Cleveland 588 Altitude Hybrid Irons Preview

[Ole Gray]

In this thread here: http://www.thehackersparadise.com/f...little-advice-about-my-new-set-of-irons/page2

A sales rep for Adams (assumed) suggests that these "hybrids" will plateau a golfer and prevent them from improving. He states directly that, "With the altitudes, your game is never going to improve".

Personally, I disagreed with his comments. And I think it is misguided for many reasons. But I thought it was an interesting comment coming from the "sales" side of the iron market and may be equally interesting to those looking at these clubs.

At 63 years old I've pretty much plateaued anyway. Actually I plateaued with every iron set I owned since 1974. I finally figured out I won't be making the tour so for the rest of my golfing caree,r it's all about trying to have fun and enjoying this crazy game :thumb:

 

[Hotled]

At 63 years old I've pretty much plateaued anyway. Actually I plateaued with every iron set I owned since 1974. I finally figured out I won't be making the tour so for the rest of my golfing caree,r it's all about trying to have fun and enjoying this crazy game :thumb:

Best reply ever OG.
I also just want to have fun and these clubs really allow that. I'm no pro and never will be.

 

[BamBooBender]

This is the same thing I found with the Alt S. I think it was the graphite shaft and not the clubhead though.

I'm wondering the same thing. I'll give it more time to be sure though, could have just been an off day, getting tired, etc.

 

[ryebread]

At 63 years old I've pretty much plateaued anyway. Actually I plateaued with every iron set I owned since 1974. I finally figured out I won't be making the tour so for the rest of my golfing caree,r it's all about trying to have fun and enjoying this crazy game :thumb:

I'm a few years younger, but my game has seemingly hit a plateau as well. It's going to take a lot more time and money for lessons and additional rounds to break through where I currently am.

Until then, I'll hack around with the easiest thing I can hit. I'd rather hit down the middle and stay out of trouble than "improve" and chase the ball everywhere.

 

[LeftySean]

2 weeks of rain/cold/wind, and today is the first day of sunshine. Of course the ranges are sopping wet.

No range/golf for me yet.... getting annoyed, want to swing my Altitudes. It seems like my first real chance won't be for at least Monday or Tuesday.

It's been fricking brutal this spring, hasn't it?

 

[BamBooBender]

This is the same thing I found with the Alt S. I think it was the graphite shaft and not the clubhead though.

I'm wondering the same thing. I'll give it more time to be sure though, could have just been an off day, getting tired, etc.

Back to hitting solid shots with all the hyrons today.
Turns out it was just me, go figure eh.

 

[Vegan702]

At 63 years old I've pretty much plateaued anyway. Actually I plateaued with every iron set I owned since 1974. I finally figured out I won't be making the tour so for the rest of my golfing caree,r it's all about trying to have fun and enjoying this crazy game :thumb:

Lol, great reply. I am not your age, but have come to the conclusion I won't be on tour, I will probably never be a scratch golfer as I don't like to practice much and just want whatever equipment will make the game more enjoyable. If the Altitudes keep the ball down the middle and with the distance that I want, I will be happy. So far, they are working out that way, just need to get some more rounds in with them. The 4i came in the other day and I have only hit it 3x, but 2 of the 3 were dead straight with some good distance, other was a pull dead left, which seems to be my miss with the Altitudes so far.

 

[Ole Gray]

Lol, great reply. I am not your age, but have come to the conclusion I won't be on tour, I will probably never be a scratch golfer as I don't like to practice much and just want whatever equipment will make the game more enjoyable. If the Altitudes keep the ball down the middle and with the distance that I want, I will be happy. So far, they are working out that way, just need to get some more rounds in with them. The 4i came in the other day and I have only hit it 3x, but 2 of the 3 were dead straight with some good distance, other was a pull dead left, which seems to be my miss with the Altitudes so far.

This is what I am seeing also. I was hitting them so well on the range I started stepping on the pedal out on the course and seen some hard right to left action. You have to swing in good tempo with any irons and these certainly are no exception.

 

[JB]

Lol, great reply. I am not your age, but have come to the conclusion I won't be on tour, I will probably never be a scratch golfer as I don't like to practice much and just want whatever equipment will make the game more enjoyable. If the Altitudes keep the ball down the middle and with the distance that I want, I will be happy. So far, they are working out that way, just need to get some more rounds in with them. The 4i came in the other day and I have only hit it 3x, but 2 of the 3 were dead straight with some good distance, other was a pull dead left, which seems to be my miss with the Altitudes so far.

The dead pull is an interesting one, because the club itself sets up almost dead square with minimal offset (not a reason for pull regardless). I struggle with it over my life due to my over the top swing (working on it), but the Altitudes were the one club that I really did not pull all that often.

I am wondering if in the past, the miss might have been masked a bit by a glancing blow, and due to the forgiveness of the Altitudes, the over the top move still has the club head hitting it straight for you and thus heading left.

Im just thinking and its early without coffee, but am curious if you see this continue.

 

[BamBooBender]

I will pull the short irons at times if I get a little quick, but have always had that miss with short irons.

 

[Vegan702]

The dead pull is an interesting one, because the club itself sets up almost dead square with minimal offset (not a reason for pull regardless). I struggle with it over my life due to my over the top swing (working on it), but the Altitudes were the one club that I really did not pull all that often.

I am wondering if in the past, the miss might have been masked a bit by a glancing blow, and due to the forgiveness of the Altitudes, the over the top move still has the club head hitting it straight for you and thus heading left.

Im just thinking and its early without coffee, but am curious if you see this continue.

This is what I am thinking as well, as I definitely have an OTT move.

 

[TripleBogieTim]

Lol, great reply. I am not your age, but have come to the conclusion I won't be on tour, I will probably never be a scratch golfer as I don't like to practice much and just want whatever equipment will make the game more enjoyable. If the Altitudes keep the ball down the middle and with the distance that I want, I will be happy. So far, they are working out that way, just need to get some more rounds in with them. The 4i came in the other day and I have only hit it 3x, but 2 of the 3 were dead straight with some good distance, other was a pull dead left, which seems to be my miss with the Altitudes so far.

The dead pull is an interesting one, because the club itself sets up almost dead square with minimal offset (not a reason for pull regardless). I struggle with it over my life due to my over the top swing (working on it), but the Altitudes were the one club that I really did not pull all that often.

I am wondering if in the past, the miss might have been masked a bit by a glancing blow, and due to the forgiveness of the Altitudes, the over the top move still has the club head hitting it straight for you and thus heading left.

Im just thinking and its early without coffee, but am curious if you see this continue.

add me to the list of guys whose miss with these is a pull or even a pull hook.

 

[majBC]

add me to the list of guys whose miss with these is a pull or even a pull hook.

Have you guys tried a heavier shaft or better yet counterweight in the butt end of the club. This sometimes helps.

 

[Jman]

These were the irons that confirmed for me that offset didn't matter in the causation of my left miss, there's practically none here so when I did miss left I knew it was 100% my swing and not the clubs.

 

[BamBooBender]

These were the irons that confirmed for me that offset didn't matter in the causation of my left miss, there's practically none here so when I did miss left I knew it was 100% my swing and not the clubs.

Qft

As much as I'd like to blame the clubs, I already know the fault lies with me.

 

[Ole Gray]

I can truly say I'm enjoying the heck out of these irons. I had my timing down pretty good today and tweaked my swing plane just a bit and boom, I had some really pretty shots with these puppies. I did go to Dick's after my round to have Golf Pride Mid-Sized Tour Wrap grips (favorite) put on. The jumbo size grips that came on half of these the irons and the regular grips on the rest proved to be not to my liking.. I look forward to my continue bonding with these. They're making golf fun again which is why I purchased them. :thumb:

 

[Acuna]

Due to getting strep throat this week I have only had two range sessions with these and one little three hole circuit on the holes behind my house.

The setup on these is fairly different than my current set of irons, so I was originally thinking I would drop these into the 5-7 slots and then slowly work them into the rest of my bag. After two range sessions, I have dropped the full 5-D into the bag and can't wait to play some real rounds with them. They are longer than my current irons by at least 10 yards, and launch so dang high. I also hit the 8-D very consistently- baby draw after baby draw. The 5-6 also are much more forgiving and I absolutely bomb them with even a less than perfect swing.

So far I am very happy!!


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[sabig27]

Did you get the clubs lengthened at all Ole Gray?

I can truly say I'm enjoying the heck out of these irons. I had my timing down pretty good today and tweaked my swing plane just a bit and boom, I had some really pretty shots with these puppies. I did go to Dick's after my round to have Golf Pride Mid-Sized Tour Wrap grips (favorite) put on. The jumbo size grips that came on half of these the irons and the regular grips on the rest proved to be not to my liking.. I look forward to my continue bonding with these. They're making golf fun again which is why I purchased them. :thumb:

 

[Ole Gray]

Did you get the clubs lengthened at all Ole Gray?

Nope and truth be known not sure I will. I did put new grips on and will have the lies checked ?️


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[BamBooBender]

Played nine after work today. I was even for the first 4 holes after a couple nice up and downs, then went bogey, par (missed the Birdie putt by an inch to the left of the hole), bogey, double, triple, pulling me firmly back into my comfort zone.
It was around 70* and not a cloud in the sky, finally, so I figured maybe I could get a good feel for distance gaps between the clubs. Seems like they're going to be pretty much the same as the DI-11's for me distance wise (maybe half a club shorter), with the distances being more consistent, which is what I was hoping for anyway. I didn't fly any greens today, which was really nice.

 

[fern]

I had a bit of an underwhelming experience with these yesterday. I have been hitting my hb3 4 iron so well that I thought I would take the trial club 6 altitude out for a few swings on the range. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get anything going with it at all:bulgy-eyes:

Now I wasn't swinging great with anything and that is no fault of the altitudes, but I managed to get at least one or two solid shots away with the other clubs. The hb3 was the only thing that seemed to be working.

I did hit one that I absolutely crunched with the altitude, but I hit it off the tee. Most of the others I seemed to get a bit thin. This makes me think that it was perhaps a problem of club set up (length/lie) more than anything else.

I did hit the tt 6 iron the other day, same stock shaft and set up, and liked it. I am going to a cleveland demo fitting in a couple of weeks so we'll see how that works out maybe with a different shaft and specs. I know others had problmes with the look of the club, but for me that was a none-issue. I actually liked looking down at all that club head. It made me feel like I couldn't miss (until I did:arrogant

 

[Hotled]

I had a bit of an underwhelming experience with these yesterday. I have been hitting my hb3 4 iron so well that I thought I would take the trial club 6 altitude out for a few swings on the range. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get anything going with it at all:bulgy-eyes:

Now I wasn't swinging great with anything and that is no fault of the altitudes, but I managed to get at least one or two solid shots away with the other clubs. The hb3 was the only thing that seemed to be working.

I did hit one that I absolutely crunched with the altitude, but I hit it off the tee. Most of the others I seemed to get a bit thin. This makes me think that it was perhaps a problem of club set up (length/lie) more than anything else.

I did hit the tt 6 iron the other day, same stock shaft and set up, and liked it. I am going to a cleveland demo fitting in a couple of weeks so we'll see how that works out maybe with a different shaft and specs. I know others had problmes with the look of the club, but for me that was a none-issue. I actually liked looking down at all that club head. It made me feel like I couldn't miss (until I did:arrogant

Try moving the ball back in your stance just a tad bit at a time, that's what I did and BOOOOOM!

 

[fern]

I played around a bit with stance and other stuff but no real difference. Again, this is a very small sample (one bucket of balls!) on a pretty poor swinging day, so who knows on another day? I have just read so much good stuff about these and am hitting my hb3 which is similar so well, that I guess I expected them to swing themselves!

 

[BamBooBender]

I played around a bit with stance and other stuff but no real difference. Again, this is a very small sample (one bucket of balls!) on a pretty poor swinging day, so who knows on another day? I have just read so much good stuff about these and am hitting my hb3 which is similar so well, that I guess I expected them to swing themselves!

Lol! They don't certainly don't swing themselves, and they don't line up the shot for you either
You might want to give them a few more tries before passing on them. It took me a couple of times messing with these before I wanted to buy them. I think I was way over swinging them back then, and these need a fairly smooth swing.

 

[Ole Gray]

I picked up my irons from Dicks today and the new grips feel great! The irons had four jumbo grips and four of the counter balanced grips. Both models were in great shape but having two different sizes didn't feel right. Now all of them are uniform and the best part is with the coupons and $20.00 bonus I had earned from points, the eight grips costs me a total of $18.00 bucks which included installing them. :bananadance: I know how to put grips on but heck, I can't do it that cheap!