New Irons For Aging Golfer

[jpcortese]

Just turned 73 years old and for the last 2 years I have been playing Ping G410 irons with Alta CB regular flex shafts.  It appears that with age I have a slower swing speed and they are not going very far.  As a result I am thinking about new irons.  What would you recommend I should consider for my next purchase?  I was thinking of having my Pings re-shafted with a senior flex shaft but everyone tells me that that is cost prohibitive and that I should just get a new iron set.  I'm not wed to Ping and have played Callaway in the past. 

[BirdieBob]

We don't know your swing, so go someplace and try something to see what works.

Lots of possibilities in both iron heads and shafts!

[GolfTurkey]

There are two ways that I think you could go for more distance: 

 

1.  Combine a lighter shaft with a  hotter head. I think the lighter weight is more likely to contribute to extra distance than a softer flex, although the ultra lightweight shafts are usually softer flexes anyway. As a starting point I suggest something like Ping G710 with Recoil 450 or 460 ESX (52 and 59 grams respectively vs your current 72g shaft).

 

2. Providing you get on with fairways and hybrids, replace as many irons as you can.  Use higher lofted fairway woods instead of longer irons and hybrids instead of mid irons. The longer shafts and head designs should give you more club head and ball speed, more launch, spin and height and distance. 

[NoTalentLefty]

I’m a big fan of the Mavrik irons. 61 here . I needed some help with gapping in my irons due to two artificial hips. Though I use the Catalyst 65 Regulars. I’m sure the senior flex would suit your needs. Also I read an interesting interview with Dana Quigley , who is now in his 70s, I think. He recommended using hybrids. He even added a six hybrid. So I added one to my 3 thru 5 hybrid . It’s been a great help with getting a 10 to 15 yard gaps with all my clubs. If hybrids aren’t to your liking, adding higher numbered FWs would be another alternative. My dad , started adding woods to his bag at 70 by the time he quit golf at 90, his bag was all FWs except for a sand wedge and putter. 

[MattM97]

A full re-shafting can be expensive, almost expensive as new irons. I know it's kinda broken record but go get fit if you can. Older players can have a huge advantage of getting fit especially when they get the right head and shaft combo, you're more likely to see better increases doing that. 

[chipa]

I would look at single length irons. My brother is in his 50s and has back issues and he changed to single length and hits the ball much better with plenty of distance.

[LeoLeo99]

Yoga and/or stretching would be more beneficial than an equipment change.  Swing speed is swing speed.  And you can't buy that.  

[gvogel]

Lots of different advice here.  One way to skin the cat is to go to hybrids, with 7-iron as your lowest lofted iron.  Or you might look into a full hybrid iron lineup, like the Cleveland Launcher HB Turbo set.

[mootrail]

I like Ping but not their shafts.  Try the Nippon Zelos in A or R if you still want steel or the Recoils (so many models, but all good) in A flex for graphite.

 

There are so many good iron options now but the shaft options may limit your choices.  Most all are strong lofted, low COG, high MOI in both GI and SGI.  Give the hybrid iron versions a try if you haven't yet.

 

 

[ScottF]

Senior shafts will not give you much more distance. Contrary to what others may have said, you can buy more distance. I’m in the process of switching to Titleist T400 irons. They have “jacked” the lofts on the clubs, but they were designed to give us guys with slower swing speeds some of the distance, along with a good dose of forgiveness that we’ve lost. Guys with fast swing speeds mock the clubs, but that doesn’t bother me. I want to reach par 3’s without needing a fairway or hybrid.

[chipa]

4 minutes ago, ScottF said:

Senior shafts will not give you much more distance. Contrary to what others may have said, you can buy more distance. I’m in the process of switching to Titleist T400 irons. They have “jacked” the lofts on the clubs, but they were designed to give us guys with slower swing speeds some of the distance, along with a good dose of forgiveness that we’ve lost. Guys with fast swing speeds mock the clubs, but that doesn’t bother me. I want to reach par 3’s without needing a fairway or hybrid.

 

Just lowering the lofts will no doubt give one more distance but without lengthening the shaft the ball will go lower and thus will be easier to mishit. 

 

I think single length irons from 6 iron on down is a better solution plus the flatter swing plane promotes an easier turn. As far as using hybrids who cares anymore look at all the pros using them. I'm 55 and have got plenty of speed but I still I have two hybrids, a 2h that I converted into a 4 wood and the other a 4h with a slightly lengthened shaft.

[scomac2002]

1 hour ago, chipa said:

 

Just lowering the lofts will no doubt give one more distance but without lengthening the shaft the ball will go lower and thus will be easier to mishit. 

 

I think single length irons from 6 iron on down is a better solution plus the flatter swing plane promotes an easier turn. As far as using hybrids who cares anymore look at all the pros using them. I'm 55 and have got plenty of speed but I still I have two hybrids, a 2h that I converted into a 4 wood and the other a 4h with a slightly lengthened shaft.

 

I don't think that's quite right.  I think that it depends upon the head design and how much launch it generates.  I have a set of Speedblades with M flex graphite shafts.  The heads have strong lofts -- 23.5° 5 iron -- and I don't have any trouble getting it up in the air.  I think that the slots in the sole really help.

 

They work pretty well for me once I got onto the light weight shafts.  I wouldn't necessarily say that they are longer than what I was using before, but they are definitely easier on the body which is what I was after.  If anything the Velox T shaft in M is a bit tighter than the old TM Speed Step steel shafts in R on my previous set.

[Sean2]

I like the Mavrik irons...along with the senior tees. ?

[Tiptx1122]

Im turning 65 in a few months and I just bought some PING G710 with i80 SteelFiber Aerotech shaft. Came from TM P790's as I would seriously look at the G710's big improvement over the G410's in feel, distance and forgiveness. They also look sweet but I will warn you they are not cheap.

[NoTalentLefty]

43 minutes ago, Sean2 said:

I like the Mavrik irons...along with the senior tees. ?

Best answer. Hope the OP has already moved up. 

[acemandrake]

25 minutes ago, NoTalentLefty said:

Best answer. Hope the OP has already moved up. 

Senior tees for the win!  I also like PXG 0211's or Ping G700's.  Graphite shafts & R flex.