How Do You Hit 170 Yards With 7 Iron?

[David in FL]

Here is K J Choi with Jack Nicklaus as MC demonstrating different flights and distances with a 7 iron. He "wants" to hit it anywhere from 140 to 175 yards. His 175 shot looked like it had some bounce and roll, and the 140 shot stopped dead after a small bounce. BTW, I am sure he (or any other tour pro) could hit it further.

Yup. That's why I specifically said a "full, stock" shot......

[nevets88]

Jamie Sadlowski hits his 7 iron 240. That's, amazing.  Someone who hits it 200 is pretty darn amazing too. 170 isn't raise your eyebrows, crazy long.

My 7I loft is 36 degrees. Some sets, it's 30.5 degrees. Nowadays, with iron lofts all over the place, the question should be how long do you hit your X degree iron that's Y inches long.

My iron set specifications: 7I - 36 degrees, shaft length - 36.75 inches. See http://www.titleist.com/golf-clubs/irons/DCI-962.aspx.

A current TM set: 7I - 30.5 degrees, 37 inches. See http://taylormadegolf.com/taylormade/rocketballz-irons/DW-JN522.html

That's why when people ask me what club I hit, I say my X number of yards club rather than 7.

[Lihu]

Yup. That's why I specifically said a "full, stock" shot......

Yup, I caught that. :-) 7i seems to be a pretty versatile club.

[bplewis24]

The other question is are we talking 170 yards carry or total?

Carry.  It eliminates a few variables.

However, I think on Big Break last night there was a 185 yard challenge and one of the players (male pro) said something like it's pretty much my 'stock' 7i.  He landed well short...... ; )

but maybe he was trying to land short and roll out to 185.

It wasn't a 185 yard challenge, it was 160 yards.  I remember specifically because Tim Brown said something about allowing Will to hit that shot because "that 160 yard challenge is a beast !"  I thought to myself, a 160 yard shot from a perfect lie into a huge green is a "beast"?  Don't think so.

Plus, keep in mind that for Big Break, the producers of the show often pick holes that are downhill+prevailing wind for driving challenges.  2-3 weeks ago when they had a challenge with a driving component, I looked at the brush/bushes behind the players and you could see they had at least a 15-20mph wind behind them, and from the tee you could see the fairway was slightly below the tee box.  Didn't surprise me to see the big guy put it out there 346 on a perfect strike, especially since it took a firm hop.

[tqcishark]

I'm at the beginning so I'm thinking hitting the 7i consistently 155 is more important than longer.  When swing harder it goes higher but not much farther.  Maybe 165.  Interested in comments about delofting

[Gioguy21]

you hit a 170 yard 7 iron by any 1 or more of the following:

1) contact in the middle or near-middle of the clubface

2) proper shoulder turn and body rotation around your spine axis in the backswing, including wrist hinge/set
3) proper rotation of the lower body to get out of the way of your upper body coming through the hitting area

4) proper release of the club on a slightly in to out path with a moderate angle of attack
5) depending on how efficient and 'quick' you do 1-4, along with variables such as wind/elevation/temperature...

you too can hit a 170y 7i

[rehmwa]

you hit a 170 yard 7 iron by any 1 or more of the following:

1) contact in the middle or near-middle of the clubface

2) proper shoulder turn and body rotation around your spine axis in the backswing, including wrist hinge/set

3) proper rotation of the lower body to get out of the way of your upper body coming through the hitting area

4) proper release of the club on a slightly in to out path with a moderate angle of attack

5) depending on how efficient and 'quick' you do 1-4, along with variables such as wind/elevation/temperature...

you too can hit a 170y 7i

and all those things will shorten his 7i down to 170?

[Gioguy21]

and all those things will shorten his 7i down to 170?

Who's ? I don't understand what you're asking...

[HighlandLaird]

How do you hit 170 yards with 7 iron? Can you swing that fast with an iron?

Because it is a 5 iron!!!

See Tom Wishon's book "The New Search For The Perfect Golf Club" and you'll see that the loft of irons has been steadily reduced by the manufacturers over the last few years, to persuade us all that their clubs are best!!!  As a result, we need hybrids at one end of the set, and gap wedges at the other!!   It's crazy.....

[HighlandLaird]

Just a small addition------we need to ask not what number is on the club , but what the LOFT is.

[nevets88]

Because it is a 5 iron!!!

See Tom Wishon's book "The New Search For The Perfect Golf Club" and you'll see that the loft of irons has been steadily reduced by the manufacturers over the last few years, to persuade us all that their clubs are best!!!  As a result, we need hybrids at one end of the set, and gap wedges at the other!!   It's crazy.....

I mentioned this in my post above and posted links which included the following:

My Titleist irons from the 90s:

A recent TM set:

[iacas]

I've said it many many times. There's more to determining launch conditions than reading loft.

I could build two sets of irons that have identical loft which launch the ball 5° differently given the same exact swing.

Have lofts gotten stronger? Yes.

But has the CG in many clubs, particularly CBs, been moved down lower as well, resulting in a HIGHER ball launch at the same dynamic or delivered loft? YES. (And a small reduction in "backspin," too.)

The Titleist CBs and MBs could be mixed at any club in the set and yet one was 2 to 3° stronger than the other… but launched the ball at the same trajectory. And they weren't even super-GI CBs with really, really low CoGs.

[flopster]

No wonder nobody wants to carry anything less than a 4 or 5 iron, they are the equivalence  of a 2 and 3 iron 20 years ago, I have a Wilson staff set from 1990 that comes with a 2 iron, I ought to check it out, and then set it next to my set of Adams.

[nevets88]

I've said it many many times. There's more to determining launch conditions than reading loft.

I could build two sets of irons that have identical loft which launch the ball 5° differently given the same exact swing.

Have lofts gotten stronger? Yes.

But has the CG in many clubs, particularly CBs, been moved down lower as well, resulting in a HIGHER ball launch at the same dynamic or delivered loft? YES. (And a small reduction in "backspin," too.)

The Titleist CBs and MBs could be mixed at any club in the set and yet one was 2 to 3° stronger than the other… but launched the ball at the same trajectory. And they weren't even super-GI CBs with really, really low CoGs.

Ah, I see, I don't spend a lot of time in the equipment forums. What about shaft length? There are differences of 1/4 to 1/2 inch in the charts above.

[James038]

Are you kidding me? Contacting the ground before you hit the ball KILLS clubhead speed. A sure sign of a hack! Absolutely NOBODY on tour does this. Actually there is some very interesting data/photographic evidence that after contact with the ball, an iron is deflected down almost 11* creating the resulting divot. This is with an angle of attack of Zero Degrees into the ball. Don't believe me? See it for yourself at http://www.tutelman.com/golf . By the way, you should spend some time on David Tutleman's website in an effort to erase some serious misconceptions I think you might gave about the Physics of Golf. Happy re-educating!

[MS256]

Who are you talking to? Looking back a ways in the thread the only person I saw that referenced hitting the turf before the ball was @Bananarama and he was making the joke that most of us would have to add club head speed to make up for our horrible ball striking and taking up two feet of turf before the ball.

[iacas]

Who are you talking to?

I second this question… :)

[joekelly]

I clicked that tutleman URL.  It's bogus.  The text is all Korean language and not apparently golf related.