Irons - Standard Distance versus Maximum Distance

[SCC4380]

Terry Koehler, CEO of the new Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company, said in an interview that one of the reasons that golfers aren't better iron players is that they try to hit their irons too hard. He notes that Ben Hogan had 25 yards between his standard shot and the maximum distance that he would play his irons. How many yards are there between your standard distance and your maximum distance? Do you think Koehler is right?

(Here is a link to the interview http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/golf-smarter/e/475-ben-hogan-golf-clubs-are-back-with-ceo-terry-koehler-36928570)

[mdl]

I answered 0-4 because of the key word reliable in the question.  I hit my irons as hard as I feel I can hit them reliably.  I can add probably something like 10 yards to my irons but that's mostly by delofting and trying to hit a low hard draw, which is not a reliable play for me.  Of course I can unreliably gain distance by hitting it absolutely perfectly, but that's not "swinging harder".

Your point stands in that I think it's possible that if I cut 20 yards off my irons I might be able to increase my accuracy.  Though I'm also convinced by the point made around here that the problem with accuracy is from a bad swing, and if you swing slower you're just making a slower bad swing and won't improve accuracy.  I like to think that I'm a good enough athlete that if I swung super slowly and short I could make day to day and hole to hole compensations and improve my average accuracy at least a bit, but I'm not sure about that.  Assuming of course by slow swing we're not talking about teeing off with a 80 yard pitch shot with a 3i, etc.  In which case I'm confident I could improve my accuracy a ton while scoring horribly.

[Dave2512]

About 20 yards for me. Problem is the quality strike that produces maximum yardage doesn't come often. Really depends on the length of the club too. As they get longer the best to worst dispersion gets worse. I use Game Golf and can see the majority of my mishits land short of the intended target. As I get more rounds posted I can see I am about 10 yards per club shorter than I previously thought. That's irons my driving is worse than abysmal.

I'd be a much better player if I could tighten that up. I don't have maximum in my sights but if I could put a few of the mishits on the other side of my current averages I could shave strokes.

[Golfingdad]

Big difference for me only due to inconsistent strikes ... but I swing hard.  The difference between my normal swing 7 iron struck well and my max distance 7 iron struck well is probably 0-4 yards.

I could probably do well to swing "easier," especially with the shorter irons.

[saevel25]

I voted 10-14 because I tend to club up one more and hit easier for control.

[Fourputt]

Since I never try to overswing my irons, I chose 0-4.  There is a reason for having those 10 yard (or so) gaps between irons.  I'm not good enough to accurately modify my swing to compensate for a 5 yard tweener, so I just choose the club that should put me in the best place and try to swing normally.

[PooN]

I can make my 7 iron go from 140-170 with swing tempo, backswing length, or ball/hand position to create different ball flight.  That said, I would say between a regular 85% swing and a hard 100% swing I will get 5-9 yards more.  I tend to mis-hit the hard swing more often than not and push it right or slice it (or top it) so I would usually just club up and 3/4 swing or choke down on grip on the less lofted club.

[oregongolfguy]

I voted 5-9 yds.  It rarely comes into play for me though.  I can get a little extra when needed at times.  But not that much....Usually I get a shot that goes longer then normal when I just make a really good pass at the ball....or if I pull hook it.

[Spitfisher]

I went 15-19, actually I thought about longer. I swing with an even tempo, maybe at 80% speed.I can fire my 7 iron very acuarately in the 155 range, if I step on it I can get to 175-180 occasionally if the risk reward is in my favor, I'll do just that.

[SavvySwede]

My irons yardages aren't very linear in this respect. I can only squeeze out an extra 10 yards from my wedges and my 5, 4, and 3 irons, but with the 9-6 irons I can just give them a more aggressive swing for some reason and get an extra 15-20 yards. Makes it so I very rarely hit the 5 iron, always seem t prefer the hard 6 unless I'm playing a par 3.

[rkim291968]

Voted 10 - 14.   If I hit solid without flipping, I flight the ball longer with better roll out.   If I flip, the ball goes higher with smaller roll out.  The difference comes to at least 10 yards.

[newtogolf]

10-14, my problem isn't directional it's hitting it thin.  If I try to swing the club harder I usually hit it thin which lowers the trajectory and increases distance by 10+ yards.

[billchao]

My standard shot is my maximum yardage, but reliable shot. I'll choke down or make shorter backswing to hit shorter, but my downswing only has one gear. I've hit the occasional long one that surprises me, but that's not really the question being asked.

[rkim291968]

I've hit the occasional long one that surprises me, but that's not really the question being asked.

But I will answer it any way .   In the strange world of  bogey golfer ball flight, there is an invisible upward air pocket that sometimes we hit into.  That's why my PW sometimes ends up 40 yards more than its average distance.    The 1st time this happened, I thought, wow!  with a bit of work, I can consistently hit 40 yards more.   To my utter dismay, all I did was hit the said air pocket.   Scratch golfers have swing speed that can shoot trough these pockets and may only see a few yards gain.   That's why they don't notice it.

BTW, the only guy who voted (so far) for 35 - 39 yards has been hitting the said pockets more than any of us.  Lucky him.

There are invisible putting line obstacles that move your ball every which way but into the hole.   You all seen it.   A ball stops 1/10th inch short of the hole.  Why?  B/c a tiny pebble you never noticed before decided to raise its head just enough to slow down your putt.    Easy for Kucher to say "you want to put it in the hole."

[dfreuter415]

I'd say 10-14.

I prefer a high trajectory with my irons, so to have less roll when it hits the green. When I need the extra distance, I place the ball slightly back in my stance, so to deloft the club and create a lower, more boring ball flight.

[Strandly]

Since I never try to overswing my irons, I chose 0-4.  There is a reason for having those 10 yard (or so) gaps between irons.  I'm not good enough to accurately modify my swing to compensate for a 5 yard tweener, so I just choose the club that should put me in the best place and try to swing normally.

Same here.

[dbuck]

I voted 5-9, but probably should have voted 0-4. A good, smooth, full swing is pretty close to the max that I can reasonably control. A  comfortable,decently struck 7 iron is around 145-150 for me; I can't hit a 7 iron 160 with any consistency, probably not at all. On the other hand I have no trouble taking 10-15 yards off a club by choking down, 3/4 length swing, etc.

[Pretzel]

I hit most of my irons near the maximum distance I am comfortable hitting them at, just because there's no reason for me not to if I'm still comfortable hitting them that far. As such I voted 5-9 yards difference. For example, my club that I hit 160 yards on a "standard" swing is one that I can hit up to about 170 (but never would use for 175 without some serious wind, so I pretended in the vote that it's only 9 yards) if the situation calls for it such as when there are fast greens that I need to loft it up higher than if I took a club more. If I really didn't care where it was going I could probably get it to go near 175 or 180, but at that point it's useless to me because I'm overswinging so hard that it's uncontrollable and hurts to do too many times in a row.

The nice part about having a little bit of "wiggle room" is that, as the day goes by, you don't experience too much distance fatigue throughout the round. I loosen up further throughout the round at about the same rate as I get tired, meaning that my backswing gets slightly longer throughout the day and it compensates for me being slightly more fatigued almost exactly evenly.