The last two weeks ago we talked about lie – how to bend and iron, and WHY to bend an iron.

This week, let’s talk about length. It’s equally as important as lie, and it can not be overlooked in the fitting process. Contrary to lie, I fit for length first. Wherever possible, I like to have a player use the correct length throughout the fitting process.

Here’s a myth that I’ve talked about before. Length on it’s own doesn’t change lie angle. Length – without a posture/ set up change STILL DOES NOT change lie angle, but it does affect how an iron plays. Remember, unless you bend an iron on a loft and lie machine, the lie angle is the same, regardless of what you do to the length (these specs are independent of one another). When we give a player a longer or shorter club, we do so because we WANT to change the players posture/ set up. This means that you need to re-fit for lie angle after a length change. I will typically do this as we get a shaft dialed in.

Length adjustments are primarily used to alter a players posture or set up. Sometimes it’s because a player is too tall or too hunched at address. Other times it’s because of a physical limitation or change. Whatever the reason, it’s typically used to alter the players body position.

With that being said, there are a couple things we can learn from length. This discussion is predominately focused on irons.

Hit Location

Like Lie angle, the length of a club can influence hit location. If a player hits the ball on the heel or toe, there are generally two reasons. Either the player sets up off center, and then hits its in in the same location on the face, or the player sets up in one spot on the face and then the path of the swing causes the hit location to move. This is much more common on a toe strike due to an over-the-top swing path, but the opposite can also be true. Can length help either of these?

The short answer is maybe, but… Instruction is probably the better solution in both cases.

In the first case, if a player lines up on the toe and hits it there, giving him a longer club will not change this. Want to check what would happen? Either give the player a longer club and have him hit it with face tape, OR, just hand him his 5 iron (with face tape) and see what happens. Generally, the player sees the set up location as the center of the face. It’s typically as simple as having them move 1/2″ closer to the ball and retrain their eyes (just moving the club at address without moving closer won’t change anything). I will often have a player set up, and then I hold the club in place while they go back behind and look down the line. It’s very easy to see the ball/ clubface alignment from this position.

In the second case, the solution is a bit more complicated. If a player sets up with the ball centered on the club face, but hits it on the heel or toe, this is almost always swing induced. Think about an “over-the-top” swing path. As the upper body initiates the downswing, the left shoulder begins to rotate to the left. This moves the club head AWAY from the ball to the left, creating a toe strike. An “in-to-out” path does the opposite. Ever look at a tour players clubs and notice the wear spot inside of center? This is why. Length in either case will not fix this problem.

The only time this WOULDN’T be swing induced is if a player had a shaft that was waaaay, waaaay to flexible and excessive droop in the shaft was caused by the swing. This would be a player who has an aggressive swing & transition with fast tempo, who should be playing Dynamic Gold X100, but has senior flex graphite in the set instead. This would be very rare, and should be eliminated once the fitting process commences. Hand me downs from Grandpa 10 years ago, but now a College grad after a successful baseball career…

Fortunately, most clubs are so forgiving that a player can hit the ball on a much bigger area and still get decent results. To the point where, five years ago, I would put face tape on every iron swing and pull my hair out wondering HOW am I ever going to help this poor guy find the center of the club face? Today, faces are so forgiving that I hardly even look at it any more unless it is glaring.

I played a couple holes last night. I hit an 8-iron with an Apex Pro – my 150 club, to a target that was 152. I hit it so far on the toe, that I felt the club twist in my hands. My bad for trying to get too much out of it. My “penalty”? I stepped it off. The shot flew 147. I had an extra 15 feet on my putt. That’s with an Apex Pro. Imagine a Big Bertha iron… you might not even notice it. Changing the club head will have a much bigger improvement on off center contact than changing the length of the club. Especially today.

Something else to consider

As sets like the Smoke and Smoke HL are going longer than 1/2″ between clubs, clubs are getting longer and longer. Why? We want to see an appreciable difference in distance between clubs. So, rather than stretch out the lofts (this would be my solution), we make the lengths longer. OK, so? So… a “traditional” 9-iron is 36″ long. That makes a 7-iron 37″. In the Smoke set, the 9 is 36″, but the 7 is 37 1/4″. The 5 is 38 1/2″. You gain 1/8″ per club starting with the 8- iron. If you go plus 1/2″ on the smoke – keep this in mind. The players 7 iron will be +3/4″ and the 5 iron will be +1″. Is this necessary, and can the player handle it? This must be factored in when considering the players posture/ set up at address.

Faulty Ball Flight

We talked about this with lie angle too. Poor impact position CAN and WILL cause a faulty ball flight. A shot hit off center will cause gear effect. A shot off the toe will cause the club to impart hook spin on the shot. An iron doesn’t have bulge and roll on the face like a driver does, so the shot off the toe will go left with hook spin (rather than start right and hook back). The iron shot I hit last night – I aimed at the center of the green and it started left and finished on the left side of the green. No surprises. Length won’t fix this. It’s caused by physics and swing mechanics.

There is only one quick fix and one long term fix. Change the club head!! Perhaps that slicer loves the look of the Apex Pro. That iron head may not suit his game without instruction and practice. Big Bertha would help stop the slice today. It will reduce or eliminate the gear effect. That is what technology is designed to do. A long term solution is to work on the swing mechanics that cause the faulty impact location which gives a faulty ball flight.

The Bottom Line

As with lie, there isn’t a magic bullet. Use length to get a player in the proper set up position and move on. Don’t try to use it for more than that. If mechanics are bad, correct those with instruction. The length won’t change post instruction as the player isn’t getting taller (unless it’s a junior, and that’s a whole different animal). Once the player is in a good set up position, teaching the rest of the mechanics becomes easier.

Happy Fitting!!!

Jim Yeager, PGA