Are Single Length Irons in YOUR Future?

f7_irons_croppedAre single length irons in YOUR future?  When we first did our test and build of single length irons earlier this year, (see our blog posts here), the challenge was to make the clubs consistent by adding weight in longer irons (4, 5, 6) and drilling or grinding weight out of the shorter irons and wedges.  That is because variable length clubs change in weight by roughly 7 grams to account for the length differences.  Well, Cobra Golf has embraced this challenge with not one, but two head designs that will be available in single length (7 iron at 37.25″) in January, 2017.   Cobra looks to have done a great job on the design to account for the weight differences in the heads with their Full Hollow, Half Hollow, Cavity Back and Specialty offerings in the F7.  The F7 Tour model is not quite as dramatic in is head design changes but still maintains a similar weight in each head.  These constant weight designs are important to give club builders the ability to maintain swing weight and feel in the set.  A more intriguing look at the two models is covered by MyGolfSpy here.

So our big question is who will benefit most from a single length set of clubs?  At first blush, I would say any beginning golfer would be able to get better…faster with a single length club.  No more worrying about ball position in your stance.  Get a comfortable stance and learn to swing each club the same.  I would also say that golfers that have back issues and/or flexibility issues that restricts their ability to get down to the ball with shorter irons would be good candidates to try the single length clubs.  If you have a tendency to hit your longer irons thin and shorter irons fat, it makes sense that a single length club built to a 6 or 7 iron length would work well for you.  We will build several different clubs to test with different shafts so our golfers can see and feel the difference.

What is the downside?  As our golfer in our single length iron set experienced, getting the confidence to think that you will get the distance out of a short length 5 iron or not over-cook a longer length PW can be a challenge.  The good news is that with the new Cobra irons, it will be easier for us to build clubs that can have better distance control than we have seen with modifying a standard variable length club head.   As usual, fitting you to the right shaft and grip to give you the best performance is what really matters.  Stock from Cobra the F7 One and F7 Tour One will have limited shaft options so getting them custom built to your swing will be very important.

We are excited about this option and look forward to getting some of these clubs in our golfers hands.  Not sure when we will get the demo clubs in our hands but we will keep you posted!

Dan Sueltz