4iron or 5 wood? which one should go longer?

[golf55]

I think I hit about the same distance if I hit it pure on both. Which one are you suppose to hit it longer?

[max power]

With equal swings you should hit a 5 wood quite a bit longer.  My 4 iron goes about 200, up to 210; 5 wood about 220-240.

[Zeph]

The difference in distance depends on loft and length of both clubs. With a strong 4i and weak 5w, the difference will be smaller. From yesterday's Masters coverage, they gave us Tiger's distances. His 4i is 215 and 5w 245. For me, I suppose it would be something like max power's distances. Point being that you should hit the 5w farther.

[ApocG10]

Certainly the 5w should be longer. ~18* compared to ~22* for a 4i. At least my 5w is the longer club. D-3w-5w-19*h-4i, for me anyway. I guess if lofts are stronger or weaker on one of your clubs, there wont be much difference, but personally, its at least ~25 yards difference for me. Especially off the tee.

My irons do get a lot more roll out though, something I am going to try to fix with a shaft fitting. My woods and hybrid fly high and come down softly, with minimal bounce and roll. My long irons land at a more shallow angle and tend to roll out a lot more. I am not a fan of roll out except off my driver.

[MS256]

It's probably a swing problem. I've had bad days where my 3 iron goes as far as my 5 wood simply because I can handle the shorter club better and release it more freely through impact. I always feel like my long irons are the best clubs in my bag so it's a confidence thing as much as anything else.

I've even had really bad days where my 3 iron is consistently longer than my 3 wood and sometimes even the driver. On those days I always wonder (half seriously) why I don't just have a 1 iron and 2 iron in my bag and leave the woods at home.

[hendog]

My 5W (215) is MUCH longer than my 4 iron (180). This is mainly due to the fact that with my FWs I take a bigger swing with more focus on distance and with my irons I take a much more controlled swing focusing on accuracy.

Going to be different for everyone though.

[Chas]

I'm thinking of subbing my 5W for my 3h - I don't see doing it for a 4i (too long).