WHats up with the pros?

Ok pros are pros they can sock the weck out of the ball bt 209 yards yes down hill with an 8 iron come on  are the about 4* strong or what.

I can wack a 3 iron 200 but thats on a good day we cant even begin to compare our golf and thiers.

Am I just too old or is it just really tweeked irons?

Michael

I'm sure it's a combination of them having tweaked irons and also the fact that they make almost pure contact every swing...

Average Joe swing speed 85-90 MPH...

Average PGA Tour swing speed 110-115 mph...

This and swing speed. I play with some guys that hit PW 150-160 but are inconsistant. I also played a couple of rounds with a friends retired co-worker, guy is in his 60's and hits the longest irons I've seen. We were playing the short course at the local Robert Trent Jones Trail and one of the holes plays 252 over water from the tips. He hit 4 iron pin high.

It's crazy watching the pros and seeing some of the shots they make.

higher swing speeds (although not everyone and not a necessity) + proper swing mechanics (biggest factor IMO) + hitting the ball in the center of the clubface + perfectly fitted clubs to the swing = ball go far. I wouldn't put too much thought into the stronger loft theories. Some may tweak a little, but if you adjust each club a few degrees, that will leave a gap somewhere at the bottom or at the top. My guess is that they would be more concerned with a yardage gap somewhere than hitting an 8-iron an extra 10 yards. These guys don't care if they are hitting a 7 or a 9, they just pull the club they need for the shot.

Physics disagrees with you.

I'm talking more about hitting the ball along the proper path with the clubhead in the right position. How the swing gets there can vary from person to person, so maybe 'mechanics' wasn't the proper term. In a generic sense, a 'good' swing will produce much more distance than a 'bad' swing. Most pros have 'good' swings (at least at the point of impact), so that is a big contributor to why they are able to hit the ball further. It isn't always about SS, especially with irons.

The question asked was how some pros could get near 200 yards out of 8 while he could barely get that out of 3.

The answer is swing speed, pure and simple. With a better swing could he get 220 or maybe 230 out of that same 3? Maybe he could. But the fact is hitting an 8 Iron anywhere near 200 yards is going to require swing speeds that a very small percentage of the world has.

When hit well, I hit my 9 170-180, 8 180-195, 7 195-205, 6 205-210, cant hit anything higher than a 6 worth a damn hahaha I have a huge gap between my hybrid 4 which is anywhere in the 230-250 range. These are with 06 tour burners and a 110 mph swing speed.

Swing mechanics play a big part in swing speed and pureness of contact. You aren't going to hit an 8 iron 200 if you can't hit it in the middle of the club face, you can't hit it the middle of the club face without reasonably proper swing mechanics. Swinging with proper mechanics isn't going to take someone from hitting an 8 iron 150 to 230 without a really really fast swing speed though.

I think that some of you would be surprised to see that most of the pros use lofts that are weaker than most ams.  It all comes from a sound swing (ie handle leading club through impact area) with a decent amount of clubhead speed with precise contact that makes the difference.

If the grip is leading the head, the club is de-lofted, making it stronger. My friend the pro says he weakens the lofts to compensate.