Interesting comment about one length irons.

[Luchnia]

I play league play and one of the guys I play with plays Cobra one length irons, not the latest versions, but probably a couple years old. He is a lefty and has a solid iron game. We have played together numerous times throughout this year and the last time we played he made an interesting comment while we were playing. He realizes I have a half way decent iron game for a golfer that has only golfed a little over a year and a half (getting close to 2 now).

During the times we have played together he has noticed how I hit my 6 and especially my 5 iron. His comment during the last round was something along the lines of, it is obvious you need one length irons. Look at how consistent you strike the clubs that are at a certain length. They fit you, you are comfortable, and look at your consistency with them each time you play. Have you taken time to notice that about your iron game?

The answer is no, yet being somewhat analytical this has gotten me to thinking if there is anything to that at all, or maybe just coincidental the few times we have played. The thing is I have had others notice how I hit the 5 and 6 iron. I realize I have had to train myself to hit the various length clubs I use (standard length Callaway Mav Max set), but I have never had anyone that seemed keen about something like this before.

I have never been overly excited about the standard golf clubs being different lengths and wondered why they were that way because you have to adjust your body, ball position, and distance to ball, swing, etc., to get the strike needed. That never made a lot of sense to me. To notice that every time I pick up certain clubs my consistency will be decent is something I think is worth noting.

I like the one length idea, but not enthused about jumping on that ship and spending more money. I also wonder why the fitters don't try folks with one length clubs as part of their fitting experience. The guy on my league is the only guy in my area that plays one length that I am aware of.

I would try one length to see if there is anything to his view, yet for now I think I will pay closer attention to my stats with my 6 and 5 iron before attempting anything else though. This is more of a general post just to see what you golfers think about this.

 

[JB]

I think the idea of having less variables is very beneficial.
I also think it will continue to grow (huge growth over the last 2 years).

The idea should be less about struggles with long irons (making them shorter) and more about having all of the clubs be the same length developing a swing that is the same no matter the yardage.

 

[Luchnia]

I think the idea of having less variables is very beneficial.
I also think it will continue to grow (huge growth over the last 2 years).

The idea should be less about struggles with long irons (making them shorter) and more about having all of the clubs be the same length developing a swing that is the same no matter the yardage.

I was thinking that the "comfort zone" for each golfer will be a certain length that promotes exactly what you have stated. In other words, my club length will be my happy place that will produce the best repeatable results possible.

Our minds do not have to think of a different length, different position, distance to ball, along with all the other stuff our minds do when we swing and can focus more on getting the ball to the target area more naturally.

 

[smgoldstein]

Theoretically single length makes some sense. How one chips or pitches with the wedges is beyond me. Despite all the talk of single length irons I have yet to see a set in play.

 

[JB]

Theoretically single length makes some sense. How one chips or pitches with the wedges is beyond me. Despite all the talk of single length irons I have yet to see a set in play.

You should get out more Stuart

Have you never hit a touch shot with a 7 iron before?

 

[Jmk202]

I was very similar to you until I jumped in earlier this year to the Forged Tec OL. I think what your noticing is the biggest improvement I saw. My quality of strike went up dramatically in the longer irons for the OL. While the club maintained acceptable distance/gapping and ball flight. Now I'm in a circumstance where I know (90% certainty) my 4i will fly 180-200 (194 average) vs before I still had to plan on 196yd 4i but a 30% chance it goes only 100yds.

The system just makes sense to me and I've really enjoyed it. I've actually converted a few friends/family members over the course of the year. OL is reaching more main stream market now and will only be come more and more common over then next decade.

FYI I still play VL wedges and Top of the bag. I love my short game and didn't want to mess with it too much, but I plan on playing with the wedges over the next year.

 

[smgoldstein]

You should get out more Stuart

I'm waiting for an invite.

Have you never hit a touch shot with a 7 iron before?

Chipping, yes, but a not a pitch shot. Just looked weird. On the other hand the long irons look like they would be easy to hit.

 

[PJSprog]

I admit to being quite fascinated by this topic.

I asked my instructor a couple years ago his thoughts about one length irons and the theory behind them. He instantly dismissed the idea as a fad, noting that if they were so great there would be more guys playing them on tour, and more companies would be making them. When I noted that he didn't really answer the question, he tried to offer another rebuke involving club distances being based on both loft and shaft length. I didn't buy his reasoning then, and I still don't. The potential benefits of one consistent swing is hard for a hack like me to dismiss.

 

[JB]

He instantly dismissed the idea as a fad, noting that if they were so great there would be more guys playing them on tour, and more companies would be making them.

He sounds fantastic...

 

[madi05]

I’m following I’m very intrigued


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[oumagic]

One Length makes a lot of sense and I am glad I switched. I had numerous people dismiss the idea over the last couple of years and I now know that numerous people were wrong. I do not know that OL works for everyone and I don’t think everyone playing golf today should all buy OL clubs. I do know that it works for enough people for it not to be dismissed as a fad. I wish I would have started with OL when I took up the game. Anyone interested in OL, check out this thread with tips from Jose Miraflor

One Length Fitting Tips from Jose Miraflor with Cobra Golf

Rather than burying this in my own Morgan Cup thread, I thought this deserved its own place. Feel free to discuss your personal experiences with One Length or ask questions. I am still personally undecided, but am so appreciative of the guidance offered by Mr. Miraflor and various THP member who...

www.thehackersparadise.com

 

[Rummpd]

I am a good iron player and need to swing a set seriously to see how the weighting feels and what distance gaps or gains/losses, might be in the top line Cobras. I believe one day there might be a middle ground of 2-3 iron lengths /maybe 8-LB in one length and blade like (probably current 9) and then perhaps hybrid 4-7 at 6 iron length with perimeter or hollow weighting or some combo of that. Heard that PING engineers might work with that or a related concept from friend in industry as there is so much potential performance and technical difference in scoring clubs vs longer irons that have to be factored into single length. Somehow Cobra seems to have hit a home run at least in the tour level iron. This never could have been realistic without sophisticated testing monitoring technology and computer models to make the same length concept actually work as it has with DB - who leads or nearly leads tour several metrics and not just distance. My next irons will look at this arena closely. Woods is another issue as reigning in length on driver means a compromise elsewhere.

 

[PJSprog]

He sounds fantastic...

He was actually a very good instructor, and helped me improve my game quite a bit. But, he definitely had a low opinion of OL irons.

 

[markom74]

I admit to being quite fascinated by this topic.

I asked my instructor a couple years ago his thoughts about one length irons and the theory behind them. He instantly dismissed the idea as a fad, noting that if they were so great there would be more guys playing them on tour, and more companies would be making them. When I noted that he didn't really answer the question, he tried to offer another rebuke involving club distances being based on both loft and shaft length. I didn't buy his reasoning then, and I still don't. The potential benefits of one consistent swing is hard for a hack like me to dismiss.

I’m unsure because I believe that you need to be able to play a wide variation of shots, and with variable length clubs you can do this easier and more pronounced than with single length clubs. For instance when I grip down on an 8 or 9, I wouldn’t expect it to feel like gripping down on, say, a 5 iron etc. It’s just me though and I dare say it’ll be absolutely fine for others.

 

[razaar]

A set with 4-iron to 9-iron being 6-iron length and weight, and all the wedges being the same length and weight as the pitching wedge makes more sense to me.

 

[OldandStiff]

The idea and certain simplicity of one length makes perfect sense in my mind. The same way progressive iron shaft weighting does, but obviously in a completely different way. I've swung 2 one length irons I think, and it seemed weird, but because it's just different to look down on. I don't know that I'd benefit from them unless we could do them in 4i length or something. Statistically, 7i is one of my weaker clubs.

I think most friends that have found something that helped them will try to encourage you to try it based on that, and the 'look at how well you hit ____' can be misleading. A 5 is not a 7, and look at how many people can crush a 3W and not hit a driver.... I'm all about people trying new stuff though, so I wish for you that you find a way to give it a real go if that's what you want without having to dish out a bunch of money.

I too, have never seen a set in play, and I get out a lot. I know Cobra has a very small presence in middle Nebraska, and that appears to be the same in Little Rock. Most stores and fitting center don't really have much Cobra beyond bags and MIM wedges, and my guess would be no more than one of them fit for one length.

 

[Luchnia]

I was very similar to you until I jumped in earlier this year to the Forged Tec OL. I think what your noticing is the biggest improvement I saw. My quality of strike went up dramatically in the longer irons for the OL. While the club maintained acceptable distance/gapping and ball flight. Now I'm in a circumstance where I know (90% certainty) my 4i will fly 180-200 (194 average) vs before I still had to plan on 196yd 4i but a 30% chance it goes only 100yds.

The system just makes sense to me and I've really enjoyed it. I've actually converted a few friends/family members over the course of the year. OL is reaching more main stream market now and will only be come more and more common over then next decade.

FYI I still play VL wedges and Top of the bag. I love my short game and didn't want to mess with it too much, but I plan on playing with the wedges over the next year.

I wondered about the wedge aspect and the top of the bag as well. Do you play your wedges and top of the bag closer to the OLs, or do you leave them standard lengths? I, like you, have developed a decent wedge game and not sure how using a OL would affect that. I was more thinking that the irons would be OLs and maybe adjusting my hybrids and driver to about only an inch difference and possibly wedges at one inch as well. Don't know yet, just speculating ideas.

 

[oumagic]

A set with 4-iron to 9-iron being 6-iron length and weight, and all the wedges being the same length and weight as the pitching wedge makes more sense to me.

I have 4i-PW in One Length at 37.5” and my 48-53-57 MiM wedges are all the same length at 35.5”

There is no doubt in my mind that OL wedges would work for many. It just depends on the player; I am 47 and there is a certain amount of experience and confidence around the green that I felt I gave up by switching to one length.

 

[Luchnia]

The idea and certain simplicity of one length makes perfect sense in my mind. The same way progressive iron shaft weighting does, but obviously in a completely different way. I've swung 2 one length irons I think, and it seemed weird, but because it's just different to look down on. I don't know that I'd benefit from them unless we could do them in 4i length or something. Statistically, 7i is one of my weaker clubs.

I think most friends that have found something that helped them will try to encourage you to try it based on that, and the 'look at how well you hit ____' can be misleading. A 5 is not a 7, and look at how many people can crush a 3W and not hit a driver.... I'm all about people trying new stuff though, so I wish for you that you find a way to give it a real go if that's what you want without having to dish out a bunch of money.

I too, have never seen a set in play, and I get out a lot. I know Cobra has a very small presence in middle Nebraska, and that appears to be the same in Little Rock. Most stores and fitting center don't really have much Cobra beyond bags and MIM wedges, and my guess would be no more than one of them fit for one length.

I agree with your thoughts on this. I think the happy length is the crucial part of this. I have only seen one set of OL in play and I can see why the guy using them. Same ball position all the time with no thought about it really.

Also I wished there were more in my area that I could see in play. There is simply not enough to go on here. Plus if some of my golfing buddies had them I could give them a whirl and see how they feel and get more information. My game has improved and I do not want to create more problems for myself - golf has enough of its own

 

[Luchnia]

I have 4i-PW in One Length at 37.5” and my 48-53-57 MiM wedges are all the same length at 35.5”

There is no doubt in my mind that OL wedges would work for many. It just depends on the player; I am 47 and there is a certain amount of experience and confidence around the green that I felt I gave up by switching to one length.

How long did it take you to adapt to them?

 

[millsan1]

I love the theory and will try it out at some point. It completely makes sense to me.

 

[Chef23]

Regarding the fitting comment most fittings are done with one iron either a 6 or 7 iron so you don't work through the whole bag.

I agree that the one length concept makes some sense if you can get the distance gaps needed. I know I hit my 7 iron more consistently than my 5 iron. Of course I also hit my 9 iron more consistently than my 7 iron. I don't know how much of that is shaft length and how much of it is loft. I would be interested to try a one length set but I am not sure I am ready to make the commitment.

On a side note how does it apply to woods? Are driver, 3w, 5w etc different lengths?

 

[Chef23]

You should get out more Stuart

Have you never hit a touch shot with a 7 iron before?

I agree with Stuart regarding seeing sets on the course. I have played 55 rounds this year and at least half of them were random connections as a single and I haven't see a set of OL irons on the golf course and I pay attention to what is in people's bags.

I don't agree on the touch shots. You can learn to hit them. I play lots of different types of shots with my irons.

 

[Luchnia]

Even though I am decent with my short irons such as PW, AW, and my 52 and 56 wedges, the fact for me is when I get to the length of my 6 and 5 iron it is almost like a locked in distance ball striking consistency thing.

When I practice on the launch monitor I rarely have to work ball striking consistency and yardage on the 6 iron or 5 iron for that matter. I have to work on the other clubs more. The question for me becomes is that because of the length of the two clubs, or something else subconsciously that makes that happen?

The minute I step over those lengths, my consistency suffers - 3i, 4i, hybrids/woods, etc. I definitely plan to investigate this some more as I find it very intriguing.

 

[Jmk202]

I wondered about the wedge aspect and the top of the bag as well. Do you play your wedges and top of the bag closer to the OLs, or do you leave them standard lengths? I, like you, have developed a decent wedge game and not sure how using a OL would affect that. I was more thinking that the irons would be OLs and maybe adjusting my hybrids and driver to about only an inch difference and possibly wedges at one inch as well. Don't know yet, just speculating ideas.

I'm Playing Traditional length Dr, 3w, 3H, 50*, 56*, and 60*. So the OL is just 4i-PW. I didn't do anything on either end to "make it closer to OL". I love the current bag and there is only 1 gap I have problems with. My PW is 136yd and my 50* is like 118yds. So If I get a 125yd shot i'm in a grey spot I don't love. I don't do well taking much off the PW, and I have a partial pitch I can do with the 8i but its not the greatest if a forced carry is in play.

I think I'm going to re-gap my wedges this Fall. I'm playin with the idea of doing a 50* (+1/2" or 3/4"), 54* (traditional), 60* (traditional). I'm speculating that may help out my 125 yd gap a bit but soft stepping from OL to VL. The other option is to utilize the OL GW but I love the feel and performance of the MIM wedges.