Problems with yardage gaps in irons...

[Chicago Lefty]

I play Mizuno Mp-52 w/ DGS300 shafts. I've been playing them all season and have dialed in my yardages pretty well. I'm a little concerned with the gaps I am seeing and can't figure out why. It extends as far as my Vokey gap wedge as well. I'm a 6 handicap and have a fairly consistent swing through all the irons. I recently had all my lofts/lies check and they came back not that far off. No more than 1* on any club and are all now set at factory lofts.

Here are my stock shot yardages:

4i - 205
5i - 190
6i - 170
7i - 160
8i - 155
9i - 145
PW - 128
52* - 110
56* - 105
60* - 90 (never hit a full shot with this though)

So I cannot figure out why my gaps are so messed up. Is it worth adjusting the lofts away from standard trying to even the gaps? Possibly playing the wrong shafts? Any suggestions are welcome. Thank you!

[upah]

With the exception of your 6- and 7-iron gaps, you and I have nearly identical yardages. I don't think they're messed up at all. It could be possible (I've heard) to have weird frequency variations between your 6- and 7-iron shafts and the rest of the set. Really those are the only clubs that appear off though...

[Chicago Lefty]

I feel like they are real inconsistent. 15 yards here, 20 yards on another gap, only 5 yards between my 8i & 9i...

[jangro]

Would you say your swing changes at all with the different clubs? The ball position in your stance? Shaft tilt?

It doesn't take much to de-loft a club a bit and make a 9 act closer to an 8.

[Chicago Lefty]

I would say my swing stays pretty consistent throughout. I move the ball a little bit forward on each iron as they get longer.

The reason I'm concerned is that I do feel like I have a solid enough swing that it shouldn't be my setup/swing that is causing it and rather an equipment issue. But I could be wrong...

[WUTiger]

iS Left,

If these gaps are consistent, does it matter that much? For a 180-yd. shot, just choke up a quarter-inch on the 5 iron.

Wedges seem to have odd distance gaps, but does it hurt your game? As long as you know "how far" it goes... I carry three assorted wedges, and made up a range-distance card which works pretty well (when I keep my head still).

(I know I'm a 19 HDCP, but once upon a time I was a very good caddie.)

[dbuck]

looks like the 5 yd gap is between your 8 and 7 ?

I feel like an idiot giving advice to a 6.9, but from a purely mathematical standpoint, looks like you could make the 7, 6, 5, and PW each about 2* stronger, and adjust your wedges to suit your needs. Oops, just reread your original post--might go 3 degrees on the 6 and leave the 5 alone.

Or, you could make the 8 and 9 about 2 degrees weaker and probably leave everything else alone. Might lead to a narrower gap between the PW and 52, but that might not be a bad thing. Again might go 2 or 3* on the 6.

I am sure you already know this , but I am told 2* is a bout 3-6 yds and 2* is about the minimum adjustment you can make and hold.

[Chicago Lefty]

I think it does hurt my game a bit...

115-120 yards is probably the most difficult shot for me, as well as 175-180 yards.

I'm thinking maybe bend the 6i, 7i, PW and 52* a bit stronger. I only worry how much that will effect the bounce and change the turf interaction.

[Chicago Lefty]

Thanks dbuck..Kind of what I was thinking minus adjusting the 5i. At 190 yards and up I am just hoping to get it on the green...so a 15 yard gap there works fine.

And trust me, the difference between 10 and 6.9 is not very large ;)

[enis750]

dont chage any of the lofts on your irons
this will affect the bounce on each irons as well
think you have issues now?????.......i would leave them

i find that in my scoring irons, that there is big gaps, BUT i practice lots and learn lots of 1/2 and 3/4 shots to make it up

here is my yardages:

LW-105 SW/GW-120 PW-140 9i-150 8i-165 7i-175 6i-185 5i-195 4i-205 22h-225 3w-240

look at the yardage gaps from the 8i to LW
these ar my MAX distances posted though
I can adjust the yardages easily by choking down on the club or making a 1/2 to 3/4 shot

[danieldrieberg]

Well---the spine alignment or flo of the shaft between the irons can affect the flex of the shafts. I always do a spine alignment when installing a set of iron shafts. NBP down range to get a consistent flex from club to club. Golfsmith or a good builder can do this . From my understanding flo alignment is more precise than just spining the shaft.

When you feel the spine of some iron shafts ie DG S-300 the affect of the spine on flex is quite striking.

[hoser]

Your gaps look a little odd. I've got a similar handicap, age and use similar irons (MP 60s) and here are my stock yardages for 80F/25C weather assuming no wind:

4h - 210
5i - 195
6i - 185
7i - 170
8i - 155
9i - 145
PW - 130 (47)
53 - 110 (bent from 54)
59 - 95 (bent from 58 -- and I do hit this club full)

A couple of things strike me as out of whack based on what you listed:
* I'd guess you should be able to hit your gap wedge (52) 115 - 120 yards based on your other yardages
* Your 8i/7i gap is odd which you pointed out

In January I went to club fitter and he did a frequency analysis on my shafts. He found that the DG300s i had in my PW - 5i were pretty consistent but a little to soft for my swing. We eventually fit me to a Rifle 6.2 instead.

The stock shafts in my Vokeys were 'wedge' flex shafts (DG S200) and they were way, way too soft. Plus the variance in these shafts was all over the place. As told to me by the fitter, wedge shafts are often a cheaper quality which explained the anomalies.

So, that might account for the 5 yard gap between your 52 and 56. Based on my experience, it still wouldn't explain why your 8i/7i gaps are so close.

In any event, before you adjust your lofts, you might want to get the shaft frequencies analyzed to see if your shafts are causing an issue. Mine certainly were. The stock hybrid/wood shafts were even worse for consistency even within the same manufacturer. Gah.

[sean_miller]

I play Mizuno Mp-52 w/ DGS300 shafts.

4i - 205 Don't touch it. 5i - 190 Don't touch it. 6i - 170 Bend 1-2* stronger. 7i - 160 Bend 1-2* Stronger. 8i - 155 Bend Don't touch it. 9i - 145 Bend 1-2* degrees weaker PW - 128 Bend 1-2 degrees weaker, or see GW 52* - 110 Bend 2 degrees stronger and remove PW 56* - 105 Don't touch it. 60* - 90 (never hit a full shot with this though) Don't touch it.

[rego]

Get the lofts checked, they are forged so may have shifted over the season. Mizuno are pretty good with specs out of the factory, I've got MP-60s and they were all spot on, the previous irons I had were titleists and I used to hit my 9 and PW almost the same distance, got them checked and turns out the PW was 2* strong and 9 1* weak.