looking for irons with great distance consistency that don't compromise on forgiveness

[nostatic]

34 minutes ago, ShAMbotay said:

see, that's the part I'm quickly realizing I haven't caught on to. What's the difference between "forgiving" and "consistent"?

 

semantics - the bane of our existence.

 

It is important to define terms up front, then people know what metrics are being applied. I think consistence is mostly the operator (how much deviation is there in each swing and contact point/angle/speed/etc) and forgiveness is a product of the club. To me, forgiveness means that the contact patch that gives "acceptable" results is larger. So if I mis-hit it, the direction and distance are close to what they would have been with a correct hit. What "close" and "acceptable" are will vary for different folks.

 

But I don't see an individual iron having problems with being "consistent." It is a piece of metal that has certain physical properties. If the ball goes longer on one swing than another, the swing is what is inconsistent (or there is another factor like wet ball, rough, etc). The metal is reacting like...metal. My theory is that with GI/SGI clubs, the "flyer" is actually a correctly hit ball and all the other strikes are mis-hits - that may be consistent in positioning, but not in the sweet spot. So the flyer may be the outlier statistically for the player, but it actually is what the club is supposed to be doing.

 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2021 by nostatic

[PEI_Golfer]

33 minutes ago, ShAMbotay said:

see, that's the part I'm quickly realizing I haven't caught on to. What's the difference between "forgiving" and "consistent"?

 

Another vote for the I210s, search should end with these fantastic heads.

 

For the question above, to me forgiving is when I miss on the toe it still doesn't get me in trouble or losing too much distance or off line and still leave me with a playable shot, some blades I've had in the past punished my crap strikes as much as 25ish yards, which can get you into a lot of trouble depending on the hole.  

 

Consistency is that on like strikes, whether it be middle, heelish or toe, you will get a miss that you can take into account when choosing what shot to hit.  You will get a consistent end result on similar strikes time in and time out.  I have found that my distance control is better with these in my hands than other irons.  Everything close to pin high each time and missing left or right.  

[Argonne69]

9 minutes ago, nostatic said:

 

semantics - the bane of our existence.

 

It is important to define terms up front, then people know what metrics are being applied. I think consistence is mostly the operator (how much deviation is there in each swing and contact point/angle/speed/etc) and forgiveness is a product of the club. To me, forgiveness means that the contact patch that gives "acceptable" results is larger. So if I mis-hit it, the direction and distance are close to what they would have been with a correct hit. What "close" and "acceptable" are will vary for different folks.

 

But I don't see an individual iron having problems with being "consistent." It is a piece of metal that has certain physical properties. If the ball goes longer on one swing than another, the swing is what is inconsistent (or there is another factor like wet ball, rough, etc). The metal is reacting like...metal. My theory is that with GI/SGI clubs, the "flyer" is actually a correctly hit ball and all the other strikes are mis-hits - that may be consistent in positioning, but not in the sweet spot. So the flyer may be the outlier statistically for the player, but it actually is what the club is supposed to be doing.

 

 

 

 

Gotta disagree. I played GI and SGI irons for a few years, and inconsistent distances were a real problem. They're not just metal. Multi piece construction with inserts leads to inconsistent results. I purchased my first set of (used) forged players irons, and lo and behold the inconsistencies went bye bye. 

 

[SwooshLT]

T200s........a shade bigger than T100/T100S but nothing ridiculous.......turf interaction much better than i210 imho ; even though i210 is a fine iron head.......lofts are a bit stronger but that's only an offset of launch conditions 

 

Don't sleep on them! 

 

No heaters or jumpers unexpectedly 

Edited April 1, 2021 by SwooshLT

[Pepperturbo]

In today's world people redefine the meaning of words to suite their needs or convenience.  I am old school so take them as they are defined.

 

Consistency is hitting the ball using a given club to a known distance and controlling the ball as it travels there.  More importantly, knowing I can do that 99% of the time. 

 

I know my cover yardages, and that I can hit my 3i 190yds straight, but if my joints are singing praise, I can get 200yds+ and stop the ball.  PW easy 105yds, stock 110-115yds push 118-120yds and stop the ball on the spot, and know my ball won't suddenly fly over the green into the abyss.  I do this using traditional lofted irons too.

 

Forgiveness is what the club head does when YOU can't make a consistent swing and hit the ball using a spot other than the sweet spot.  The club head steps in with its greatness and covers your a** using junk in the truck.  You come out smiling when you would have been frowning, or maybe crying. lol

 

My MB and CB 620 series do NOT have much room for junk in the trunk, so I must hit the ball as planned. 

Edited April 1, 2021 by Pepperturbo

[ShAMbotay]

so with these last bits of information, I can try and refine what I'm trying to say to be something like.. "I'm trying to avoid an iron that has that "ultra sweet spot", that makes the ball go too far when you hit it too good. I want forgiveness on as much of the face as possible, but I don't want it to just be "alright it's more forgiving everywhere, including the sweet spot" increased forgiveness in an iron where it's needed, and no undue help in the middle where it can be detrimental (drivers, anyone?) also preferably not a hollow bodied/multi-material iron, with the exception of tungsten. I like tungsten. we can always use more of that stuff.

 

sounds like i210 and JPX 921 Forged are hot contenders (I keep repeating myself, I'm just saying it differently 🤔)

Edited April 1, 2021 by ShAMbotay

[Argonne69]

51 minutes ago, SwooshLT said:

T200s........a shade bigger than T100/T100S but nothing ridiculous.......turf interaction much better than i210 imho ; even though i210 is a fine iron head.......lofts are a bit stronger but that's only an offset of launch conditions 

 

Don't sleep on them! 

 

No heaters or jumpers unexpectedly 

 

i210 traditional lofts are not strong.

 

[ShAMbotay]

Maybe I should go for the question "most forgiving iron that isn't hollow bodied or multi-material" or "most forgiving solid bodied 1 or 2 piece forging. tungsten is allowed"

[SwooshLT]

5 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

 

i210 traditional lofts are not strong.

 

T200s.......just threw i210s in for thread sake

[SwooshLT]

Just now, ShAMbotay said:

Maybe I should go for the question "most forgiving iron that isn't hollow bodied or multi-material" or "most forgiving solid bodied 1 or 2 piece forging. tungsten is allowed"

 

T200s for the win! Investigate and hit outside if possible 

[Argonne69]

4 minutes ago, ShAMbotay said:

Maybe I should go for the question "most forgiving iron that isn't hollow bodied or multi-material" or "most forgiving solid bodied 1 or 2 piece forging. tungsten is allowed"

 

I'd look at the Srixon ZX7s. 

 

[Jmccas]

5 hours ago, ShAMbotay said:

I might be able to force myself to decipher cursive, but even a short note written on a card takes a Herculean effort to decipher, probably reading less than 10 words a minute.

 

for reference, I often spend 2-6 hours of my day reading light novels, and usually can get through around 2 300 pagers in that time.

 

”bookmarks are for quitters”

Aren’t we supposed to brag about golf

scores on this site?

[PEI_Golfer]

4 minutes ago, Jmccas said:

Aren’t we supposed to brag about golf

scores on this site?

 

No, this will be the side thread instead of 'how far do you hit your 7i' from now on...

[LeoLeo99]

I've had forgiving irons that were jumpy and I've had players irons that were consistent if you made a good swing.  My G400 irons give me forgiveness without any jumpiness.  

[Duffer222]

10 hours ago, Cwing said:

I’m not certain it exists. Personally I don’t find my PING g410 irons to be overly hot faced. That stated, I do find that quality of strike matters, ALLOT.

 

I’m not referring to solid strikes just off the center (heel or toe) or even a consistent toe strike. I tend to get similar distances on those shots. I’m also not referring to a solidly struck pull that usually goes much further than a solidly struck non pull.

 

If I club down to ensure I cover the required distance, I am going to be long if I strike it solid. When I club up and strike it poorly, I’ll be short.

That’s not going to change with a different set typically.... you need to work on solid and consistent ball striking

[Finaus_Umbrella]

I can attest to the T100’s virtues. I can then suggest covering the logos up (I do this with most brands of clubs I use). 
 

Or is this still not okay since you’ll know the cursive is still alive under the lead tape?

[Duct Tape]

9 hours ago, ShAMbotay said:

I’ve heard a lot of good things about the i210’s. They’re also in the picture, but I don’t want to buy an iron that is monumentally difficult to obtain, prone to an imminent replacement, and really quite old.

 

that said, it’s still totally in the cards for how good it seems to be even with those (mental) obstacles.

My new i210’s just arrived a week ago and I like them so much I’m thinking about buying another set before Ping makes the monumentally poor decision to stop or change this line. 

[Joe Jordan]

I currently game the I210’s love the look and the feel. That being said....I was shocked how good the Srixon ZX5 were! I’m not a high ball hitter and these just got up and went. The feel was outstanding and super consistent, love the look at address . Very similar to I210...but I felt like my misses were better with the ZX5. Full disclosure in my I210’s I’m hitting the DG 120 stiff. In the ZX5 my fitter put me in was the Nippon 950GH neon. Perfect combo for me, I’m a 7-8 handicap with a smooth tempo swing...also known as slow lol. Hope this helps

[ShAMbotay]

can anybody provide pics of specifically 4 irons from the i210, JPX 921 Forged, ZX7 and (ugh) T100 and T200?
I'd also like comparisons on how high the flight is on said 4 irons.

 

call me weird, but I'm picky about my 4-iron and set matching gap wedge.

[PEI_Golfer]

Time to go to a golf store I think...

[lefthack]

You do know ball flight isn't the same for everyone, right? Sounds like you need to hit a demo day as you seem to have little idea of what you are actually looking for.

[nostatic]

1 minute ago, PEI_Golfer said:

Time to go to a golf store I think...

Or google and click on the images tab...

[ShAMbotay]

30 minutes ago, lefthack said:

You do know ball flight isn't the same for everyone, right? Sounds like you need to hit a demo day as you seem to have little idea of what you are actually looking for.

I meant compared to each other. not necessarily looking for "oh it launches at x with y apex and z descent", more looking for "oh, x's 4 iron seems to peak higher than Y's iron, and I haven't hit Z's 4 iron"

[lefthack]

31 minutes ago, ShAMbotay said:

I meant compared to each other. not necessarily looking for "oh it launches at x with y apex and z descent", more looking for "oh, x's 4 iron seems to peak higher than Y's iron, and I haven't hit Z's 4 iron"

Again, I think your best bet is to hit them yourself because I am willing to bet that 5 guys on here hit the same club will have at least 3 different results.

 

And the likelihood of one of them being the same as yours is anyone's guess.

 

It just comes off like you are looking for an amazing unicorn.

 

Forgiveness, but not clunky.

Sharp, but not a blade.

Some offset, but too much is no good.

High but not ballooning flight.

Good spin, but not crazy.

No script font. 

Made in or near Texas.

 

Did I miss anything? 

 

 

 

[SwooshLT]

3 minutes ago, lefthack said:

Again, I think your best bet is to hit them yourself because I am willing to bet that 5 guys on here hit the same club will have at least 3 different results.

 

And the likelihood of one of them being the same as yours is anyone's guess.

 

It just comes off like you are looking for an amazing unicorn.

 

Forgiveness, but not clunky.

Sharp, but not a blade.

Some offset, but too much is no good.

High but not ballooning flight.

Good spin, but not crazy.

No script font. 

Made in or near Texas.

 

Did I miss anything? 

 

 

 

 

 

T200 description......lol

[ShAMbotay]

36 minutes ago, lefthack said:

Again, I think your best bet is to hit them yourself because I am willing to bet that 5 guys on here hit the same club will have at least 3 different results.

 

And the likelihood of one of them being the same as yours is anyone's guess.

 

It just comes off like you are looking for an amazing unicorn.

 

Forgiveness, but not clunky.

Sharp, but not a blade.

Some offset, but too much is no good.

High but not ballooning flight.

Good spin, but not crazy.

No script font. 

Made in or near Texas.

 

Did I miss anything? 

 

 

 

Forgiveness, but not overdone.
not a blade, not too thin, not too sharp, I like to see the junk in the trunk to inspire confidence, especially in the longer clubs.
offset is good, but tbh I'm not that picky about it. progressive offset is a novel concept that I've liked before.

high 4 iron flight. My current set is progressive, and the 4 iron is on 'roids. with what I've got, I can hit a green at 200 and it'll stop within 5-7 yards. There also isn't anywhere around that has a demo 4i of any kind. it's all 6 or 7.

spin should be average to high average, but that's a hard measurement to nitpick at without access to a monitor. (which I don't, tragically)
no cursive (sorry Titleist)
Texas currently doesn't have much to offer me with what I want out of an iron set. I'll wait and see if Hogan's next set is 4-G instead of 4-P
It needs to be 4-G

no hollow bodies, filled bodies, or wild multi-material constructions.

 

close to a unicorn, but real enough that it should be attainable, right? I realize I've just described a GI iron up until that last line, which could throw everything for a loop.

Edited April 2, 2021 by ShAMbotay

[lefthack]

As specific as you are, you will still need to hit it. On paper anything can look good. Pictures, strangers explanations, reviews, none of that will tell you what it's like for you to hit it.

[Argonne69]

3 hours ago, Duct Tape said:

My new i210’s just arrived a week ago and I like them so much I’m thinking about buying another set before Ping makes the monumentally poor decision to stop or change this line. 

 

Ping doesn't make large changes. The next i-series will very likely be a modest evolution. 

[Argonne69]

2 hours ago, Joe Jordan said:

I currently game the I210’s love the look and the feel. That being said....I was shocked how good the Srixon ZX5 were! I’m not a high ball hitter and these just got up and went. The feel was outstanding and super consistent, love the look at address . Very similar to I210...but I felt like my misses were better with the ZX5. Full disclosure in my I210’s I’m hitting the DG 120 stiff. In the ZX5 my fitter put me in was the Nippon 950GH neon. Perfect combo for me, I’m a 7-8 handicap with a smooth tempo swing...also known as slow lol. Hope this helps

 

DG 120 to 950's? Yikes. No wonder the ball is getting up in the air. The Nippons are some of the highest launching shafts out there.

 

[homergolf]

10 hours ago, tsecor said:

Here are the two side by side.....I would say they are very similar....but who is BEM HOGAN?   

Hogan is cursive