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Let me start by saying the title is done in jest, but meant to be fun. For those that listen to Off Course, you probably heard I am taking a One Length Challenge so to speak and thought a fun thread to document the process would be interesting and others that are doing so can jump in or if you have questions feel free to ask away.
Some brief history. I am one of the few that played the EQL set of single length irons decades ago. It was my second John Hoeflich design as I played Tommy Armour 845 irons prior to that. They were in a nutshell not great and I ended up back in variable length for decades until now. I dabbled in each of the last few Cobra One Length offerings and even jumped into an Edel Single Length briefly, but with each one, I ended up going in a different direction.
Fast forward to now and I have a set of Cobra RADSPEED One Length in the bag for several weeks now and I have not missed a beat.
I had thought about a two length set previously playing longer irons at the 7 iron length and then shorter irons at the 9 iron length, but after spending time with some very smart people, decided against it. I am of the belief that One Length should not be just a fix to make long irons shorter and then want variable everywhere else. The goal to get one swing, for all of the irons and wedges that you full swing makes a ton of sense in my weird brain.
I had a thought of going a little shorter however, since one of my major hurdles previously was the wedges in 7 iron length. So speaking with Mike Yagley at Cobra and Facetiming with their fitters, we settled on a length that was roughly my 8 iron in my previous set of irons and the Cobra RADSPEED One Length are paired with a custom set of UST Mamiya Recoil Proto 95s in F4. For those into the club making side of things, yes a shim was needed and swing weight might need to be altered for some (easy fix with their new system).
First range testing in the THP Tech Studio, it was a little weird not standing further from the ball based on the club in my hand. To combat that, I placed all of the clubs sole down and just grabbed and hit, without knowing what was what on the simulator range. Sorting out the distances afterwards, but doing so just to get comfortable with it. My set is 5-GW in irons, a 4 RADSPEED One Length Hybrid and a 56 degree One Length Wedge. What I I found is none of them really bothered me at the 8 iron length and where I thought I would have concerns, in the PW, GW and 56, it was not really an issue at all in terms of comfort.
Now that the comfort was out of the way, I put them to the test on the course as well as dozens of range time in the Tech Studio. One Length was starting to really show some light as I had no gapping issues at all and more importantly to me, saw a launch and ball flight I was very happy with. To get another perspective, I had THPer @JDax come to the Tech Studio, as he has never tried One Length before and with no warmup, just start playing and he too, confirmed that gapping was no issue.
Rounding out my set I did add one variable length 62 degree wedge. Its a wedge I use around the greens and never full swing it, so have no concerns there.
This thread will serve as a journey of sorts for me to share my thoughts and data and review the Cobra RADSPEED One Length irons. Get ready for a fun ride and you might just be joining the revolution soon. Here are a few images and a lot more will be coming throughout this thread.
Some brief history. I am one of the few that played the EQL set of single length irons decades ago. It was my second John Hoeflich design as I played Tommy Armour 845 irons prior to that. They were in a nutshell not great and I ended up back in variable length for decades until now. I dabbled in each of the last few Cobra One Length offerings and even jumped into an Edel Single Length briefly, but with each one, I ended up going in a different direction.
Fast forward to now and I have a set of Cobra RADSPEED One Length in the bag for several weeks now and I have not missed a beat.
I had thought about a two length set previously playing longer irons at the 7 iron length and then shorter irons at the 9 iron length, but after spending time with some very smart people, decided against it. I am of the belief that One Length should not be just a fix to make long irons shorter and then want variable everywhere else. The goal to get one swing, for all of the irons and wedges that you full swing makes a ton of sense in my weird brain.
I had a thought of going a little shorter however, since one of my major hurdles previously was the wedges in 7 iron length. So speaking with Mike Yagley at Cobra and Facetiming with their fitters, we settled on a length that was roughly my 8 iron in my previous set of irons and the Cobra RADSPEED One Length are paired with a custom set of UST Mamiya Recoil Proto 95s in F4. For those into the club making side of things, yes a shim was needed and swing weight might need to be altered for some (easy fix with their new system).
First range testing in the THP Tech Studio, it was a little weird not standing further from the ball based on the club in my hand. To combat that, I placed all of the clubs sole down and just grabbed and hit, without knowing what was what on the simulator range. Sorting out the distances afterwards, but doing so just to get comfortable with it. My set is 5-GW in irons, a 4 RADSPEED One Length Hybrid and a 56 degree One Length Wedge. What I I found is none of them really bothered me at the 8 iron length and where I thought I would have concerns, in the PW, GW and 56, it was not really an issue at all in terms of comfort.
Now that the comfort was out of the way, I put them to the test on the course as well as dozens of range time in the Tech Studio. One Length was starting to really show some light as I had no gapping issues at all and more importantly to me, saw a launch and ball flight I was very happy with. To get another perspective, I had THPer @JDax come to the Tech Studio, as he has never tried One Length before and with no warmup, just start playing and he too, confirmed that gapping was no issue.
Rounding out my set I did add one variable length 62 degree wedge. Its a wedge I use around the greens and never full swing it, so have no concerns there.
This thread will serve as a journey of sorts for me to share my thoughts and data and review the Cobra RADSPEED One Length irons. Get ready for a fun ride and you might just be joining the revolution soon. Here are a few images and a lot more will be coming throughout this thread.