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How far do you hit your 170 yard club?


trackster
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No I did not make a typo in naming this thread.

It was more of a joke towards the distance obsession that comes with golf.

I want to know what you guys think are the advantages to hitting the ball longer.  I have gained about 15-20 yards on my irons and  this really helps because I am hitting a lot of 2nd shot pitching wedges and nine irons.  A higher lofted club will go higher (most of the time) and thus you will get a softer landing on the green.  I think being able to hit a higher lofted club is always to your advantage.

While most of the distance obsession seams to be off the tee.  I think it is actually important to try to add yards to your irons (with out de lofting the club).

I use to think what difference does it make if you hit PW and I hit 8 iron and they both go the same distance.  But I think the person playing PW has the advantage now.

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I agree with you big time.  I have been afraid to hit my Driver and 3W off the tee lately because I just don't hit them too well and have not practiced with them.  Now that I am starting to hit my irons pretty well I see a big disadvantage to this, I am usually left with at least a 7 iron sometimes even a 5 iron into the green on par 4s.  While I still hit those irons pretty well its a lot harder to get GIRs with those clubs.  If I can get it into 8-PW distance I have a way higher chance of getting the GIR.

I have decided I am finally going to learn how to hit the 3w and driver on Par 4s.

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just posting to say I LOL'ed at the title.

...and I hit my 170 yard club (a 5-iron for me) anywhere from 150 to 180 yds...  I probably hit it about 165 most of the time, so I guess my 170yd club is actually a 165yd club in disguise.

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Originally Posted by trackster

No I did not make a typo in naming this thread.

It was more of a joke towards the distance obsession that comes with golf.

I want to know what you guys think are the advantages to hitting the ball longer.  I have gained about 15-20 yards on my irons and  this really helps because I am hitting a lot of 2nd shot pitching wedges and nine irons.  A higher lofted club will go higher (most of the time) and thus you will get a softer landing on the green.  I think being able to hit a higher lofted club is always to your advantage.

While most of the distance obsession seams to be off the tee.  I think it is actually important to try to add yards to your irons (with out de lofting the club).

I use to think what difference does it make if you hit PW and I hit 8 iron and they both go the same distance.  But I think the person playing PW has the advantage now.


Bottom line: a higher-lofted club hits the ball higher, is easier to control and makes the ball hold the green better than a lower-lofted club.

I'll take trying to hit a green with a PW over an 8-iron any day.

I do think now though that just as much attention to paid to added distance with irons as is with drivers because you are seeing more and more iron sets going with stronger lofts.

I recently bought a set of Wilson Staff Di7s and its amazing how much farther I hit these irons than some other iron sets Ive owned (Mizuno MX-15, MP-32 and MX-100) and what a difference it makes in how I play a golf course.  Im now at least 1 club longer with these irons than I was with my old ones.

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I bought a set of Wilson Staff Di9s and they are longer, but they're also more strongly lofted.  The PW loft is that of a 9 iron, but I still hit it as far as I used to hit my 8, so I'm two clubs longer by number and one club longer due to improved technology.

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Its a huge advantage to hit a 9 from 150 than a 7.  The misses still hit the green with the shorter club.  A good shot is 30 feet with a 7.  With a 9 its pretty bad.

But if you feel like you can hit one more and hit a better shot, then obviously that is a better play.  For me, I hit some big pulls when I try to hit an iron hard.  I've gotten more confortable hitting little irons.  I rarely try to hit an iron as far as possible.  I've gotten pin high off some pretty terrible misses just by the shear fact I had that extra club in my hand.  For me, right now, I'm hitting alot of club and trying to keep my swing simple.  When I have to hit a full iron shot, my swing gets to long and handsy.  It is a mental thing but having that extra club makes me swing better.

Brian

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Quote:

... I want to know what you guys think are the advantages to hitting the ball longer. ...

Hitting the ball longer with control gives you advantages in some situations.

You can hit the shorter par 5s in two, and hit a more lofted club (with more spin) into longer par 4s.

You can get too much distance sometimes. Lots of classic courses have the short par 4 with the big valley in front of the green. If you hit a driver into the valley, and you have a 70-yard blind uphill shot to the pin. If you hit a 4-iron off the tee and stay in the raised part of the fairway, you can hit a full 8 iron into the green and actually see the pin when you line up the shot.

Or, a local par 4 (390 yards long) that's with trees until the landing area. The open area near the green gets hit with a quartering headwind. People who hit a driver and follow with an 8 iron are less likely to hold the narrow green than someone who uses 3W and a lower-lofted 5 iron.

Also, too-strong lofts can cause you trouble with your irons. A 19* 3i and a 22* 4i can be difficult to hit for many golfers. That's one (there's others) of the reasons hybrids have become so popular.

One path to more distance is (duh!) distance balls. But, the super-D versions are hard to stop. They hit the green and keep on going.

Focus, connect and follow through!

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I think you should try to hit it as far as possible off the tee, then as high as possible onto the green.  I suppose the number on the club doesn't matter but it is an advantage to have the ball dropping down and staying put on the putting surface.  You get this with the lofted irons.

Tiger could do this with a 2-iron when he needed to.  I just saw Mickelson describing a hole at the Buick Open where he needed 3-wood to reach in two, but could never hold the green, whereas Tiger hit his 2-iron so high it stopped five feet from where it landed.

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Originally Posted by trackster

No I did not make a typo in naming this thread.

It was more of a joke towards the distance obsession that comes with golf.

I want to know what you guys think are the advantages to hitting the ball longer.  I have gained about 15-20 yards on my irons and  this really helps because I am hitting a lot of 2nd shot pitching wedges and nine irons.  A higher lofted club will go higher (most of the time) and thus you will get a softer landing on the green.  I think being able to hit a higher lofted club is always to your advantage.

While most of the distance obsession seams to be off the tee.  I think it is actually important to try to add yards to your irons (with out de lofting the club).

I use to think what difference does it make if you hit PW and I hit 8 iron and they both go the same distance.  But I think the person playing PW has the advantage now.



If a golfer is a bad ball striker it won't matter what club you're hitting into a green. My guess would be that if someone is an inconsistent ball striker then it probably won't make any difference if they are hitting an 8i or pw. I do think it would make a difference if it was a 5i or 7i but once you get below 7i I don't think it matters. I mean distance help but it's not a huge factor in over all scoring it's more a matter of how consistent you are hitting the ball. Look at it like this if a golfer gains the same 15 to 20 yards with their driver they would be playing that same shorter iron into the green. I will admit that hitting the ball further helps but if you're a consistent iron player I don't think it would have a difference in your score.

Driver: i15, 3 wood: G10, Hybrid: Nickent 4dx, Irons: Ping s57, Wedges: Mizuno MPT 52, 56, 60, Putter: XG #9 
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Originally Posted by TitleistWI

Bottom line: a higher-lofted club hits the ball higher, is easier to control and makes the ball hold the green better than a lower-lofted club.

I'll take trying to hit a green with a PW over an 8-iron any day.

I do think now though that just as much attention to paid to added distance with irons as is with drivers because you are seeing more and more iron sets going with stronger lofts.

I recently bought a set of Wilson Staff Di7s and its amazing how much farther I hit these irons than some other iron sets Ive owned (Mizuno MX-15, MP-32 and MX-100) and what a difference it makes in how I play a golf course.  Im now at least 1 club longer with these irons than I was with my old ones.


So how is it different to hit 9i of MP-32 to the green than PW of Di7? Both have the same loft.

The bolded sentence does not make sense to me. Except (wedge) marketing wise. Other than that it just contradicts the "Bottom line", of hitting higher loft club to the green is better than lower loft club.

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Well picking up the game again after a long lay off of many years, I surely don't hit my irons as I used to.  So a 170 yd shot for me will more than likely be a 5 iron.  My 7 iron is about 140-145 yds.  I have always stuck to the philosophy that Mark O'Meara has and that is I hit my irons the more traditional distances, or what they are supposed to be hit.  Now all this being said on occasion I will choose an iron for a specific distance and hit longer than I planned.  Everything else feels the same and for some reason I'll just nut it.  Same thing goes for my driver.  Most times I am 230-240 off the tee but playing Fri night in humid conditions I was hitting the ball about 10 yds farther with my driver.  This is carry distance not roll out on hard fairways.

I've gone on a club buying binge since May picking up top name brands off ebay for cheap.  So I have been hitting many different kinds of iron brands and the one brand that has hit the longest for me bar none has been Callaway, the BB series.  But the shots were left of target sometimes by 20 yds sometimes way more.  The most accurate for me have been TM Firesole irons and Hogan GCD forged.  SO there ya go.  thanks

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I think a lot just depends on the type of course you're playing and the weather conditions..  When I play on coastal courses that have predominant winds, my high loft clubs can give me fits at times..  Sometimes, if not most you want a low trajectory when you have winds to deal with.. But then there are times I play courses that high loft gives me an advantage because I'm able to carry hazards or go over obstacles like trees with no issues.. Do you play target golf or rollerball?

It's all relative..

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Well, I've actually gone the other way.  Last season, it was a high and easy 6 to shave some off, but for some reason after the winter, I've lost almost 2 clubs distance on only my irons.  I haven't messed with it though because I'm actually scoring better.  I think it's because I have more clubs for distances closer to the green and larger selection of precise full swing numbers to use.  I do miss hitting the shorter iron at longer distances but I think it's a fair trade.

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150 yards is 150 yards, reguardless if your hitting a 7 iron or 9 iron, it's about as easy to push/pull, fat/thin the shot and mis the green. A shot from 150 has more of a chance of missing the green than a shot from 120, doesn't matter what club your hitting. That's the reason most people try to get their distance from the tee.

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I usually use a 6I and can hit it anywhere from about 165 to 175 yards on flat ground, but I guess that really isn't your question.  I think having more distance with your clubs is an advantage if you don't lose azimuth accuracy in the process of increasing distance. But is some cases the added distance can be a problem if you find yourself often inside of your shortest wedge.  Most of us don't like hitting 3/4 and 1/2 wedges.  Yes distance is helpful if you control it, but it isn't the panacea that many seem to think it is.  As a good golfing buddy of mine often tells me "if you have to choose between long or straight, pick straight".

Butch

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Originally Posted by cruzthepug

150 yards is 150 yards, reguardless if your hitting a 7 iron or 9 iron, it's about as easy to push/pull, fat/thin the shot and mis the green. A shot from 150 has more of a chance of missing the green than a shot from 120, doesn't matter what club your hitting. That's the reason most people try to get their distance from the tee.


Thats not the case, at all.

While it may be possible to fat/thin a shot with any club the rest is all dependent on conditions.  A 120 yard shot for me is a 52 wedge...so that means I might be throwing it up into the wind and having to play for the movement on the ball plus any distance its gonna add/knock off.  While if I'm a 150 yards away..its a 9 iron which is lower in trajectory and still have plenty of stopping power on the green to not roll off.  Sometimes I may even hit a knock down 8 from 150 to keep it even lower.

What most people should be doing on the tee is hitting to a distance that gives them the best opportunity to hit the green in regulation..not just hitting it far.  I see a lot of guys who will hit it as far as possible and then put themselves on side hill lies, down hill lies, through a fairway, on and on and on instead of picking the proper target and hitting a shot they can actually accomplish.

My philosophy on golf "We're not doing rocket science, here."

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Originally Posted by Paradox

Thats not the case, at all.

While it may be possible to fat/thin a shot with any club the rest is all dependent on conditions.  A 120 yard shot for me is a 52 wedge...so that means I might be throwing it up into the wind and having to play for the movement on the ball plus any distance its gonna add/knock off.  While if I'm a 150 yards away..its a 9 iron which is lower in trajectory and still have plenty of stopping power on the green to not roll off.  Sometimes I may even hit a knock down 8 from 150 to keep it even lower.

What most people should be doing on the tee is hitting to a distance that gives them the best opportunity to hit the green in regulation..not just hitting it far.  I see a lot of guys who will hit it as far as possible and then put themselves on side hill lies, down hill lies, through a fairway, on and on and on instead of picking the proper target and hitting a shot they can actually accomplish.



I hit a 2-iron off the tee on our par 5 16th hole yesterday. It was the right play (I could add details - but trust me, it was). Anyway, it may have been the purest 2-iron I've ever hit  in my life (there were angels singing) and it set me up to go for the green with a 3-wood. While the ball was in the air, Phil (name changed) starts telling me I should have hit my driver. "Why didn't you hit your driver? You hit such good drive the last couple holes - shoulda hit your driver!!!" My friend Bob just shakes his head and mumbles "diminishing returns". Then Phil stepped up and hit his driver - a straight pull it into the trees. I wanted to say, "you should get a 2-iron" but that's bad karma right there.

Mizuno MP600 driver, Cleveland '09 Launcher 3-wood, Callaway FTiz 18 degree hybrid, Cleveland TA1 3-9, Scratch SS8620 47, 53, 58, Cleveland Classic 2 mid-mallet, Bridgestone B330S, Sun Mountain four5.

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Note: This thread is 4615 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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