MOI matching irons

[ReefBoy]

Hi guys,

I have been doing some reading on this recently with the idea of doing it and was wondering if the theory matched the real world experience. Is there anyone here who has played with a set of irons and then had them MOI matched and noticed a difference? What was it that you noticed had changed? And would you do it again/was it worth the money you paid?

Thanks

Christopher

 

[langer]

I have had 2 set done in the last 5 years, if its done well you will feel a big difference.
It is not a new thing a company in the 80`s called Sounder made clubs that way, the only problem was they only used one measurement and if it did not suit you they where no good.
Can only be done by a clubmaker because it can take some time to find the best measurment that suits your swing.
But well worth it if done correctly.

Langer

 

[ReefBoy]

Thanks Langer,

I can understand the feel difference but did it make a big or small difference to your play. And what was it?

Christopher

 

[cwdlaw223]

Wishon Golf is pioneering MOI matching right now. If you play a lot there could be some benefit. You could have different swing weights in a set but the MOI match. Really goes to the effort to hit the ball. That's my take.

 

[Cloran]

I've tried it all, and for me, MOI matching made my long irons feel too light. That may be a good thing for some, not for me. I prefer adjusting swing weights until I get the feel I like... which changes damn near every day, lol.

 

[Brian Manzella]

Paul Wood was asked about MOI matching at AS2.

He said there was a problem as the clubs get longer, and especially with a Driver with a lightweight shaft.

He talked about it more than that, but I'd have to go back and listen again. I will.

 

[Dariusz J.]

I've tried it all, and for me, MOI matching made my long irons feel too light. That may be a good thing for some, not for me. I prefer adjusting swing weights until I get the feel I like... which changes damn near every day, lol.

Probably you started to MOI the whole set with determining a too light initial value.

Paul Wood was asked about MOI matching at AS2.

He said there was a problem as the clubs get longer, and especially with a Driver with a lightweight shaft.

He talked about it more than that, but I'd have to go back and listen again. I will.

That's why hybrids and woods should be MOIed independently on irons and with a higher value. When I was toying with fitting several years ago I did a lot of experiments with lead tape and learnt exactly that. Guys on Wishon forum confirmed exactly the same on their own examples. I have been playing with steel shafts with my driver, #3 wood and #2 hybrid since and never plan to return to whippy light graphite crap.

Cheers

 

[bcoak]

Paul Wood was asked about MOI matching at AS2.

He said there was a problem as the clubs get longer, and especially with a Driver with a lightweight shaft.

He talked about it more than that, but I'd have to go back and listen again. I will.

Maybe put out an invite to Tom Wishon for a post? Always very generous with his time/thoughts on his forum. Would be a nice addition from just swing theories and thoughts

 

[Cloran]

Probably you started to MOI the whole set with determining a too light initial value.



That's why hybrids and woods should be MOIed independently on irons and with a higher value. When I was toying with fitting several years ago I did a lot of experiments with lead tape and learnt exactly that. Guys on Wishon forum confirmed exactly the same on their own examples. I have been playing with steel shafts with my driver, #3 wood and #2 hybrid since and never plan to return to whippy light graphite crap.

Cheers

The idea is to base the set off your "favorite," "most comfortable," "best" iron.

I based everything off my 7i which had a swingweight of D4.

Still too light in the 3i and 4i.

That's been my experience so I'll just stick with 1/2" increments and lead tape if need be.

 

[ekennedy]

Not sure about the specific MOI of golf club fitting, but I was fit by a master clubfitter in SC about 6 or 7 years ago. He "micro-fit" each club (each shaft was spined, weighted and had its own frequency, loft and lie), took several days and several adjustments. The clubs (Titleist MB 680's) felt and sounded amazing...I once played a round with Brett Quigley, Lee Janzen and Charles Warren and they all commented on the way the clubs sounded. Unfortunately, when I was asked to switch to the AP-2's, I didn't go back and have the new clubs re-fit...too much of a time (and $$$) commitment.

Nothing has ever felt as good as the MB 680's. The other day, I received my second set of AP-2's (as a Titleist staff member) and I decided to test them on Flightscope. They didn't feel quite as good as my old AP-2's so I checked the Speed and Acceleration profiles on both sets of AP-2's. The new set has several peaks and valleys in the Speed and Acceleration Profiles instead of relatively, smooth, linear acceleration.

For s***'s and giggles, I pulled out the old set of MB 680's that I haven't hit in 5+ years and saw the straightest Speed and Acceleration Profile lines ever. Not sure what to make of it, but there is clearly something to a perfectly fit set of clubs. It's just very expensive and somewhat time consuming.

 

[wulsy]

Would loft and lie have an effect on the MOI? IOW take an 8 iron with a certain MOI, change the loft and lie, remeasure. Has the MOI changed? Just askin....

 

[Dariusz J.]

The idea is to base the set off your "favorite," "most comfortable," "best" iron.

I based everything off my 7i which had a swingweight of D4.

Still too light in the 3i and 4i.

I presume you did not experiment with lead tape after choosing the most "comfortable" iron from the set ?

Would loft and lie have an effect on the MOI? IOW take an 8 iron with a certain MOI, change the loft and lie, remeasure. Has the MOI changed? Just askin....

No.

Cheers

 

[birly-shirly]

If you're going to "homebrew" MOI-matched irons, surely you just start with your longest iron and add head-weight to each shorter club? Anything else is going to involve drilling or swapping out shafts - and the typical complaint seems to be about lightweight long irons. This is assuming you're starting with a set of irons that are matched for swingweight, of course.

 

[ReefBoy]

Thanks for all the replies guys. It has definitely made me a little more keen to explore this a little more. I'll post back what happens.

Christopher

 

[Dariusz J.]

If you're going to "homebrew" MOI-matched irons, surely you just start with your longest iron and add head-weight to each shorter club? Anything else is going to involve drilling or swapping out shafts - and the typical complaint seems to be about lightweight long irons. This is assuming you're starting with a set of irons that are matched for swingweight, of course.

No, you should start with the most "comfortable" iron from the set, as Cloran wrote before. The problem I would like to mention is that the most "comfortable" iron frrom the set is just the most "comfortable" from THIS set and it does not mean you shouldn't try to make it "more comfortable".

Cheers

 

[wulsy]

MOI matching isn't much good if your shafts aren't matched, so you can't just arbitrarily add head weight, as birly implies. It's a very difficult thing to do and can only really be done with the necessary measuring equipment. If you want to try it, find an expert.

 

[birly-shirly]

No, you should start with the most "comfortable" iron from the set, as Cloran wrote before. The problem I would like to mention is that the most "comfortable" iron frrom the set is just the most "comfortable" from THIS set and it does not mean you shouldn't try to make it "more comfortable".

Cheers

I agree, if you're starting with a clubmaker and components on a bench. But if you're doing this at home as an experiment and you take a short or middle iron as your reference point, you're bound to run into trouble further up the set, no?

Beside, surely there are lots of reasons why someone would feel most comfortable with a short or middle iron which have nothing to do with its MOI. So I'm not sure why you would plump for that as your reference point for a whole set.

 

[birly-shirly]

MOI matching isn't much good if your shafts aren't matched, so you can't just arbitrarily add head weight, as birly implies. It's a very difficult thing to do and can only really be done with the necessary measuring equipment. If you want to try it, find an expert.

Wulsy - your point being that as you add height weight, shafts will play somewhat softer?

I agree that experts are probably better at this than amateurs. But what if you don't want to spend the several days that ekennedy spent doing the job properly?

Is a set of irons matched for SW and factory shafts going to be a better or worse compromise than a set of clubs with added headweight to match MOI, but no adjustment to the shafts?

I don't know the answer - but I'm half-tempted to get the lead tape out to experiment on my own, so long as I don't need to get into drilling weight out of clubheads, and I'd prefer not to have to replace shafts.

 

[Dariusz J.]

I agree, if you're starting with a clubmaker and components on a bench. But if you're doing this at home as an experiment and you take a short or middle iron as your reference point, you're bound to run into trouble further up the set, no?

Yes, in this sense, yes. It is impossible for an average golfer to reduce MOI, one can only increase MOI.

Beside, surely there are lots of reasons why someone would feel most comfortable with a short or middle iron which have nothing to do with its MOI. So I'm not sure why you would plump for that as your reference point for a whole set.

Well, it is like that because making a reference point shortens the procedure because one will experiment with only one club. I tend to agree that it is a rare case that someone choses something longer than #5 iron as the most favourite iron in the set, but there is a difference between chosing e.g. #6 iron and PW in the context of further MOI matching.
That's why I said that choosing the favourite iron is just the beginning.

Cheers

 

[Frans@France]

Would loft and lie have an effect on the MOI? IOW take an 8 iron with a certain MOI, change the loft and lie, remeasure. Has the MOI changed? Just askin....

No.

bend the Lie 4 degrees flatter and then measure it, looking forward if you still then say "no"