Fairway Metal Dilemna

[NiftyNiblick]

Being a senior, fairway metals are an important part of my game. They are also the clubs that I have the toughest time finding.

I have only two fairway shots left in my bag after my 180 yard five-iron shot.

Those are a long fairway metal (or wood) and a lofted fairway metal (or wood) to fill the gap...210 and 195 yards would be very reasonable estimates. I don't have a longer fairway shot after that, barring a tailwind and a slightly uphill lie to a downhill landing, but I get can along fine without one.

But try to find those two clubs! With trial and error, I know exactly what I want, but I want a matching pair...impossible!

18º, 42½", 55.5º lie, 1º open

23º, 42", 56º lie, 1º open

Is that really asking a lot? Seriously? Can't anybody make TWO matching clubs with those specs?

Well, I won't lie, I'd love to get the latest hi tech innovations as found on, say, the PRGR line. PRGR fairway metals, along with much of the other high end J-Spec gear, look awesome, to use a teenager's word. There's some nice looking domestic gear, too, but i really love those import models.

But almost none of those OEMs, foreign or domestic, can give me what I want. As I wrestle with this this winter, I'm thinking Louisville Niblick DCs or Zeider Absolutes.

The Louisville clubs represent a return to wood, this just to offer a glimpse at my desperation.

The Zeider club is a well made but simple hollow steel sculpture, not at all unlike the original 1980 Taylor Made M1 Pittsburgh Persimmons!

What they have in common is that they'll both make exactly what I want.

Does anybody anticipate a day when state of the art clubs will also be able to offer the same options?

[gocchin]

The day they can adjust all specs for fairway metals including the lies will be a great one I tell you. You're not the only one wanting flatter lies on FW's which no OEM's really offer (in Japan Epon and Mizuno do but by 1 or 1.5* max). Length is usually okay, even face angle on some JDM woods can get up to 2* open. Loft is doable cause some manufacturers like Epon can just hand pick from the batch the closest loft to your specs. The issue is the lie especially with more and more woods being more upright these days as manufacturers lean towards upright as being more forgiving/better for pure impact (but as we know this doesn't work for everyone).

[Goodsie]

Tario, you are exactly right that the Japanese OEM is going more upright with their Lie Specs in the Woods and that is putting some of their potential customers in a quandary. It seems to me that the OEM should, at the least, have a few Wood heads set aside without the hosel installed. This way they can respond to a flatter lie request by just welding the hosel into the head at the requested lie angle. Viola!! Customer Service!!

With the OEM's using more and more Titanium in the body of the FW head, the OEM is taking "after market lie bending" off of the radar screen. The risks are high for cracking the head/welds because you have to heat the hosel and the inside edge of the face so high just to get Ti to respond to the bending pressure.

[NiftyNiblick]

One possibility, if it ever catches on with the major Asian clubmakers, is designing the fairway metals to be used with a clocking ferrule as is presently available for some Callaway, Ping, and Taylor Made driver models.

Oriented in one direction, the ferrule allows you to install your new shaft either 1 or 2° flat.

Oriented the other way, it allows to you go one or two degrees more open, the caveat being that this will also add some static loft, so you'd have to begin with a stronger loft than you want.

I'm not aware of this being available for fairway metals, however. Opening up could add "bounce." Although one or two degrees means an awful lot more in lie than it means in bounce, where I'm guessing it would be imperceptibe unless you play a shot from the parking lot.

And since the driver doesn't lay flat on the ground, most of us have accustomed ourselves to seeing the driver toe up in the air and convinced ourselves, true or not, that shaft-droop with the long club will take care of it!

Still, it appears that I'll be making that big test--low tech that fits vs. high tech that doesn't quite fit.

[+TourSpecGolfer]

One possibility, if it ever catches on with the major Asian clubmakers, is designing the fairway metals to be used with a clocking ferrule as is presently available for some Callaway, Ping, and Taylor Made driver models.

Oriented in one direction, the ferrule allows you to install your new shaft either 1 or 2° flat.

Oriented the other way, it allows to you go one or two degrees more open, the caveat being that this will also add some static loft, so you'd have to begin with a stronger loft than you want.

I'm not aware of this being available for fairway metals, however. Opening up could add "bounce." Although one or two degrees means an awful lot more in lie than it means in bounce, where I'm guessing it would be imperceptibe unless you play a shot from the parking lot.

And since the driver doesn't lay flat on the ground, most of us have accustomed ourselves to seeing the driver toe up in the air and convinced ourselves, true or not, that shaft-droop with the long club will take care of it!

Still, it appears that I'll be making that big test--low tech that fits vs. high tech that doesn't quite fit.

The optifit and clocking ferrules used by some of the OEM's are not exactly a good thing. The weight of those are a big concern and OEMs will say they are only 2-6 grams but we know the factory that produces many of them and even they admit many coming in closer to 8-10.

[NiftyNiblick]

The optifit and clocking ferrules used by some of the OEM's are not exactly a good thing. The weight of those are a big concern and OEMs will say they are only 2-6 grams but we know the factory that produces many of them and even they admit many coming in closer to 8-10.

Interesting to know. What is the bio-mechanical consequence of a little too much weight on the ferrule? I admit that it doesn't sound as if it would be good.

[BigEasy]

If you desparately need flat lie anglens that are not offered by OEMs, I would simply shorten the shaft and make the head heavier for swingweight. You won't lose much distance by cutting the shaft an inch, and you may be able to hit the ball more solid.

One more thing to remember is that "all" clubs, especially long clubs like drivers and fairway woods, "must" be upright in static position (i.e., at setup) because they will become more flat while you're swinging it for two reasons. First, the shaft will be bent toward your body. Second, your hand will be farther from your body while you're swinging than it was at setup.

[NiftyNiblick]

One more thing to remember is that "all" clubs, especially long clubs like drivers and fairway woods, "must" be upright in static position (i.e., at setup) because they will become more flat while you're swinging it for two reasons. First, the shaft will be bent toward your body. Second, your hand will be farther from your body while you're swinging than it was at setup.

My swing was decribed by one instructor as a classic 1920s hickory shaft swing. It's flatter, it's more inside out, and my follow through leaves me leaning slightly forward, square to the target, and definitely not in the modern reverse C position, any attempt at which would more likely result in an out of balance, reverse weight shift situation for me. But it's repeatable and has had me down as low as a seven at one time.

Thus the shaft droop allowance which works for most simply results in too upright a lie for me. Fortunately, I've found solutions, but they require sacrificing technology for fit, something that I'm willing to do.