Project X 6.5 vs 7.0 (Including Soft/Hard Stepping)

[enyawk]

Hi! I'm about to buy new irons (z785 or zx7 if they're released in US soon) for the first time and want to take advantage of customizable options, but I'm so conflicted. Im coming from C-Taper 130x and they're fine, I have no problems launching it but think I can do a lot better dispersion and feel wise. I wouldn't mind something lighter than 130g, but the differences between these types of shafts (125-130) are so marginal that's not a big concern. For reference my swing is very aggressive, especially in transition and I generally take big, fairly deep divots. I've just never been able to control "85%" or lower so I get after it within reason. 

I wasn't a big fan of x100 years ago, so I've narrowed it down to Project X. I feel 6.5 may be too "soft" for me, while  hard-stepping a 6.5 will lower the flight too much whereas soft-stepping a 7.0 may launch too high, even more so than a straight 6.5 I've read. Curious if anyone has been in a similar situation? Other suggestions are more than welcome too. Lastly, I'm well aware going to test somewhere is the smartest option but that's not an option currently so I'm willing to take the "risk". Thanks!

[onthehunt526]

On 9/25/2020 at 8:23 PM, enyawk said:

Hi! I'm about to buy new irons (z785 or zx7 if they're released in US soon) for the first time and want to take advantage of customizable options, but I'm so conflicted. Im coming from C-Taper 130x and they're fine, I have no problems launching it but think I can do a lot better dispersion and feel wise. I wouldn't mind something lighter than 130g, but the differences between these types of shafts (125-130) are so marginal that's not a big concern. For reference my swing is very aggressive, especially in transition and I generally take big, fairly deep divots. I've just never been able to control "85%" or lower so I get after it within reason. 

I wasn't a big fan of x100 years ago, so I've narrowed it down to Project X. I feel 6.5 may be too "soft" for me, while  hard-stepping a 6.5 will lower the flight too much whereas soft-stepping a 7.0 may launch too high, even more so than a straight 6.5 I've read. Curious if anyone has been in a similar situation? Other suggestions are more than welcome too. Lastly, I'm well aware going to test somewhere is the smartest option but that's not an option currently so I'm willing to take the "risk". Thanks!

I’ll give you a little inside information. The ZX series of irons, woods, hybrids, and utilities will be released in the US in January 2021. (You may be able to procure a set from Europe prior to then, but I don’t really want to pay an import fee).

First welcome to TST. Secondly what exactly are you looking for when it comes to ball-flight. I play C-Taper 125S in my irons to try to bring my ball flight down, but I still have 110 foot peak height, who would have thunk it.

Here’s an out of the box suggestion that might help your decision, see if you can find a 7-iron 785 head on EBay (I’m not sure you can but it’s worth a shot), or buy 2 identical Maltby TE Forged 7-irons, if they have Project X get one with 6.5 hard-stepped and one with 7.0 soft-stepped. Go to the range and see if you notice a difference.

Most importantly. It’s probably not that big of a deal at our handicap level. We can shoot 85 about as easily as we can shoot 70. Sharpen your tools and learn to play boring golf. It’ll change the way you play the game.

[dennyjones]

@enyawk Welcome to TST!

[Adam C]

You are overthinking it. You are basically going to have such similar shafts by hard stepping the 6.5 or softing the 7.0 (both in flex and more importantly in weight), that if you can hit one, you can hit the other or vise versa. You will get much more definitive results from bending the lofts to adjust trajectory. 

You would really need to move into a different weight class before I would say you would see any noticeable difference over the long haul between shafts.