Losing distance with new irons???

In October I was fitted for my new irons. I previously played a set of Callaway X-18's with regular flex graphite shafts. I bought them from an older gentlemen and didnt know the difference(just thought they were lighter). Well, my fitter put me in a +3/4" Dynamic Gold X100 soft stepped shaft in my current set. I remember him asking me during the fitting, "what do you think about the weight" I said, "I have never had steel shafted irons, so I guess it feels ok". Well now I am thinking my irons are either too stiff, or too heavy. I was told I would lose a little distance with my new irons being forged vs cast. My Callaway 6 iron used to carry 170-175. Tracked with my gps, and a trackman. 8 iron was 145-152. Well, now my Titleist 6 iron barely goes 155, 8 iron is about 130. I know with the colder temps everything shouldnt be traveling as far, but everyone else is still playing about the same distance. I can barley get my Titleist 4 iron out past 180.

This makes playing from the tips very difficult. My drives are about 240 in the winter and 260ish, after roll, not carry. So when Im playing a 400 yard par 4. I am hitting driver then 6/5/4 irons into the green, when my playing partners are hitting an 8 or 7 iron. The easy solution would be to practice my long irons more, but I think something isn't right with my iron shafts....

Any suggestions?

How often do you play? When my distances are off for all the irons (if it's just one club, I get it looked at) in the bag, I look at my swing and my fitness. Maybe you have a subtle nagging injury - muscle strain, tendonitis, or even burnout?

What's your ball flight looking like?

cold weather will affect the distances for sure

but so will playing iron shafts that are too stiff

you might get more control out of them , but you will lack distance if you cant bend em

i probably SHOULD be playing an X100 in my irons, but i stick w DGS300's

i have my SS up to an average of 109 now, up from 102 or so (w the abaility to amp it up over 112 at times, but on 16 im probably around the 108 or so)

this has resulted in a stiffer driver and 3w, but i kept the iron shafts the same w just Stiff

an X100 soft stpped once would be a nice inbetween flex, but maybe still too stiff for you

whats ur SS and swing type ??( smooth, quick tempo etc??)

the weight of the X100 is 124gms and the S300 is 127, so if your gaming steel, they weigh about the same

you may just need to get used to hitting steel over graphite tho too, thats a big difference in weight for sure

Looking at the distance you hit your callaways it seems to me the x100's are way too stiff for you.  I hit similar distances you hit with your callaways and my s300's are plenty stiff enough for me.  There could be other things but without seeing you swing, ball flight etc thats all i can think of.  I personally wouldn't go anywhere near x100's with my swing speed at 100-105 with the driver.

Well, I played 111 rounds in 2010, and plan on repeating that. My swing is fairly quick. Is there another option in steel shafts that might be lighter?

Here are a few videos. Not my best swings as these are from October before I started lessons. Dont know if you guys can see them though. Not sure how to get these loaded onto youtube. I need to get some newer/better videos.

Driver

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/video/video.php?v=866217186701

17th at Sawgrass 9 iron. Im the second swing in the video.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/video/video.php?v=890061327851

Jumping from a graphite shaft to a Dynamic Gold x100 is a 50 gram of shaft weight difference.   Graphite shaft is only around 70 gram.   Of course the Dynamic Gold shaft will feel way heavier than the stock graphite shaft.

I don't have your fitting data.   But your fitter must be thinking you have a really fast tempo to offer you a Dynamic Gold shaft.

BTW you might want to try True Temper GS95, it's in the 100 gram weight range.

Your Callaway lofts were 2 degrees stronger? Just a guess.

I don't think they're too heavy-you're a single digit handicap and it sounds like you have a decent swing (you don't need a really fast tempo to play a Dynamic Gold shaft).  You will lose a little distance going from the regular flex graphite Callaways to stiff+ flex steel Titleists (plus the Callaways are a degree stronger), and it's colder.  More likely than not the remaining distance loss is due to something in your swing.  Probably not a huge issue, but those are very different irons-even if they had the same shafts.  I wouldn't stress about it.  I can usually hit a regular flex iron or driver a little longer than the comparable stiff or x flex, but the accuracy is not even close.  You don't play Titleist CBs to maximize your distance.  Stick to it, keep taking them to the range, or take a lesson or two just to have someone see if you're doing something wrong with your swing.  You'll never hit those as long as your Callaways, but you will get back some of the distance loss. I just wouldn't go changing shafts already, 'cause I only see it making a few yards difference at most.

I looked it up real quick, looks like they're 1 degree stronger.

The distance loss your are seeing is likely a combination of changing to a stiffer and heavier shaft, as well as playing a set with weaker lofts.  I wouldn't advice changing a thing about your sticks, as you'll appreciate them once you fix a few small things.

For your frame, your distances are certainly low.  Work on extension, lag and impact position in your swing, tons of power is currently left on the table.

Looks like interaction of more weight and more stiffness may be costing you distance. Here's a side-by-side on the two club models:

* Note: These specs appear to be for steel shafted X18s. Callaway makes its graphite shafts 1/4" longer than its steel shafts, so your shafts may have been a bit longer.

Now, if you have + 3/4" CB shafts now | and you adjust for + 1/4" for graphites on your X18s, it appears that:

• the lofts are weaker in your mid to shorter CBs
• you have a net gain of at least + 1/2" of shaft length with the CBs
• as stated earlier your DGs are a lot heavier than the X18 graphites

Assuming that - 2* loft and + 1/2" shaft length would about cancel each other out, you may be fighting overly stiff and/or heavier shafts.

Years ago I was a caddie, and in my adult years I have talked to clubsmiths and pros a lot on shaft flex. Not everyone has the same flex for Driver and Woods as for irons. You can search this topic here on ST to find some excellent earlier discussions.

Maybe try get hold of a CB's with an S300 shaft in it and hit it side by side with your X100 CB?

I think this is what I am going to do. I need to practice more regardless, but it would be nice if I could get within 5 yards of my previous set. Im going to hit them side by side and see if the shaft makes that much of a difference. If not, Ill just have them bent +1*. I have only had them since October, but I go to the range enough to the point where you can look at my club face and tell I'm a decent ball striker. Ill bump this thread in a month and see if my distance has come back any.

Im also going to purchase a Pure Ball Striker and see if that helps any.

I would also suggest putting a winter ball into play if you haven't already with a lower compression.  Even here in Kuwait I notice about a 20 yard fall off when it gets dark here and the temperatures drop and I'm talkin about temps in the low 60's. With the lower compression ball I gain almost all of my distance back, and they actually feel much better at impact than a tour ball because of the lower compression and they actually will spin just as well also.  Now I did notice that when the temps get above about 75 degrees that the lower compression balls become worthless for me because then they are too easy to compress at my swingspeed so then the tour balls come back out.  Hope this helps.  Best of luck.

why would forged clubs hit shorter than cast?  is that even true?

Ill give this a shot. I usually play a TaylorMade Penta but Ill try something like the D2 Feel with a softer core.

The hardness (and/or buttery softness) of an iron head has no effect at all on distance. Assuming a relatively good hit, the only two factors that really matter are club head speed and club head loft.

Also - are you sure that you haven't made compensations in your swing previously because you were playing shafts that weren't stiff enough?