Bryson DeChambeaus' (DeChambeaux?) clubs

Article from BBC HERE saying that B DeC has clubs all the same length and weight.

I posted something a few years ago on some manufacturer that offered this (I think). As a principle I think it kind of makes sense if you have an optimal length and weight for all clubs and only a loft differentiator.

Needless to say I have a normal set with differing weights and lengths though!

For the mortal golfer I can certainly see the logic of this. I suppose, however, one can choke up or down to compensate and achieve basically the same thing.

I can sort of see the logic behind his thinking, but a couple of things struck me. Firstly he looked very upright and narrow on all his shots, and I would really struggle with the rights with that set up. Secondly, on short chips and pitch shots I like the sensation of being "over the ball" looking down on it, which would be hard to achieve with longer clubs. That said, if it works for him, then good on him for trying it (he did not invent it - it's been around for a while).

Interesting....but:

http://www.1irongolf.com/index.htm

At least a 20 y/o reality.

It's only because those like Iain Carter haven't heard of the idea before....

My ball striking collapses from about 6 through to 3 iron. Maybe I should try the one shaft length system.

Extending this principle, if you could alter the angle of the club face for each shot, you would only need one iron. Against the rules of golf, I know. (....and probably increasing the time it would take a pro golfer to decide on his shot. "Is it a 6 1/2 iron or a 7?")

Anyone got a peer reviewed paper?

Super, you joke, but it would be good if more evidence was available for all the claims made about golf techniques and clubs.

Be quite intrigued actually mac, My favourite iron is probably my 7 iron in terms of sweet striking.

I doubt i'd want my 9, W, 52 and 58 to be that long but be interesting on the longer, harder to hit clubs.

I've got a spare set of clubs, might be worth an experiment.

If Carter would have watched the Sky coverage on Sat he would have heard the commentators mentioning this.

Btw, think his real name is Brioche DeJambon... Carter that is..

25 something years ago, Tommy Armour sold a set of irons that were all the same length.

DeChambeau's swing resembles Canadian Moe Norman's swing, who many golf historians think was one of the best ball strikers.

Moe's ball striking was legendary, but mentally, he was somewhere on the autistic spectrum and couldn't play at an elite level.

on his youtube channel he talks about how he has intentionally modeled his swing on moe norman.

super_realist wrote:Be quite intrigued actually mac, My favourite iron is probably my 7 iron in terms of sweet striking.

I doubt i'd want my 9, W, 52 and 58 to be that long but be interesting on the longer, harder to hit clubs.

I've got a spare set of clubs, might be worth an experiment.

Do you mean leave Wedges through to 7 iron with normal shaft lengths then keep everything from 7 down with a 7 iron shaft length. Sounds like a good idea. Let us know if you try this.

Would you just hack a bit of the end of the shafts or alter the lie as well?

Yeah 7-PW would remain untouched.

I'd have to alter the lie Mac, as that's set for normal club lengths and a shorter club would mean the toe digging in more and more as you get down to the 3 iron.

I'd also have to adjust swing weight, to make each club weigh the same. So the 3,4,5,6 would need weight added. Will need to look up the individual head weights to balance them out.

I reckon I'd only do it to 3,4,5 to match them with a 6. Definitely worth considering. Be interesting to see how ball striking improved and how much distance I'd lose on those clubs that were shortened.

You all mock the idea of evidence, but wouldn't you be interested to know if we are actually getting any benefit from longer shafts in the long irons.

We already know hybrids are easier to hit due to shorter shafts so why not apply the concept throughout the longer irons?

I will take an easier to hit 4 iron that goes 180 vs an harder to hit one that goes 190 (assuming a good hit).

I'm not mocking anything here Mac, What i'd expect from this experiment would be better ball striking, better accuracy, more consistency with just a minor sacrifice in distance.

GIven that most of us will hit a 6 far sweeter than a 3 iron, it could very well result in more reliable long irons and certainly tighter dispersion.

I don't see the point in making everything the same length though, so won't be making 7,8,9 and PW the same as a 6 iron.

Super

Do you have the tools at home to make the required changes?

Yeah, I've made up many a set, altered lengths, regripped clubs etc. Would need someone to adjust the lie though to match the six iron.

I have regripped at home - based on tips from Goldwolf - and have found it to be quite an enjoyable activity.


Super if you don't mind revealing, what height are you? Just wondering as it may impact how the DeChambeaux system works for the player.

5'11.
It's all relative though, as long as you are comfortable with the club to which you measure all others.

In reality, Super is only 3 foot 6. He is actually an Irish leprechaun.

To be sure Ray.

I would love to know how much distance I would sacrifice if I had a 6 iron shaft in my 4 and 5 irons. It is probably worth it for the consistency gains.

I suppose conversely you could take a 6 iron and then bend it to de-loft it and see how much further it carries, although I'm guessing you wouldn't be able to adjust it much more than 4 degrees.

I'd also like to try my driver with a 3 wood shaft, and my 3 wood with a hybrid shaft. Given they are all adjustable Titleist clubs I could probably try this out on the range.

Also important to remember that there is about 8g of weight difference between each club. Therefore a 3 iron head is about 24 g LIGHTER than a 6 iron.

If you just put a club head in a vice and forced it, could you change the lie. I wouldn't do this with my actual set but could you do it with some clubs that otherwise wouldn't be used without totally knackering them?

Just wondering as a spending a few quid in a charity shop might allow the "experiment" to take place.

McLaren wrote:If you just put a club head in a vice and forced it, could you change the lie.  I wouldn't do this with my actual set but could you do it with some clubs that otherwise wouldn't be used without totally knackering them?

Just wondering as a spending a few quid in a charity shop might allow the "experiment" to take place.

You need to heat it first to soften it up. Forged clubs are much more malleable and you can bend them back after your experiment. Cast clubs would likely be damaged.

Yes, you could mac, but it wouldn't tell you the angle. The actual tool is very Heath Robinson and is not much more than a fulcrom which slots around the neck to which you apply pressure in the direction required.
Obviously it works better with forged than cast, as you could shatter a cast club with too much of an angle step change.

McLaren wrote:You all mock the idea of evidence, but wouldn't you be interested to know if we are actually getting any benefit from longer shafts in the long irons.

We already know hybrids are easier to hit due to shorter shafts so why not apply the concept throughout the longer irons?

I will take an easier to hit 4 iron that goes 180 vs an harder to hit one that goes 190 (assuming a good hit).

This may be a part of why they're easier to hit but you're not making a good case. You're comparing, say, a 3h w/ a 3i - two totally different beasts. The length of shaft is a tiny part of why a 3h is easier to hit than a 3i, for most people. In actual fact, given the graphite shafts used in hybrids cf. the (usual) steel in the equivalent iron, a 3h will almost certainly have a similar, if not longer, shaft than a 3i so your thesis re. shaft length being the key deterministic factor here doesn't really hold up.

Yeah I thought this too navy. I was assuming Mac was referring to the fact that hybrids are easier to hit than fairway woods because of shorter shafts..... although most people carry hybrids as a long iron replacement not fairway wood replacement, and a hybrid shaft is as long as a long iron shaft (or longer).

Navy

Sorry, that was poorly written. I meant we accept that the shorter shaft in a hybrid makes it easier to hit than a fairway wood of similar loft.

The point still remains that it would be interesting to know how much yardage you would sacrifice on a long iron with a mid iron shaft length.

For information, and not very scientific, but I tested a Mini Driver with 12 deg loft, same shaft length as my 3 wood of 15 deg, and they went about the same distance.

Upshot was that the Mini Driver was more accurate than my driver, but no longer or no more accurate than my 3 wood, so I binned it on Ebay.

I can understand that Super .. .I bought a mini driver and it's far more accurate than my old driver - but in my case about 15-20 yards longer than my 3-wood

However, in my case, my 3-wood is old (but comfortable) - so while it may not have suited you, the mini driver suits me perfectly. A little extra length off the tee than the old 3 wood but that still sits in my bag for fairway shots. I do however also carry a strong 3-hybrid which I can hit almost as far as the 3 wood off the deck - so the poor old 3-wood is gradually being squeeze out

I stumbled across a 3 wood which seems to fit me better than I possibly could have imagined. Long and accurate, even bought an identical one as back up.
Great off the deck or a tee, and not much shorter than my driver. If only every other club was as well suited I could be earning a living almost.

I was desperate for the mini driver to be as good as the 3 wood but 15 yards longer, sadly it never worked out like that.

Ive taken a punt on a mini driver, though not yet hit it. I tried out some normal drivers, and was as erratic as always which I am with my own old driver. I normally hit my 3 wood from the tee, so if this goes a bit further then it will be worth it. I am though a hacker, and the reasons i am erratic with a driver is purely my own swing and lack of playing opportunities.

McLaren wrote:Navy

Sorry, that was poorly written.  I meant we accept that the shorter shaft in a hybrid makes it easier to hit than a fairway wood of similar loft.

The point still remains that it would be interesting to know how much yardage you would sacrifice on a long iron with a mid iron shaft length.

OK, still not sure it works though. A 5w is, what, ~18°? A 2h is ~17-19°. I've used both and a 2h is not easier to hit than a 5w. Maybe it's just me...

super_realist wrote:...I was desperate for the mini driver to be as good as the 3 wood but 15 yards longer, sadly it never worked out like that.

Just out of interest, what mini driver did you try?

Taylor Made Mini 12 Deg (First version) I even tried a shaft extension to make it noticeably longer than the 3 wood, but it just didn't work for me.

Navy

I am sure you are not alone but most people seem to find it easier to hit a hybrid vs a 3 or 5 wood.

McLaren wrote:Navy

I am sure you are not alone but most people seem to find it easier to hit a hybrid vs a 3 or 5 wood.

Maybe. But that can't be down to just the loft though can it? Or the shaft length. I think there's some seriously good engineering in hybrids. I avoided them for years (didn't like the look and generally hit decent long irons) but tried one on a whim (2h) and it was so easy to hit, it should be illegal. Swapped 2-, 3- and 4-irons pretty much then and there for equivalent hybrids. I might have just got lucky with the club I tried and its fit to my swing. Don't care though!

super_realist wrote:Taylor Made Mini 12 Deg (First version) I even tried a shaft extension to make it noticeably longer than the 3 wood, but it just didn't work for me.

Ta. I might give one a go some time as driving is definitely the weak link in my game. I'd take some less yards for being in the short grass significantly more often. My 3w is quite long but I don't find it that easy to hit consistently well so I fight it a bit, which doesn't help. Didn't I read you say some time back that you had a TM RBZ v.1, regular, as your 3W?

Yeah, still got the RBZ Mk1 as my 3 wood, couldn't keep it straight with a stock stiff shaft, but regular is just spot on.
Nice ball sized wear mark right in the middle of the clubface. It's old, but as reliable as a swiss watch. Got a spare in reserve.

Admit it. You love it because it's called rocketballz!

I actually had one of these as well. I had the tour version which had 14 or 14.5 degrees loft and a regular shaft that was heavier and stiffer than standard.

Used to hit it miles on the range (obviously... that's why I bought it), but never worked for me on the course. It didn't have enough loft for me to consistently strike from the fairway, and even off the tee the ball flight was low. Would have been great for links.

ray- that is exactly how i get on with my one (tho its stiff). I hit it miles and lowish off the tee (tho inconsistently) and I cant hit it off the deck at all. I just cant get it airborne without hitting a big cut.
I think the shaft is too long for me. I didn't get fitted for it, i bought it off the shelf.

A couple of years ago I got a new 3 wood and tried out two (on the recommendation of someone who knows what they are doing) - RBZ and the Callaway X Hot. Both gave very similar results off the tee, but off the ground the X Hot got the ball in the air much better and was more consistent for me. Both were stock off the shelf ones as I'm only slightly above average height and have a fairly normal swing speed.

All about the shaft when it comes to woods it seems. I replaced the rbz with a titleist 3 wood with a stiff diamana shaft which I reckon is less stiff than the regular I had in the rbz, although it was the "tour" version whatever that means

got rid of me rocketbollox - went like a missile 1/10, but topped the rest of the time, very strange...

Definitely the clubs fault monty.

Absolutely is the clubs fault.

I know I have a repeating swing (ahem) so it must be the club closing, opening lengthening or shortening during the transition that makes my ball go all over the ******* place (or sodding nowhere).