Question on buying used clubs

[clint]

I was in one of the golf shops yesterday wasting some time and the salesman was board so he fitted me. It turns out that I need a 2* up lie angle. Great...my clubs are standard lie. I do go right pretty consistantly so that could be aggrevating the problem. I understand some clubs can be bent and some can't, my clubs falling in the latter group.

Here's my question...would it be wise to get a different set of clubs? If so, I'd like to get a used set, hopefully with the the proper lie angle, but if not I'd get them bent. Which clubs can and can't be bent?

Clint

[Rockford35]

Cast clubs are harder to bend than forged. Some shops won't even attempt cast bending.

What you should do is get a club that is 2* upright and another the same that is standard lie. Then, head out and hit them at the range. Most shops will let you do this.

Get out and hit them at the range and see how one works over the other. Then make your decision based on that.

No sense making a drastic change if it's not the sticks.

R35

[Pa Jayhawk]

Not that I am recommending buying Pings, but if you local shop has a fitting station, take a look. Check www.pinggolf.com for places with a station. They will likely have a 6i you could take on the range or the course to check the difference. The Green dot is 2* upright, Black dot is standard, so if they let you take both it may give you a good comparison.

[JEFF4i]

Technically I need a 2* upright, but I don't get to right consistency with them at that high, so I stick with 1. How did I figure it out? Just as Rockford and Jayhawk said, went out and hit them all, found out what works best.

[SiberianDVM]

Some cast clubs can be bent, others have metal so brittle it will crack. Forged clubs, like my Hogans, can easily be bent.

Warbirdlover would be the guy to ask, but I would think heating the hosels would make it easier to bend them, but that would certainly destroy the epoxy and the shafts would have to be pulled and re-epoxied.

Did you hit every one of your clubs off of a lie board? That's about the only way to be sure which, if any of your clubs need to be adjusted.

[clint]

I've never hit my clubs off the board. When I was a the store he had me hit a couple of different Ping clubs. He started off with a standard lie club with the tape on the bottom. After hitting that he gave a couple of different clubs until I was hitting the ball straight a little more consistantly.

[warbirdlover]

Siberian pretty much had it right. It all depends on the metal used to make the club. Usually forged clubs are made from plain carbon, un-alloyed steel which is very "formable". Cast clubs can be bent depending on the material (Pings are bendable for example). I wouldn't advise applying heat to bend. You can temper down the hardness if the heads have been quenched. It also will have a "stress relieve" affect and can distort the head if there are forming and machining stresses present. Most high quality clubs are made from good material and could probably be bent some. What really causes a problem if they're bent too far, then bent back and opps still not right bent again. Now you're going to screw up any club material. Most club manufacturers have limits as too how much a club can be bent and also keep records on serial numbers because they can only be bent "so many times" before weakening. Ping does this.

[clint]

Thanks for the replies everybody.

Now something more specific...Do ya'll know if the Mizuno MX-17's can be bent? If so can they be bent 2*?

Clint

[Augster]

Generally speaking, ANY FORGED club can be bent easily up to 4* if not more.

Also in a true fitting, you hit EACH INDIVIDUAL iron off of the lie board to see where to bend it to. Thus, your short irons may be a different degree upright than your long irons. Not many people swing exactly the same with each iron.

You just hit the ball of the board and look at the tape. If it's not hitting the middle, you bend it and rehit. Do this for each iron.

[clint]

Originally Posted by Augster

Generally speaking, ANY FORGED club can be bent easily up to 4* if not more.

.

I'm pretty sure the mx-17 is a cast club though. Maybe I should look at the mx-23 just for adjustability sake.

[clint]

Another question...would it be ok to buy a club that is too long? In other words, could I pull the grips off, cut the shaft down and install new grips?

Clint

[dave.]

Yes its fine,but the club will play less stiff,because you have cut some of the fatter end off.

[Rockford35]

Originally Posted by clint

I'm pretty sure the mx-17 is a cast club though. Maybe I should look at the mx-23 just for adjustability sake.

The 17 is cast. Our local shop won't bend cast clubs because of the high chance of breakage. They do forged only.

23's would be a terrific place to start. They can easily be adjusted should you require it.

R35