Fitting Tall Golfers With NO Chart or Preconceived Ideas!

[J295]

Thanks Cwebb.  Starting at 38 (up from 36.5) felt too long.  Didn’t have feel I’m looking for.  So today I had pro cut to 37.25.   Will re-evaluate from there. 

Edited May 9 by J295

[bigdave18629]

I am super late to the party here, and am not quite through all of the pages, but what I have read I find very interesting.  I am presently going through a fitting, and finally have a pro helping me that is trying to be a bit unconventional with his approach in fitting me.  I am 6' 7", but have a wrist to floor of 43".  I am completely off of the fitting charts except for an old Wishon chart that I found.  Based on information that I have found based on typical body ratios, my wrist to floor is comparable to someone in the 7' 2" range.

 

I am presently playing clubs that are 2" over standard and 3 degrees up, PXG Gen 6.  This puts me at 39 1/4 on length and 65 degrees on my 7.  I understand standards bounce all over the place.

 

Doing a preliminary fitting based on the original post, we are thinking of going 41" on the 7 Iron with a 64 degree lie.  This obviously puts me in the situation where we run our of length pretty quickly as we mover towards long irons.  We have some more work to do before we finalize what we are going to do, and then to find someone to build them for me.  I wanted to jump into the conversation and see if the OP or anyone else could provide some insight, experiences, etc.. that would assist in keeping the learning curve as short as possible.  I understand weight and control may be an issue, but I know being crouched into a ball isn't much for control right now anyway.

 

I am going to keep reading in the mean time, and if anyone has the tool that the OP mentioned to do the calculations, I would love to see that.

 

Thanks

[Cwebb]

28 minutes ago, bigdave18629 said:

I am super late to the party here, and am not quite through all of the pages, but what I have read I find very interesting.  I am presently going through a fitting, and finally have a pro helping me that is trying to be a bit unconventional with his approach in fitting me.  I am 6' 7", but have a wrist to floor of 43".  I am completely off of the fitting charts except for an old Wishon chart that I found.  Based on information that I have found based on typical body ratios, my wrist to floor is comparable to someone in the 7' 2" range.

 

I am presently playing clubs that are 2" over standard and 3 degrees up, PXG Gen 6.  This puts me at 39 1/4 on length and 65 degrees on my 7.  I understand standards bounce all over the place.

 

Doing a preliminary fitting based on the original post, we are thinking of going 41" on the 7 Iron with a 64 degree lie.  This obviously puts me in the situation where we run our of length pretty quickly as we mover towards long irons.  We have some more work to do before we finalize what we are going to do, and then to find someone to build them for me.  I wanted to jump into the conversation and see if the OP or anyone else could provide some insight, experiences, etc.. that would assist in keeping the learning curve as short as possible.  I understand weight and control may be an issue, but I know being crouched into a ball isn't much for control right now anyway.

 

I am going to keep reading in the mean time, and if anyone has the tool that the OP mentioned to do the calculations, I would love to see that.

 

Thanks

 

Have you done a minimum length test for a higher loft wedge yet?  Once you find out what your shortest effective length is, it's relatively easy to work the rest of your set length increments up from there.

 

The most important part with this concept, is to first make sure that the shortest length clubs in your set (wedges) are not going to be too short

[bigdave18629]

20 hours ago, Cwebb said:

 

Have you done a minimum length test for a higher loft wedge yet?  Once you find out what your shortest effective length is, it's relatively easy to work the rest of your set length increments up from there.

 

The most important part with this concept, is to first make sure that the shortest length clubs in your set (wedges) are not going to be too short

That is pretty much where the 41" came from.  We decided to make that the 7 and maybe spin off of there, as there is no way we could spin off of a wedge of that length.  Even doing that it puts a 4 iron up at 42 1/2 without some creative gapping.  I tried the Tall Man Golf, clubs a while back.  The length was great, I am just not talented enough to play the small blades.  I am thinking of setting up a set around 41 for the 7 and go in 1/4" increments both ways, and then maybe ben lofts for gapping if needed.

[Cwebb]

1 hour ago, bigdave18629 said:

That is pretty much where the 41" came from.  We decided to make that the 7 and maybe spin off of there, as there is no way we could spin off of a wedge of that length.  Even doing that it puts a 4 iron up at 42 1/2 without some creative gapping.  I tried the Tall Man Golf, clubs a while back.  The length was great, I am just not talented enough to play the small blades.  I am thinking of setting up a set around 41 for the 7 and go in 1/4" increments both ways, and then maybe ben lofts for gapping if needed.

 

Have you considered a single length iron/wedge set....or at least use the single length heads that are much lighter in wedges, which would allow you to make them longer, without being extremely heavy in swing-weight

[bigdave18629]

48 minutes ago, Cwebb said:

 

Have you considered a single length iron/wedge set....or at least use the single length heads that are much lighter in wedges, which would allow you to make them longer, without being extremely heavy in swing-weight

Funny you mention that, I have been reading a lot on the subject and it seems single length might work well for the vertically challenged.  I have reached out to Avoda, they are a couple of hours from me, and depending on how they respond may take the time to go down and get a fitting.  I hear that it is a pretty thorough process.  Thanks for the input.

[rybo]

On 6/2/2025 at 4:09 PM, bigdave18629 said:

I am super late to the party here, and am not quite through all of the pages, but what I have read I find very interesting.  I am presently going through a fitting, and finally have a pro helping me that is trying to be a bit unconventional with his approach in fitting me.  I am 6' 7", but have a wrist to floor of 43".  I am completely off of the fitting charts except for an old Wishon chart that I found.  Based on information that I have found based on typical body ratios, my wrist to floor is comparable to someone in the 7' 2" range.

 

I am presently playing clubs that are 2" over standard and 3 degrees up, PXG Gen 6.  This puts me at 39 1/4 on length and 65 degrees on my 7.  I understand standards bounce all over the place.

 

Doing a preliminary fitting based on the original post, we are thinking of going 41" on the 7 Iron with a 64 degree lie.  This obviously puts me in the situation where we run our of length pretty quickly as we mover towards long irons.  We have some more work to do before we finalize what we are going to do, and then to find someone to build them for me.  I wanted to jump into the conversation and see if the OP or anyone else could provide some insight, experiences, etc.. that would assist in keeping the learning curve as short as possible.  I understand weight and control may be an issue, but I know being crouched into a ball isn't much for control right now anyway.

 

I am going to keep reading in the mean time, and if anyone has the tool that the OP mentioned to do the calculations, I would love to see that.

 

Thanks

A 43" WTF is one issue, a major one for sure. What is your inseam? Torso length? Wing span? Shoulder height?

 

As you stated, there are likely no fitting charts for a 43" WTF.  I recommend using the Redbird/Avian fitting tool https://www.jeffmont.com/discover-your-fit.html#/ , to ballpark your fitting.  Not sure they would even have shafts long enough for you, but they may.

 

Standard length clubs are based on roughly a 34" WTF.  A 9" higher hand height is remarkable and problematic.

 

Two thoughts as you progress, move the ball back in your stance and be very stingy with increasing the lie angles.

[bigdave18629]

34 minutes ago, rybo said:

A 43" WTF is one issue, a major one for sure. What is your inseam? Torso length? Wing span? Shoulder height?

 

As you stated, there are likely no fitting charts for a 43" WTF.  I recommend using the Redbird/Avian fitting tool https://www.jeffmont.com/discover-your-fit.html#/ , to ballpark your fitting.  Not sure they would even have shafts long enough for you, but they may.

 

Standard length clubs are based on roughly a 34" WTF.  A 9" higher hand height is remarkable and problematic.

 

Two thoughts as you progress, move the ball back in your stance and be very stingy with increasing the lie angles.

Thanks for responding, my wingspan is a little shorten than my height at just over 77", it has been a while since I had my inseam officially measured but I require 38" pants but more than likely measure 37.  I measured my shoulder height incorrectly but the top of my shoulder is around 64".  I just got measured by a Mizuno rep and they do knuckle to floor, that was 38" which put me off their chart. 

 

What do you mean about being stingy with lie angles?  I am looking at one length options and have an e-mail off to Wishon, but am also considering going with the Mizuno's I want and maybe targeting my 7 iron around 40" which is less than my "ideal" fit but close, and then move in 1/4" increments up in length and then stopping on the short end around 39.  This should keep things relatively comfortable without getting unwieldy at the top.  I am still fairly comfortable with my PW at 38 and 66.5.  I did try the tall man clubs when they first came out, but that tiny blade was too much for me.

 

I appreciate the thread and your feeback.

[rsballer10]

@bigdave18629 I would definitely consider single length irons and wedges at your height. With a 37" standard length, you could easily add up to 2 inches and get 39" long wedges, which is going to be wayyy longer than anything you could possibly build with traditional length wedges. 

 

I would just do single length down to whatever iron no longer gets the ball speed/height you need and then figure out what additional utility irons/hybrids you need to fill the gap. For instance

 

6-LW - single length

5i - utility iron 1/2" longer than 6i

4 hybrid or 7 wood 

[rybo]

57 minutes ago, bigdave18629 said:

Thanks for responding, my wingspan is a little shorten than my height at just over 77", it has been a while since I had my inseam officially measured but I require 38" pants but more than likely measure 37.  I measured my shoulder height incorrectly but the top of my shoulder is around 64".  I just got measured by a Mizuno rep and they do knuckle to floor, that was 38" which put me off their chart. 

 

What do you mean about being stingy with lie angles?  I am looking at one length options and have an e-mail off to Wishon, but am also considering going with the Mizuno's I want and maybe targeting my 7 iron around 40" which is less than my "ideal" fit but close, and then move in 1/4" increments up in length and then stopping on the short end around 39.  This should keep things relatively comfortable without getting unwieldy at the top.  I am still fairly comfortable with my PW at 38 and 66.5.  I did try the tall man clubs when they first came out, but that tiny blade was too much for me.

 

I appreciate the thread and your feeback.

Your proportions are a bit of an outlier for even anthropometric measurements.  It's extreme situations like this that was the premise for the entire thread.

 

The issue with single length irons is the head weight.  They are likely going to be to heavy for an over-length build.  Have no idea how Redbird/Avian achieves even moderate swingweights with some of their recommendations.  As an experiment, maybe pick up a second hand set of Cobra single length irons, use the lightest shafts you can control and backweight them to make the swingweights somewhat comfortable.  Also might want to try a 3 tier system where the wedges are one length, the short to mid irons are a bit longer and the long irons are longer again.  Should take the edge off of the long irons feeling 'short' and the wedges feeling 'too long'.

 

The 'be stingy with lie angles' refers to as the lie angle becomes more upright it raises hand height BUT at the expense of ball position becoming closer.  Not what you need at all.  This is also why I said move the ball back in your stance.  It's kind of like having a more upright club without having to move the lie angle and helps one get to the ball earlier in the swing.

 

 

 

 

 

[EDT501]

Im not as tall as many in this thread, 6'4", but after a few years of un-ergonomic working conditions I found myself with some pretty severe back pain that carried onto the golf course. Just couldn't get comfortable over the ball with the +1/2" clubs I'd played before. 

 

I ended up creating a set of clubs that is single length at 36.25" through the wedges (3 of them in my set) followed by 3/8" gaps from there. Assembled with a standard 7g decrease in head weight / 1" of length increase from PW-3i. Let me get comfortable over the ball without ending up with crazy long and difficult to control longer irons. Obviously will take a builder willing to work with you to get the weighting and everything right, but this setup has worked great for me. Just had to tweak the lofts a little bit to get the gaping right. 

 

Lighter shafts can be great for keeping total weight in a reasonable range. The Steelfiber i110s are fairly counterweighted too which makes achieving a normal SW much easier, if you get along with them that is. But there are plenty of other options too.

[Cwebb]

2 hours ago, bigdave18629 said:

Thanks for responding, my wingspan is a little shorten than my height at just over 77", it has been a while since I had my inseam officially measured but I require 38" pants but more than likely measure 37.  I measured my shoulder height incorrectly but the top of my shoulder is around 64".  I just got measured by a Mizuno rep and they do knuckle to floor, that was 38" which put me off their chart. 

 

What do you mean about being stingy with lie angles?  I am looking at one length options and have an e-mail off to Wishon, but am also considering going with the Mizuno's I want and maybe targeting my 7 iron around 40" which is less than my "ideal" fit but close, and then move in 1/4" increments up in length and then stopping on the short end around 39.  This should keep things relatively comfortable without getting unwieldy at the top.  I am still fairly comfortable with my PW at 38 and 66.5.  I did try the tall man clubs when they first came out, but that tiny blade was too much for me.

 

I appreciate the thread and your feeback.

 

The single length set wedge heads would allow you to get to your low length, without a swing-weight that is off the charts.   Keeping in mind that standard wedge heads are usually heavier in proportion to standard iron heads.

 

Doesn't necessarily mean that you would have to use a whole single length set.  Just that the easiest way to get much lighter wedge heads, are those designed for single length

[bigdave18629]

1 hour ago, rybo said:

 

 

The 'be stingy with lie angles' refers to as the lie angle becomes more upright it raises hand height BUT at the expense of ball position becoming closer.  Not what you need at all.  This is also why I said move the ball back in your stance.  It's kind of like having a more upright club without having to move the lie angle and helps one get to the ball earlier in the swing.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you, that makes sense.  66* and being hunched does make it difficult to make room for the swing.

[bigdave18629]

7 hours ago, rybo said:

Your proportions are a bit of an outlier for even anthropometric measurements.  It's extreme situations like this that was the premise for the entire thread.

 

The issue with single length irons is the head weight.  They are likely going to be to heavy for an over-length build.  Have no idea how Redbird/Avian achieves even moderate swingweights with some of their recommendations.  As an experiment, maybe pick up a second hand set of Cobra single length irons, use the lightest shafts you can control and backweight them to make the swingweights somewhat comfortable.  Also might want to try a 3 tier system where the wedges are one length, the short to mid irons are a bit longer and the long irons are longer again.  Should take the edge off of the long irons feeling 'short' and the wedges feeling 'too long'.

 

The 'be stingy with lie angles' refers to as the lie angle becomes more upright it raises hand height BUT at the expense of ball position becoming closer.  Not what you need at all.  This is also why I said move the ball back in your stance.  It's kind of like having a more upright club without having to move the lie angle and helps one get to the ball earlier in the swing.

 

 

 

 

 

Hi @rybo, I have to thank you for starting this thread, thought after reading through it my head hurts a bit, I am confused as to how to move forward, and am glad the nay-dyers are not longer participating.  I am reaching out to Avoda and Wishon about single length, but am still considering a new set of Mizuno's.  I mis spoke about the top of my shoulder, it is at 68 not 64, my wrist to floor is 43, knuckle to floor is 38, 37 or so on inseam, wingspan around 77.  I have seen where you have been able to offer a starting point to some other posters for a traditional set (using the term loosely)  would you be willing to do that for me?  I have enormous concerns about starting with a 41" 7 iron working in 1/2" increments such as my pro wants me to try.  If it doesn't work, I do not have the skills to modify the clubs, nor is there a shop near me that is good at it.  I have thought about starting at 40" maybe at 65* and going 1/8 or 1/4, but I don't understand how badly this will impact gapping, etc.

 

Maybe I should take up fishing!

[rybo]

3 hours ago, bigdave18629 said:

Hi @rybo, I have to thank you for starting this thread, thought after reading through it my head hurts a bit, I am confused as to how to move forward, and am glad the nay-dyers are not longer participating.  I am reaching out to Avoda and Wishon about single length, but am still considering a new set of Mizuno's.  I mis spoke about the top of my shoulder, it is at 68 not 64, my wrist to floor is 43, knuckle to floor is 38, 37 or so on inseam, wingspan around 77.  I have seen where you have been able to offer a starting point to some other posters for a traditional set (using the term loosely)  would you be willing to do that for me?  I have enormous concerns about starting with a 41" 7 iron working in 1/2" increments such as my pro wants me to try.  If it doesn't work, I do not have the skills to modify the clubs, nor is there a shop near me that is good at it.  I have thought about starting at 40" maybe at 65* and going 1/8 or 1/4, but I don't understand how badly this will impact gapping, etc.

 

Maybe I should take up fishing!

Bigdave,

 

Here is my suggestion, IF you are reasonably comfortable/able to tolerate a 38" PW then make all of your wedges 38" and build the set from there.

 

Use single length heads for all of the irons up to the 8 iron. Then use standard heads for all of the irons 6 thru your longest iron.

 

Length increments almost don't matter at this point. The clubs will be so long that it will have little to no effect on gapping shot distances. And if you do have some overlap then minimal loft adjustments are always possible.

 

Again I do like the idea of a three tier system.  As a starting point:

 

LW, SW, GW & PW 38" - use single length heads

9, 8 & 7 = 38 1/4", 38 1/2" & 38 3/4" - use single length heads

6, 5 & 4 = 39", 39 1/4, 39 1/2" - use standard heads

 

I am compelled to state without seeing how you swing/generate power it's nearly impossible to give a better recommendation.

 

Mizuno does have 'B' heads that are essentially 7 grams lighter per head.  You could order a single 7 iron at the 41" to see how it goes.  I'm truly curious to what shaft they would use.

[bigdave18629]

17 minutes ago, rybo said:

Bigdave,

 

Here is my suggestion, IF you are reasonably comfortable/able to tolerate a 38" PW then make all of your wedges 38" and build the set from there.

 

Use single length heads for all of the irons up to the 8 iron. Then use standard heads for all of the irons 6 thru your longest iron.

 

Length increments almost don't matter at this point. The clubs will be so long that it will have little to no effect on gapping shot distances. And if you do have some overlap then minimal loft adjustments are always possible.

 

Again I do like the idea of a three tier system.  As a starting point:

 

LW, SW, GW & PW 38" - use single length heads

9, 8 & 7 = 38 1/4", 38 1/2" & 38 3/4" - use single length heads

6, 5 & 4 = 39", 39 1/4, 39 1/2" - use standard heads

 

I am compelled to state without seeing how you swing/generate power it's nearly impossible to give a better recommendation.

 

Mizuno does have 'B' heads that are essentially 7 grams lighter per head.  You could order a single 7 iron at the 41" to see how it goes.  I'm truly curious to what shaft they would use.

Thank you, any thoughts on lie?  My current 7 is 39 1/4 so I know these lengths are manageable. Right now Mizuno is suggesting c taper lite stiff. I am not sure they considered the 7 at 40 or 41, they just suggested uncut for the set. I'm thinking that isn't going to work as standard sets of shafts are probably only about 2 over uncut. More work to do. Thanks again.