Players iron vs GI irons (loft for loft distance)

Is there much of a difference in distance between a players irons and GI irons when the loft and length match exactly?

Yes, there will be a little difference in forgiveness, but im talking about just pure distance wise? How about hollow GI irons ? Is there enough difference even with hollow irons ?

Let me know what you have experienced ..

Not sure. Honestly it's all swing dependant. I hit my AP2 further than the 919 forged on monitor the other day. Honestly, I find I hit most irons within a few yards of one another unless they're super low spin designs (that isn't saying just lofts). For instance, the 16' Apex and Apex pro were just cannons when I hit them. No control. My dad plays AP1 which are 2 degrees stronger than my Ap2 in the 7 and they go about the same distance.

> @balls_deep said:

> Not sure. Honestly it's all swing dependant. I hit my AP2 further than the 919 forged on monitor the other day. Honestly, I find I hit most irons within a few yards of one another unless they're super low spin designs (that isn't saying just lofts). For instance, the 16' Apex and Apex pro were just cannons when I hit them. No control. My dad plays AP1 which are 2 degrees stronger than my Ap2 in the 7 and they go about the same distance.

Balls has said pretty much everything. The bigger chunkier heads tend to pull spin off and that will usually make the ball go further if you have the swing speed. If you have the speed to get the ball in the air with ideal launch and spin numbers, you will very likely fly it well past a blade which are designed to maintain spin. You can get stupid distances out of the pure distance irons from the rough, ive hit a PW M4 probably 40 yards longer than I could ever imagine my 945 PW or 9 iron going.

There will be some distance changes depending on strike location, the hollow body and spring faces will tend to save ball speed across the face, as well.

Weight of the heads can change distance, but it would hardly be measurable between a few grams of each other.

But stripping the spin off the ball with super chunky heads can be dangerous. If you cant deliver ideal numbers to get the height and proper land angle, it will be very difficult to stop the ball on the green. My dad was seduced by super low spinning iron distances, but he hated playing because a good shot would not hold the green, he had to chase everything up from off the green which isnt always possible. Hes switched to a lower spinning iron model but with additional loft and a proper fitting so he can balance the removal of spin and still maintain an ability to stop a ball on a green.

I hit some newer clubs for the first time in awhile the other day and picked up a huge amount of yardage - I was pretty skeptical due to the loft differential. Sure enough when I checked I saw my 7 iron is a more traditional 35 degrees, while the Callaway Rogue X is 27.5, while most of the newer "player distance" irons are around 30-31*.

I came back a few days later and instead hit my 6 iron with a loft of 31* and compared that instead, which is within a degree of most of what I tried (P790, Forged tec black, G400, M5). I was still getting about 10-15 more yards out of the newer irons. The shafts undoubtedly have a bit to do with it, but it gave me a rough idea and much better comparison.

Loft for loft a modern spring face GI iron will hit the ball farther than a solid head players iron. The COR off the face of the better spring face irons will be about 8% higher for one thing so more energy will be transmitted to the ball. Similar to using a spring face driver vs. an older thick face driver of old. Most large head GI irons with the CG well behind the face will launch the ball higher and with less spin also, something that adds distance for most players. This last tidbit gets over discussed by GI iron haters in my experience. The GI clubs hit the ball high so the descent angle into the green is steeper than most players irons so the reduced spin is compensated for in part. As far as GI irons hitting fliers out of the rough is concerned, that's no more true than any club.

> @Nessism said:

> Loft for loft a modern spring face GI iron will hit the ball farther than a solid head players iron. The COR off the face of the better spring face irons will be about 8% higher for one thing so more energy will be transmitted to the ball. Similar to using a spring face driver vs. an older thick face driver of old. Most large head GI irons with the CG well behind the face will launch the ball higher and with less spin also, something that adds distance for most players. This last tidbit gets over discussed by GI iron haters in my experience. The GI clubs hit the ball high so the descent angle into the green is steeper than most players irons so the reduced spin is compensated for in part. As far as GI irons hitting fliers out of the rough is concerned, that's no more true than any club.

There is a little something to flier out of the rough with a GI. It is possible to slightly mishit a ball out of the rough so that even more spin is taken off than normal, but because of the better COR and and MOI retain close to standard ball speed. This is when you get the weird flier in comparison to a more bladed club. While they both will have the spin reduced, the players club will have the speed reduced as well making it a wash.

For most people though, I don't think the spin issues are going to be something to worry about. You're going to play 5-GW instead of 4-PW as you would with a players club. Your spin with your longest iron will be pretty much the same, but you'll get more consistent ball speed and better flight. If you truly need more spin, making a change to your ball can probably get you back where you need to be.

> @Nessism said:

> Loft for loft a modern spring face GI iron will hit the ball farther than a solid head players iron. The COR off the face of the better spring face irons will be about 8% higher for one thing so more energy will be transmitted to the ball. Similar to using a spring face driver vs. an older thick face driver of old. Most large head GI irons with the CG well behind the face will launch the ball higher and with less spin also, something that adds distance for most players. This last tidbit gets over discussed by GI iron haters in my experience. The GI clubs hit the ball high so the descent angle into the green is steeper than most players irons so the reduced spin is compensated for in part. As far as GI irons hitting fliers out of the rough is concerned, that's no more true than any club.

If my players iron is spinning at a baseline of say 6500 rpm for a 7 iron and I lose spin out of the rough I may still have a chance of holding the green. If I lose spin with the club that's spinning at 5000 AND I have higher ballspeed the thing is going to be a missile over the green - I've had it happen. I hit my AP2 as high as any GI iron but they spin more. I have more control out of the rough 100%. Spin also can factor into angle of descent. A blade can peak out at 30 yards but descend at say 47 degrees where a GI can peak out at 32 yards yet only descend at 44-45 degrees due to spin and where the peak in the flight is.

> @Nessism said:

> Loft for loft a modern spring face GI iron will hit the ball farther than a solid head players iron. The COR off the face of the better spring face irons will be about 8% higher for one thing so more energy will be transmitted to the ball. Similar to using a spring face driver vs. an older thick face driver of old. Most large head GI irons with the CG well behind the face will launch the ball higher and with less spin also, something that adds distance for most players. This last tidbit gets over discussed by GI iron haters in my experience. The GI clubs hit the ball high so the descent angle into the green is steeper than most players irons so the reduced spin is compensated for in part. As far as GI irons hitting fliers out of the rough is concerned, that's no more true than any club.

@Nessism i believe you, but curious where you the got the 8% from ? Also i believe you have commented on a few threads regarding maltby's iron measurements. Which measurement can i refer to on the maltbys chart regarding where the CG is then? Im looking at s55 irons and if im not mistaken, the ARCOG is 0.470, therefore placing the s55's RCOG very much inline to the rest of the Ping GI irons. Correct ? So theoretically, the s55 has a very similar CG to GI irons...

Tell me more @Nessism . My plan is to strenghten the s55 two full degrees throughtout the set thus making them 1 degree less in the mid irons compared to the i500. Im just trying to figure out how much distance will i be losing.

Typically a rear and low CG is what causes high launch and moderately low spin. The Maltby data doesn't reflect this though so I'm at a loss to explain.