Irons vs fairway woods comparison

[Joe85]

I'm struggling to see exactly where my fairway woods fit with my irons.  I've got a 15 degree Ping G20 3 wood, an 18 degree Cleveland 5 wood, and then two more woods, I'm not sure what brand but quite old - a 22 degree one marked 5 and a 26 degree one marked 7.   The longest iron I'm using at the moment is my 5 iron.  Is the 26 degree wood a club up from the 5 iron, or is it essentially a duplicate?  Would it make more sense to go from the 5 iron to the 22 degree "5" wood, then the 18 degree then the 15 degree.  

[Missouri Swede]

To start, what are your yardages with the clubs? Even if the lofts are the same (or close) you might get different yardages from the clubs.

[allenc]

Your milage may vary but a 26* fairway wood would be in the ballpark of a 5 iron.

[Joe85]

Thanks. The difficulty just now is that I am not yet consistent enough to know true yardages for each club.

[shanksalot]

Your 5 iron should be a bit shorter in overall length. So the 7 wood probably should be 3-5 yards longer. Which club do you hit most consistent. I would take out the 5 iron and see if you need it during your next 3-4 rounds. If you feel you do then take out the 7 wood and do the same trial with that club. 

 You say you are inconsistent right now, but are you more consistent with the irons or the woods? I guess the best question would be which are you less consistent with, the irons of the woods. 

[Joe85]

The inconsistency comes from tension/unrelated arms/trying to hit the ball hard, whatever you want to call it.  Sometimes I hit the 5 iron nice and straight and a good (enough) distance, and I can do the same with the woods too, off the tee or the grass.  And if I'm not swinging nicely I can hit any of them fat, thin or with a slice.  That's where the inconsistency is.  The only thing I have noticed is that I rarely hit the 26* 7 wood badly.  Maybe I have lower expectations of it so I'm not trying to spank the ball, and thereby hit it better?

[WUTiger]

Old rule of thumb was that a 5W replaced a 2i, and a 7W replaced a 3i.

Shaft length also comes into play when you do comparisons.

For example, stock shaft length for the 15* G20 3W is 43";  many 5 irons come in at 38" in shaft length. Shaft length contributes to distance, as does loft.

As @Missouri Swede and @shanksalot suggested, do a side-by-side with these clubs and see what the average yardage distances are.

Also, see if the older 5W and 7W might be early hybrids.

[shanksalot]

Joe85 one reason you may hit the wood better is it has a flatter sole and a more blunt leading edge won't dig into the ground as often. An iron on the other hand can be hit fat and has a sharper leading edge and a smaller sole. 

[Joe85]

Thanks for all the suggestions.