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The graphite v's steel in irons debate.


buteman
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Todays the day,,,I've promised myself for years that I would have a set of irons custom made to fit me and my particular golf swing.

I see the fitter at the golf shop today and my choice of clubs are Pings, anyway, I'm in my mid sixties and have a nine handicap and play about 14 rounds a month and our season lasts about seven months.

This particular fitter helped fit me with a new driver,,,a Nike " Machspeed Black " at last I have a driver with a neutral face. My miss is right to left with the long clubs and as most " off the rack " drivers have a 2 degree closed face, no question that the neutral face in my new driver will be better suited for my swing.

I have spent a great deal of time doing research and reading opinions of fellow players regarding shafts which I might add I'm well aware of how important the best suited shaft is.

It's just a fact, the majority of the opinions say go with steel,,,and many of those opinions came from players who have never hit a graphite shafted iron in their life. Well that's okay I do appreciate input and respect their opinions,,,but it certainly is something to wonder about as to how they can pass an opinion on an item they have no experience with other than the opinion of others.

The last round I played in 2011 was with a great group which included our club champion, real good player with a three handicap and is a good forty yards past my best drive ( well he is in his late thirties ). His iron play is excellent and he uses TM irons with graphite shafts.

I happened to mention to the club fitter that I liked graphite shafts ( I have them in my Cobra FP's ) he said,," with a good set of Pings you won't need graphite shafts ", okay but what if I want graphite shafts ?? money is not the issue so if I have to pay a couple of hundred bucks extra to get a club I'm happy with no big deal.

At present I hit my seven iron 147-150 and if I find that I will loose any distance whatsoever using steel shafted Pings then it's not going to work for me at all,,,,I'd appreciate your thoughts.

buteman.

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I've gone from Rifle to Nippon, and now in my mid-50's, have gone to Aerotech Steelfiber Shafts - With the Aerotechs, I believe I get the consistency of Steel with the advantages of graphite. The Aerotech shafts are a graphite core with micro-strand steel fibers wrapped around the outside of the shaft. They have weights across the board and are relatively low in torque (of course the heavier the shaft, the lower the torque) - I think the most popular shaft is the i80 (80g) shaft. I've found that they tend to play slightly firm in flex, except for the senior flex that I play now  (i80)- which my club maker tells me play about right to him -- and it plays well for me with consistency.

Ping G400 Max 9/TPT Shaft, TEE EX10 Beta 4, 5 wd, PXG 22 HY, Mizuno JPX919F 5-GW, TItleist SM7 Raw 55-09, 59-11, Bettinardi BB39

 

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Personally, I find that lightweight steel does everything that most stock graphite does, but is cheaper and more controlled. I play lightweight steel in my irons, wedges, and hybrid. I like graphite for woods, and for changing your trajectory you can customize graphite a lot, but the cost and control issues, combined with the fact that it's really hard to stop the shafts from chipping, mean I stick with steel in the 110 gram range. Also I like a bit heavier club, especially the hybrid. The light weight, combined with the often-colorful finish tends to distract me a bit, and did I mention steel is cheaper?

My opinion might not apply to you, however, being one third your age. It makes the bag a lot lighter, can give you a bit of distance, and reduces vibration. If you're so worried about losing distance (which I doubt will be an issue at the distance you state), and you can afford new pings, knock yourself out. Don't count out steel over the distance thing though, it won't make a lick of difference, and the new clubs will probably hit farther anyway.

In My Bag:

Adams Super LS 9.5˚ driver, Aldila Phenom NL 65TX
Adams Super LS 15˚ fairway, Kusala black 72x
Adams Super LS 18˚ fairway, Aldila Rip'd NV 75TX
Adams Idea pro VST hybrid, 21˚, RIP Alpha 105x
Adams DHY 24˚, RIP Alpha 89x
5-PW Maltby TE irons, KBS C taper X, soft stepped once 130g
Mizuno T4, 54.9 KBS Wedge X
Mizuno R12 60.5, black nickel, KBS Wedge X
Odyssey Metal X #1 putter 
Bridgestone E5, Adidas samba bag, True Linkswear Stealth
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Thanks for your input, all things being considered I've come to the conclusion that a top line set of Pings are only slightly more expensive than Titelist, TM, Callaway, Mizuno etc. etc.

But it's not about money at all, I have a professional golf club fitter spending two hours with me as well as the very latest fitting technology from the Ping people,,,so figure,,,what is that two hours worth ??

I must be perfectly honest I will go to the fitting this morning with a completely open mind and most certainly pay close attention to what the fitter has to say and what his recommendations are.

Steel shafts are certainly in the mix,,,the technology in shafts is really mind boggling,,,when I started playing you had three choices, steel only of course, regular, stiff and extra stiff.

I can also remember in the pro. shop as a wee boy,, the old pro. only had two brands of golf balls ( as did most pro. shops ) Dunlop 65's and Penfolds. Now you would need a degree to figure out what brand of ball to use.

Have a nice day.

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Originally Posted by buteman

...he said,," with a good set of Pings you won't need graphite shafts "...


I have a problem with that statement.  "Need" graphite?  It shows an obvious bias and perhaps genuine ignorance about what shafts are and what they do.  Possibly with some unneeded machismo thrown in.

I play both and have for some time.  My Adams A4 forged came with TT SL steel and I was getting pain in my right elbow.  I think the weight of the shaft was encouraging me to try too hard and grip too tight transmitting shock up my arm.  I changed out to Excaliber graphite and the pain went away immediately, I also could swing freely and get good distance.  I also use Ping G5's with the CS lite shafts and have no pain whatsoever.

The Adams are built a little bit longer than the Pings.  Both the G5's and the Adams are at D-0 swing weight but the graphite shafts are 74 grams and the CS shafts are 94 gram.  Not a huge difference but it means the Adams have lower total weight.  I do hit the Adams a little further than the G5's, they are a little longer, a little lighter and they have 1-2* stronger lofts, so that makes sense.

My .02 is try whatever your fitter can offer you and try to get him to let you take 2 or 3 clubs out for a round or 2 of golf and really get a feel for what your looking at.

Good luck.  New stuff is fun.

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  • 3 years later...

Came across your Q during my research and probable switch from graphite to steel on Ping irons.

Background:

Years ago replaced lost & found clubs with Ping 13-O set, graphite stiff, handicap went from 29 to 15, regular player, walk/carry only

2 years ago, fitter told me my 60-something year old swing was slower, so

G25 graphites regular (NOT senior/soft), so handicap that had returned to 29 now got -11 strokes cut in just weeks

Recently, weather & other distractions made me less a regular player, accuracy declined, handicap back up

... so began to question all those past "fits", as I land squarely in the current Yellow Dot on charts but always played with Green

Testing White, Green, Yellow dot 7i demos introduced me to

steel shafts (which will be heavier to carry & harder on body when cold & mis-hits)

G15s

Tempting were the G15s steel in Yellow/Green being much most accurate ?!?!?

Questions to those in-the-know got the usual responses ... each to his own (i.e. don't blame me when money spent doesn't pay off later)

SO I have ordered a used set of G15s Yellow, steel reg.flex to see how it goes.

I still have more of the same in Green dot to try, as well as one of the above in +1/2" length (with little hopes for it)

There was something about the steel feel that added to what I've always loved about Ping irons ... you can feel where that head is and this weight feel helps bring one's body around and through the ball.

Won't have results on the "new" set for a few weeks and now it's freezing again ... ugh.

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For irons, I've landed in the area of lightweight steel shafts (about 100 grams or so) in R.Flex. The ultralight steel or graphite shafts for irons just felt too light (overswing anyone?)

But, since January I have test-hit Big Bertha and new XR irons in the PX.SD 5.5 and UST Recoil 460 - both graphite - and the TT SpeedStep 80 R and S flex steel.

To my surprise, the two graphites (about 60 grams each) felt more solid than the SpeedStep 80 (at about 90 grams). The clubfitter said the balance of the shafts are such that you feel more of the head, and it doesn't feel so light.

So, shaft considerations are wide open now if I get new irons.

In another part of the shaft forest, the KBS ads talk about the shafts being counterbalanced slightly (slightly thicker tip and butt). So, I don't know if the SD and Recoil graphites are counterbalanced or not. Anyone know?

Focus, connect and follow through!

  • Completed KBS Education Seminar (online, 2015)
  • GolfWorks Clubmaking AcademyFitting, Assembly & Repair School (2012)

Driver:  :touredge: EXS 10.5°, weights neutral   ||  FWs:  :callaway: Rogue 4W + 7W
Hybrid:  :callaway: Big Bertha OS 4H at 22°  ||  Irons:  :callaway: Mavrik MAX 5i-PW
Wedges:  :callaway: MD3: 48°, 54°... MD4: 58° ||  Putter:image.png.b6c3447dddf0df25e482bf21abf775ae.pngInertial NM SL-583F, 34"  
Ball:  image.png.f0ca9194546a61407ba38502672e5ecf.png QStar Tour - Divide  ||  Bag: :sunmountain: Three 5 stand bag

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Todays the day,,,I've promised myself for years that I would have a set of irons custom made to fit me and my particular golf swing.

I see the fitter at the golf shop today and my choice of clubs are Pings, anyway, I'm in my mid sixties and have a nine handicap and play about 14 rounds a month and our season lasts about seven months.

This particular fitter helped fit me with a new driver,,,a Nike " Machspeed Black " at last I have a driver with a neutral face. My miss is right to left with the long clubs and as most " off the rack " drivers have a 2 degree closed face, no question that the neutral face in my new driver will be better suited for my swing.

I have spent a great deal of time doing research and reading opinions of fellow players regarding shafts which I might add I'm well aware of how important the best suited shaft is.

It's just a fact, the majority of the opinions say go with steel,,,and many of those opinions came from players who have never hit a graphite shafted iron in their life. Well that's okay I do appreciate input and respect their opinions,,,but it certainly is something to wonder about as to how they can pass an opinion on an item they have no experience with other than the opinion of others.

The last round I played in 2011 was with a great group which included our club champion, real good player with a three handicap and is a good forty yards past my best drive ( well he is in his late thirties ). His iron play is excellent and he uses TM irons with graphite shafts.

I happened to mention to the club fitter that I liked graphite shafts ( I have them in my Cobra FP's ) he said,," with a good set of Pings you won't need graphite shafts ", okay but what if I want graphite shafts ?? money is not the issue so if I have to pay a couple of hundred bucks extra to get a club I'm happy with no big deal.

At present I hit my seven iron 147-150 and if I find that I will loose any distance whatsoever using steel shafted Pings then it's not going to work for me at all,,,,I'd appreciate your thoughts.

buteman.

I built two sets of Pinhawk Single length irons, one graphite and one steel. The graphite shafts cost $7 apiece and the steel were $3.50 apiece. So each set is under $200 with nice Winn DriTac grips. Each set is the same length. I had my swing measured to see what frequency shafts would optimize my distance and accuracy and built each set to that frequency +/- 2 CPMs. I FLOed all the clubs and set out to determine which was better for me, graphite or steel. I went to the range with a launch monitor and did not see an appreciable difference distance wise. I like the lightness of the graphite and was leaning towards them but was determined to give each set a fair try. I've been swapping sets each day. Yesterday I had 5 birdies all due to iron shots that left me short putts with the steel set. I will eventually decide which is better and then pull the loser shafts from the heads and replace with the winning shafts. I have both steel and graphite spare shafts waiting in the wings.I keep eventually end up with two identical sets for both Florida and NJ locations.

Question about the 2 degree closed driver? I've never understood that concept. Can't you just rotate the club in your grip to bring it to square? It's not like there is a notch in the grip that aligns your hands with the face angle. Just wondering?

Bob

WITB

Driver:                         Ping I25 10.5 PWR65 stiff Flex

Fairway Woods:          Ping TiSi Tec 3, 5 and 7 graphite Cushin stiff flex

Irons:                         Pinhawk SL 5-PW 37.25 inches 

Wedges:                     Reid Lockhart 52 and 60 quad bounce, 56 dual bounce 

Putter:                        Boccieri Heavy Putter B3-M (250 gram back weight)

Ball:                            MG C4 / Wilson Duo

Grips:                         Winn DriTac midsize Blue

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Note: This thread is 3321 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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