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Loss of iron distance, winter, getting older or both


mantan

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It's 'winter' here and I've felt like I've lost a club in distance with my irons.  I put winters in quotes, because I live in the DFW area and north Texas winters are pretty mild.  There is an occasional front delay.  But we are usually playing with morning temps in between 38-48.   I'm hitting my driver the same distance.  But my irons are a full club short.  I've started just clubbing up, but the power outage feels strange after hitting  my irons the same distance forever.

 

I am trying to tell myself it's just the cold weather, not being as loose and having layers on.  I just turned 50, but it seems a bit early for the swing speed to drop that much....

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Two states north of you.  But... Texas has had more snow than we have, so far this winter.  We're still playing almost every day.  Long frost delays.  Too many clothes.  Heavy, cold air.  Never surprised to lose from a half club to a full club off the irons on the colder days.  Of course, on those colder days one has to figure how much the ball will bounce or roll on close to frozen turf.  During the round, the top begins to soften and the ball will stick.  Just that funky time of year when the conditions will make one shake their head.  But, hey!  We woke up.  We are playing golf in January.  I'll take it.  

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Most likely the cold weather.  I always have to play 1/2 to a full club more during cold days here even in SoCal.  If it's age related, there would be distance loss with driver as well. 

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Cold, dense air.  Multiple layers of clothing.  Colder, stiffer body.  More wind.  Take your "normal" distance, and add one club, two if the shot is into the wind.  Go easy on yourself.  Heck, I'm shocked that your driver is going the same distance!

 

If you want a good comparison of what cold, dense air does to the carry of a golf ball, try keeping the gas mileage on your car.  Easily, there is a 10% difference between the summer and the winter, driving the same routes at the same speed, and often more than 10%.  Take 10% off the carry distance of a 150 yd. shot on the golf course, and you need at least one extra club, maybe two. 

 

I've read that golf balls are "optimized" at something like 80*F.  If you're playing at temps between 38-48, there is NO way the ball is going to fly the same distances.  One other thing that might help is to alternate golf balls every hole and keep the spare in your pocket.  I even start the round with an odd and an even numbered ball so that I know on the tee that I've switched to the one that I kept in my pocket the last hole. 

 

And I'll add one other thing that I suspect, but can't prove.  There is no more forgiving turf that lush Bermuda in the summer, and no less forgiving turf that muddy, dormant Bermuda in January.  If you are playing on dormant Bermuda in the DFW area, and I suspect that you are, your strike off the ground has to be perfect because of the conditions, and that alone will cause slower swing speeds than in warm weather.  Not an issue off the tee, of course, but a big deal all winter off the ground.  Again, go easy on yourself.

Edited by bluedot
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28 minutes ago, bluedot said:

Cold, dense air.  Multiple layers of clothing.  Colder, stiffer body.  More wind.  Take your "normal" distance, and add one club, two if the shot is into the wind.  Go easy on yourself.  Heck, I'm shocked that your driver is going the same distance!

 

If you want a good comparison of what cold, dense air does to the carry of a golf ball, try keeping the gas mileage on your car.  Easily, there is a 10% difference between the summer and the winter, driving the same routes at the same speed, and often more than 10%.  Take 10% off the carry distance of a 150 yd. shot on the golf course, and you need at least one extra club, maybe two. 

 

I've read that golf balls are "optimizes" at something like 80*F.  If you're playing at temps between 38-48, there is NO way the ball is going to fly the same distances.  One other thing that might help is to alternate golf balls every hole and keep the spare in your pocket.  I even start the round with an odd and an even numbered ball so that I know on the tee that I've switched to the one that I kept in my pocket the last hole. 

 

And I'll add one other thing that I suspect, but can't prove.  There is no more forgiving turf that lush Bermuda in the summer, and no less forgiving turf that muddy, dormant Bermuda in January.  If you are playing on dormant Bermuda in the DFW area, and I suspect that you are, your strike off the ground has to be perfect because of the conditions, and that alone will cause slower swing speeds than in warm weather.  Not an issue off the tee, of course, but a big deal all winter off the ground.  Again, go easy on yourself.

 

Yeah, wet Bermuda is no fun at all.

 

One positive to all of this is I got my new driver just when we got into cooler weather.  So if it's better than what it replaced now, it should really be good when things warm up.

 

Thanks for all the great feedback guys..

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Srixon MKii ZX5s 6-PW Modus 105s

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Cleveland CBX4 Zipcore 56*

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