Jacked Lofts vs Traditional Lofts

[st1800e]

10 hours ago, wantacigar said:

I think because the MOI and center of gravity are making the ball fly higher they have to jack the lofts to keep up the distances. 

Yes.  

[sergizmo]

90% of golfers who buy irons test the 7 irons in the sim at the store and see which one goes the longest. That is what is really driving this trend, especially in the GI space. My 7 iron (forged players cavity blade combo set) is 34* and some 7 irons are down into the 28*  range. Yes they launch higher than their loft would suggest but spin less than say a traditional 34* 7 iron.

 

With receptive greens the jacked lofts could work fine. It's just the gapping at the top and bottom of the bag that would put me off buying a modern GI set. Usually loft difference between 4 and 5 is only 2 or 2.5 degrees and the PW is 42*ish. If the set has a 47-48* gap included that would be OK, if not gapping with wedges would be a problem. 

[bluelinegolfer]

1 hour ago, sergizmo said:

90% of golfers who buy irons test the 7 irons in the sim at the store and see which one goes the longest. That is what is really driving this trend, especially in the GI space. My 7 iron (forged players cavity blade combo set) is 34* and some 7 irons are down into the 28*  range. Yes they launch higher than their loft would suggest but spin less than say a traditional 34* 7 iron.

 

With receptive greens the jacked lofts could work fine. It's just the gapping at the top and bottom of the bag that would put me off buying a modern GI set. Usually loft difference between 4 and 5 is only 2 or 2.5 degrees and the PW is 42*ish. If the set has a 47-48* gap included that would be OK, if not gapping with wedges would be a problem. 

Yeah thats what i had going one with the Mavriks.   The PW is 41* and the AW is 46* so i had a huge gap differential to the 56* so i got the Mavrik 51* and my distances and gapping are much better

[RobS]

I'm not playing 'distance' irons at the moment but I can see the day coming in the future when I do.  Like a lot of guys, I was skeptical, but having now seen how effective these types of irons can be in adding a combination of both height and distance, I'll definitely consider this type of iron for my next set.  I've seen enough of these 30* 7i sets in the hands of plus handicap, accomplished amateur players to have no doubts about their effectiveness in tournament golf, let alone weekend club golf.

[NHenson815]

This is GolfWRX.  If you’re not using a 60 degree pitching wedge with negative offset and a hard stepped X7, you’re going to have some trouble keeping up here.

[HalfShell]

While I like how I hit my new Mizuno JPX923 Hot Metal irons and how they feel, I absolutely hate the jacked lofts.  I have a 20-yard gap between 7-iron and 8-iron for some reason so I'm going to have her the lofts checked and adjusted.  

 

Had I known the 4-iron was 19 degrees I would have not bought it.  They have only 3 degrees difference between 4-5-6 and then only 3.5 to 7. Then something like 4.5-5.5 degress difference in the short irons. That makes no damn sense to me! 

 

These are GI irons which means likley moderate SS and alot of guys will not generate the club head speed in the long irons to justify only 3 degress gapping.

 

After my fitting, the T200s were my close 2nd choice and if I had checked the lofts of the T200 vs JPX before ordering them, I would have bought the T200s.

Edited September 12, 2023 by HalfShell

[bluelinegolfer]

1 hour ago, HalfShell said:

While I like how I hit my new Mizuno JPX923 Hot Metal irons and how they feel, I absolutely hate the jacked lofts.  I have a 20-yard gap between 7-iron and 8-iron for some reason so I'm going to have her the lofts checked and adjusted.  

 

Had I known the 4-iron was 19 degrees I would have not bought it.  They have only 3 degrees difference between 4-5-6 and then only 3.5 to 7. Then something like 4.5-5.5 degress difference in the short irons. That makes no damn sense to me! 

 

These are GI irons which means likley moderate SS and alot of guys will not generate the club head speed in the long irons to justify only 3 degress gapping.

 

After my fitting, the T200s were my close 2nd choice and if I had checked the lofts of the T200 vs JPX before ordering them, I would have bought the T200s.

Yeah thats the issue with the Mavriks.  The 4 and 5 iron are lofted at 18* & 21* respectively and the 4 and 5 hybrid of the hybrid set is 20* & 23* respectively... then the 6 iron is 24*, 7 iron is 27*, 8 iron is 31.5*, 9 is 36*.    

[chisag]

On 8/14/2023 at 7:23 PM, Llortamaisey said:

That would finally put this argument to bed. 

 

 

... Nothing will put this "argument" to rest. Because it isn't really an argument, it's just folks on social media that want to complain about something. Why? Because they like it, which is pretty obvious from many threads here. Golf clubs are simply tools to accomplish a task. Hit a golf ball a certain distance with an appropriate amount of spin. The hole, the ball and especially the scorecard, really don't care what # club you use. They don't care if 4 guys in your group all have 38* irons with different numbers on the sole. Neither should you. 

... I want my irons to look good at address, produce the distance I need that cover my distance gaps with enough spin to hold greens. I don't care what the # on the sole says. Yea, of course I have had to adjust through the years from my days of playing a 49* MB PW so that is what I have done. It hasn't been difficult. I don't hear any old timers here complaining about the "jacked" ProV1 that was much longer than their Maxfli HT-100's. Evidently a ball that goes farther is OK, but not an iron. I played P790's in the Midwest but moving to Phoenix I found greens much harder sometimes not even leaving a ball mark and I needed more spin to hit, hop and stop. Again, I simply adjusted and switched to a set of P760's. 

... Another silly comment about jacked lofts is the guy hitting a P790 7iron 210 yards and complaining about a flier. If you can hit a 7 iron over 200 yds a hollow headed iron wasn't designed for you. But the guy that hit his GI 7 iron 140 yards just might be pretty happy hitting a hollow headed jacked lofted 7 iron 150. But I do think the silliest comments are those concerning hitting the ball farther with a jacked loft creating false bragging rights. Either you really have really sh!tty friends or I have just been extremely lucky for the last 45 years because I have never heard it from anyone I play with or have gotten paired up with. Not once. 

[Orchardist]

I always go back to the fact that the overall scoring average in golf is the same as it has been for decades.  An accomplished player can play well with either.  We all want and get something different from our golf but the equipment marketing overload is toxic.

[golf-RN]

5 hours ago, chisag said:

 

 

... Nothing will put this "argument" to rest. Because it isn't really an argument, it's just folks on social media that want to complain about something. Why? Because they like it, which is pretty obvious from many threads here. Golf clubs are simply tools to accomplish a task. Hit a golf ball a certain distance with an appropriate amount of spin. The hole, the ball and especially the scorecard, really don't care what # club you use. They don't care if 4 guys in your group all have 38* irons with different numbers on the sole. Neither should you. 

... I want my irons to look good at address, produce the distance I need that cover my distance gaps with enough spin to hold greens. I don't care what the # on the sole says. Yea, of course I have had to adjust through the years from my days of playing a 49* MB PW so that is what I have done. It hasn't been difficult. I don't hear any old timers here complaining about the "jacked" ProV1 that was much longer than their Maxfli HT-100's. Evidently a ball that goes farther is OK, but not an iron. I played P790's in the Midwest but moving to Phoenix I found greens much harder sometimes not even leaving a ball mark and I needed more spin to hit, hop and stop. Again, I simply adjusted and switched to a set of P760's. 

... Another silly comment about jacked lofts is the guy hitting a P790 7iron 210 yards and complaining about a flier. If you can hit a 7 iron over 200 yds a hollow headed iron wasn't designed for you. But the guy that hit his GI 7 iron 140 yards just might be pretty happy hitting a hollow headed jacked lofted 7 iron 150. But I do think the silliest comments are those concerning hitting the ball farther with a jacked loft creating false bragging rights. Either you really have really sh!tty friends or I have just been extremely lucky for the last 45 years because I have never heard it from anyone I play with or have gotten paired up with. Not once. 

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This post gets my vote for Post of the Year 2023🏆 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[HalfShell]

I'd love have irons that have the loft on the head and not "6" "7" "8".   

 

However, the real issue with jacked lofts has nothing to do with saying "I hit my 7-iron x distance".  It has to do with the gapping.  JPX923 using a 19 degree 4-iron followed by a 21 degree 5 iron often has an average SS mid-high handicapper (target audience) player hitting them both the same distance. 

 

Then a 5 degree difference between a 9-iron and PW followed by a 5.5 degree difference between PW and GW.... in your scoring clubs where you need the precise distance control?

 

Maybe I'm just old and grumpy these days but there was nothing wrong with 4 degrees between each iron and wedge.

Edited September 15, 2023 by HalfShell

[Bad9]

On 9/12/2023 at 9:27 PM, chisag said:

But I do think the silliest comments are those concerning hitting the ball farther with a jacked loft creating false bragging rights. Either you really have really sh!tty friends or I have just been extremely lucky for the last 45 years because I have never heard it from anyone I play with or have gotten paired up with. Not once. 

in my 35 years of golf this has been exclusively an internet golf forum phenomenon. I think it mostly comes up from guys who want to make themselves feel superior to those who play jacked lofts.

[NRJyzr]

On 9/12/2023 at 7:27 PM, chisag said:

But the guy that hit his GI 7 iron 140 yards just might be pretty happy hitting a hollow headed jacked lofted 7 iron 150.

 

There is no 7 iron

 

[NRJyzr]

On 9/16/2023 at 7:18 AM, Bad9 said:

in my 35 years of golf this has been exclusively an internet golf forum phenomenon. I think it mostly comes up from guys who want to make themselves feel superior to those who play jacked lofts.

 

Nice bit of projection you've got going there

 

[Bad9]

21 minutes ago, NRJyzr said:

 

Nice bit of projection you've got going there

 

 

Its what internet forums are for😉

[Orchardist]

How about that new Callaway set!  Their calling it the Hello Seven Set.  All seven irons are marked 7.  Regardless of loft and length.

Who doesn’t love a seven iron.

[infinii]

On 9/13/2023 at 6:24 AM, HalfShell said:

While I like how I hit my new Mizuno JPX923 Hot Metal irons and how they feel, I absolutely hate the jacked lofts.  I have a 20-yard gap between 7-iron and 8-iron for some reason so I'm going to have her the lofts checked and adjusted.  

 

Had I known the 4-iron was 19 degrees I would have not bought it.  They have only 3 degrees difference between 4-5-6 and then only 3.5 to 7. Then something like 4.5-5.5 degress difference in the short irons. That makes no damn sense to me! 

 

These are GI irons which means likley moderate SS and alot of guys will not generate the club head speed in the long irons to justify only 3 degress gapping.

 

After my fitting, the T200s were my close 2nd choice and if I had checked the lofts of the T200 vs JPX before ordering them, I would have bought the T200s.

 

I'm quite surprised that you would express such particular needs for your lofts yet go and buy a set of JPX without knowing what the lofts were.

[Milfordlefty]

On 8/14/2023 at 8:47 AM, bluelinegolfer said:

Hello fellow golfers. 

 

Wondering how many have bought the newer "jacked up lofts" and been disappointed and switched back to the older "traditional lofts"?    Have a set of 2020 Callaway Mavriks and wondering if I made a mistake switching from my Taylormade Rbladez that believe had the traditional lofts even though they were considered "game improvement" when they came out too.   The Mavriks were free so think that might answer the question and just go get on a simulator and maybe get fitted for the right shaft...  any suggestions are greatly appreciated. 

distance gap and lowest iron number you can launch in the air is my thoughts on jacked vs trad lofts. In jacked lofts, a 6i is about the lowest iron, but I can go to 5i in traditional. At 6i in jacked, then I need several hybrids before a 5W. With traditional, I can go 7w then 5i. I put a set of Ping G2 irons back in the bag (traditional lofts) because the stock steel iron shaft is on 94 grams. They made a G2 EZ line, which jacks the lofts, the 7i is 30 degrees, the same as the 6i in the base set. So Ping was offering jacked lofts as far back as 2003. Now, TM vs Callaway irons, it likely is a right shaft for your swing answer.

[HalfShell]

On 9/21/2023 at 9:50 AM, infinii said:

 

I'm quite surprised that you would express such particular needs for your lofts yet go and buy a set of JPX without knowing what the lofts were.

 

Yea me too, but in 45 years of playing golf it was never an issue before now.  It will be first thing I look at with the next set if I choose to get rid of these.

[Leska]

On 8/25/2023 at 5:58 PM, sergizmo said:

90% of golfers who buy irons test the 7 irons in the sim at the store and see which one goes the longest. That is what is really driving this trend, especially in the GI space. My 7 iron (forged players cavity blade combo set) is 34* and some 7 irons are down into the 28*  range. Yes they launch higher than their loft would suggest but spin less than say a traditional 34* 7 iron.

 

With receptive greens the jacked lofts could work fine. It's just the gapping at the top and bottom of the bag that would put me off buying a modern GI set. Usually loft difference between 4 and 5 is only 2 or 2.5 degrees and the PW is 42*ish. If the set has a 47-48* gap included that would be OK, if not gapping with wedges would be a problem. 

Because 7 iron is all you can test sadly

[dave w]

When buying clubs especially with jacked strong lofts, have to careful of the launch monitor and in turn the ego. Loft is the main massive determinator of how far the ball actually goes. However if we are not getting the correct amount of spin for our personal swing speed then we end up gaining distance based on a number stamped on the sole, but lose spin and therefore control over the ball due to lack of spin. So if the balls landing angle is too shallow the ball runs on landing and does not hold the green. Real world Vs numbers 

[gvogel]

On 8/25/2023 at 11:58 AM, sergizmo said:

90% of golfers who buy irons test the 7 irons in the sim at the store and see which one goes the longest. That is what is really driving this trend, especially in the GI space. My 7 iron (forged players cavity blade combo set) is 34* and some 7 irons are down into the 28*  range. Yes they launch higher than their loft would suggest but spin less than say a traditional 34* 7 iron.

 

With receptive greens the jacked lofts could work fine. It's just the gapping at the top and bottom of the bag that would put me off buying a modern GI set. Usually loft difference between 4 and 5 is only 2 or 2.5 degrees and the PW is 42*ish. If the set has a 47-48* gap included that would be OK, if not gapping with wedges would be a problem. 

7-iron is my longest iron at the moment at 70 years young.  That's why I buy a 7-iron from time to time to try for awhile.  I'm playing T300 at the moment, but I am going to try a T200 over the winter.

[clarkie]

On 8/14/2023 at 8:51 AM, CactusGolf said:

For example, I was playing 4-PW then 52/56/60 in my old PSIs, but had to go 5-PW then 48/52/56/60 with the Rogue ST Pros due to the slightly lower lofts (hitting it higher though).  I was missing the 125-130 shot without the 48.

It’s wild to have a set PW and add a 48. I totally get why, but it’s hard to get mentally comfortable with that setup. 

[NorCalHacker77]

On 8/23/2023 at 12:35 PM, wantacigar said:

I play TM Sim2 Max.  Considered loft jacked with a 7i loft of 28.5*.  I played a set of irons for 4 rounds that the 7i was 31*.  Distances were actually quite similar.  Shafts were different flex (Sim2 - KBS Max 85-S  Other: TT Lite R).  I'm 56 and can hit either S or R flex shafts.  Likely going to all R flex in next few years as I age.  I think because the MOI and center of gravity are making the ball fly higher they have to jack the lofts to keep up the distances.  IMHO.....

Shafts, I believe, are more important in club performance than the loft of the club.

Agree, I went for. 712 AP1 to T300’s.  The lofts are “jacked” but distance wise appears to be 1/2 club at most, intend to hit them higher and more spin 

[bg3putts]

The important thing is knowing how far each club goes, the number on the club really makes no difference, you just have to get all the yardage gaps filled with whatever set you use. My old Ping eye2 6 iron goes exactly the same distance as my new Ping G425 7 iron does so that means I have to add in another wedge at the high end of my new set to fill the gaps.

[gvogel]

On 11/21/2023 at 8:39 AM, NorCalHacker77 said:

Agree, I went for. 712 AP1 to T300’s.  The lofts are “jacked” but distance wise appears to be 1/2 club at most, intend to hit them higher and more spin 

I made the same change, and also went from 105T to Nippon 950 NEO.  I have gained a bit of distance, which is not a bad thing at my age.

 

So jacked lofts can be a benefit for old timers; but if you're hitting 7-iron over 200, you're barking up the wrong tree.

[NorCalHacker77]

54 minutes ago, gvogel said:

I made the same change, and also went from 105T to Nippon 950 NEO.  I have gained a bit of distance, which is not a bad thing at my age.

 

So jacked lofts can be a benefit for old timers; but if you're hitting 7-iron over 200, you're barking up the wrong tree.

Why do you say that? I really don’t know much yet, trying to get better and went for game improvement set I liked the looks of 

[gvogel]

2 hours ago, NorCalHacker77 said:

Why do you say that? I really don’t know much yet, trying to get better and went for game improvement set I liked the looks of 

You picked a fine set of irons.  Me too!

[downbylaw11]

i bought a set of x-forged irons that had traditional lofts (35° 7 iron) years ago and just got used to my yardages and spin with them.  When I was in the market for a new set, i bought a half set with alightly more modern lofts and just felt I didnt have the same distance consitency as before though that could have been for other reasons. 

 

shortly after when i bought a 4-pw set from haywood golf, I was happy that they offered my traditional lofts in a cb players iron, and Im back to having a more predictable result with my shots.

 

I hate the concept of lowering lofts and claiming more distance and ball speed, but it probably doesnt matter unless you want to hit a 3-5 iron which of course becomes impossible with modern lofts.

[Putterboy68]

On 8/14/2023 at 8:47 AM, bluelinegolfer said:

Hello fellow golfers. 

 

Wondering how many have bought the newer "jacked up lofts" and been disappointed and switched back to the older "traditional lofts"?    Have a set of 2020 Callaway Mavriks and wondering if I made a mistake switching from my Taylormade Rbladez that believe had the traditional lofts even though they were considered "game improvement" when they came out too.   The Mavriks were free so think that might answer the question and just go get on a simulator and maybe get fitted for the right shaft...  any suggestions are greatly appreciated. 

I ran into the same thing. Played X14 irons since 2001 and went for a distance iron, the Callaway Mavrik. It was so cool to hit almost two clubs longer but after 3 or 4 rounds I realized they were inconsistent distance wise. Decided I like my X14s way better. Even on mishits they go straight and for the most important part, they go the same distance give or take a couple of yards more or less. The Mavrik 8 iron would sometimes fly one club longer and then 2 clubs longer.. Back pins were scarier than normal. I've tried a couple of other new irons and I still play the x14s. I have upgraded a set of Ping Eye2 irons just to have something different. The first time I played the eye2s I shot my 2nd best score of the year this year and I play a lot being retired.