Good spacing between lofts?

[mikeparker]

I wanted to know if these lofts were good,to close to eachother or to far apart. Driver 9.5° 3wood 15° 3hybrid 19° 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. P. A. 22° 25° 28° 32° 36° 40° 45° 50° irons 54°sand wedge 58°lob wedge Any feedback would be most appreciated. Thanks

[tristanhilton85]

That's pretty much my exact set up except I carry a 4w (17°) instead of the 3w and my wedges have slightly different lofts (52, 56, 60)...

I think what you have is fine.

[flopster]

Everything looks nice and neat with respect to lofts but what the real tell tale is actual distances, what you would want to do is get a session with a trackman and find out exactly how far each club goes, just because lofts are evened out doesn't mean your going to hit the clubs equal distances from each other but it is a good start. After the session evaluate the numbers and if there are gaps that you don't like go to the local golf repair shop and have the clubs adjusted and then start over with another trackman session and you should be close.

[WUTiger]

You should focus on your yardage gaps, not your lofts per se.

Traditional club gapping guidelines for the average golfer: 4* loft and 1/2" difference in shaft length between numbered irons translates into 10 to 12 yards difference between clubs.

The last few cycles this has changed as lower lofted clubs have only 3* loft differences ( mikeparker 's 4i = 22* / 5i = 25*). Many OEMs, including TaylorMade, Ping and Callaway, have begun making the shaft increments longer than 1/2" when loft differences get to 3* or less.

For the 3* loft gaps, shaft length increments increase to up to 3/4". This keeps the yardage gaps even.

Also, I'm getting bits and pieces on the newer wedges from clubfitters. The super-low COG means that the ball stays on the high-lofted wedge clubface a very short period of time. According to the fitters, many players find that a 3/4 swing doesn't go much longer than a half swing - only higher. Many players find this "pop up" starts in their SW, or maybe even GW. In some wedge sets, you only have 1/8" difference wedge to wedge in shaft length.

Tom Wishon has actually come up with a Micro-Groove HM wedge with a slightly higher COG, to prevent ballooning of a ball hit off of fluffy grass. http://wishongolf.com/designs/wedges/micro-groove-hm/

[LuciusWooding]

Your lofts are pretty good on paper, but it's quite possible that one's technique can throw off one's distances. At the end of the day you're the one hitting the shots so select the right club and hit the right shot. 3 or 4 degree gaps in the irons are fine, the long clubs should be fine as long as you're wary of their lengths, the wedges are where the lofts matter the most IMO. The best thing to do with the wedges is to try and get even gaps in loft, but you may find you want to make a change due to personal preference and the types of shots you like to hit. You tend to vary your setup the most with the short clubs so don't fret if they aren't as much of a matching set as long as they perform.

[saevel25]

I wanted to know if these lofts were good,to close to eachother or to far apart.

Driver 9.5°

3wood 15°

3hybrid 19°

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. P. A.

22° 25° 28° 32° 36° 40° 45° 50° irons

54°sand wedge

58°lob wedge

Any feedback would be most appreciated.

Thanks

Short irons 4 degrees is common, but 5 can work

Mid irons you want 4 degrees

Long irons 3 - 4 degrees is common

As for hybrids, woods, and driver. That is what ever you think fits. My dad has a ton of hybrids and woods because he hits them a lot. I have a 3-wood and a hybrid, the rest are irons. Like wedges, depends on how you feel what works for you best. I hardly hit anything higher than my irons, so I rather have more wedge options.

[Spitfisher]

Short irons 4 degrees is common, but 5 can work

Mid irons you want 4 degrees

Long irons 3 - 4 degrees is common

As for hybrids, woods, and driver. That is what ever you think fits. My dad has a ton of hybrids and woods because he hits them a lot. I have a 3-wood and a hybrid, the rest are irons. Like wedges, depends on how you feel what works for you best. I hardly hit anything higher than my irons, so I rather have more wedge options.

real short irons can be 6 degrees, 58* and 52* or 60* and 54*. You can certainly develop a 3/4 swing or choke down on any of the wedges to fill in a yardage, need or shot shape.

[saevel25]

real short irons can be 6 degrees, 58* and 52* or 60* and 54*. You can certainly develop a 3/4 swing or choke down on any of the wedges to fill in a yardage, need or shot shape.

Good to know. I've had a 6 degree gap in my wedges before. That was only because I didn't find reason to have a 56 and a 60. That is the only place I would put a 6 degree difference.

[Spitfisher]

Good to know. I've had a 6 degree gap in my wedges before. That was only because I didn't find reason to have a 56 and a 60. That is the only place I would put a 6 degree difference.

Correct, when you think about it 6 degrees in the shorter clubs- wedges makes sense. You might hit your 54 degree 100 yards and your 58  80 yards, so each degree of loft maybe only 3 yards. These wedges are not yardage clubs perse, instead it more about shot creativity. Better golfers develop a feel. If you have an 85 yard shot to make, maybe you step on your 58 degree, or maybe you choke down an inch and take a 3/4 or slightly looser swing.

Conversely look at your yardage of your 7 iron difference from your 6 iron, just about every set make up is based on 4 degrees for these irons and yet why you may choose one club over the other maybe a difference of 12-15 yards, again only a difference of 3.X yards. I am not insinuating that you can't gun a 6 iron more than 20+ yards further than your 7iron but for most of us each degree represents about 9-12 FEET.

If you want to develop feel and understanding what your swing and clubs can do for you, play your home course and remove the odd numbered irons ( 3,4,5,7,9 and gap wedge) out of your bag, you'll soon realize that you are thinking about each shot and paying close attention to rhythm, tempo, grip strength etc. Don't be surprised if you shoot the same or better score.

I see aspiring mid handicap ( 15-20Hcp)  golfers all the time have X yards from the hole and they grab there Y club- they base there entire decision on how many yards, rather than where would I prefer to putt from?, or where do I want to miss?, is the ball going to check or roll, is the green tilted back to front? what if used more club and swung easier? is my lie flat? slight up hill can add 2-3 degrees of loft, leaving your shot 24-30 feet short of what you thought you would hit- 24-30 feet can turn into a 3 putt for some.  If you want to get better and shoot lower scores these are the questions and actions that need to be considered.

[SamGray]

You should focus on your yardage gaps, not your lofts per se.

Traditional club gapping guidelines for the average golfer: 4* loft and 1/2" difference in shaft length between numbered irons translates into 10 to 12 yards difference between clubs.

The last few cycles this has changed as lower lofted clubs have only 3* loft differences (mikeparker's 4i = 22* / 5i = 25*). Many OEMs, including TaylorMade, Ping and Callaway, have begun making the shaft increments longer than 1/2" when loft differences get to 3* or less.

For the 3* loft gaps, shaft length increments increase to up to 3/4". This keeps the yardage gaps even.

Also, I'm getting bits and pieces on the newer wedges from clubfitters. The super-low COG means that the ball stays on the high-lofted wedge clubface a very short period of time. According to the fitters, many players find that a 3/4 swing doesn't go much longer than a half swing - only higher. Many players find this "pop up" starts in their SW, or maybe even GW. In some wedge sets, you only have 1/8" difference wedge to wedge in shaft length.

Tom Wishon has actually come up with a Micro-Groove HM wedge with a slightly higher COG, to prevent ballooning of a ball hit off of fluffy grass. http://wishongolf.com/designs/wedges/micro-groove-hm/

I am with WU on this and I believe that gaps are best measured through yardage rather than loft. For example:

Steve Jones hits the ball very high and plays very firm courses which makes something like a 3 or 2 iron go far enough past his 4 iron to justify its place in the bag.

Joe over there plays soft courses and hits the ball much lower than Steve so he would have a very tiny gap between a 3 and 4 iron because he cant carry a 3 iron very much further (or sometimes not as far) as his 4 iron.

Hope this helps!

[saevel25]

That is true, but unless you want to keep bending your clubs, the standard loft gap and club lengths get it pretty close.

[SamGray]

Agreed.