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Questions & Answers
1.
I’m 52 years old and I’m thinking about getting a new set of irons. I
have graphite shafts in all of my woods and since I hit them better than
my steel shafted irons, I’m considering having graphite put in my new
irons. Do you think that would do me any good? [View
Answer]
2.
OK, it seems graphite may provide some boost to my game. But what about
cost? I know that graphite will cost more than steel. How much more and
does the added cost of graphite match its added benefit? [View
Answer]
3.
Is graphite necessarily a good thing for all players? [View
Answer]
4.
I use a stainless steel Cobra Deep Face driver as my tee club. I’ve had
it 10-12 years or so and I think it’s a pretty good club. I consistently
hit it fairly straight with decent distance but my golf buddies almost
always out drive me by a considerable margin. They all seem to use the
big titanium drivers and I was wondering if switching to one myself would
help me catch up? [View Answer]
5.
No matter what I do, I can’t get any consistent play out of my long
irons. I’ve tried everything and, most of the time, all I get is
trouble. I’m tired of it and I’m thinking about replacing my 3 and 4
irons with a couple of the rescue type clubs I’ve read and heard about.
What do you think about that idea? [View Answer]
Graphite shafted irons
may very well do your golf game a world of good. Graphite has two
important game-improvement characteristics that can benefit your game.
First of all, a graphite
shafted iron weighs about 15% less than a steel shafted one. This means
that you’re carrying around a club that is notably lighter and easier to
swing. Because it is lighter and easier to swing, you can increase your
control and make better, more consistently solid ball contact. Also,
because of its lighter weight, you will likely be able to swing it a
little faster than your steel shafted club and perhaps pick up a little
distance as part of the deal.
Secondly, graphite
removes 40% to 50% of the vibration you feel when you strike a golf ball.
You most definitely feel this vibration in your fingers, hands and wrists.
It also impacts, to a lesser degree, your forearms, elbows and
shoulders. Diminishing the ‘sting’ of hitting golf balls to this extent
is significant when you take into account that most of us hit the golf
ball 80 to 110 times each time we head out for a round on the golf course.
All in all, graphite adds
up to less wear and tear on you when you swing golf clubs and strike golf
balls. While it may not be the answer for everyone, graphite can leave
you with more energy and better able to focus on the swing control you
need to make more solid, more consistent golf ball impact and maybe hit it
further and straighter than you do with your steel shafted irons.
On a personal note and
under the category of ‘for what it’s worth’, I would just add that I
switched my irons to graphite around 5 years ago and I wouldn’t have them
any other way. I couldn’t switch back to steel shafts if I had to. A
couple of years ago I took out my backup set that’s shafted with steel and
I was ready to walk off the course after 4 or 5 holes, the difference in
weight and feel was that noticeable and uncomfortable. I just turned 54
and I guess I’m at that stage where I try to make things physically as
easy on me as I can and graphite shafted irons does that for me when it
comes to the game of golf.
It’s only $7.75 - $9.00 more per
club and feedback from my customers who have switched to graphite indicate
that it is well worth the relatively low additional cost. In other words,
if you benefit from the advantages of graphite then the additional cost is
largely regarded as insignificant.
I’ve played graphite in
my irons for a few years now and recommend it for most players, especially
those of us who are getting into our 40’s, 50’s and such. As we get older
we sometimes need a little help to soften the game a bit and graphite
certainly does that. On the other hand, I generally would not recommend
graphite for a player with a real high swing speed (110 mph +) and/or an
overly aggressive, attacking swing pattern. These players tend to benefit
from the tensile strength of steel.
Your Cobra Deep Face
driver is an outstanding club. I recently read an interview with Tiger
Woods in which he fondly recalled the Cobra Deep Face driver he used as
teenager and into his college days at Stanford. He mentioned that he
really enjoyed playing it but realized that he couldn’t keep up with his
competitors when they started using the new titanium drivers.
No matter how good the
Cobra Deep Face may have been in its day, it is now old technology and can
not keep up with the new equipment that is available to you today.
You can probably
significantly improve your game off the tee by switching to a beta
titanium (spring effect) driver like your buddies are using. There are
two basic reasons why this suggested equipment change may bring about some
real game improvement.
First of all, the face of
this type of driver will compress and then decompress (spring back) upon
ball impact. There is no question that this ‘spring back’ characteristic
can increase your distance, as significantly as 20 yards or more.
Secondly, the ‘spring
effect’ driver is much larger than an old style driver. The additional
head volume gives it a lot more hitting surface which naturally provides a
much greater sweet spot. This adds up to a much more forgiving club that
will allow you to maintain ball control while you pick up some very
meaningful additional distance.
This head volume of this
type of driver will generally start at around 300 cc and can go up to as
much as 500 cc. I make ‘spring effect’ drivers that range in size from
310 cc to 450 cc. Testing and play experience has shown that club heads
with a volume over 450 cc tend to be candidates for structural failure
and, therefore, I do not offer them.
I suggest that you try
one of your buddy’s big drivers. If possible, take it to the practice
range and see how you like it. It will be a lot larger than your Cobra
and it may take a little time to get used to it. But after a couple of
long, straight drives, I think you’ll find yourself warming up to it quite
nicely.
If you like it and want
to put one in your bag, you can pay several hundred dollars for a brand
name driver at the pro shop or golf mega mart, or you can consider having
me custom make one for you for $100 - $115, including S/H.
Whichever way you decide
to go, whether it’s a pro line driver or one of my custom made ‘spring
effect’ models, you should find yourself keeping up with the tee shots of
your buddies rather effectively.
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No
matter what I do, I can’t get any consistent play out of my long irons.
I’ve tried everything and, most of the time, all I get is trouble. I’m
tired of it and I’m thinking about replacing my 3 and 4 irons with a
couple of the rescue type clubs I’ve read and heard about. What do you
think about that idea?
Long known as utility
woods, these clubs are now most commonly referred to as ‘hybrids’.
Hybrids have a hollow-body clubhead design that is comparable in loft to
the long irons in your set. The hollow construction allows for the sole
to be much larger than an iron, shifting the center of gravity (CG)
farther back away from the face than you will find in your corresponding
iron. The hollow construction also helps raise the clubhead’s moment of
inertia (MOI), which contributes to its resistance to twisting on impact,
especially the off-center variety that many of us are involved with more
often than we care to think about.
Also, hybrids are smaller
and shorter than fairway woods but larger and longer than irons of the
same loft. They also use a shaft that is iron diameter (.370”) as opposed
to wood diameter (.335”) which supplements the club’s hollow construction
in raising the MOI. The term hybrid is derived from the fact that it is a
club that is a cross between an iron and a fairway wood.
The truth of the matter
is simply that more players have experienced immediate game improvement by
replacing their long irons with hybrids than with any other club in their
bag. Virtually any player can pick up almost any hybrid club and achieve
immediate satisfaction with the results. They are that easy to hit.
Extensive R&D testing by
major manufacturers indicates that every handicap group (low, mid and
high) benefited from using hybrids instead of long irons (especially the 3
and 4 irons). The testing also showed that game improvement increased
noticeably when you went from the low handicap group to the mid handicap
group and, then, most dramatically when you got to the high handicap
group. In other words, while hybrids helped low handicappers just a
little and mid handicappers a meaningful amount, they provided a game
altering benefit for high handicap golfers. In terms of increased
distance, it was 2-3 yards, 8-10 yards and a whopping 20 yards,
respectively.
Chances are you can
expect to see a degree of game improvement by replacing your long irons
with a couple of hybrid clubs. The higher your handicap the more
improvement you will likely see. The wording of your question seems to
indicate that you’re a mid or high handicap player. In that case, you
would probably see a significant amount of game improvement by making the
switch. You can pick up a brand name hybrid with a graphite shaft for
anywhere from $129.99 to well over $200. Or, you can get one custom made
from me for as low as $45.00, including shipping and handling.
Whether you go with
theirs or mine, you should probably give this hybrid idea some very
serious consideration. As a result, your game could be in for some
serious improvement.
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