Irons question: How far is too far?

[Billy-Bo-Jim-Bob]

2 hours ago, JermWRX said:

I have 923 HMPs that I'm gonna have to get rid of for this exact issue. The gapping in those clubs are awful. I could probably spend a ton of time getting everything bent, testing, re-bend, test, etc.... I don't want to do that. You shouldn't need to manipulate every club in a set and mess with the bounce and offset just to find playable gaps. Major flaw in these irons. It's a shame because I like the look and feel, but the clubs don't make any sense together. 

Sounds like a real dilemma for Mizuno fans. HMP is a great looking and feeling iron. 

[Billy-Bo-Jim-Bob]

10 hours ago, MattM97 said:

Depends on who is swinging and what they're swinging. You're not going to see a pure ball striker swinging a 7i in the 90s a T400 for example and someone with a hip replacement swinging in the 60s with a 620MB. 

 

There's clubs for everyone and if there's a club with 7i loft of 26° it doesn't mean it's for everyone same with the 7i at 35°. 

 

I don't think people can wrap their head around golf having options now for everyone. 

Totally agree....there is something for everyone....just means we all need to keep testing until we find what works for us. Literally, anyone can find what they like looking at, feels the way they like and performs for their game. Enjoy the process.

[eric61]

2 hours ago, JermWRX said:

I have 923 HMPs that I'm gonna have to get rid of for this exact issue. The gapping in those clubs are awful. I could probably spend a ton of time getting everything bent, testing, re-bend, test, etc.... I don't want to do that. You shouldn't need to manipulate every club in a set and mess with the bounce and offset just to find playable gaps. Major flaw in these irons. It's a shame because I like the look and feel, but the clubs don't make any sense together. 

For the folks who said “pay attention to the loft, not the number on the bottom of the club” … this post describes exactly why that isn’t always as easy as it seems.

[Barfolomew]

Distance iron prob for short hitters not bombers creating giant gaps.... now sounds like I need one to replace hybrid lol.... hate offset tho 🐑

[PedronNiall]

8 hours ago, starrman77 said:

We are not Fleetwwod, nor do we have his abilities. If we did we would all be on tour.

Learning to work with what you have can get a lot out of a club.
 

 

That said, this thread asked how long is too long. I responded regarding that. A 200 yard 7 iron isn't too long when you still have good gapping and know your distances. Being longer, in fact, gives you more options so long as you are comfortable taking something off of clubs where needed.

 

Also, everyone with Fleetwood's or any other tour player's ability wouldn't magically be on tour. Aside from the absolute anomalies like Daly most tour players are made by a lot of work that most others wouldn't put in and by a mindset that pushes them to grind until they get there. I've met, been around, and played with great players who don't have and often don't even want to have that drive and focus it takes because their minds simply point them towards something else.

 

People don't need to be tour players to respond honestly to the fact that being capable of getting extra carry isn't a negative. You do know this forum has an outsized number of long hitters, right? There's literally no point to threads like these if the expectation is an echo chamber saying "distance bad".

[Port and Starboard]

On 3/18/2023 at 4:29 PM, me05501 said:

When I started playing 30+ years ago my favorite iron to practice with was a 7i. These days it’s an 8i, which likely has the same length and loft as the 7i from back then. These days a 6i is a long iron IMO. 

 

You're right.   I am 65 years old and I took up the game in 1983.   My MacGregor Tourney 7 iron was 145-150 with a normal swing.  My 7 iron now days is 150-155 with normal swing.

 

I never really give it much thought until threads like this pop up.

[mikec3672]

I work backwards from my 58 -- 90-100, 54 100-110, 50 - 110-120, PW - 120-130, 9 130-140, 8 140-150, 7 150-160, 6 160-170, 5 170-180, 4 180-190, 7W - 190-200, 3HL 200-220, Driver 220-250. Simple really.

[Drrussell]

On 3/19/2023 at 6:51 PM, NavyMU said:

Love this question. Here's how I think. Start with a driver that I hit with best dispersion, goes about 285 consistently. I'm taking 20 yards off ideally for next 2 woods, so 265 3w, 245 5w. Now I have 10 clubs to gap backwards from 245...

 

230 4h/ 215 5i/ 200 6i/ 185 7i / 170 8i/ 160 9i/ 150 PW/ wedges 48, 54, 60

 

To your point, that's a 185 7i, so going up 15-20 yards really crowds my distance clubs. That being said, I can get to 185/7i with a player distance iron but not a MB/CB that I normally play. More like 170-175.

 

200 is too much on a 7 for my game.

 

Those are almost exactly my yardages too. I changed my lofts for 10 yard gaps and go up to 3i.

 

starting at

58 - 100

54 - 125

50 - 140

P - 150

9 - 160

8 - 170

7 - 180

6 - 190

5 - 200

4 - 210

3 - 220

1h - 250

D - 285

 

For OP, the question is, in that set, where does he run out of speed to get proper gapping on top end and I think more importantly, working backwards, how much do you enjoy hitting 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 swings with wedges? 

 

if he can go all the way to 3 or 4i with proper gapping then he’s good to go. Stronger lofted clubs are needed by faster players to take advantage of their speed. All the club and ball data available today make that clear. 
 

if it were me, however, I would start on the low end. What distances do you like to hit into greens. What shots are your most comfortable. Build from that and gap set accordingly. 
 

For me, everything under 100 is a 1/2-3/4 swing. But my distances are worked out so full swing with 1 club is the same distance as the 3/4 swing with the next club. So, full PW is 150, 3/4 9 is 150, 1/2 8 is 150. It’s the same throughout my bag. 
 

This means for any yardage I have 2-3 clubs I can use to hit same carry yardage and the question is what height I want to see and what reaction do I want to see when ball lands.

 

btw - my clubs are single length so i am swinging the same with any club so getting distances from 1/2, 3/4, full…super easy. 
 

 

[bgfgolf]

When people get fitted they should use “greens hit” from 135-165 as the metric. Not yardage. 
 

“I hit 15% more greens with “x” over “y””makes a lot more sense than “x” goes 200 yards at 4000 spin but the other goes 190. So what?

 

im not mocking OP just showing with his experience how silly some fittings can end up being. Not ALL fittings.

 

if you get someone matching spin rate, descent angle, and ball speed throughout the bag, that’s different. Just whacking 7 irons for max yardage is dumb.

[eric61]

6 hours ago, bgfgolf said:

When people get fitted they should use “greens hit” from 135-165 as the metric. Not yardage. 
 

“I hit 15% more greens with “x” over “y””makes a lot more sense than “x” goes 200 yards at 4000 spin but the other goes 190. So what?

 

im not mocking OP just showing with his experience how silly some fittings can end up being. Not ALL fittings.

 

if you get someone matching spin rate, descent angle, and ball speed throughout the bag, that’s different. Just whacking 7 irons for max yardage is dumb.

Well, and this was sort of one of the points of my post. 
 

That said … I think some folks here who propose these sorts of in-depth fitting ideas maybe don’t realize how hard it is to find someplace that would make the kind of fitting you’re talking about possible. Most fittings are with 6- or 7-irons, and MAYBE if you get lucky and do a Team Titleist fitting, you’ll get to hit long irons, too. 
 

I’ve done a lot of fittings, but there’s really no place where I could go around here to try to work out something like whether a set would allow me to hit more greens from 135-165. Best I could hope for is what I already do, which is telling the fitter I’m focused on accuracy/dispersion with the 7 iron.

[bgfgolf]

1 hour ago, eric61 said:

Well, and this was sort of one of the points of my post. 
 

That said … I think some folks here who propose these sorts of in-depth fitting ideas maybe don’t realize how hard it is to find someplace that would make the kind of fitting you’re talking about possible. Most fittings are with 6- or 7-irons, and MAYBE if you get lucky and do a Team Titleist fitting, you’ll get to hit long irons, too. 
 

I’ve done a lot of fittings, but there’s really no place where I could go around here to try to work out something like whether a set would allow me to hit more greens from 135-165. Best I could hope for is what I already do, which is telling the fitter I’m focused on accuracy/dispersion with the 7 iron.

I agree. It’s very difficult. I got “fit” for my irons and it was just changing out shafts and 7 iron heads and hitting into a screen. Not ideal. I’ve basically had to rework my bag based by tracking on course performance with shotscope. Admittedly, this doesn’t help someone trying to buy a set of irons and be done. I now have a staggered bag of 

 

19, 21, 24 degree hybrids

6, 7, 8 JPX 921 forged ( which I was “fit”for)

8, 9, PW my old mp60s

 

i finally like where my bag is at.

Edited August 19, 2023 by bgfgolf

[joliver233]

On 3/18/2023 at 5:09 PM, mrshinsa said:

If you're hitting 200yds with a 7-iron, what club would you hit for 185, 170, 155, 140, 125, and 110 ? 

8, 9, PW (46*), Gap wedge (50*), SW (54), LW (58). This is pretty close to what I play each club (at altitude in Colorado), but with these new sets being stronger lofted, had to go from 48, 52, 56, 60 degree wedges to a couple degrees stronger.

[Louis_Posture]

For consistently good scoring I believe a player who could carry a 9-iron shot from 150 yards will likely do better swinging a 7-iron from 150 yards.

Taking a club or two more has a way of improving one's golf swing rhythm and tempo.

[Dewdman42]

This is a topic I have been thinking about a lot lately.  I went through two different sets of irons within 12 months, starting with distance irons and later realizing that was a bad idea for me.  

 

I think the distance that makes sense depends a lot on your swing club head speed.  if you are getting 90-100 feet of height, then whatever distance you are hitting is probably the right distance.  I WISH I could hit my 7i 200 yards.  That would make 200 yard approaches much more consistent and achievable.  I think you're fortunate if you can do that and don't fight it.  You will have to figure out how to handle the short end of the bag, but that is doable.  That is an easier problem to solve then 200 yard approaches is for me.

 

Distance irons lower the flight, which will result in lower and perhaps longer flight, all other things being equal, but not enough height and spin to stop the ball well.  If you are hitting the 7i 200 yards, why are you using a distance iron?  I would say you should be using weaker irons and be happy with 185 out of the 7i.

 

My opinion as of right now is that we should all strive for the right iron lofts that will get the ball around 90-100 feet high, while also not flipping or scooping them, in other words, with forward lean at impact, at least a few degrees.  if doing that you get the ball 90-100 in the air, then that is the appropriate distance for that club.  If on the other hand you are reaching 200 with your 7i with a low trajectory and lots of roll, then I say you have the wrong club in your hand and/or need to work on your swing.  

 

I would rather have 160-170 out of my 7i with consistently less than 10 yards of roll.  Or even 150-160 yards for less swing speed, presuming the height still gets up to 100 and the roll stays under 10.  if you are hitting the 7i 200 yards, then either you have pro level swing speed or you have a lot more than 10 yards of roll.  If its the later, then you should reconsider weaker irons IMHO.