One Length Irons Thread: Join the Revolution

[erock9174]

The concept is sound but I think it all depends on your bag makeup and swing speed. Given I start at a 6i, I have never given it a thought as I think sometimes a 7i is too long of a shaft length
My buddy plays the F8 OL irons. The last two times we played together we came up to a par 3 that I usually hit my PW on. I asked to hit his PW and it was a solid 10 yds further and much more wild accuracy wise for me, and they are the same loft as my PW. I don't think I could hit wedges consistently at 37".
Also I have hit his 5i and its easy enough to hit but it goes nowhere the distance and height of my 38.50" 5h (26*).

 

[JB]

The concept is sound but I think it all depends on your bag makeup and swing speed. Given I start at a 6i, I have never given it a thought as I think sometimes a 7i is too long of a shaft length
My buddy plays the F8 OL irons. The last two times we played together we came up to a par 3 that I usually hit my PW on. I asked to hit his PW and it was a solid 10 yds further and much more wild accuracy wise for me, and they are the same loft as my PW. I don't think I could hit wedges consistently at 37".
Also I have hit his 5i and its easy enough to hit but it goes nowhere the distance and height of my 38.50" 5h (26*).

A lot happens with new technology over 3 generations.

 

[Luchnia]

A lot happens with new technology over 3 generations.

I think Cobra is a company that pays attention to this and will make the right changes in their product line.

 

[JB]

I think Cobra is a company that pays attention to this and will make the right changes in their product line.

Based on the data we have seen across a number of different speeds, they already did.

 

[Jman]

Based on the data we have seen across a number of different speeds, they already did.

This is what excited and intrigued me the most.

 

[JB]

Last update was focusing on the scoring clubs and I mentioned doing a similar test with the 5 and 6 irons. This is one area of the One Length that I think struggled overall in generations a few years old in terms of creating proper gapping and separating. Earlier in the thread I posted my gaps and it appears as though Cobra has really handled this well. We have tested this with a fairly large group of testers from a senior golfer through some pretty high speeds and have had little concerns, but since it is my personal set, I wanted to give them a bit of a thorough test. 18 balls of each with the average taken and nothing thrown out.

I had a couple of pretty bad strikes in the grouping as a whole, but figured they would work there way out in the averages.

5 iron: 188.24
6 iron: 173.91

The averages are similar to what I posted earlier in the thread with my gapping, but the 5 iron gave me a bit more and a larger gap than what I am looking for. With that said, the 6 iron had 2 balls that came up short on some not great swings.

The only issue with the 5 iron is a me issue. Its a mental issue that because it is so freaking easy to hit, I am swinging harder at it. When @JDax was in the Tech Studio last he said the same thing. The tendency is to swing almost as if you are teeing off, because mentally it is as if you can't miss with it despite being lower loft. Not sure if that visual makes sense, but it has rung true throughout and something I need to work on. Ironically enough, when playing a round of sim golf and using it on an approach, nothing like that happens. Use it off the tee or on the range, my mind tells me to swing harder. Work in progress for sure.

Spin numbers for me are as follows.

5 iron: 4371
6 iron: 5264

Both of those numbers are higher than I expected and higher than they were with the SpeedZone. They are also about 500 rpms higher than @JDax got when he was testing. I am a higher spin player however due to be fairly steep.

What kind of distances are these? A little bit further than I hit my previous set. 3-5 yards on average. What is interesting is it appears to be less about loft getting that average and more about my misses around the face causing less distance loss. I am launching them higher with similar spin to both Forged TEC and XXIO X. Launching them similarly with more spin to the Launcher HB Turbo from Cleveland that I enjoyed in my hybrid spots.

So now I have tested the extremes from the length side of things and seen gapping to what I am a looking for both in the scoring and long irons. Next update I will be discussing a little more in depth about length and weight and why my set is built for me this way.

 

[DataDude]

I think I can clearly see benefit here in the long irons and hybrids. My problem is giving up my scoring clubs which are the best part of my game. Why would a golfer not possibly want to go one-lengthish and take advantage of where they really see it helping them, but leave the area they fear messing up alone?

 

[e1iterate]

Great data @JB

I’ve been giving this more and more thought and I’m just curious as your thoughts (and others) around this as I may be overthinking this again.

My home course has a lot of uneven lies. Balls above and below your feet. On upslopes and downslopes. Do you see this as something that could make OL more challenging? Or is there an advantage? Stop thinking? Thoughts?

 

[JB]

I think I can clearly see benefit here in the long irons and hybrids. My problem is giving up my scoring clubs which are the best part of my game. Why would a golfer not possibly want to go one-lengthish and take advantage of where they really see it helping them, but leave the area they fear messing up alone?

I believe and have mentioned it a few times, that the goal is an elimination of variables. That is the benefit to create one swing, not to make 1-2 spots in the bag easier, but rather create more consistency throughout. If I was seeing a downgrade in the scoring clubs or a detriment to dispersion I might understand the logic behind it more, but the data says otherwise.

 

[JB]

Great data @JB

I’ve been giving this more and more thought and I’m just curious as your thoughts (and others) around this as I may be overthinking this again.

My home course has a lot of uneven lies. Balls above and below your feet. On upslopes and downslopes. Do you see this as something that could make OL more challenging? Or is there an advantage? Stop thinking? Thoughts?

Why would it? Question. If you have an uneven lie and are ABC distance away do you take a shorter or longer club than the distance dictates? Or adjust your hands or feet to play it?

As an example, I can’t imagine being 145 away which is a 9 iron or so and having the ball below my feet and taking a 6 iron due to it having extra length? Do people do that? Asking genuinely.

 

[e1iterate]

I see your point. I’m giving this serious thought and I’m trying to take all mental variables out and allow my mind to commit to the process.

 

[JB]

I see your point. I’m giving this serious thought and I’m trying to take all mental variables out and allow my mind to commit to the process.

I really believe the best scenario is being able to try them. Heading to a store that has set demos and asking for 9,7,5 and laying them head down so you don’t know the number and grabbing and hitting. It’s the same swing for all of them.

one of the mental areas I did was a simple thought. If I had you two drivers and one is 12* and one is 8* and you just hit them, you don’t think about the loft and they are the same length. You just swing them like you do any driver, right? This is exactly the same.

 

[fuffle master]

Great update @JB

As I said earlier, my one issue with my personal OL has been the gapping in the lesser lofted irons, 5i and 6i to be specific. Looking forward to hear about why 8i length and the change in weight.

Question, and you may have mentioned this but I forget, did you get any of the OL hybrids? Would be interesting to hear your thoughts and testing as you move to an 8i length in those.

 

[JB]

Great update @JB

As I said earlier, my one issue with my personal OL has been the gapping in the lesser lofted irons, 5i and 6i to be specific. Looking forward to hear about why 8i length and the change in weight.

Question, and you may have mentioned this but I forget, did you get any of the OL hybrids? Would be interesting to hear your thoughts and testing as you move to an 8i length in those.

Yes. OL 4 hybrid and there are a number of updates on it.

 

[Jman]

Ugh.

You are going to end up making me do this.

 

[Jman]

Also, that was one BADASS update JB.

 

[fuffle master]

I have a 5 iron and right now a 4 hybrid. I’m going to move that to a 3 hybrid most likely to increase some separation.

If you pick this up can you post your thoughts. I just got the 3 Speedzone hybrid in normal OL with the same idea about gapping. I kinda wonder if you have to jump up/skip a club once you get to the hybrids.

 

[Nerdy]

Great feedback @JB For me I hit my 6i really well but can't hit a 5i to save my life. I carry one and use it only as a low punch out of trees. My gapping is 6i to 4hybrid in terms of clubs i actually hit. Your feedback about the 5i being so easy to hit has me hopeful that when I do transition to OL it may add another club option for me as it's currently almost dead weight.

 

[KEV]

That's really good info JB. I wish a person could demo a One Length set for a couple of weeks to give them a try. It's tough spend the money to commit to something like this when you just don't know how it will work out. I think there's probably a lot of people like me that think it would work great 5-8 iron but 9 and down is where I struggle mentally.

 

[JB]

That's really good info JB. I wish a person could demo a One Length set for a couple of weeks to give them a try. It's tough spend the money to commit to something like this when you just don't know how it will work out. I think there's probably a lot of people like me that think it would work great 5-8 iron but 9 and down is where I struggle mentally.

Do you think you take a different swing at the all with an 8 iron in your hand than a 9 iron? Asking genuinely.

 

[KEV]

Do you think you take a different swing at the all with an 8 iron in your hand than a 9 iron? Asking genuinely.

Not at all. If I had a setup like yours with 8 iron length I could make it work better. The wedges would be the bigger hurdle to get over.

I think the mental hurdle would be the toughest part. In those "longer irons" mentally I could commit because I see nothing but benefit as long as the gapping works. The short iron and wedge area is where I would need to get out of my own head. Full swings it would probably be no problem, the partial and greenside shots is where it would be a challenge.

 

[JB]

Not at all. If I had a setup like yours with 8 iron length I could make it work better. The wedges would be the bigger hurdle to get over.

I think the mental hurdle would be the toughest part. In those "longer irons" mentally I could commit because I see nothing but benefit as long as the gapping works. The short iron and wedge area is where I would need to get out of my own head. Full swings it would probably be no problem, the partial and greenside shots is where it would be a challenge.

As mentioned I keep a single wedge that is shorter. I’m questioning whether I will continue but I did so primarily for short trouble shots around the green and those uphill lies in the bunker where it’s still a partial swing.

 

[KEV]

As mentioned I keep a single wedge that is shorter. I’m questioning whether I will continue but I did so primarily for short trouble shots around the green and those uphill lies in the bunker where it’s still a partial swing.

I carry a 50* and 54* which is where I think I would have the issue. If someone made a longer grip though that would allow me to grip down further around the green that might be one way to get around it. I'm not sure if that exists though.

 

[JB]

I carry a 50* and 54* which is where I think I would have the issue. If someone made a longer grip though that would allow me to grip down further around the green that might be one way to get around it. I'm not sure if that exists though.

That exists, the Callaway MD CB has one. I was curious about the GW and how it would fit being near that loft and have had good success with it

 

[Templet0n]

Last update was focusing on the scoring clubs and I mentioned doing a similar test with the 5 and 6 irons. This is one area of the One Length that I think struggled overall in generations a few years old in terms of creating proper gapping and separating. Earlier in the thread I posted my gaps and it appears as though Cobra has really handled this well. We have tested this with a fairly large group of testers from a senior golfer through some pretty high speeds and have had little concerns, but since it is my personal set, I wanted to give them a bit of a thorough test. 18 balls of each with the average taken and nothing thrown out.

I had a couple of pretty bad strikes in the grouping as a whole, but figured they would work there way out in the averages.

5 iron: 188.24
6 iron: 173.91

The averages are similar to what I posted earlier in the thread with my gapping, but the 5 iron gave me a bit more and a larger gap than what I am looking for. With that said, the 6 iron had 2 balls that came up short on some not great swings.

The only issue with the 5 iron is a me issue. Its a mental issue that because it is so freaking easy to hit, I am swinging harder at it. When @JDax was in the Tech Studio last he said the same thing. The tendency is to swing almost as if you are teeing off, because mentally it is as if you can't miss with it despite being lower loft. Not sure if that visual makes sense, but it has rung true throughout and something I need to work on. Ironically enough, when playing a round of sim golf and using it on an approach, nothing like that happens. Use it off the tee or on the range, my mind tells me to swing harder. Work in progress for sure.

Spin numbers for me are as follows.

5 iron: 4371
6 iron: 5264

Both of those numbers are higher than I expected and higher than they were with the SpeedZone. They are also about 500 rpms higher than @JDax got when he was testing. I am a higher spin player however due to be fairly steep.

What kind of distances are these? A little bit further than I hit my previous set. 3-5 yards on average. What is interesting is it appears to be less about loft getting that average and more about my misses around the face causing less distance loss. I am launching them higher with similar spin to both Forged TEC and XXIO X. Launching them similarly with more spin to the Launcher HB Turbo from Cleveland that I enjoyed in my hybrid spots.

So now I have tested the extremes from the length side of things and seen gapping to what I am a looking for both in the scoring and long irons. Next update I will be discussing a little more in depth about length and weight and why my set is built for me this way.

On the long irons how are your peak heights and decent angles looking? This has always been something that scares people about OL. Long iron flights getting too flat.