Do irons lose some distance as they get older?

[geauxforbroke]

My irons are over 20 years old at this point, and they still hit the ball as far as irons with similar specs. However, I had them bent earlier this week because they are about 4-5 degrees weaker than modern irons. But as far as the metal weakening enough to significantly affect carry distance? Nah, ain't buyin' it.

[Micah]

Then go take a crash course in architecture or 9th grade metal shop for that matter.

[geauxforbroke]

Originally Posted by Micah

Then go take a crash course in architecture or 9th grade metal shop for that matter.

Architecture? I don't see how the design of a building factors into it.And we never really talked about club forging and properties of high grade steel when I took 9th grade metal shop.

I understand that steel gets stressed over time, but will it get stressed enough in 8 years to cause a significant decrease in ball speed?

[spam]

Originally Posted by tanktwo2

Yeah, since I picked them up used, I'm thinking the guy had them delofted a bit.

I'm 21 years old, lift weights pretty strong, about 190 and lean. I'm pulling a 7 iron when my little friend playing his mizuno's is pulling 9 iron who must weigh no more than 140 lbs.

Figured something must be wrong

I hate the feel of the 704's not going to lie, especially when I carry a 6 iron 160 yards.  They just feel clunky as hell

size age and weight don't have much to do with technique. if you hit the ball fat then you will lose yardage. if your missing the sweet spot you will lose yardage. he may have stronger lofts alot can go into this. i play with a guy that is a monster in the gym and swings hard to boot and must have me by at least 70 lbs and i out hit him all day so size is no way to compare distances between golfers. i myself would say get the lofts checked and go from there. there is a web site that has most stock lofts on it and you can compare between your old set and the 704s your playing now

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by geauxforbroke

Architecture? I don't see how the design of a building factors into it.And we never really talked about club forging and properties of high grade steel when I took 9th grade metal shop.

I understand that steel gets stressed over time, but will it get stressed enough in 8 years to cause a significant decrease in ball speed?

Yeah, if the clubs are forged on the second floor of a steel-framed building they last A LOT longer than if the were cast on the fourth-floor of a wood framed building.  I mean, sheesh, who doesn't know that?!?!?!

On Topic:  I would assume that my loss in distance in those clubs (used to hit the PW 145, now it's something more like 130-135) is more due to my swing changes (used to try and kill it, now more controlled) and my age.

Get this:  I used to be younger than I am now, but now I am actually older than I was then ;)

[460CompMark]

Only factor i could see it affecting is ball spin.

[spam]

Get this:  I used to be younger than I am now, but now I am actually older than I was then ;)

well said

[loki16]

Yeah, since I picked them up used, i'm thinking the guy had them delofted a bit. I'm 21 years old, lift weights pretty strong, about 190 and lean. I'm pulling a 7 iron when my little friend playing his mizuno's is pulling 9 iron who must weigh no more than 140 lbs. Figured something must be wrong I hate the feel of the 704's not going to lie, especially when I carry a 6 iron 160 yards.  They just feel clunky as hell

Golf is not about being a muscle head. Duh.

[spam]

Originally Posted by loki16

Golf is not about being a muscle head. Duh.

my thoughts exactly

[Dave2512]

I played beat up 845s from the late 80's until July of this year. Honestly I didn't pick up any distance going to my 2013 Cleveland's. I've ignored that they call my 44* a PW when it was previously my 9i. What is different is the design and resulting forgiveness. Just sayin'.

[Micah]

Buy new or good, slightly used when you can though because irons do lose pop after 20 years of constant, weekly play. Or in your case 25 years lol.

[WUTiger]

No, not unless their faces are all beat up.

More likely, the person swinging them is getting older and losing distance.

[MS256]

I lose distance about every other time I play. Then the next time it shows back up again.

BTW. I wouldn't put any stock in launch monitor numbers being read by somebody trying to sell me a club.

Last Saturday during my round one of the guys (that I had never played with before) had a new driver. I heard another guy ask him what his distances were on the launch monitor with it.

He said 320 yards. I guess it's possible but during our round he never hit anything over 260 yards even when he appeared to hit it solidly and acted happy with it.

Most of his drives averaged around 250 yards (not bad but a long way from 320).

[Micah]

Well Ive actually only gone through 2 sets in the past 20 years which were a set of Wilson 1200 GE (great irons btw), Ping G5s and just recently added th adams 1208 set, which are almost a spitting image of the Pings in appearance, weight and feel yet the new Adams have a much higher trajectory and to me they seem to be more workable. They both have nice perimeter wheighting but the Adams clubs just feel perfect for my swing. And btw the Wilsons and Pings botb had great pop during the first five years or so and the feel just steadily declined....even after a re shafting and groove sharpening. Also the Adams have a thicker sole than both previou sets but not much thicker than the Pings. The faces were practically identical in size in all three and the Adams and Pings both used the same 431 steel. I guess my engineer buddy was right about the tiny microscopic cracks and fizzures that form in the club heads after repeated use and impact..sorry but I think I will side with the engineer on this one.