I was just wandering around on Saturday with little to do and thought that I would nip in to AG to buy some shorts to wear on Sunday and found myself looking at the irons on display! I will now apologise in advance for the long thread!

I currently have TM RAC OSII's in graphite shaft, this is purely for the lightness which I like.  For the last 6-12 months I have been thinking about going to steel shafts in the hope that this will help with my shot dispertion and accuracy. I grabbed a salesman (boy) and said I was looking at the MP-60's and would like to try them in the net. First thing he said was " have you thought about the Ben Hogan's or the Jack Nicklaus clubs?" "no" I replied "and not interested". Anyway, grabbed an MP60, Cobra (??) Jack Nicklaus, MX-25 and an MP-57. Started with the MP-57 and salesboy said "thats 225 yds", next one, "thats 230 yds" I nearly fell on the floor laughing. they obviously think I am a mug and only interested in hearing I can belt the ball miles! I checked the machine, Vector Pro, and it was showing aroung 180-190 carry and up to 50yds roll!

After testing all clubs, it was the MP-57 that I really liked. Checked the impact tape and all shots were in the middle or slightly towards the heel, none on the toe. I asked Salesboy about the length and lie and he said that standard was fine for me. I  mentioned that I am quite short in 5'8" but he replied that I am average!

I then asked to borrow the MP-57 and take it to the range, which they agreed to. I checked the club I had been using and it had a DG-R300 shaft, checked the club they gave me to take and it was a DG-S300. The salesboy and made no mention of the shafts  but I suspected I would be better of with the stiff shaft anyway.

I mentioned about getting fitted at the Mizuno fitting centre in Leatherhead and he said "yeah, you (as in me) can ring them and book a session"! "Oh no I can't, its only pro's/shop that can book", I said. He didn't believe me!

Anyway, I took the MP-57 6 iron to the range and hit around 30 balls with it. Two I thinned, ouch, 4-5 had a slight fade but landed pretty straight and 20-23 were dead straight with a really penetrating flight. Apart from the two thinned shots they all landed ten yds past the 150 marker. So of a range mats and grass, with range balls, I was very pleased with the results. Absolutely lovely clubs.

So, I really want to buy these but before I do (I have yet to persuade her indoors) can anyone tell me roughly what height a Mizuno standard shaft is made for? I know you will tell me to head for the fitting centre but I would still be interested in anyones opinions on this. I have also entered this question into the Mizuno website but only some questions are answered once a month and there is no email address.

From what I understand (which isn't much, but I was recently fitted for my MX19s) the height of the person isn't important. It's the distance from the tip of the longest finger to the ground (when the hands are by the sides) which influence the lengths of the clubs. Therefore if you are 5foot4 with really short arms you'd need longer shafts, but if you are 7 feet tall woth arms like a gorilla (eg knuckles dragging!) you'd need a shorter shaft.

However I could be wrong about this! Try checking on their website to see where your nearest custom fitting centre is (I know that my local course are one and that the nearby DG are too!).

BB

Sorry to go off at a slight tangent but I was wondering over the weekend whether I needed shorter shafts. I'm 5'7" but have really long arms. I do find that when I grip slightly down on my clubs I get a better strike. However, when you go for a fitting, dont you have to be really consistent in order they can "measure" you accurately? And if you're swing is already making allowances for using clubs that are too long/short doesnt measuring become that much harder. To me it seems a bit of a Catch 22, no? ie no point in getting fitted until you're consistent but then if you achieve consistency you're not going to get measured properly.

There is no direct correlation between height and shaft length.  Any good fitting seesion will be done on a dynamic basis, taking both static measurements like wrist to ground distance and actual swing characteristices into consideration.

Get down to a Fitting Centre!  After getting the basic measurements, you will be given a variety of head/shaft combinations, to see what actually works best for you.  You shouldn't leave without being fully confident that you have been given a specification that suits you.

I've recently been fitted for a set of MP60's at Cumbernauld and like you am 5ft8 and came out as standard length/lie. Strange thing was I was retrospectively fitted by my pro for my last set of MX17s and measured at 1.5deg flat (I think) by was advised by Mizuno when trying both my old and new clubs were correct. I would add though when I got fitted, I wasn't wearing my skirt, ginger wig and holding a can of irn bru, so that may be where the discrpancy lies!)

I love the MP60most of the time and are cracking when hit correctly, but I would advise they are more difficult to hit from grass than from mats so try to get a loan of one before you purchase. AGD in Edinburgh said they would lend me one but I never took them up on it and possibly may have bought the 57's instead.

Just to put my two pence worth in,

 I am a former American Golf store manager and it sounds to me that the lad shouldnt realy have been giving out advice at that stage about custom fitting. I was very clear with my staff that no custom fitting is done untill the customer has settled on an iron and is in a position to buy them(including getting clearence from the mrs). Mainly because standard lofts, lies and lenghs change from company to company and also a full fitting session takes quite a while, i would spend about half and hour to 1 hour with a customer (excluding demo time before).

 It can be quite a wait to get in to leatherhead(Mizuno) it can be months sometimes. Depends how long you want to wait for your irons.