2015 vs 1986 club lengths

[Jeff Tilley]

Been back in golf a few years after taking 20+ away. I've noticed one trend in the newer technology is the longer shaft lengths on everything. I recently measured a set of Wilson WS1000's from 1986 and came away surprised. The driver is 43", 3-wood 42", 5-wood 41.5", 3-iron 38.5", with the rest of the irons decreasing at .5" increments. I recently began cutting all my modern drivers down to 44.5" and have much better dispersion and distance. I use 25 gram grips to get the feel I like, which puts the SW at D8. I'm considering cutting down some Wishon woods I have to those older specs and adding tip weights and lead to up the swingweights on those also. May even cut down a set of Snake Eye irons to older specs and lead the snot out of those to get higher SW's. My thinking is, because of all this new modern tech with lighter and longer shafts, I'm losing distance and direction because the new stuff is too long and I can't hardly feel the head weights, thereby throwing my swing out of whack...................does this make any sense to anyone but me?

[boogielicious]

6 hours ago, Jeff Tilley said:

Been back in golf a few years after taking 20+ away. I've noticed one trend in the newer technology is the longer shaft lengths on everything. I recently measured a set of Wilson WS1000's from 1986 and came away surprised. The driver is 43", 3-wood 42", 5-wood 41.5", 3-iron 38.5", with the rest of the irons decreasing at .5" increments. I recently began cutting all my modern drivers down to 44.5" and have much better dispersion and distance. I use 25 gram grips to get the feel I like, which puts the SW at D8. I'm considering cutting down some Wishon woods I have to those older specs and adding tip weights and lead to up the swingweights on those also. May even cut down a set of Snake Eye irons to older specs and lead the snot out of those to get higher SW's. My thinking is, because of all this new modern tech with lighter and longer shafts, I'm losing distance and direction because the new stuff is too long and I can't hardly feel the head weights, thereby throwing my swing out of whack...................does this make any sense to anyone but me?

Club designs have changed so much over the decades, it is hard to compare. The launch of the heads are different now and there is a lot more research going into shaft design for the heads. If you cut down shafts, make sure to have the lie adjusted to match and to fit your swing.

[dbuck]

I think this is more applicable to drivers and possibly longer fairway woods than with irons.  Most of us will benefit from less length and more loft in our tee club.

The modern irons are longer, but also have less loft, so today's 5 iron is really a 1986 3 iron with a larger face. Considering that the modern irons are designed with a weight, length, shaft to work together, I think you would do more harm than good by altering them as you described. Just get them fitted properly from the outset.

Hybrids have been around a while, but have not changed as much with respect to loft and length.

If you want the old-school feel, play old-school stuff like I do. Works fine with ProV1's.

[Jeff Tilley]

Ok, those Snake Eyes irons came in today and they specked out .5" shorter than standard, D3D4 SW, and almost perfect lie angle for me. I hit 'em well and mostly centered. I got them home and added enuff lead to get them up to D6D7. I also had those Wishon woods shortened and had the 25 gram grips installed. They came in at D1 and D2 so I added lead to those, putting the driver at E0, and the fairways and hybrid to D7. I also raised my Cleveland 54 up to D7. Was wanting to take it to D9 along with my 58, but ran outta lead. Can't wait to try these out next Tuesday weather permitting.

[boogielicious]

14 hours ago, Jeff Tilley said:

Ok, those Snake Eyes irons came in today and they specked out .5" shorter than standard, D3D4 SW, and almost perfect lie angle for me. I hit 'em well and mostly centered. I got them home and added enuff lead to get them up to D6D7. I also had those Wishon woods shortened and had the 25 gram grips installed. They came in at D1 and D2 so I added lead to those, putting the driver at E0, and the fairways and hybrid to D7. I also raised my Cleveland 54 up to D7. Was wanting to take it to D9 along with my 58, but ran outta lead. Can't wait to try these out next Tuesday weather permitting.

Let us know your results.

[Jeff Tilley]

Well it was a mixed bag of results today. The driver was actually pretty good. I was hitting most everything down the middle with it. Seemed to have less yardage than normal, but it was kinda cold and very wet, so no rollout. On the last hole I removed the lead which put the driver back to D1 and I hit 2 balls and it was ugly. It felt like I was losing control of the head and felt like I was overswinging. The fairway woods were a hot mess with and without lead. I've never been able to hit those 949s well. The hybrid had a pronounced fade with the lead and just a baby fade without it. The wedges were better without the lead. I was hitting the irons both fat and thin til I removed the lead, then I went pin hunting. I'm not a big fan of those Nippon 1150 shafts, they feel harsh to me. I may end up installing shaft inserts or just going with graphite. I have a set of Adams CB2 irons with Xcaliber 85 gram shafts and just love the ball flight and the feel. I read somewhere that Robin Arthur is coming out with some new shafts soon and I hope he's gonna have some 105 or 115 gram iron shafts similar to the 85's. I know he has the Tour X, but I have some Steelfibers in a set of Callaway Apex and those are so-so to me. Those original Xcaliber 85's are awesome. So, for now I'll keep tinkering with the Snake Eye irons and will probably put my 44.5" R1 driver and Stage 2 woods back in the bag. I think going shorter with the irons worked well, the woods not so much.

[natureboy]

Unfortunately, I think part of this is marketing. When testing clubs if you catch it right with a longer club an avid golfer is likely to remember that shot vs. the mishits with the 'unfamiliar' club and buy based on that 'good shot' potential that is probably an illusion due to the decreased consistency you are likely to have with a longer shaft.

Part of it is probably fair in that average heights are greater today due to better nutrition and overall health.

[Jeff Tilley]

I agree. Still probably best to get fit by a qualified clubfitter if a person can afford it vs. buying off the rack.

And take lessons, lol.