Irons - Adjustable hosels

[doubleday]

Can anyone who works in the industry explain to me why golf manufacturers have not come out with adjustable hosels in irons?  Cobra and TM both have utility irons that are adjustable but no one seems to have iron sets that are.  I assume there may be weighting issues and some manufacturing issues to take into consideration.  Do you see this coming in the future or do you see irons always being bonded?  So, for a guy like me who is 1º flat in my irons, I could have a "standard" set with adjustable hosels that allow me to adjust the lie angle up to 2º flat or upright.  I suppose they could adjust loft as well.  For those of us who really want to dial in a specific gapping between irons.  So, if you could adjust loft and lie by 2 º each, wouldn't fitting be that much easier?  You could have a standard loft, retro spec loft, and power spec loft all in one package.  (Can you tell I'm a Ping guy?)  I think this would be a really interesting option to have.  Love to hear your thoughts on this.

Cheers!

[GolfSpy_APH]

I like the thought of it, but think it could simply be too much for the normal consumer. I've seen enough ppl tweak their drivers endlessly and hurt their games more then help. I could only imagine how much worse it could get with irons. Educating those other consumers would become all the more important. 

The only other flaw I could see is where shafts manufacturers may have to tweak their setups to allow for it.

Personally I really like the way the industry is trending with more ppl getting properly fit and think it makes sense to keep pushing that side rather then giving ever consider the ability to adjust all their clubs.

On a good side it would be great for gapping and I think that would be the big benefit. As far as lie angle it would be nice to have that adjustment available, but even if fit carts they often have several heads available for the varying lie angles.

Just my two cents worth... Would love to hear more on it!

[doubleday]

Agreed about too much adjustability for the average consumer could be detrimental.   I totally agree about custom fits.  I would say that 95% of golfers (I could be way off, just an assumption based on all the guys I play with and know) set it and forget it.  They are not tinkerers.  However, there are a few of us that are...  Insert my name here...  HA HA!  Not sure about the shaft issue.  I'd have to see the mechanical issues involved.  I wonder if an iron with a sleeved tip would change it's playing characteristics?  Interesting question for shaft manufactures.  Fitters seem to have a universal fitting system where they can put multiple manufactures heads on multiple shafts.  So you can try Ping, Callaway, TM etc... head with the exact same shaft without having multiple shafts with multiple adaptors.  So, the tech exists but I wonder if we"ll ever see it as consumers.  Hopefully, we'll get a few more people to chime in on this!

[null]

Adjustable hosels add weight. Irons are already heel heavy by nature so manufacturers would have to do even more to get the cog more towards the geometric center of the club. 

Also, most irons can be bent to accommodate the small changes in lie and loft you are looking for. The same can't be said for moder driver and fairway woods, so they get the adjustable hosels. 

There is no reason for this technology to exist, so we'll never see it in any meaningful way 

[RoverRick]

I can’t keep the mud and dirty out of the hosel hole for the wrench on my 3 Wood. The last thing I want is to have to dig it out after every shot.


Sent from my iPad using MyGolfSpy

[RickyBobby_PR]

9 hours ago, jlukes said:

Adjustable hosels add weight. Irons are already heel heavy by nature so manufacturers would have to do even more to get the cog more towards the geometric center of the club. 

Also, most irons can be bent to accommodate the small changes in lie and loft you are looking for. The same can't be said for moder driver and fairway woods, so they get the adjustable hosels. 

There is no reason for this technology to exist, so we'll never see it in any meaningful way 

This hit the nail on the head. 

[perseveringgolfer]

10 minutes ago, Middler said:

I agree with jlukes POV above.

It would be interesting to see a poll on how many people would want adjustable hosel irons. I’m happy with the lofts and lie on my irons, and they’re already adjustable with bending if I change my mind. I have no interest in tweaking them myself. But maybe some/many others do?

I see no point or advantage whatsoever in adjustable irons. If the loft on your 6 iron won't reach, hit a 5!

[TR1PTIK]

Agree with several above. As easy as it is to have loft and lie of an iron or wedge altered, there simply isn't much reason for adjustable irons to exist. It makes sense for drivers and fairway woods due to the number of heads that would have to be manufactured. In fact, the decision to release adjustable hosel technology was probably equal parts OEM cost savings and consumer benefit. Also, I'm not sure how well adjustable hosels would hold up when used in mid and short irons where a larger/deeper divot is generally expected vs. long irons, woods, and hybrids/utility irons. I can imagine they'd be much more prone to breakage or at least would loosen up over time.

[cnosil]

There are some clubs that do provide loft adjustability

https://www.divnickgolf.com

Wonder if MGS should include this in most wanted testing.

[hckymeyer]

Modern hosel adapters in woods also can't really adjust the loft without changing the face angle.  I don't think you want the face angle on your irons changing.

So yeah, while it would be cool to be able to tweak lofts and lie angles with a simple wrench and adapter, it's not really as simple as that.  It's a solution in search of a problem rather than the other way around.

[RickyBobby_PR]

2 hours ago, hckymeyer said:

Modern hosel adapters in woods also can't really adjust the loft without changing the face angle.  I don't think you want the face angle on your irons changing.

So yeah, while it would be cool to be able to tweak lofts and lie angles with a simple wrench and adapter, it's not really as simple as that.  It's a solution in search of a problem rather than the other way around.

Except dual cog adapters from Callaway and titleist allow you to make one change without the other. 

[hckymeyer]

1 hour ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Except dual cog adapters from Callaway and titleist allow you to make one change without the other. 

They can adjust lie angle independent from loft, but adjusting loft on a wood via an adapter will always change the face angle.