DQOTD: Mismatched Woods & Irons?

[Midpack]

The days of buying a complete set seem to long over/passé - and that's fine. Long ago it seemed you could buy brand T woods and brand C irons and as long as the swing weights were the same, the clubs were like enough for the player. Now I'm finding it hard to even find swing weights - also passé? So if I buy M irons and T woods & hybrids today, what are the odds they won't get along for the player? It's hard to believe any off the shelf irons, hybrids and woods are fine together?

My current mismatched set includes std length D0 irons and a D4 (46") driver & woods.

Height/WTF charts suggest I should have +0.5-0.75" longer shafts but I'm not enjoying having a 46" driver - but I assume longer shaft irons & hybrids and shorter woods would make them less compatible for the player?

Apologies for the dumb questions, I want new clubs but I don't want needlessly waste money. I plan to go to a fitter, but I'd like to understand the basics.

Edited June 23, 2017 by Midpack

[DaveP043]

Assuming you've found a decent fitter, he'll explain it better than most of us could.  The validation, no matter what the explanation is, will come from actually swinging the clubs, and finding something you you hit properly.  The risks of poorly matched clubs would be much higher if you were selecting clubs form eBay or some other online source, but as long as you can actually hit them, you should be fine.

Edited June 23, 2017 by DaveP043

[kpaulhus]

FWIW, my irons and wedges are +1/2" whereas my hybrid, 3 wood, and driver are all standard length. 

[WUTiger]

11 hours ago, Midpack said:

Height/WTF charts suggest I should have +0.5-0.75" longer shafts but I'm not enjoying having a 46" driver

GolfWorks instructors cautioned us that Height/WTF charts are only a starting point for fitting. Your posture and swing characteristics should be taken to account before trimming or lengthening shafts. Basically, you start with the Height/WTF suggestions and see how well you hit the ball with them.

11 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

The validation, no matter what the explanation is, will come from actually swinging the clubs, and finding something you you hit properly.

Along this line, mixing irons T and woods C could be be a mismatch without a fitting. Or, irons T and woods T could be a mismatch without a fitting.

My irons are GI with not a whole lot of offset. I ended up with a driver and hybrids that had a bit of a hook face. The irons and long clubs simply didn't work very well together. If the long clubs were working, I was pushing the irons. If the irons were working, I was missing left with the long clubs.

I finally worked my way into long clubs that were all square faced; this helped a lot to simplify full shot set-up across my bag.

[Buckeyebowman]

On 6/23/2017 at 10:35 AM, DaveP043 said:

Assuming you've found a decent fitter, he'll explain it better than most of us could.  The validation, no matter what the explanation is, will come from actually swinging the clubs, and finding something you you hit properly.  The risks of poorly matched clubs would be much higher if you were selecting clubs form eBay or some other online source, but as long as you can actually hit them, you should be fine.

I like this! It's all in how the clubs perform for you. I bought a set of TM "Rescue" hybrid irons, 3,4,5, from my buddy. He lent them to me for a while so I could see how they worked. I loved them, so I bought them. They performed much better than the then current 3,4, and 5 irons that I had. He couldn't hit the rescue hybrids! So, it worked out.

Right now, I'm looking to dump my Adams 1 hybrid for a decent 5 wood.