tweaky

it's a visual thing. some players prefer to see the ball line up with the shaft at address and some prefer the shaft be out of the way and line up the putter face. from a design standpoint it helps to balance the clubhead. also helps to increase MOI.

many pros like their wedges a little softer than what would normally be considered for their swing speed. a softer tip on a stiff body helps to add spin and kick the ball higher which has a bigger effect than "square grooves" (USGA- u suck gopher a$$!). only YOU will be able to decide on what works for YOU. you'll just have to do the experimenting for yourself regardless of all the opinions you'll get (including this one!). don't do anything to ALL you wedges at once. pick one to experiment with and when that one is done the others can be matched to it.

cutting 1/2" off the tip does not lighten the club by 10 grams, more like 1/2 gram or less. and as far as it's effect on the tip stiffness it may or may not change anything. unless it's checked on a frequency analyzer you don't know what it does. people who don't have the proper equipment with which to measure are just assuming based on hearsay. every shaft is different as to what happens when they are trimmed and must be treated as their own entity. just sayin'...

when you have them bent make sure you swing each club on a lie board and adjust each one as a different club. DO NOT have them all adjusted based on ONE club. due to variances in shaft bending the lie angles usually come out different that what you'd expect.

congrats on the new clubs. any clubfitters in your area that can check and adjust the irons for ya? don't be surprised if you struggle with them at first. whatever you do DON'T adjust your swing to fit the clubs, have them adjusted to fit YOU. hoping you many fowl shots!

don't buy a club you haven't hit!!!!!!!!! you are under absolutely NO obligation to buy a club based on what you've done so far. if yer gonna go about it the way you are now then keep hitting clubs out on the range or on the course and buy THE CLUB THAT YOU HIT BEST- NOT ONE LIKE IT- THE VERY CLUB THAT YOU HIT BEST. otherwise it's a crap shoot. getting fitted based on a machine indoors isn't worth the gamble. i know because i've used three different launch monitors in my ten years of club fitting and outdoors has always worked best. just sayin'

btw- forget "standard", there's no such thing. have them adjusted to the way YOU want them, after all they're YOUR clubs.

most of us charge $5 to bend for loft/lie. adjusting the length about $5 to shorten a club and $8 - $10 to lengthen.. pulling the shafts and replacing ferrules about $10- $15. just curious- what was the "good deal"? before you have anything done to them take them out and hit a few balls..decide which of them feel the best and have the rest adjusted to that "feel". a "good" clubfitter will be able to do this and it's well worth the extra money spent.

smaller=flatter

it actually has some merit in that it's not a good idea to keep bending your irons around as it tends to weaken the metal unless they are heated before bending to soften them up. once you've developed a repeatable swing definitely have them checked.

only YOU can decide whether it's time to "upgrade" or change anything in your set. if you're having difficulty with any of them then then having them checked is called for. if not then maybe only a lesson or two is called for. either way don't let anyone sell you anything that doesn't "feel right" to you.

my apologies for coming off as sounding arrogant. my point is that there is a lot more to club fitting than what is offered to the general public through chain stores who only offer name brand clubs. they don't offer shaft profiling, don't know how much to trim a shaft (other than the manufacturers guidelins) to achieve a difference in ball flight (simply saying 1/2" will do anything isn't proper), most won't check and adjust each iron in your set for proper lie and loft (simply checking one club and adjusting the rest of the set based on one degree of lie per 1/2" length isn't right), and too many other aspects of the club that make a big difference to mention. i'm not putting anyone down for doing what they do unless they just don't care that what they're doing isn't really making a difference and are just making a buck off of someone else's lack of knowledge. we all deserve better, you, me, and they.

getting fitted for the proper shaft is always important. now that your swing is more consistent it's time to have all of them checked. getting the "latest and greatest" high tech driver head is not as necessary as getting the right loft and shaft flex profile for your swing. unfortunately if you can't go to a clubfitter you're stuck with a salesman who'll try to put you in whatever makes him the most money. good luck and don't let anyone sell you anything that doesn't "feel" right to you!

my swing speed is 108 mph on average and my average drive is around 260 (carry distance only). all measured on the course. i'd say you were bs'ed but if it works on the course and you like the way it feels then my opinion doesn't matter (not that it does anyway! ;^}) btw- i hit my longest drive last summer with a laminated maple 10* graphite shafted 44" driver. 305 yards, firm fairway, no wind, 95* temp and 80% humidity. it'll stay in my bag.

i've been practicing on some other old wood clubs and blocks of cheap wood to "hone" my skills before i try the final product. i think the tricky part will be building it so that the balance (face balance vs heel/toe balance) and shaft angle in the hosel are right. i know we can bend them to the proper loft and lie angle so that concern is not a big deal. i now that once i'm finished i'll want to make another different design! good luck with yours!!

yeah...here's the thing about "changing the ball flight"- most people who bought those clubs don't change the setting once they found what worked. many of them didn't notice much difference in the various settings. as a club fitter one of those clubs would be great as a fitting tool but i'd never try to sell one to somebody. once you've been fitted for the proper setup why change it? the distance difference in most of those clubs from a proper fitting is negligible. the hype you see about them comes from the companies that that make them and people who didn't have clubs that were properly fit to begin with. you won't see massive distance gains like 10 to 15 yards unless the club you already have wasn't right to begin with. but...we all enjoy the "search for the perfect driver", don't we? as for that shaft- the only way we can match it is to remove it and do a "flex profile" of it. anyone who says they know different is either a machine or...has an opinion.

glad i wasn't standing next to him when THAT happened! i wouldn't want any of THAT getting splattered on me!! LOL!

Eric- as a clubmaker/fitter (some would argue that my ten years of experience isn't enough to claim being a "fitter") i can tell you that YOU are the only person who can decide what "feels right" to YOU. i can help you in your decision by doing the measuring and adjusting but the ultimate decision is YOURS and YOURS ALONE. the guys in the "stores" have some experience selling lots of name brand clubs and are familiar with SOME of the aspects of clubfitting but i would NEVER go to them for a FITTING. what they do is NOT fitting. it's SELLING. you'll see a lot of good intended remarks on these forums from guys who feel they had a good experience with their local store but most of them will say they they were "2 degrees up" or "one degree down" from "standard". firstly- there are no "standards" in golf. if there were there would be a committee or organization that sets the "standards". since there isn't one- who sets the "standards". there are averages but not "standards". to truly get "fitted" for clubs you need to see a clubfitter who will sit down with you and discuss what your goals in this game/sport are. they will observe your swing, take various physical measurements, ask lots of questions concerning your perception of what the clubs "feel" like ("feel" being an ethereal thing and cannot be physically measured very accurately, but we're getting closer all the time), and not treat you like a piece of meat. the cost of the Wishon 770CFEs and 870Tis are about $80 each (any less and we'd go out of business!). the difference is that the 770s came out first and are more offset. they are made of three types of steel whereas the 870s are slightly offset, have a titanium face and two other types of steel. excellent feeling, very forgiving, and workable.

lie angle for the driver, fairways, and hybrids is not critical and therefor not done. you would have to have a really severe swing lie to need any adjustment. the wedges, yes, IF they are not already okay for you. here's a simple check- take a piece of plywood or similar material and place it on the ground at the same level as the bottom of your feet and hit it like you're playing a shot off it. there should be a mark on the bottom of your wedge, if not put some paint/baby powder/ or something that will transfer to your club on it. if the mark on the bottom of your wedge is centered you're okay. if not then an adjustment is needed. the center of the mark should be in the center of the sole. when you get your clubs back do this with all of them and see if they all are correct. i have another way to check on my website- www.yourgolfshop.webs.com under "lofts and lies". glad you got fitted!

as far as getting "fitted" for a driver- are you going to a clubmaker who will be measuring, testing, analyzing, adjusting, testing, measuring, adjusting, testing and analyzing (i.e fitting) or are you going to demo some clubs and buy one from the store (i.e. "fitting")?

no weight limits by USGA rules. make it as heavy as you like!

i'm currently bagging a laminated maple Orlimar Solitaire designed by Jesse Ortiz (his signature head shape is quite evident) which i creamed 305 yards last year (my longest on-course to date), stock shaft cut to 44" and all weight in the port drained. also have Stan Thompson Gintys, some Rileys, and will be testing out various other persimmons to go along with my Louisville Earthwoods EWP puttter. Got wood?

a smaller correction- the 3 and 4 irons are Carpenter 455 HS Steel, the 5,6, and 7 are 17-7 Stainless and the 8 - SW are 304 Soft Stainless. my bad! still love the feel1

definitely take it back if it doesn't feel right and don't let them tell you it's okay. it's NOT okay if it doesn't FEEL right to you!

i'm doing the same thing. i have some teak that i'll epoxy together and just leave the face teak. softer feel. i'm looking for some brass to use either on the sole or inside the head for weight. i'm also thinking of making the sole like the callaway tuttle, sorta keel like rather than flat. i was at Louisville Golf last November and picked up some freeby reject putter and wood heads. they're in a basket by the door, help yourself! since this is YOUR putter make it as wide or narrow and deep or shallow as YOU want. to heck with everyone else!