Fear of 2I, 3I, 4I and LW

One of the thing that routinely suprises me is the adversion to the either far end of club loft. Especially, folks that claim to be a mid to mid-low handicap and claim they can't hit a LW or a 3I. I understand that there are many aspects of the game that contribute to scoring and that you can put up some good numbers with a less than perfect swing.

Before lessons, I struggled with the long irons so for those new to the game I can understand where a major swing flaw would limit the effectiveness of the far ends in the spectrum of loft. Based on my own experience, I am confused at how mid-cappers and mid-low cappers still shy away from them.

In particular I find it suprising based on my own development, after lessons and a more reasonable / repeatable swing, ball striking with any club in the bag is more or less the same with some minor adjustments at set-up.

Of course there are hybrids out there and currently I play one in lieu of a 3I, so I understand that the results of the hybrid can be more consistant than the long iron, that is fine. It is the fear of the 3I that suprises me.

On the other end of the spectrum is the LW (60* or so) or XW (64* or so). Now I understand that some folks short game is developed in a fashion that limit the utility of these clubs, that is understandable. It is the folks that love their SW(56* or so) and can't play a LW.

I guess what is comes down to is can 4* of loft and approximately 1/2" of shaft difference really make a club that much less usefull?

-E

Interesting question. I am coming back to the game and until recently really struggled with long irons. Now they are feeling solid again, but when my swing was off plane they were very unforgiving. I also struggle with my 60, I prefer the 56. I don't think the two problems are related however. I am just not used to playing a 60 as I grew up playing the 56 exclusively adding loft or de-lofting as necessary.

Actually, I still am not sure I have found a shot with the 60, that I cannot hit with the 56.

The real issue is that the longer the iron, the better the swing needs to be. In order to really make them perform, you need to be blessed with higher than average clubhead speed too. I used to carry all the way down to a 2I, but that 2I was about the same loft as today's 3I, maybe a 3.5I. Now I don't have any iron longer than a 6I. I'm happy with using a 5 and 4 hybrid, a 4W and a 3W. It has nothing to do with fear, only with performance. For me a hybrid performs better than a long iron at this point in my life.

As to the wedge, I only recently started carrying a LW again, and it's not a 60°. I drew the line at 58°. It may not seem like much, but it makes a big difference in how consistently I hit it.

Curious what your issue is with the 60?

I hit it a bit too chunky, I could hit 100 balls with my 56 and not miss, but with the 60, my path through ball perhaps is bit too steep and it just a bit too heavy. It doesn't look heavy, in fact for the while I thought that's how the 60 was supposed to feel! Then I started hitting it pure and I realized the difference. But its always the same miss, just a tiny bit fat.

I am considering trunking it, but I am convinced it has a use, just not sure where yet.

I don't carry a 60, I found that most of the courses I play don't require that kind of an approach. I would have to remove a club and still carry a "traditional" set, 3 woods, 3-PW, gw, sw, putter. I am still a pretty solid ball striker and play in a lot of windy, sometimes very windy, conditions and prefer my long irons over the hybrids.

Perhaps that's why they're mid/low handicappers.......

I carry a 3I but I can't seem to hit any further than my 4 iron so its rendered useless. I try to hit practice with it a lot though. I have a buddy that plays a two iron and is usually stoked when he hits it straight but I don't think he realizes that he doesn't hit it any further than his 4 iron.

I hit a 60* lob wedge many times in a round and I think the reason people shy away from them is that they can be really hard to hit accurately. Lets see I have been trying to play one for two years, so about 80 weeks of golf about 3 times a week so I have had 240 rounds with the thing and I feel like it just started to come around. Thats a lot of practice and SOOO many bad shots. I know its a low percentage shot, especially on less than full swings but I can't suck with it forever right?

But if you were a weekend golfer there would be almost no point.

I've never understood the fear of a 60º wedge either. Feels no different than a 58º or a 56º or a 52º as far as I can tell.

I have some troubles puring my 5 and 4 iron though. I carry a 3 hybrid cause my set was 4-gw. I find the hybrid harder to hit than the irons just cause it feels like a fairway wood to me.

I'm pretty tall (6'3") so I dislike my standard length 60. I won't use it on a full swing because I feel like I am swinging my nephew's irons. I use it mainly around the greens for high pitch shots or a high spin chip.

never slung a 2i so i wouldnt know... but i used to love my 3i/4i until i demoed some hybrids that gave me 10-15 yrds difference with much higher trajectory...
as for the 60 i have no practical use for it since i can open my 52* and hit a decent flop... or if i need a more severe one... ill pull the old sw out and open that sucker up

I NEVER hit a full 60. Heck, I can't even remember the last time I tried. I hit a 54 full (110 or so) but inside that I choose to swing the 54 easier. That reminds me.. i need to work on the full 60

My 2I is my favorite clube in the bag. 100% confident with it off the tee and still long enough for long par 4's

Fear of 2I, 3I, 4I and LW ???????


No need to fear them when you can just avoid them altogether!!!!

I love hitting long irons. I'm one of the last few holdouts I guess and still use my 3 and 4 irons every round. Mostly off the tee on tight holes. There's nothing wrong with going to hybrids obviously. Whatever works best for each individual. I carried a 1-SW for years and I think it was back in 2004 I finally got rid of the 1 and 2 irons for Gap and Lob wedges.

One thing I've noticed about most average golfers hitting long irons is they seem to grip it a little tighter and swing a little harder when you put a 3 or 4 iron in thier hands. This is absolutely the worst thing to do and usually ends with poor results. My main swing thought when I hit long irons is to emulate the same swing tempo as I do with a 7,8, or 9 iron. I want to maintain that same swing tempo with my longer irons that I have with the shorter ones.

Next time your on the range take a 3-iron, relax your grip, and pretend your hitting a 7 iron. You might be suprised how well you hit it.

I can understand switching out for performance sake and it does seem reasonable about the need for a better swing to better differentiate between the longer irons.

I guess a bit more at the heart of the matter, is that perhaps my expectation of my swing efficiency / repeatability as I decrease in index is still fairly high. On the short end of things, that still suprises me but this is the first year I am running a 4 wedge set up. The transition has just given very good results so far, perhaps more a indicaiton of lessons and practice habits though.

This is the sort of thing that confuses me. However, from the perspective simply of consistancy, that is really all it comes down to. Perhaps it is my expectation of a swing by someones handicap that is out of line.

My experience is quite different with my 60*, played it about 2 months now and a 1/2 swing with it makes a nice ~30 yard shot, can dial it up to about 35 or down to 25 with good results so far. Obviously by my index it still produces bad shots, but it does not appear to be disproportionatly bad to my 56*, 52* or 47* wedges.

This is more in line with what I would expect for someone not playing these clubs, "I can hit them" but "I have found things I prefer or that perform better" It's not someone saying I can't hit a 3I to save my life.

Fair enough.

I hear you loud and clear. I don't get it either. The lob wedge is one of my most used clubs. There was a learning phase, sure. But I don't find it any harder to hit than my sand or gap wedge. Only thing I can think of is folks are intimidated to the point that they don't try. Avoidance if you will. If you can hit a sand wedge, you can hit a lob wedge. For long irons, I see the difficulty in this more so. Without decent clubhead speed, they can be difficult to hit well. I don't go lower than a 4 iron myself. I am not going for the hybrids either. I think a Driver, 3 wood, 5 wood, 4-L set is perfect. But everyone has their own thoughts on this of course.

I carry to a 3 iron and have no trouble hitting it, I get a fairly soft landing to about 230 if struck well. I carry a 60* wedge as well and practice with it, but rarely hit it during the round. Just so much more consistant with my 56* - which I use for the sand as well. I hit it to about 90 yards and feel more comfortable hitting a pitch with it at shorter distances. Flops are pretty easy with it, but again it's all about getting comfortable with a wedge around the green and sticking with it.

I carry both a 64 and 60. I have gotten very comfortable with them. I also have a traditional hybrid but I did not like it. My mp fli his are kind of irons kind of not.

Also, there are pros who only have a sand wedge. I don't think it is skill to why they don't carry a lob wedge, it is preferance.

I struggle mightily with a 3i and also with some of the longer hybrids I own... 2h and 3h. I switched to steel from graphite for my hybrids and haven't had an issue since.