Changing Irons lofts on AP2

[Hokie2k5]

I realize this may be dumb question but here goes...

I'm going back to a PW/52/56/60 wedge setup so I need to pull a long iron or 5W out of my bag and I was thinking of dropping my 3 iron and bending my 4 and 5 irons stronger to account for the loss of the club.

Since the AP2's are forged there shouldn't be any issue in bending the clubs but is there anything I need to worry about? Will i notice any differences playability-wise (other than the obvious change in distance and trajectory from the change in lofts). The only reason I ask is I was mentioning this idea to a friend and he said he once bent a 5 iron stronger and it never performed the same as it did before bending.

[WUTiger]

Check on the loft of the longer irons in your AP2 set (yours from 2008, or new?).

The new AP2 (Titleist online) loft angles are:
3i = 21° | 4i= 24° | 5i= 27° | 6i=31° ... remaining irons 4° apart in loft.

The 5 and 4 are only 3° apart in loft. Hit them on a launch monitor and see what the distance difference between the two. If it's less than with other clubs, you could probably bend the 4 a degree strong.

Or, if you hit the 3i OK, you might bend it to 22° and drop the 4i. Depends if you would miss having a 21° 3i to keep the ball low. ... or, drop 4i and cut 1/4 inch off shaft of 3i to improve control.

I have asked several clubsmiths and even Ralph Maltby about smaller 3° gaps on long irons, and how it influences distance. Distance increases influenced by both stronger lofts and longer shafts. Their advice: You have to test out the individual clubs to know for sure what changes will do to distance.

Keep us posted. I've been interested in long irons and lofts for quite a while.

--------------------------
Note: I'm not that good a player, but I used to be a caddie and have always been interested in tweaking golf clubs.

[Hokie2k5]

I have the 08 version of the AP2's.

I am planning to drop the 3 iron all together - It's loft is 21*
The 4 iron standard loft is 24* which I would probably bend to 22*
And I'd take the 5 iron from 27* to probably 26* (might actually leave it at 27*, I think I'd rather have a 5* gap between the 4&5 irons rather than 5&6)

Right now I hit my 3 iron about 215 on average.
4 iron - 205
5 iron - 190
6 iron - 180

My goal was to be able to hit my 4 iron about 210-215ish
5 iron - 195sh

In my mind it all makes sense - I was more concerned with whether or not it would cause any problems? Will I notice any difference in feel, will it change the way the sole enters the turf when I swing? Will simply just bending the 4 iron get me the extra distance I'm looking for?

[jpalermo]

Changing the loft will change the bounce of the club. I just had a 54.10 wedge bent to 55* and the bounce is now 11*. So becareful, the 4 iron has 1* of bounce, so if bent 2 degrees strong you would have -1 degree bounce. Not sure what your swing is like, I am a digger I need bounce on my club, thats why I went with the 54 bent to 55 instead of 56 bent to 55. Hope this helps.

[upah]

Bending the 4-iron to 22* will decrease the effective bounce of the club by 2*. This will make that particular club dig easier than your other long irons. It may not be a big deal considering the club, but that's really the only thing you'll change.

[upah]

Dang, beat me to it. :)

[DavidFehertysBike]

Dropping a long iron 2 degrees is a lot dude.... But the AP2's do launch high anyway so it might be fine. You might have some bounce issues. Personally, I wouldn't do it. I just would drop the 3i and work and accept the fact that im going to lose a bit of approach coverage. Or you can drop the PW and keep the 3i

[McIlroy_man]

i had my mp-67s all bent 2* stronger and i only noticed a difference in the distance i was hitting them, it really didnt do much for lowering the ball flight for me. in terms of performance, they felt exactly the same, played the same, just went a ittle bit further

All it does is basically make you hit a 5 iron like a 4.5 iron in terms of distance.
you dont really think about it before hand, but do you actually hit your 4 iron much lower than your 5? you will most probably notice very little drop in ball flight

[Shindig]

If you want a 22°, why not bend the 3-iron strong by one instead? There's no rule that says your irons have to be consecutive.

[andef]

as others said, it would decrease the bounce. i think the best option would be to bend the 3 iron one degree weaker as shinding said. the length of the shaft is almost the same so you shouldn't need to cut off 1/2 inch off the butt.