Bending Lofts on 735.CM Irons

[kdbama7]

Will this help get back lost distance?

I recently purchased a set of chrome Titleist 735.cm irons. I love the look and feel of these irons but I seem to have lost about a club in distance. Will bending the lofts a little stronger get this distance back and is there any thing to be concerned with in doing this? Thanks.

[spk74]

I wouldn't get too concerned about what distance each club is "going"...as long as you know what distance it does go...and can consistently repeat that distance with that club.

 

Take a 5 iron and a 6 iron from a properly matched set. The 5 iron will be ~1/2" longer than the 6 iron...and the 5 iron will have ~4* less loft. The lie angle of the 5 will be slightly flatter as well. Other than that, the only difference is the number printed on the sole. The difference in clublength and loft is what makes the clubs hit the ball different distances.

 

If I were you, I'd check the specs of your old clubs (or have them measured)...and compare them to the specs of your 735's. It could be that your old 7 iron has/had the same specs as your new 6 iron. If you used to play a cavity back, it is likely that the lofts were stronger than the 735's (the OEMS use stronger lofts in cavity backs to sell more sets of clubs). Also, if you used to play a forged club and used them quite a bit, the clubs could have been delofted by 2 or 3 degrees (hitting off mats, especially). Alternatively, your old set could be 1/2" longer than standard, and your new clubs might be built to a more standard length.

 

So de-lofting your new irons will gain a little distance, but you can only really deloft them by about 2* (1/2 a club)...and without changing clublength, you won't gain a full club difference. You might not even be able to notice the difference.

 

Also, adjusting the loft angles necessarily changes the bounce angles. Decreasing loft 2* will decrease the bounce by 2* (because the clubhead geometry is fixed). This bounce effect will probably not be noticeable...but if anything, it would make the irons tend to dig into the ground more (deeper chunkier divots).

[kdbama7]

The problem is that with the lost distance the gap between my PW and gap/SW as well as between my 3 iron and fairway woods are no longer where I want them to be. I was hoping that bending the lofts might get the distances back to where they were and maintain the gaps I want between clubs.