PGA Features

Am I right to lengthen my irons? I feel I need every advantage I can get.

Former USGA technical director Frank Thomas is one of the leading experts on golf technology. He is passionate about educating golfers on golf technology and empowering them to make better decisions about equipment. PGA.info has teamed up with Thomas to provide a regular column in which he answers golfers' questions on a range of technology issues.

A keen golfer asks if he was right to lengthen his irons:

While I usually get pretty good distance from my driver and woods (230 yards average for the driver and about 200 for my three wood), my iron distance is proportionally not as good - say 135-140 for a 7 iron.

At the age of 65 and playing for only six years I feel I need every advantage I can get. So I lengthened my irons by about an inch and now find I've added some distance to them and also have the option to choke down for more control when needed.

It seems to work, but I wonder if I should have been satisfied with the shorter distance? Lengthening the irons almost works like having an extra club or two in the bag.

Frank says:

In lengthening your irons about an inch you have done several things:

First, you will be getting a little increase in head speed, which will give you at least five to 10 more yards.

You have also increased the swing weight about six points, which will make the club feel a little heavier and slow your swing a little as the MOI (Moment of Inertia) of the club as a whole - when swinging about the grip axis -- has increased.

All of this assumes you used the same heads and did not remove any weight by grinding them down or drilling holes in the head - not recommended but you don't know what to expect when a GET (Golf-Equipment-Tweaker) gets a drill in his hands or has access to a grinding wheel.

Second, you have decreased the stiffness of the shaft, assuming you used the same shaft type. The combination of this and the fact that the shaft is one inch longer than the original club will make the club feel different.

Normally the manufacturer would make a six iron about 37.5 inches long, with a loft of about 30 degrees and a swing weight about D0 to D2.

You, however, now have a 38.5-inch six-iron with a loft of 30 degrees and a swing weight of D6 or so, and a shaft stiffness approaching an R -flex if the original was an S-flex.

The lie angle - assuming no adjustment is made - will be a little more upright than the new length calls for and so you will be tending to draw the ball slightly more than usual. If you choke down an inch then you will have the original specs and it should perform in a similar manner to the original.

Yes, you do have the flexibility of choking down but I don't think that it is worth the effort to install an extra length shaft, because when you grip it properly, everything gets a little out of whack and you have in essence a 'dysfunctional club'.

Manufacturers have - in the most part - taken care of the variables of length, lie, effective stiffness, and weight for the clubs in your set.

So, my advice is, if you are not getting the distance you like out of your six-iron then;
a) go to the gym and become more flexible
and/or
b) take out your five iron and 'just hit it'.

To find out more about Frank Thomas visit franklygolf.com