Hi Tedd,
Dave's right about Max's program, the input variables are head speed, head mass, and loft (along with some global parameters such as coefficient of restitution, spin coefficient, etc.). Club length is not an input.
For the sorts of clubhead speeds we're talking about, 2mph per inch of length is a good rule of thumb.
Why is it that you think we need to apply the concept separately for woods and irons? I have had this same conversation on Wishon's forum over MOI matching. If we are trying to make a 'set' of clubs easier to get repeatable results from, shouldn't they all be matched?
I think I come out on Tedd's side of this question. See why below.
I just went back into Max's program and ran 240-g head weight at 85-mph and got 202-yards for an 18* loft and 98-yards for 50* loft. I believe there is a lot of room for tweaking here.
For whatever reason, it seems most golfers do a much better job with a 39" fairway wood (7w or 9w) than a 39" iron (3i). It isn't just loft, though loft may be a bit of it. But other factors might well be the increased bend in the shaft and a more sweeping swing -- or just the 6" between the ears.
I suspect the guy we're aiming at (mid- to hi-handicap, lower clubhead speed) has something like 75mph with a 5-iron. This works out to 73mph with a 7-iron, which is what we'd probably design the set around. (The 7i is a confidence club for this guy, the 5i is usually off on the edge of the comfort zone.) In order for this guy to see 85mph, he'll need a 43" club (assuming a "set" concept with the same swing). I think we'd probably like to go with:
37" irons for confidence
42" woods (no more than that) for confidence
Make the steepest-loft iron in the low 20s (4-iron?).
Make the loftiest wood give a nice spacing (10-15yd) beyond the "long" iron.
Make the steepest-loft wood the one with the optimum distance for 85mph, which is probably in the 14* range. So we have a big-headed 14* driver at 42".
I think that might be a pretty nice set -- assuming the single-length concept is a good one. But it still needs to be tested, IMHO.
Cheers! DaveT
-- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.296 / Virus Database: 265.6.8 - Release Date: 1/3/05
