Irons: more distance more dispersion?

[arturo28mx]

Specifically talking about irons, for many years now golf club companies have released one model after the other, claiming all kinds of technological breakthroughs that will deliver more distance. In my experience, sometimes there are some small distance gains, sometimes there are none. However, also in my experience, the irons that deliver more distance are also less accurate, meaning more dispersion.

I'd like to know if other people feel the same way. Are we sacrificing one thing for the other?

[Dave2512]

If the added distance comes from relabeling a 2 iron to a 4 iron and the rest of the set follows then yeah sure. As my irons get longer and less lofted my accuracy suffers. The further I hit it the more off line it can get. For example my Game Golf stats are horrific from 175-200 not just directional issues but short, 36% miss short 36% miss right.

[saevel25]

2 hours ago, arturo28mx said:

However, also in my experience, the irons that deliver more distance are also less accurate, meaning more dispersion.

1. You still have to create set that ranges from wedges to woods / hybrids. With that in mind irons have not gained distance in the short to mid irons because you have to fill those gaps. The lettering and numbering has changed, but that is not relevant. 

2. What has changed is the long irons. They are more forgiving in terms of not losing ball speed. They also launch higher with less spin. That is not really relevant in the long irons because most people with slower swing speeds couldn't get enough spin anyways to hold greens. So the higher launch and softer landing helps out more. That is why hybrids are very popular among slower swing speeds. 

3. I do think now that certain models do not fit higher swing speeds because they are making the CG's too low and the spin rates too low. The way irons are going now the more important it is to get fit with the whole set. 

As for your comment I quoted.. I think some irons can get hot spots developed on the clubface. Some reviews online have shown the random ball that just gets high launch, low spin, and goes 15 yards farther than a normal average shot. That is the downfall of high launch and low spin on irons, you are manufacturing a flier shot.  

 I think there is something to widening the sweet spot can make it tougher to achieve a tighter dispersion if you are a better player. Just that there is one CG location and you want the ball to hit that spot with precision. I'm not sure if the hotter clubfaces can dull that or make it tougher to hone in on that spot. 

[Pretzel]

3 hours ago, arturo28mx said:

However, also in my experience, the irons that deliver more distance are also less accurate, meaning more dispersion.

They are likely equally accurate in terms of degrees of accuracy, but that translates into them appearing to be worse off for accuracy once they land.

If you hit a ball 3 degrees offline, and it travels 200 yards in a straight line, your shot will end up ~10.5 yards offline (distance offline = sin(degrees offline) * distance traveled). If you hit another ball 3 degrees offline but instead hit it 180 yards, your shot would end up only ~9.5 yards offline.

That said, @saevel25 makes a good point about many of the GI/SGI clubs having the ability to send some shots much further than others on occasion if hit just right, at least if reviews of those clubs are anything to go by. He is also correct is saying most of the changes have come in the long irons, in order to try and help the average weekend golfer feel confident in hitting their ability to more consistently hit long irons. A long iron that is easier to hit (which is the same design that will make them go further) will most definitely be more accurate than a blade that the person may struggle to hit at all.

It's really a matter of what the manufacturers decide to market. Some of them will tout the forgiveness and ease of playing their irons (I know PING tends to lean this way most of the time), while others like to puff out their chests and talk about how their clubs will go further than any other (looking at you, Taylormade). The design changes created by both companies are the same, creating a higher launching and lower spinning long iron, but it's a matter of how they market the effects of the change. The higher launching and lower spinning design will both go further and be easier to hit/get off the ground, but companies will emphasize one trait over the other and in many cases they choose to talk about the distance.

[Mike Boatright]

It's really about the shaft that's what it all comes down to. You can make or buy some cheap game improvement clubs for more distance. In fact you could take a tm head from 2000 get a light graphite shaft with the right flex and get more distance if you design it that way. Companies are trying to help low speed players they are maximizing spring effect on miss hit's and optimizing shafts for higher launch low spin with more carry. This is to help you get it pin high. If your hitting your standard steel shafted 7 iron 144 yards and kinda low then an m2 iron or equivalent could work wonders for your game. There really is no point in caring about 10 yards dispersion when your coming up short 15 yards 7 times out of 10. If you fall somewhere in between then a ping g series iron with a stiffer shaft could work great! The head itself will get you airborne easier and the right shaft can minimize dispersion enough for you to game it. If accuracy is your mantra and you still lack distance there is always the SL option in steel x flex with a tour head of some sort. You won't get the same forgiveness but could see a +8 yards in carry distance with minimal dispersion. You don't see many tour pro's using blades because they have wised up and realized that forgiveness helps everybody. They usually play dg x-400 to tighten that dispersion with their high swing speed.

Edited April 10, 2016 by Mike Boatright

[WUTiger]

8 hours ago, saevel25 said:

3. I do think now that certain models do not fit higher swing speeds because they are making the CG's too low and the spin rates too low. The way irons are going now the more important it is to get fit with the whole set. 

As for your comment I quoted.. I think some irons can get hot spots developed on the clubface. Some reviews online have shown the random ball that just gets high launch, low spin, and goes 15 yards farther than a normal average shot. That is the downfall of high launch and low spin on irons, you are manufacturing a flier shot.

Hot spots on iron faces - maybe +10 yards if you hit a certain place on the face, was a problem in early distance irons - how far does your 6i actually go? Taylormade tried to resolve this in the RocketBlades irons. A 2012 Golf Digest article Hot Spots discusses the topic.

Basically, deciding whether to play SGI, GI, or Player's irons involves trade-offs.

SGI irons have offer forgiveness. But, in exchange for getting a half-way decent shot near the green, you get a fair amount of distance dispersion, up to 10 yards per shot.

For Player's clubs - if you are a superior ball-striker - you can get plus-or-minus 3 yards on a shot off the sweet spot.

For the GI iron, split the difference.

Basically, a Player's club rewards a golfer's excellent shots with more chances for birdies (shorter putts!). An SGI club gets you near the green but does not really reward excellent shots - it just forgives your so-so shots. (But, it can't cure a really bad shot.)

[JetFan1983]

I remember reading somewhere that with Iron Byron, a game improvement six-iron hit dead center created a dispersion of 8 feet wide and 16 feet long over the course of several identical swings. Dead center hits with a blade gave a dispersion 25% the size. So you're rewarded more for solid shots with a blade. Off center hits though are penalized far more, obviously. 

I could be wrong though, I don't have any data to include. 

[newtogolf]

Most people that opt for distance irons likely have wide variances in their swings and swing speeds so it's difficult to determine if it is the club or the golfer.  If you test the club with Iron Byron and it hits a distance iron with a tight dispersion then it's not likely the club.