekend and buy a set of Rocketbladez irons. I demoed them last week and loved them. One thing - the shafts on the demo clubs were one inch longer than normal stock RBz shafts, which are 1/4" longer than normal shafts already. The thing is, I really felt comfortable with the longer shafts, even though the 6 iron was about as long as my current 4 iron. They just felt natural. I'm 6'2 with about a 36 inch wrist-to-floor measurement. I've been fitted a couple of times, and they all say I should be using shafts that are 1/4 or 1/2 inch longer at most, but definitely not 1 1/4 inches longer.

Question - I'm thinking of getting the clubs and adding 3/4 inch to the shafts to make them slightly shorter than those that I demoed. Is it possible that my swing faults right now are what makes the longer clubs feel better? I don't want to buy any irons for a while, and I'm wondering if when I improve I'll be wishing that I had purchased the "proper" length for me because my swing will have actually changed. Question 2 - Is it wise to just choke up on the shafts if I find them to be too long in the future? Does it make a difference?

Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks.

[Braivo]

When I saw the title of this thread, being in the "off-topic" section, I thought we were going really off-topic.  Whew.  Glad you are talking about golf shafts.

Sorry, I cannot help with the question though.

[mmoan2]

I appreciate the shout out. What do you mean it was in the "off topic" section?

[Braivo]

I am new here and could be wrong. But I thought the grill room was for non golf topics. Might get better responses in the equipment section.

[Golfingdad]

I am new here and could be wrong. But I thought the grill room was for non golf topics. Might get better responses in the equipment section.

That's correct. (And welcome!!!). Hopefully a mod can move this and op will get the feedback he's hoping for.

[vangator]

With the proper posture, if the sole of the club lies flat on the ground, it is the proper length. Being 6'2", and 35: WRT, you probably need longer clubs. With the modern longer club lengths, the lie angle of the head is adjusted correspondingly. The main thing is to have the sole of the club to hit the turf in the middle. If the heels drags, the clubs head will shutdown and you'll pull the ball (or hit hooks). When the toe drags, the club face opens and you'll hit it right.

[Golfingdad]

With the proper posture, if the sole of the club lies flat on the ground, it is the proper length.

Be careful with your words here. When you say "lies" it sounds a lot like you're talking about something that is at rest, which then could be taken to mean at address. How the sole lies at address has very little correlation to how it contacts the ground at impact, so that really is not a good indicator of whether or not you have the correct lie angle. Taking swings on a lie board would do the trick though. :)

[WUTiger]

... How the sole lies at address has very little correlation to how it contacts the ground at impact, so that really is not a good indicator of whether or not you have the correct lie angle. Taking swings on a lie board would do the trick though. :)

@Golfingdad is on target. You want to hit the clubs on a lie board, or with sole tape, to see where you're making impact.

Callaway has a 38" shaft on most of its 5 irons. For the SLDR irons, 5 iron is only 37.75" - with SLDR, I find I'm consistently making contact on the toe side of the clubface. I'll probably have the SLDRs lengthened slightly at re-grip time.

For length and lie issues, go with the pattern from your live shots.

[Dirtsquirrel]

Maybe you can get a deal and just buy the demo set. It is possible that buying a standard set and lengthening them could not work out as well for you.

[mmoan2]

G-dad is on target. You want to hit the clubs on a lie board, or with sole tape, to see where you're making impact.

Callaway has a 38" shaft on most of its 5 irons. For the SLDR irons, 5 iron is only 37.75" - with SLDR, I find I'm consistently making contact on the toe side of the clubface. I'll probably have the SLDRs lengthened slightly at re-grip time.

For length and lie issues, go with the pattern from your live shots.

Does the quality of your swing drastically affect where you make impact, or will it be fairly similar even if my technique improves? If I go with the pattern from my live shots, I would probably need an extra 1 1/2 inches and negative offset to fix my regular hook and tendency to hit thin! I guess I just don;t want to buy clubs that mask a problem. Perhaps the answer is just to buy the "recommended" lie/length for a person of my build and stay the course on improvement. Probably splitting hairs here, anyway. When I was 15, I just grabbed the nearest Easton bat that felt good and pounded the ball into the night sky!

[WUTiger]

Does the quality of your swing drastically affect where you make impact, or will it be fairly similar even if my technique improves? ...

It depends on which impact point.

Clubfitters generally say that the lie angle is fairly consistent for a golfer, and sets in early in swing development.

Years ago, I had a bit of a crouch stance, and would have left misses starting mid-summer when my swing really got going. I got fitted, and the fitter said I needed two degrees flat.

He build me a new set of component irons, 2* flat lie, and it really  straightened out my iron shots. I started hitting dead center on sole tape.

Fast forward to about 2004, and I rebuild my golf swing. Went from a Nicklaus-style super upright, to a more medium tempo swing. In doing so, I started standing more upright.

Suddenly, I was starting to miss to the right. I got fitted, and it turned out in my new stance I was standard lie for Callaway and many other iron models. (For Ping I still test out as 0.75* flat).

As for face impact, both equipment and swing contribute to what you get. When I first played my Callaways, I had trouble hitting half my shots out toward the toe, even through sole impact was good. It turned out I had my weight on my heels, rather than a balanced stance. A few lessons and practice, and I was hitting more toward center face.

Now come the SLDR irons. The SLDR irons are 1/4" shorter than my X20 Tours, and I'm hitting most of my solid shots out toward the toe. I plan to get fitted at reshaft time, and I may have the SLDR shafts extended 1/4".

So, work with a decent fitter. He or she can help get you aligned.

As for masking swing flaws , if your swing is consistent but imperfect, finding helpful clubs could help you hit the ball straighter and more squarely.