Graphite shaft in 4 iron only

[drscott266]

Tried searching, and couldn’t really find anything on this. Essentially I have found that a 4 iron is the ragged edge of what I can consistently hit well, up to a 5 iron I feel more or less comfy.  My irons are Titleist T200 with LZ 5.5 shafts. I was fit and really like them. I play a 21* hybrid, which definitely carries more than the 4 iron at the same loft, but curious if swapping in a graphite shaft to just the 4 iron could help?  Very hard to test this, as even the U500 series only have the stock shafts to demo and they honestly didn’t suit me much. Really enjoying the GD AD DI in my hybrid and driver (would have it in 3 wood but got good numbers wide tensei blue), so would the driving iron DI be a good candidate?  I have heard people put recoils into their driving irons and had good luck, this would be same idea just the t200 head. 
 

my typical issue is that I just don’t elevate the 4 iron unless I flush it. Thinking a lighter profile would benefit me, but still need it to be stable to hold up to my swing. What do you all think?

[achappy]

Although I've always been a good long iron player, I tried a similar experiment last year by putting in a Recoil 95g in my 3I for two main reasons:

• Thought maybe the shaft and weight would give me a little more height since I'm not a fan of hybrids
• Could double up as a driving iron if I got a little more distance out of it.

For me the experiment didn't last long.  The main reason is that I actually ended up hitting it worse. The profile and weight was just too different than the rest of my irons (DGAMT at the time).  And when I did hit it well, I didn't hit it any higher or longer.  So out came the shaft and I replaced it with the DGAMT.  Much better for me as the transition and feel across all of my irons feel the same.

[drscott266]

34 minutes ago, achappy said:

Although I've always been a good long iron player, I tried a similar experiment last year by putting in a Recoil 95g in my 3I for two main reasons:

• Thought maybe the shaft and weight would give me a little more height since I'm not a fan of hybrids
• Could double up as a driving iron if I got a little more distance out of it.

For me the experiment didn't last long.  The main reason is that I actually ended up hitting it worse. The profile and weight was just too different than the rest of my irons (DGAMT at the time).  And when I did hit it well, I didn't hit it any higher or longer.  So out came the shaft and I replaced it with the DGAMT.  Much better for me as the transition and feel across all of my irons feel the same.

That’s what I’m worried about too, thanks for sharing the experience. Honestly it’s probably time for me to accept a hybrid in that spot or just accept my odds as is. Driving irons definitely don’t work for me, but they also aren’t designed to to do what I am looking for.  Might get a T300 4 iron with same shaft as my irons in hopes of just making life a little easier 

[eth4and]

On 1/16/2021 at 2:15 PM, drscott266 said:

That’s what I’m worried about too, thanks for sharing the experience. Honestly it’s probably time for me to accept a hybrid in that spot or just accept my odds as is. Driving irons definitely don’t work for me, but they also aren’t designed to to do what I am looking for.  Might get a T300 4 iron with same shaft as my irons in hopes of just making life a little easier 

I personally like the idea of a transitional club as a way to reclaim your distance gapping at the top of your bag. That said, if you're currently playing a 21* hybrid, the stock loft on your T200 5i is 24*. What's the current distance gap between these 2 clubs? If the goal is to tighten the gap you could try lofting up your hybrid from 21* to 22* OR bending your 5i from 24* to 23*. 

[SugarLandGolfer]

Some people are more sensitive to swing weight differences, but it’s relatively common for people to use steel shafts in irons and a lighter weight graphite shaft in the driving iron. It’s not a perfect correlation as your using a normal iron vs driving iron, but you’re trying to solve the same problem.

[Titleist_PT23]

Do what works is all that really matters.

 

But personally a softer/lighter shaft in the SAME model iron head never made much sense to me.  If the iron head/shaft works well from the 5-iron to PW, but doesn't work in the 4-iron, the problem is not the shaft but lack of loft on the 4-iron.

 

One potential trick: buy a 3-iron and use it as a range/practice club.  When you look down at the 4-iron on the course it will look easy to hit.  Instead of trying to hit the 4-iron harder/higher, if you put a normal swing on it the result may be fine (caveat that everyone has their limit on swingspeed/strike consistency and minimum loft).

 

 

[Nic1972]

For the 4-iron spot I have actually 3 choices:

- The 4-iron of my set with the same shaft than the rest: Mizuno MP-18 SC with Project X LZ 6.0 shafts. I use it in windy conditions as I can keep it low;

- Mizuno MP-H5 with a MCA OT-I 105 S graphite shaft. Love this combo, longer and higher than the set iron. And super easy to hit.
- Adams Super 9031 Porto hybrid with aa Aldiss ATX 85 S shaft. This one is in the bag when I need more carry and less roll compared to the MP-H5.

Based on the course and the conditions I choose one or the other. 
Usually the MP-H5 is in the bag as it is the perfect combination of the set iron and the hybrid. 

 

Edited January 19, 2021 by Nic1972

[drscott266]

These are all super good pieces of advice, thanks to everyone for spitballing with me. My current line of thinking is to put the 21* hybrid in the 4 iron spot and add a 5 wood. Father Time has made it so I hit a 5 wood as far as I used to be able hit a hybrid. The previous poster is correct I think in the lack of loft being the driving issue, as the T200 has plenty of tungsten in it so a U-series won’t help much with variable results. I know I can hit my 21* hybrid pretty well all the time just need to dial in spin or possibly max distance through loft or shaft combo. Prior to this realizing I used my hybrid as a second shot for par 5’s for tee club, so roll out was ok... now I need to manage decent angle like with my iron fitting. I am kinda digging the idea of a 5 and 3 wood to be honest. 

[Pepperturbo]

Titleist makes two driving irons, U500 and U510 but everyone seems to only test or talk about U500, the more demanding of the two.  U510 has greater forgiveness yet still provides distance, and comes with PX HZRDUS Smoke HY 79.5g, 81g, 83g shaft, depending on flex.

 

Presuming you find the right shaft, there is NO reason you can't put an 80-100g shaft in 4 iron.  Look for one that has a moderately soft tip section and mid-high bend, properly swing weighted, it should work.  However, with any change, it will demand some range time to get use to the change.

 

I recently went from PX 6.0 (120g) to Steelfiber i110 "S", to PX 5.5 (115g) shafts to my current graphite shafts.  Still enjoying my 2i-4i too.  There is one main reason why I still benefit from long irons (3i = 195yrds+) I exercise and still quite strong, and have a hitter type swing.

Edited January 20, 2021 by Pepperturbo