Hi All,
Following the discussion of constant length clubs here a couple of weeks ago, I decided to take an old set of heads and do a little lead taping and a little grinding (well, o.k., a lot of grinding). I turned a 3 to PW set into 260-g heads, tweaked the loft the same, and mounted them on the same shafts, same frequency, same grips, etc., and went to the range. I got predicted distances from the short and mid-range clubs, but less than predicted from the longer (3 and 4 irons) clubs, but not by much (maybe 10-15 yards). I also weighted a Snake Eyes Quick Strike II 19* head to 260-g and threw that into the mix (does The Perfect Club sound familiar?).
The QSII was the real eye-opener. I got within 20-yards of the same distance I get from the same head on a 4-inch longer shaft. As an experimentalist I am always amazed when analysis comes close, and, in this case, quite close for the higher lofted heads.
I have played a couple of rounds with these clubs and have some observations I thought I would pass on. First, the concept has real merit. You aren't going to be seeing the pros with clubs like this any time soon, but for youth and beginners I see a promising application. I definitely was getting better contact with the ball. Directional control with the short clubs was not as good as with traditional clubs, but with the long (forgive me - low lofted) clubs it was better. I don't know how much of my directional control results were a consequence of the grinding/taping I did to the heads. Distance control in the high lofted clubs was very good. Not as good in the low lofted clubs but trajectories were fairly low and I am sure this played a role. Swinging these clubs felt exactly the same, though, with the only difference being in how far the ball went. That was kind of weird. I did have a 'between the ears' problem in that it was difficult not to swing the lower lofted clubs harder. I think with a longer trial you could overcome this.
I don't think you can put a full set of clubs together and be happy with them - you give up to much in distance with the lower lofted clubs. But for beginners and youth who would be happy with a PW through 5-wood (or its equivalent) and no more than about 200-yards off the tee I think this would work and it would certainly simplify learning good swing mechanics while being able to enjoy a round of golf.
Next I tried a mixed set, where I had constant length clubs PW to 4-iron and traditional clubs on either side of them. By then, though, my swing was so messed up that the results were becoming inconsistent and I have gone back to a traditional set of clubs.
Tim Hewitt at My Ostrich Golf told me he hopes to have 266-g heads (PW through 4-iron, 62* lie) available in late February. Being a lefty, I am going to have to wait a bit for heads that I can try, but I encourage the rest of you to give this concept a try. I really think it has merit and with a set of heads designed around the same weight constraint we will have the opportunity to give this an honest evaluation.
Regards,
Alan Brooks
