Asking for help with shafts, building single length irons

[Sclearman]

I'm not sure where to start with this...
I've had clubs and have 'played' golf for 30 years. What that really means is that I have been to the driving range a few times a year and have played on a course about 6 times each of those years. I've had a couple lessons but I have been unsuccessful in getting a good consistent swing, especially with irons. To that end, I'm wanting to build a single length set of irons in the hope that I can 'master' a swing. I like golf, but it's not fun to shoot 120. Yes I need to practice more without a doubt.
I've built a couple sets of clubs in the past. They were nothing special and were in fact budget builds for me and one of my sons. We both have moved on to better sets, he's using some Adams, and I have a set of Ping Clones. I only mention this to say I have gone through the steps of building, I have tools.

My retirement will be here in a couple weeks. One goal is to play more often and get better. Toward that goal I have purchased components to build a set of single length irons. The heads are Pin Hawk single length irons. I bought a set of graphite shafts from MG Golf, they were deeply discounted. I was told by MG Golf that they were New Old Stock components that they had left over from building their own clubs. These are the shafts My other option within budget was steel shafts. These are marked as a True Temper, but calling them they had no real information on them. Looks like these were ordered as components specifically for them. The guy I talked to at True Temper said they sounded much like the Dynamic 105's they have now. MG listed the specs of the shafts as:

Flex	Raw Length	Raw Weight +/- 4g	Tip Diameter	Butt Diameter	Torque	Kickpoint
Regular	41"	100g	.370	.660	4.7	Mid

I asked for trimming instructions from MG Golf, and got an email stating that all the shafts were to be trimmed 0" at the tip, from 3 iron to PW.
However, The True Temper guy gave more standard trimming suggestions for what he thought would be the equivalent shafts, trimming for a 7 iron at 2.5".

So, my question is about the tip trimming. I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions or more information on these than I do. I'm not sure why you wouldn't tip trim parallel shafts. All ideas and suggestions appreciated.

 

[Raiderboost]

Are the heads made specifically for one length? If not you may have some issues with launch and gapping. When they design the One Length irons they are different from the variable length irons. This has to do with the weighting, CG, loft, and so forth to ensure that you have appropriate launch and gapping. It's not just as simple as putting one length shafts in a set of irons.

 

[Sclearman]

Are the heads made specifically for one length? If not you may have some issues with launch and gapping. When they design the One Length irons they are different from the variable length irons. This has to do with the weighting, CG, loft, and so forth to ensure that you have appropriate launch and gapping. It's not just as simple as putting one length shafts in a set of irons.

Pin hawk heads Yes, these are the single length heads from Pin Hawk.

 

[Parrot]

Pin hawk heads Yes, these are the single length heads from Pin Hawk.

Only one lie angle through the whole set? I'm not saying that's wrong but Cobra does it differently in their OL set. From the Darkspeed OL specs:

 

[Sclearman]

Only one lie angle through the whole set? I'm not saying that's wrong but Cobra does it differently in their OL set.

I'm so new, and so 'unknowing' that I don't think it would make a difference for me. I know what lie angle is, but I don't have enough experience to know what it means to me.

 

[golfaddict77]

I'm so new, and so 'unknowing' that I don't think it would make a difference for me. I know what lie angle is, but I don't have enough experience to know what it means to me.

Theoretically, you should swing each iron the same in a single-length set, so the lie angles should all be the same. I'm sure Cobra make the longer irons more upright to reduce the chance of hitting a fade with them, but that seems really stupid to me. I would just build them all to the same length, lie angle, and swingweight and make any tweaks later as needed.

 

[Sclearman]

Thanks for all the responses, but I'm really hoping for thoughts on the tip trimming issue.

 

[jbuck31]

Question on the steel shafts:
At the butt end, there should be a stamp. That information can help identify the shaft (I’m sure who you talked to at True Temper asked for this). Also, are the steel shafts stepped or stepless?

 

[Sclearman]

Question on the steel shafts:
At the butt end, there should be a stamp. That information can help identify the shaft (I’m sure who you talked to at True Temper asked for this). Also, are the steel shafts stepped or stepless?

These are graphite

 

[jbuck31]

These are graphite

My apologies, "My other option within budget was steel shafts. These are marked as a True Temper, but calling them they had no real information on them. Looks like these were ordered as components specifically for them. The guy I talked to at True Temper said they sounded much like the Dynamic 105's they have now." threw me a bit and I thought you were referring to steel.

 

[Sclearman]

My apologies, "My other option within budget was steel shafts. These are marked as a True Temper, but calling them they had no real information on them. Looks like these were ordered as components specifically for them. The guy I talked to at True Temper said they sounded much like the Dynamic 105's they have now." threw me a bit and I thought you were referring to steel.

I wasn't clear, sorry. My 2 options were steel shafts or the budget graphite that I bought. The trimming instructions said not to tip trim at all for any iron. It just seems odd not to tip trim parallel graphite shafts.

 

[golfaddict77]

I wasn't clear, sorry. My 2 options were steel shafts or the budget graphite that I bought. The trimming instructions said not to tip trim at all for any iron. It just seems odd not to tip trim parallel graphite shafts.

I would build one club to start with, without trimming the tip and leave the total length a couple inches longer than what your finished length for the set will be. Then you can get a feel for these shafts to see if you want to tip them or not. Blow the grip on so you can easily remove it, and just choke down to the proper length while you are testing. Nobody really knows anything about the shafts you bought, so it's just going to be a trial and error process.

 

[lmh3]

Typically for a one length set I would tip all shafts the same amount, since they are playing the same finished length. I have built a few sets of Cobra one length and a few sets of Edel SLS single length irons following this method. I tend to follow tip trim instructions for the iron length I am building to, so if you were going 7 iron length, tip trimming for 7 irons across the board.

I find it hard to believe they wouldn’t need some trimming as they progress down, the only set I have seen that was a parallel tip shaft with no tip trimming was the Nunchuk iron shafts from a while back.

 

[willplaysgolf]

If you are new to single length and THP, I’d recommend reading through the “One Length Revolution” thread as there’s a lot of good info in there: https://www.thehackersparadise.com/...gth-irons-thread-join-the-revolution.8925563/

There is a logic that says you should tip them all like a 7 iron since they are all 7 iron head weight and length. What Cobra has found is that even when intending to, people don’t swing all One Length clubs the same, meaning there is still some differences between a 5 iron swing and a 9 iron swing, even if the player is trying to hit them both with a 7 iron swing. So what Cobra does is the reverse lie progression that was posted earlier, and they also use progressive tipping just like you would in a normal set (e.g. OL 5 iron has a 5 iron shaft, and OL 9 iron has a 9 iron shaft). I have only used Cobra single length irons so I don’t have any experience with other methodologies, but for me I am a believer in both the reverse lie progression and the progressive tipping.

To your particular situation, it’s tough to suggest what to do. Personally, I don’t think my OL long irons would work as well if they were tipped the same as the short irons, but I also wouldn’t be as confident in a progressive tipped set that all had the same lie angles.

 

[Sclearman]

Thanks for all the suggestions. It is hard to know what to do. I think I will build one and see how it feels. One issue I have is im not sure how it's supposed to feel. I don't know if I know enough to be able to tell if its right or not.

 

[tequila4kapp]

If you are new to single length and THP, I’d recommend reading through the “One Length Revolution” thread as there’s a lot of good info in there: https://www.thehackersparadise.com/...gth-irons-thread-join-the-revolution.8925563/

There is a logic that says you should tip them all like a 7 iron since they are all 7 iron head weight and length. What Cobra has found is that even when intending to, people don’t swing all One Length clubs the same, meaning there is still some differences between a 5 iron swing and a 9 iron swing, even if the player is trying to hit them both with a 7 iron swing. So what Cobra does is the reverse lie progression that was posted earlier, and they also use progressive tipping just like you would in a normal set (e.g. OL 5 iron has a 5 iron shaft, and OL 9 iron has a 9 iron shaft). I have only used Cobra single length irons so I don’t have any experience with other methodologies, but for me I am a believer in both the reverse lie progression and the progressive tipping.

To your particular situation, it’s tough to suggest what to do. Personally, I don’t think my OL long irons would work as well if they were tipped the same as the short irons, but I also wouldn’t be as confident in a progressive tipped set that all had the same lie angles.

This is an excellent and informative response.

The tipping question seems like a hard one to me and shows the complexities of OL

 

[golfaddict77]

Thanks for all the suggestions. It is hard to know what to do. I think I will build one and see how it feels. One issue I have is im not sure how it's supposed to feel. I don't know if I know enough to be able to tell if its right or not.

I wouldn't worry so much about "feel" as I would making sure the club performs the way you want it to. The things you want to focus on are distance, peak height, and to a lesser degree, spin. If the ball is going higher than you want (moon balls, so to speak), you can tip the shafts to help bring that peak height down a bit. This is more of a problem in the short irons and wedges in a single length set. The longer irons may have the opposite problem with not enough height on your shots. This is where you would want to tip less to help get the ball in the air. Single length irons really are a different animal, and there is not just one way to do it correctly. It may take a fair amount of testing things to get each club just the way you want it. Take your time and don't rush the process, or you may be pretty disappointed with your new set of irons.