Iron Question

How can you tell if a set of irons are too hard to hit for you or vice versa?

Hit them.

Obviously, but while hitting them, how can you tell if they're right for you? Nevermind, I'm just going to get fitted.

Yes.  Comparing the spectrum/transition from super game-improvement irons down to blades, the former are generally much more forgiving and designed to get the ball in the air with extreme perimeter weighting, wider soles, more offset--i.e. they're designed for average golfers who don't hit the center of the clubface often, have erratic club/turf interaction, and need help hitting the ball high.

As one's swing gets better, one doesn't need as much of those features, especially because extreme perimeter weighting affects feel/feedback (esp on mishits) and makes it harder to work the ball, chunky soles make it harder to play a variety of shots (i.e. opening the face a lot for a flop), and it's more difficult to control trajectory with an extremely low center of gravity.

As what's right for any particular golfer as mentioned by others is completely arbitrary, depending on what type of shots one likes to hit and what works best for those shots.

And of course, ego gets to most of us (me certainly) in terms of thinking we don't need much help in our games and wanting to try the same variety of shots the pro's do with the same sticks they use (which these days by the way are rarely old-school musclebacks, as most current "players irons" still pack a lot of game improvement features, but they hide them in a smaller more traditional look at address).

Great pointers, thanks drglew.

Don't forget about the shaft. If a player's driver clubhead speed is 85 mph or below, he probably doesn't want stiff shafts in his irons. Too much stiffness robs you of distance, PLUS, it may make it more difficult to get the ball airborne consistently.

I play game improvement irons with regular flex, flighted shafts (averages out midkick). I had tried some SGI irons with low kick (high launch) shafts, but these irons popped the ball up in the air too much. Hit lots of different irons in early 2009 when making my switch from stiff to regular shafts.

A good clubfitter can help you interpret the launch monitor data to see what swing and trajectory tendencies you have. Then, you can get an idea of which iron/shaft combos would work best for you. Also, whether you're new to the game or a long-time player, you can learn a lot about golf clubs and how they work from a good fitter. You can also go onto the OEM websites, or get some of Ralph Maltby's books. http://www.ralphmaltby.com/

In the end, it comes down to which irons you hit well, and which "feel best." There were four models of irons - from three different companies - which I could hit reasonably well. But, the ones I play were the ones which "felt best."