 Question 580
What's Wrong with My New Irons?From Steve: I am a relatively new player but can play in the low 90's. I have been using Nike Slingshot irons and i can hit them a reasonable distance and reasonable straight. A 5 iron for me is 155 yds. I recently won a fairly big tournament here ( terrible conditions and I just adjusted better than the rest of the over 18 handicappers...) and rewarded my self with a set of graphite shafted S20 Callaway irons... regular flex. Now I hook all the iron shots badly. Nothing goes straight at all. If I stand on a par three, I can hit 30 shots with the Nike 8 iron on the green in a row. With the x20 8 iron, the next 30 shots are all 20 to 30 yds left. I can't open the face or aim far enough right... These irons got GREAT reviews... what is happening here ? Do you know or can you have a guess ? Dear Steve, You are getting radically different results when comparing your Nike irons with your new Callaway's. The way you have gone about testing shows that you are using the same swing with each model. It is clear, therefore, that the Callaway's do not fit you. I don't have experience with the X20's, and I don't know the characteristics of their graphite shaft used in your irons. However we can make some educated observations. This could be a problem of lie angle. If the irons are too upright for you the heel of the clubhead will catch the ground and turn the face to the left. This will impart some sort of a hook. To check this, place some tape along the full length of the sole. Then take a good 10 swings, clipping the ground. This will produce a pattern of marks on the tape. If they are not in the middle but towards the heel, then the clubs need to be flattened. Any good repair shop can bend them to suit. It is a rather inexpensive fix. Assuming that the lie angle is not the problem, then the shaft is in question. If a shaft is too flexible, or the flex point is too low on the shaft, or both, most players hit the ball high and with a pronounced fade or slice. The head fails to square up on the way to impact and lags open. However there are players who have more torque in their swings than normal and they get the opposite results. The lower part of the shaft bends early in the downswing and turns the head into a closing position at impact. This will produce a sweeping hook. It is quite possible this is the cause of your difficulties. Reshafting using a stiffer shaft with a higher flex point is the normal solution. You would do just one club initially to be sure it is right before you shell out a lot of money for the entire set. I recommend that you take your set back to the shop where you bought them and have a frank discussion of the problem. They will have experienced clubs that don't fit before and should have some good ideas of what can be done. If not, then I suggest you return the clubs. Sincerely, Ask The Professor | Ask The Golf Shrink | Ask The Collector | Golf Rules Dictionary Inside the Ropes | The 19th Hole | The Mind Game | Golf Fitness | Links | Order Info | Home © Scigolf.com Company 2002
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