For those that have been following my other thread, The One Length Challenge: My Journey, you know that a decision was needed to be made as to whether I will go back to variable length irons or stock with the one lengths.
I was given the assignment of playing five rounds of golf and some range sessions with a set of Cobra F9 Speedback One length irons and report back to THP with my thoughts and opinions. In all actuality, I played a few more half rounds than that, and have a pretty good idea where I currently sit with these.
Before I give my decision I just want to high light some of the things I found while using the OL’s. First off, it can become a mental grind playing these if you have any type of OCD going on with golf clubs. I went in thinking I could just pick up any club and get comfortable with it and that was far from the truth for me. For those maybe not familiar and just reading about this for the first time, all the irons measure out to 37.5 inches. The equivalent of a 7 iron. So in theory, every swing should be like that of the 7 iron but each club is lofted and weighted differently to match the sequencing in a normal set(4-pw for example). I was given a set that consisted of 5-GW. So the 5 and 6 irons are playing at a shorter than normal length and the 8-GW are at a longer than typical length. The PW and GW were the hardest for me to get used to and that seems to be the consensus from most who have tried OL irons. The unusually longer shaft length on those 2 clubs in particular are ones I can still find myself struggling with. The opposite was true for me with the 5 and 6 irons. Since they were shorter, I had an easier time playing them compared to my recent experiences with variable length versions.
Another area I found myself having to work around was the aesthetics of the heads themselves. They are a little clunkier than what I am used to playing. The GW in particular really did look like a shovel. Even though my handicap would not classify me as a player, I do prefer the player’s club look. Little smaller, less depth and a shorter blade. So it has taken me a little while to get used to standing over a shot, with a larger head framing the ball. After a while you begin to not notice it, but for the first couple of rounds it was definitely in the back of my mind.
My results with the OL’s were no what I had expected. I was expecting more distance. Especially in the short irons, as they had longer shafts in them. However I did not see the distance I was expecting. If anything, I was a couple yards short of what I would have had been with variable length irons. Distance isn’t an issue if you don’t have huge gaps in between clubs and thankfully I didn’t. I would say I had between 10-15 yards between each which should be more than acceptable. The biggest benefit in the OL that I would not have ever guessed was in dispersion. These babies fly straight. You have to put on a rather bad swing to get these very far off line. Trust me, I had a bad swing or two and they still stayed pretty darn straight to where I was aiming. I was extremely ecstatic with the results.
So what are may overall thoughts about One Length irons. I love the concept, and I really do think it’s obtainable to get to where you have basically one swing for virtually everything but the driver(and maybe driver will be included one day). For me I have always struggled with a different swing between driver, woods, hybrids, irons, and wedges. For someone like myself, I feel as though I have the need to have a swing that is as repetitive as possible but with all the different lengths in clubs I could never match them all up. I do believe with OL it is possible. With that being said, I feel as though I would need my hybrids and wedges to match up with my irons to be truly successful with OL.
So if I have kept your attention for this long, I applaud you. Either you are a miserable person who has nothing else to do with their lives than to read some nobody on a golf forum or you are somewhat interested in what I had to say in regards to my experience with one length irons................................who I am kidding. You’re all here just to find out who won the bet between JB and Adam from the Golf Unfiltered Podcasts. In case you weren’t paying attention or living under a rock the last month. This whole concept came to fruition from a podcast that Adam hosted and had JB as a guest. They thought it would be a bright idea to find some knucklehead to try OL irons and see if that participant would continue using them after the proposed trial period. From there a bet was made. JB was of the mind that if a person tried these for 5 rounds and range sessions that this particular person would decide to continue using the OL irons. Adam was on the other side of the fence as he was adamant that whoever tried OL’s would be ready to switch back to variable length as soon as the trial was over. Loser would have to play whatever style of clubs the winner wanted him to game for a season. That means the loser might end up with variable, OL, all hybrids, women’s, kids or whatever set the winner want him to use.
So now that I have everyone’s attention and you all are on the edge of your seats, I am ready to announce to the world( or THP, same thing right) my life changing decision....
I make this announcement after much consideration and reflection. This last month as been a true test for me. A test of will and fortitude. After hours of deliberation I have decided to stick with the OL. I want to see if I can get better with these sticks. As I have mentioned, I really do like the OL concept and I do think I could master it, but i would have to make a coupe of changes to my lineup. I am seriously thinking of picking up a couple of OL hybrids. I really think having a full set of hybrids/irons/wedges that are OL is a necessity for me to really embrace this change. Forged Tec irons are another possibility. I really like the idea of a smaller profile and more compact head. It just suits my eye better than the game improvement model. However, that’s a ways off. For now I will keep working with the F9 Speedback One Lengths.
I hope you have enjoyed my thread to this point. Even though I made my decision, it doesn’t mean my journey is over. I would hope you would allow me to update you on how things are going with me and my experiences with one length irons. Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to read, like and respond. It has made this project a lot easier for me knowing there were people out there truly interested in what I was doing and what I had to say.
P.S. Adam- Sorry bro! Hope JB takes it easy on you. No hard feelings I hope!
time4tim(Tim Campbell)
I was given the assignment of playing five rounds of golf and some range sessions with a set of Cobra F9 Speedback One length irons and report back to THP with my thoughts and opinions. In all actuality, I played a few more half rounds than that, and have a pretty good idea where I currently sit with these.
Before I give my decision I just want to high light some of the things I found while using the OL’s. First off, it can become a mental grind playing these if you have any type of OCD going on with golf clubs. I went in thinking I could just pick up any club and get comfortable with it and that was far from the truth for me. For those maybe not familiar and just reading about this for the first time, all the irons measure out to 37.5 inches. The equivalent of a 7 iron. So in theory, every swing should be like that of the 7 iron but each club is lofted and weighted differently to match the sequencing in a normal set(4-pw for example). I was given a set that consisted of 5-GW. So the 5 and 6 irons are playing at a shorter than normal length and the 8-GW are at a longer than typical length. The PW and GW were the hardest for me to get used to and that seems to be the consensus from most who have tried OL irons. The unusually longer shaft length on those 2 clubs in particular are ones I can still find myself struggling with. The opposite was true for me with the 5 and 6 irons. Since they were shorter, I had an easier time playing them compared to my recent experiences with variable length versions.
Another area I found myself having to work around was the aesthetics of the heads themselves. They are a little clunkier than what I am used to playing. The GW in particular really did look like a shovel. Even though my handicap would not classify me as a player, I do prefer the player’s club look. Little smaller, less depth and a shorter blade. So it has taken me a little while to get used to standing over a shot, with a larger head framing the ball. After a while you begin to not notice it, but for the first couple of rounds it was definitely in the back of my mind.
My results with the OL’s were no what I had expected. I was expecting more distance. Especially in the short irons, as they had longer shafts in them. However I did not see the distance I was expecting. If anything, I was a couple yards short of what I would have had been with variable length irons. Distance isn’t an issue if you don’t have huge gaps in between clubs and thankfully I didn’t. I would say I had between 10-15 yards between each which should be more than acceptable. The biggest benefit in the OL that I would not have ever guessed was in dispersion. These babies fly straight. You have to put on a rather bad swing to get these very far off line. Trust me, I had a bad swing or two and they still stayed pretty darn straight to where I was aiming. I was extremely ecstatic with the results.
So what are may overall thoughts about One Length irons. I love the concept, and I really do think it’s obtainable to get to where you have basically one swing for virtually everything but the driver(and maybe driver will be included one day). For me I have always struggled with a different swing between driver, woods, hybrids, irons, and wedges. For someone like myself, I feel as though I have the need to have a swing that is as repetitive as possible but with all the different lengths in clubs I could never match them all up. I do believe with OL it is possible. With that being said, I feel as though I would need my hybrids and wedges to match up with my irons to be truly successful with OL.
So if I have kept your attention for this long, I applaud you. Either you are a miserable person who has nothing else to do with their lives than to read some nobody on a golf forum or you are somewhat interested in what I had to say in regards to my experience with one length irons................................who I am kidding. You’re all here just to find out who won the bet between JB and Adam from the Golf Unfiltered Podcasts. In case you weren’t paying attention or living under a rock the last month. This whole concept came to fruition from a podcast that Adam hosted and had JB as a guest. They thought it would be a bright idea to find some knucklehead to try OL irons and see if that participant would continue using them after the proposed trial period. From there a bet was made. JB was of the mind that if a person tried these for 5 rounds and range sessions that this particular person would decide to continue using the OL irons. Adam was on the other side of the fence as he was adamant that whoever tried OL’s would be ready to switch back to variable length as soon as the trial was over. Loser would have to play whatever style of clubs the winner wanted him to game for a season. That means the loser might end up with variable, OL, all hybrids, women’s, kids or whatever set the winner want him to use.
So now that I have everyone’s attention and you all are on the edge of your seats, I am ready to announce to the world( or THP, same thing right) my life changing decision....
I make this announcement after much consideration and reflection. This last month as been a true test for me. A test of will and fortitude. After hours of deliberation I have decided to stick with the OL. I want to see if I can get better with these sticks. As I have mentioned, I really do like the OL concept and I do think I could master it, but i would have to make a coupe of changes to my lineup. I am seriously thinking of picking up a couple of OL hybrids. I really think having a full set of hybrids/irons/wedges that are OL is a necessity for me to really embrace this change. Forged Tec irons are another possibility. I really like the idea of a smaller profile and more compact head. It just suits my eye better than the game improvement model. However, that’s a ways off. For now I will keep working with the F9 Speedback One Lengths.
I hope you have enjoyed my thread to this point. Even though I made my decision, it doesn’t mean my journey is over. I would hope you would allow me to update you on how things are going with me and my experiences with one length irons. Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to read, like and respond. It has made this project a lot easier for me knowing there were people out there truly interested in what I was doing and what I had to say.
P.S. Adam- Sorry bro! Hope JB takes it easy on you. No hard feelings I hope!
time4tim(Tim Campbell)
