Iron suggestions needed for a special case

[Kcct82]

Hi, I’m trying to find a set of irons for my kid. He is a good golfer, but has problem holding greens with his muscle back irons (low ball flight). His swing speed is low (80mph driver) and he also impacts the ball with a slight shaft lean. I guess I'm looking for weak lofted irons with game improvement tech. The specifics are:

 

1) More tech to help ball speed (for example: hollow body, tungsten weight, thin springy face)

2) High launching to help hold greens

3) Available lofts between 29-48 degrees

3) Be able to bend the lie flat roughly 5 degrees (56.5 for a 7 iron)

4) Lightweight heads (preferably 20g lighter than standard)

5) Low bounce (shallow swing plane, draw stock shot, firm fairways)

6) Less offset 

 

After days of research, the closest thing I could find is Mizuno 245 (start with B heads plus hosel drilling to take more weight out)

 

Thanks in advance for comments and suggestions.

 

[Milfordlefty]

For low bounce, I am thinking Srixon/Clevelands with V Sole, they would come in the loft gapping, not a lot of offset, Cleveland would be hollow body in the long irons, but the lie angle and head weight likely won't fit your parameters and to be able to bend that flat (7i usually are in the 62° lie range), a forged iron would be better than cast. 20 grams is a lot. Good luck in your search.

[AmateurAmateur]

Look up Foreward golf. They have a lot of these variables. Might be sacrificing a bit of forgiveness but checks off the other boxes you’re asking for. 

[Kcct82]

@Milfordlefty Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll take a detailed look at them.

 

@AmateurAmateur My kid is already using their irons right now 😄 

[enfuego]

Flynn golf seems to tick some of these boxes too. Worth checking out.

[hammergolf]

17 hours ago, Kcct82 said:

Hi, I’m trying to find a set of irons for my kid. He is a good golfer, but has problem holding greens with his muscle back irons (low ball flight). His swing speed is low (80mph driver) and he also impacts the ball with a slight shaft lean. I guess I'm looking for weak lofted irons with game improvement tech. The specifics are:

 

1) More tech to help ball speed (for example: hollow body, tungsten weight, thin springy face)

2) High launching to help hold greens

3) Available lofts between 29-48 degrees

3) Be able to bend the lie flat roughly 5 degrees (56.5 for a 7 iron)

4) Lightweight heads (preferably 20g lighter than standard)

5) Low bounce (shallow swing plane, draw stock shot, firm fairways)

6) Less offset 

 

After days of research, the closest thing I could find is Mizuno 245 (start with B heads plus hosel drilling to take more weight out)

 

Thanks in advance for comments and suggestions.

 

It’s going to have to be forged, but needing such lightweight heads that rules those out. Ping can go 4 flat, PXG can go 3 flat. If anyone could do what you’re looking for it may be Ping with the i530. Not sure any other club can match your unicorn wish list.

[brian25]

Qi-10 HL. High launching forgiving lightweight and bendable

[Kcct82]

@enfuego Hi, thanks for your suggestion. I know of the Flynn LTX forged irons. They would be my choice if nothing else works. Just hoping I can get some more tech in the heads. (I believe Flynn’s only tech is they’re cavity backs).

 

@hammergolf Haha, definitely trying to find unicorn irons here. I went to the PXG store and were told their heads would crack if bent more than 3 degrees. Ping i530 looks very reasonable. I just checked and they’re cast from 17-4 stainless steel. However, it seems like they’re still bendable without being forged. i530 could be the ticket if I could take enough weight out of them. Perhaps Ping makes “B” heads as well? Together with hosel drilling and lighter toe weights, they might just work. The bounce is also pretty high on i530’s, maybe grinding the sole a bit can help hit my -20 grams target. Does anyone know if I can just leave the finish alone after grinding since they’re “stainless steel”? I would hate to have to get them re-chromed or see them rust…

 

@brian25 Thank you, I’ll go check out the specs on those!

[PJE]

There’s another thread that talks about late model Ping head weights. Apparently, it is not that simple to mess with due to a combination of hosel weights and toe weights. 

 

[AmateurAmateur]

Contact the Ping Wrx department. They might be able to help with engineering something but it would likely not be cheap. 
 

What they’re able to accomplish is truly impressive though. 

[rsballer10]

where did these specs come from? Not saying they are wrong, but lots of people have slower swing speeds and don't require such severe modifications.

[Milfordlefty]

12 hours ago, Kcct82 said:

@Milfordlefty Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll take a detailed look at them.

 

@AmateurAmateur My kid is already using their irons right now 😄 

How old is your son? Height/weight? Is this issue something he could grow out of in a year? Maybe hybrids up thru 7i, they run flatter lie compared to irons. Womens clubs are many times weaker in loft compared to mens of same club number, reshaft with a flex for his swing. Just some more out of the box thoughts.

[ephmen]

what ball is he using? Cheap rocks don't spin. 

[Kcct82]

Quick upload of his swing. The problem seems to be he has got too much shaft lean for his own good at this age (slow swing speed). I almost want clubs that’ll artificially balloon his ball up so launch/spin/descent would match up. I’ll reply to each individual soon, thanks guys.

[mizuno player]

Damn..... Jealous. 

[enfuego]

1 hour ago, ephmen said:

what ball is he using? Cheap rocks don't spin. 

A cheap experiment might be trying out the new Kirkland v3. Relatively firm for higher launch and decent spin. For his game he probably won't see that much difference between a prov1x and the Kirkland anyway. I see a lot of senior players lack height and spin to stop the ball on greens and the Kirkland helps a lot.

[MiloMalt]

1 hour ago, Kcct82 said:

Quick upload of his swing. The problem seems to be he has got too much shaft lean for his own good at this age (slow swing speed). I almost want clubs that’ll artificially balloon his ball up so launch/spin/descent would match up. I’ll reply to each individual soon, thanks guys.

Looks like really good impact positioning. Could it be worth finding minimal equipment changes rather than a new full custom set that he will outgrow in a few months/year because as he grows and gets stronger this will become less and less of an issue. If you're still wanting to get this unicorn set it could actually be worth reaching out to Taylormade as it looks like they setup the equipment for the "best 9 year old in the world" showcased on Grant Horvatt's latest youtube video to see what they've done for that kid.

[AdamMH]

It hasn't been mentioned, so at the risk of pointing out something that's so obvious it didn't need to be said... have you bent his current irons weaker at all?

[Pnwpingi210]

T100.  Those have the most mass shifted low of any blade like iron.  Generally spin the most for the category too.

[mogc60]

My only advice and hope is please don’t ruin that beautiful delivery into the impact area by thinking a kid that age NEEDS to hit the ball higher. He doesn’t. As he grows simple physics will increase launch and spin. 

[Kcct82]

@PJE @AmateurAmateur Thanks for the heads up. I called PING and the lightest they can build a 33.5" 7 irons with i530 is A9 in swingweight. I guess there isn't a ton of weight savings from the hosel/toe weights. Custom engineering is definitely gonna be too expensive for me🤣

 

@rsballer10 Specs came from the most widely used Jr. clubs. The top 3 Jr. companies all use between 240-250g for a 7 iron head for my son's height/weight range. However, Tiger Woods and other greats certainly didn't have anything as "dialed in" growing up. 

 

@Milfordlefty My kid is 11, 4'9", 82lbs. He should grow out of it in a year or 2 max. His golf buddies that are 10lbs heavier are fine. Using a 6 and 7 hybrid is a really good idea, and much cheaper than replacing a whole set of irons, thanks!   

 

@ephmen He has been using Chrome Softs for a couple of years now.

 

@enfuego Thanks, I'll get a few Kirklands to try. 

 

@MiloMalt Thanks, we actually know a few kids with Taylormade support. They usually get P790's. The 9 year old best golfer and my son follow each other on Instagram. I see he's got P790's as well. 

 

@AdamMH Hi, his muscle back 7i is 34 degrees. I could weaken his irons a couple more degrees to get more height/spin, but I'm also hoping to gain forgiveness and distance to score better in tournaments. 

 

@Pnwpingi210 I'll check them out too, thanks for the suggestion. 

 

@mogc60 No doubt about it👍 His coach and I had this discussion before. We both came to the same conclusion as you. So for the time being, I'm searching for unicorn clubs that will help him maintain this swing without turning every shot into low bullets.