Off Course is back this week with a fantastic show. Hosted by Dan Edwards each Friday he gives you a deep look into the world of golf and equipment in a way unlike any other podcast has done before. Today, JB joins the show to talk about using One Length irons and the two share their thoughts on saying no to Fairway Woods.
It wouldn’t be Off Course without some tangents, but we discuss some new gear coming out soon including JB taking the One Length irons challenge with some new equipment that you will not want to miss. This show has a lot going on and it is an episode you will not want to miss.
Episode 33 is here and Dan and his guest JB discuss the following topics.
Using One Length irons
Just Say No to Fairway Woods
Why Pizza Should Be Cut a Certain Way
And so much more
You can listen to the show right here, Apple Podcasts or of anywhere you do your listening and downloading from. Search for the Hackers Paradise and make sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. After listening, come back over and drop us a note below on what you agree and/or disagree with from the episode.
THPGolf · Using One Length Irons and More
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What?! I grooved that 60 degree perfectly when I was in the tech studio last.
….one on the equator and one on the button
Great Question… Maybe @Master Yagley could tell us the answer.
When are you coming back down? I’m ready for a rematch, now that there is a OL set in the Tech Studio.
This could said about a LOT of people
Compared to shortening VL clubs, I don’t think so. Swing weight would be slightly different, but would stay consistent through the set. Lie angle may need to be tweaked slightly, but I would imagine it should be tweaked the same across the set too.
Also, consider the grip situation. If you remove Cobra Connect grips and replace with non-CC grips, that will take off 1/4" right there.
That is a valid point, but now I’m very intrigued
I love this bag and you know why. I have definitely succeeded with it. Like @JB referenced about OL increasing the frequency of solid shots, that’s absolutely what I’ve seen with the FWs
An 8i or throughout the set?
Do you play 37.5” in the wedges?
There is a OL 4 hybrid on the way to the Tech Studio… ? I can’t wait to see how it gaps with this set.
1. If you’re happy with your current wedge play, feel free to stick with it
2. If you are competent with your wedges, you’ll get comfortable with the longer ones. Not instant, but the existing skill translates and you do gain comfort from consistent feel
3. If you are NOT competent with your wedges, then absolutely switch and it will help over time (this was me, now wedge play is the best part of my game)
Through out the whole set, even in the lower irons i.e 9-GW.
might as well add a UT
thanks for the breakdown
You are right.. He won’t accept my camping invitations either.
On a serious note, trying a one length set is on my strong ponder list. I struggle with my long irons at times and want to give a set of one length irons a go to see if they work for me.
Yes! Thoughts above but I’ll elaborate on bag details for those unfamiliar.
I play 5i-GW set and 56/60 specialty wedges all at 37.5. I have gone through a few different chipping styles with them, mostly with success but always looking for more repeatability. Currently, I am using the same setup as full swings, and exact same swing mechanics, just varying the amount of backswing. Even with gentle green side chips, that just is maybe to 8:00 on the backswing clock.
I also play all my fairways at 43.25" which is half between Cobra F9 3w/5w stock lengths. I’ve found much better consistency of strike (or particularly, frequency of high quality strike). I do use them both off the tee and the deck pretty freely.
I will remind, this isn’t magic, still gotta make a good swing, and I have some flaws which make that easy to falter. But, I do have full confidence regardless of what club is in my hand and I do see a much better success rate
On the bunker statement, of course, there isn’t a practice bunker in the Tech Studio, so I never hit it out of an actual bunker.
But I will say that the PW & GW from this set were easy to adjust to and I had no issues hitting them to the yardage I needed (even when I was taking some off).
That’s awesome to hear. One thing I will add about bunkers- I strongly believe there is some extra flexibility with OL wedges. Once you’re comfortable, it’s easy to grip down if you want. But if you have a bad lie well below your feet (Tiger on 12 says hello), it certainly helps to have that extra length to work with.
I “think” that if I purchased a few OL wedges and put the GW back in the bag, I would b fine. But when I ordered, I went with the two variable wedges and pairing those with the OL GW around the green was more than my mind could handle. I think that I will eventually try OL throughout irons and wedges.
The Cobra *Redacted* are sick long. There were several times , I looked at @JB and said I can’t believe that it carried that far.
200 yard 5 irons were common place. Distance loss in the higher irons in a OL set is a myth.
The tees I usually play are 6950 yards and par 71. We are playing a matches generally and frankly I am as good as the people I play with even from the tees even though I am shorter than them. For playing matches we play the same tees and adjust handicaps based on the course ratings and slopes although frequently we are playing even. I am not complaining just identifying that I play tees that I need to hit a lot of fairway woods into greens and there are situations where you may chose to play a course from tees that require you to hit longer clubs into greens.
I meant the shaft length, I think it helps in bunkers where ball below the feet seems much more common than above.
But you are right, OL is absolutely not shorter than VL for equivalent clubs
Ugh, the goal was not to buy irons this year. But…
I have used the F9 OL for a season and had a similar thought about bunkers and chipping around the green. My set is 7i length so as an 8i it may be different, but any time I tried to chip with my OL I had trouble adjusting.
So true.
I am not sure it was a myth but rather something that maybe has been corrected? I believe that in the F8 that the longer irons (4i and 5i) launched lower. If it was someone that struggled with launch, I believe that they would get less distance than the VL irons.
My OL FT 4 and 5 iron are nearly identical to my previous 4 and 5 iron in distance and launch just a hair lower than my Big Bertha (2019) irons did.
You don’t want one. stop it.
I was just curious because I’d never want to play a set of tees that require 3 wood into the green on a par 4 haha
That’s deep, man!
I have seen your videos and you wouldn’t need to hit fairway wood into any of these greens assuming a solid drive. I also think from 210 yards out you wouldn’t be hitting fairway woods anyway it is probably no more than a 5 iron (my 175 club) or maybe even a 6 iron.
Somehow this is quite the threadjack for a OL thread.
I mean… it came from the "Off Course" podcast so if anything we’re doing it perfect justice haha
I play from 6,600 usually and don’t mind moving up to 6,400 if my group prefers it (especially in off season or bad weather). Very rarely do we venture back to 6,950 and I’m pretty okay with it. I personally LOVE playing a course that requires at least four different clubs off the tee for positioning.
When working at Dick’s, we had a full Demo set of both the Variable F8s & OL F8s. I can say that during that launch, consistent distance was an issue with the 4,5, & 6 irons in that set.
It’s an issue that has been corrected. I saw some really good yardages in all clubs in the set and the gaps were correct.
That is my point. It is a belief some still have based on issues when OL was first rolled out, so I guess it is a myth based on old info. A lot of what I heard from fitters was old info when I was trying to get started in OL FT. It is one reason I post so much about OL and include screenshots of my arcoss numbers. Whatever issue they had when OL first came out seems to be corrected. I did try F9 in the golf store on a monitor and had poor gapping between the demo clubs, but I have talked to others that have no issues with F9 gapping.
I am excited to see the OL Cobra offerings in 2021 and look forward to following the people that go OL next season.
Love that, making golf more fun is the best thing
Even at 6400 yards I still hit driver off almost every tee. When driver is 230 all in you can hit it on most holes particularly when I am pretty much as straight with driver as anything else. At 6950 on my course you might hit other than driver on a few holes depending on the wind. At 6600 yards you definitely would.
Courses at 6400 yards are definitely easier for me to score on but I do enjoy the challenge of the tougher course as well. A 78 at my course translates to roughly a 2 differential which equates to 72 or 74 at some other courses near by.
"Thank you for the email, and interest in Cobra Golf. The shafts are correctly tip trimmed for the set, if you were looking to go to an 8 iron length, you would just need to butt trim to the desired length and re grip. We have a lot of guys who will play 6 iron or 8 iron length. The one length can be played at the best length for you, so an 8 iron length is not uncommon at all.
Brad F "
I would think that would impact the distance you hit your irons though. Taking 1/2" or more off of each club is going to cause you to hit them shorter.
Not necessarily. Traditional irons that is true, OL are weighted differently to allow them to play at the same length. For instance my 5 iron very short length wiseof my previous 5 iron doesnt go shorter.
Is the loft stronger than the loft on a traditional 5 iron.
There are a couple of minor changes (half a degree), but it comes from weight and weight placement.
This hybrid is also cut to the same length as my irons and I am seeing no major distance loss.
This is going to be a fun ride.
I am starting to think you’re actually telling the truth.
I’m dieing to see these once released, might push me off the OL cliff! ?
I have played 4 rounds of Sim Golf in the tech studio in 3 days. That should tell you something. Including 3 of those rounds being irons only.