So my new(ish) irons seem to be a bit long (in a wrong way)

[itzzzberny]

So i recently picked up the Nike Vapor Fly Pro irons and i love them. One problem though, it seems Nike's standard length is longer than my old Callaways (x-20). I was fitted for -0.5 in length. so i used to just choke down on the club, no problem. Now that these Nikes seems to be even longer, when i choke down the extra butt end is very annoying to see and deal with. I was wondering what options i have. also not trying to go buy a new set. any help would be appreciated.

[Vinsk]

2 hours ago, itzzzberny said:

So i recently picked up the Nike Vapor Fly Pro irons and i love them. One problem though, it seems Nike's standard length is longer than my old Callaways (x-20). I was fitted for -0.5 in length. so i used to just choke down on the club, no problem. Now that these Nikes seems to be even longer, when i choke down the extra butt end is very annoying to see and deal with. I was wondering what options i have. also not trying to go buy a new set. any help would be appreciated.

Have you measured them to see If in fact they are longer? If so by how much? You can have your clubs cut down if necessary. 

Edited June 2, 2018 by Vinsk

[itzzzberny]

9 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

Have you measured them to see If in fact they are longer? If so by how much? You can have your clubs cut down if necessary. 

They measure 3/4 inch longer than (callaway) standard. I think a 3/4  inch cut would be perfect but i'm worries about swing weight changes.

[Vinsk]

9 minutes ago, itzzzberny said:

They measure 3/4 inch longer than (callaway) standard. I think a 3/4  inch cut would be perfect but i'm worries about swing weight changes.

Don’t be. If the length feels wrong for you have them cut down. 

[iacas]

13 hours ago, Vinsk said:

Don’t be. If the length feels wrong for you have them cut down. 

Why would you say "don't be"? I'd be worried about swing weight changes, too.

But, @itzzzberny, do you know the current swing weight?

[Vinsk]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

Why would you say "don't be"? I'd be worried about swing weight changes, too.

But, @itzzzberny, do you know the current swing weight?

If I were you I would be too. He’s an 18+ handicap and I don’t think the weight difference would be so drastic as to effect his swing. I would think an extra 3/4” in length would. 

Im sure he’ll realize you’re a much better reference than me. 

[iacas]

8 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

If I were you I would be too. He’s an 18+ handicap and I don’t think the weight difference would be so drastic as to effect his swing. I would think an extra 3/4” in length would.

Depending on the club you can change the weight out easily and keep the same swing weight.

[Vinsk]

A better option than buying a new set I would think. @itzzzberny do you have any good club makers in your area?

[Pretzel]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think all @Vinsk was trying to say is that for an 18 handicap golfer it's more likely that the golf club being 1.25" too long (he said it's .75" longer than Callaway and he gripped down .5" on a Callaway already) is a bigger problem than a golf club with a swingweight that is 1 or 2 points different than he was previously used to. 

I would agree that the length issue is more important than a small change in swingweight, but I'm open to hearing why the swingweight might be more important than I thought. I've swung my irons at weights ranging from D0 to D4 and not personally noticed a ton of difference (though I do prefer an overall heavier golf club, my iron shafts are 130g and my driver shaft is 85g, small changes in swingweight like that I can't notice as well personally).

That said, if swingweight is a problem you could always just add some lead tape on the inside of the shaft up by the grip to shift the swingweight back to where it belonged. 

Edited June 2, 2018 by Pretzel

[iacas]

8 hours ago, Pretzel said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think all @Vinsk was trying to say is that for an 18 handicap golfer it's more likely that the golf club being 1.25" too long (he said it's .75" longer than Callaway and he gripped down .5" on a Callaway already) is a bigger problem than a golf club with a swingweight that is 1 or 2 points different than he was previously used to. 

I didn't take it as anything but that.

But I would still be "worried" about the swing weight… mostly because it's so easily corrected in many modern irons. You just swap out the weight or something.

I didn't say it took precedence. Just that you should "worry" about it a little.

[Pretzel]

3 hours ago, iacas said:

I didn't take it as anything but that.

But I would still be "worried" about the swing weight… mostly because it's so easily corrected in many modern irons. You just swap out the weight or something.

I didn't say it took precedence. Just that you should "worry" about it a little.

Fair enough, I read too far into it I suppose. 

But yeah, even just using lead tape it isn't hard to get whatever swingweight you want.

[itzzzberny]

 These are the technical stats:

club  length weight

#4

39.25"

D2.5

#5

38.75"

D2.5

#6

38.25"

D2.5

#7

37.75"

D2.5

#8

37.25”

D2.5

#9

36.75"

D2.5

#PW

36.5"

D2.5

#AW

36.25"

D2.5

the 4 is lofted like my old 3 iron and the 5 is like my old 4 iron. the rest are mainly 1 degree strong except the 6 (which is 2 degrees stronger)

i played a round today and feel that 1/2 inch would be a perfect cut, giving me a little butt end to use for uneven lies.

[308 Ragin Cajun]

Apparently, club companies are still making clubs longer and stronger I Checked the new Ben Hogan co specs on their irons,. and they're on average 1/2" longer than current standard lengths. 4 I=39' vs 38.5" and on down the set. Most of their offerings have stronger lofts than Titleist specs, also.

[1badbadger]

On 6/2/2018 at 11:14 AM, Pretzel said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think all @Vinsk was trying to say is that for an 18 handicap golfer it's more likely that the golf club being 1.25" too long (he said it's .75" longer than Callaway and he gripped down .5" on a Callaway already) is a bigger problem than a golf club with a swingweight that is 1 or 2 points different than he was previously used to. 

I would agree that the length issue is more important than a small change in swingweight, but I'm open to hearing why the swingweight might be more important than I thought. I've swung my irons at weights ranging from D0 to D4 and not personally noticed a ton of difference (though I do prefer an overall heavier golf club, my iron shafts are 130g and my driver shaft is 85g, small changes in swingweight like that I can't notice as well personally).

That said, if swingweight is a problem you could always just add some lead tape on the inside of the shaft up by the grip to shift the swingweight back to where it belonged. 

If he were cutting his irons down 1.25", it wouldn't be 1 or 2 points...it would be almost 8!  That would be very noticeable.  If he decides to shorten them .5" which it sounds like he's considering, it's still 3 points which would be detectable by most players. 

Adding lead tape if needed is a great idea, but it would need to be applied to the back of the head to bring the swingweight back up, not inside the shaft on the grip end.

On 7/22/2018 at 4:09 PM, 308 Ragin Cajun said:

Apparently, club companies are still making clubs longer and stronger I Checked the new Ben Hogan co specs on their irons,. and they're on average 1/2" longer than current standard lengths. 4 I=39' vs 38.5" and on down the set. Most of their offerings have stronger lofts than Titleist specs, also.

Hogan's lengths are kind of interesting.  Their 6-PW is the same length as Titleist and many other companies, but their 5 iron is .25" longer and the 4 iron is .5" longer.  Their lofts are slightly stronger than the Titleist MB and CB but much weaker than the AP1 and AP3.

[1badbadger]

On 6/3/2018 at 2:16 AM, itzzzberny said:

 These are the technical stats:

club  length weight

#4

39.25"

D2.5

#5

38.75"

D2.5

#6

38.25"

D2.5

#7

37.75"

D2.5

#8

37.25”

D2.5

#9

36.75"

D2.5

#PW

36.5"

D2.5

#AW

36.25"

D2.5

the 4 is lofted like my old 3 iron and the 5 is like my old 4 iron. the rest are mainly 1 degree strong except the 6 (which is 2 degrees stronger)

i played a round today and feel that 1/2 inch would be a perfect cut, giving me a little butt end to use for uneven lies.

If I understand correctly, you were fitted for irons  -1/2" (I'm guessing that is -1/2" off Callaway's specs?), but you never cut the Callaway irons down, so they are still 1/2" too long.  Your Nike irons are 3/4" longer than the Callaways.  And you're considering cutting down the Nike irons 1/2", right?

If this is correct, this would result in your Nike irons being 3/4" too long.  I'm assuming you just never went to the trouble of cutting your Callaway irons down and figured you'd just choke down the extra 1/2", but since the Nikes are way too long and you have to cut them down, why not have them trimmed to the length you were fit for?  Keep in mind, choking down a certain amount isn't the same as playing clubs that have been cut down to that length.

I am curious about the swing weights though.  The Nike irons are not heavy at all considering how much longer they are.  Do they have graphite shafts by chance?  If not they built them with lighter heads.  Cutting the shafts down will definitely reduce your swingweights.  You'll need to use some lead tape to bring it back up.

[billchao]

17 hours ago, 1badbadger said:

Cutting the shafts down will definitely reduce your swingweights.  You'll need to use some lead tape to bring it back up.

Doesn't it take a lot of lead tape to make up two or three points? Not to mention it can fall off?

I would think if someone was going to have their clubs cut and regripped, they might as well do a little more and have the clubmaker adjust the swingweight with tip weights.

[1badbadger]

7 hours ago, billchao said:

Doesn't it take a lot of lead tape to make up two or three points? Not to mention it can fall off?

I would think if someone was going to have their clubs cut and regripped, they might as well do a little more and have the clubmaker adjust the swingweight with tip weights.

Good question.  There are different types of lead tape.  I prefer the 1/2″ - 3/4″ rolls or packaged strips like this:

or 

The type that are pre-cut with rounded corners I would not recommend. In my experience, this type does not adhere to the club as well and has a tendency to fall off:

Tip weights are a good idea, but in a situation like this it would require pulling all of the shafts, adding the tip weights and re-installing the shafts.  It would add quite a bit of expense to this project.  He's got 8 clubs, so depending on which grips he chooses it will cost approx. $100-150 for the cut-down and regripping, and prices will vary on the tip weights, but for a job like that I used to charge $15/club, so that's another $120.  If that's in his budget, that would be the way to go, but it might be more than he wants to spend.