Accuracy of stronger irons

[TimS65]

With the ever increasing length of irons along with decreasing lofts, I wonder what the effect is on accuracy. With new clubs such as Callaway's XR being so long how do they compare? Let me suggest an example:

You have a 150 yard shot to the green. These are the options:

1. 5 iron from a set of 3 year old clubs

2. 6 iron from last year.

3. 7 iron from this year.

Does the 3rd option give any more accuracy than the other 2? Theoretically they could all have the same loft! Again theoretically a 7 iron should be more accurate than a 5 iron...

Just wondered if anybody had had a chance to compare this scenario?

[Lihu]

With the ever increasing length of irons along with decreasing lofts, I wonder what the effect is on accuracy. With new clubs such as Callaway's XR being so long how do they compare? Let me suggest an example:

You have a 150 yard shot to the green. These are the options:

1. 5 iron from a set of 3 year old clubs

2. 6 iron from last year.

3. 7 iron from this year.

Does the 3rd option give any more accuracy than the other 2? Theoretically they could all have the same loft! Again theoretically a 7 iron should be more accurate than a 5 iron...

Just wondered if anybody had had a chance to compare this scenario?

Front placement level ground: 9i with the MP-32 and a loft of 46 degrees.

Back placement slightly uphill or an island green: 8i with the MP-32 and a loft of 42 degrees.

Just did this today on a couple "tree" shots.

I don't think the new clubs are any less accurate, in fact I think they are more accurate. I have a few playing partners who have this "right triangle shaped" flight. The ball goes out to the green with a nice straight trajectory and spin, then kind of hovers over the green and drops. Kind of a cool flight.

Contrast that with my ball flight where the balls I hit have lower trajectories and a semi parabolic flight. Even my best shot with the 7i was a nice high (very high), but still kind of a parabolic flight. It landed at a perceptible angle, then bounced just a little with almost no roll not too far from the green. A dull and uninteresting flight.

[WUTiger]

First of all, I doubt if a 7i from today will be the equivalent of a 5i from three years ago - unless the company uber-jacks the 7i loft and shaft length. (Sorry, but +13 yards gain every year from new clubs only happens in golf advertising).

One thing to consider: what is the ideal shaft length / lie angle for you?

If you go with 5i that's 1/2" longer than your old one, will you continue to get contact near the center of the clubface? If you put on the decal tape on the new, + 1/2" 5i, and your contact is all over the clubface, the new club will be less accurate because it's too long for you.

So, it's not just the clubface - it's whether you can handle the longer shaft.

Also, degree of accuracy depends on whether you're hitting a Player's, GI or SGI iron. A solid ballstriker will get much less distance dispersion with a Player's iron than a GI, or certainly an SGI iron. But, a Player's iron also gives you less of a margin of error for off-center shots.

So, the {class of iron + who's hitting it} makes the analysis much more complex than 1, 2, 3.

[cooke119]

I found that the new Callaway XR 6i is 30*, my old Ping G15 5i was 30*. However I'm told that the newer clubs gives you a higher launch so they can increase the loft but you'll get something like the same distance, just that the newer club will land softer and roll less. Don't know if any of this is true, just what I was told

But I did check the loft on the manufactures web sights and lofts are accurate, Ball flight is another story. We'll see.

[Lihu]

I found that the new Callaway XR 6i is 30*, my old Ping G15 5i was 30*. However I'm told that the newer clubs gives you a higher launch so they can decrease the loft but you'll get something like the same distance, just that the newer club will land softer and roll less. Don't know if any of this is true, just what I was told But I did check the loft on the manufactures web sights and lofts are accurate, Ball flight is another story. We'll see.

Newer clubs are really more forgiving. They allow mediocre strikes to perform pretty well. The technology has probably not changed all that much in the last 3 years, but in general newer clubs are probably more accurate and not less so.