Technology does change the game

[Bucki1968]

I was watching the Pebble Beach Pro Am on Sunday. I'm watching Dustin Johnson hit a 7 iron on #17. I played Pebble Beach about 10 years ago and hit a four iron on that hole (about 200 yards, virtually no wind). Now I'm not any where near Dustin Johnson's ability...but I'm a pretty good player (I would like to think). I hit it the ball further now than I did 10 years ago, but a 7 IRON? Are you kidding me?

[Jeremie Boop]

  On 2/15/2017 at 1:36 PM, Bucki1968 said:

I was watching the Pebble Beach Pro Am on Sunday. I'm watching Dustin Johnson hit a 7 iron on #17. I played Pebble Beach about 10 years ago and hit a four iron on that hole (about 200 yards, virtually no wind). Now I'm not any where near Dustin Johnson's ability...but I'm a pretty good player (I would like to think). I hit it the ball further now than I did 10 years ago, but a 7 IRON? Are you kidding me?

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Dustin hits the ball a long way. He easily hits it a club or two longer than even many other Pros. When I'm playing well, I'll hit a 6 iron 190/195 so it's easy for me to accept him hitting a 7 iron 200.

[iacas]

  On 2/15/2017 at 1:36 PM, Bucki1968 said:

I was watching the Pebble Beach Pro Am on Sunday. I'm watching Dustin Johnson hit a 7 iron on #17. I played Pebble Beach about 10 years ago and hit a four iron on that hole (about 200 yards, virtually no wind). Now I'm not any where near Dustin Johnson's ability...but I'm a pretty good player (I would like to think). I hit it the ball further now than I did 10 years ago, but a 7 IRON? Are you kidding me?

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Dustin Johnson would hit less club than you in any era.

I'm not sure what this has to do with technology.

As for the number on the bottom of a club, it's just a number.

[nevets88]

It also helps to be stupid talented, 6'4", limber as a yogi master and zillion hours of practice. 

[DaveP043]

  On 2/15/2017 at 1:40 PM, Jeremie Boop said:

Dustin hits the ball a long way. He easily hits it a club or two longer than even many other Pros. When I'm playing well, I'll hit a 6 iron 190/195 so it's easy for me to accept him hitting a 7 iron 200.

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I've seen your swing, and don't doubt your distance, but the clubhead, shaft, and ball technology has probably added 20 yards or more since the time I started playing golf in the 70's.  If you go back to some of the old Shell's World of Golf episodes, you'll see big-hitting pros of the time hitting 7-iron from 150 yards.  I'd also bet that better understanding of the golf swing through high-speed video has also added to the distance the pros hit it, along with substantially improved physical conditioning.

[nevets88]

And a couple of extra yards from rubbing elbows with The Great One. 

[SG11118]

  On 2/15/2017 at 2:29 PM, DaveP043 said:

I've seen your swing, and don't doubt your distance, but the clubhead, shaft, and ball technology has probably added 20 yards or more since the time I started playing golf in the 70's.  If you go back to some of the old Shell's World of Golf episodes, you'll see big-hitting pros of the time hitting 7-iron from 150 yards.  I'd also bet that better understanding of the golf swing through high-speed video has also added to the distance the pros hit it, along with substantially improved physical conditioning.

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A 7 iron in the 70s probably has the same loft on it as an 8 often does now (or 9 on some brands).  I'm sure the technology has improved distances 5-10%, but it doesn't seem accurate to give it 100% credit for going from 150 to 200.

[iacas]

  On 2/15/2017 at 3:14 PM, SG11118 said:

A 7 iron in the 70s probably has the same loft on it as an 8 often does now (or 9 on some brands).  I'm sure the technology has improved distances 5-10%, but it doesn't seem accurate to give it 100% credit for going from 150 to 200.

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Agreed. Dustin swings a lot faster than some of those guys. Nicklaus didn't play a 7-iron from 150. Tiger didn't in 1997.

And Tiger's blades are historically weak lofted.

[DaveP043]

  On 2/15/2017 at 3:14 PM, SG11118 said:

A 7 iron in the 70s probably has the same loft on it as an 8 often does now (or 9 on some brands).  I'm sure the technology has improved distances 5-10%, but it doesn't seem accurate to give it 100% credit for going from 150 to 200.

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That's why I also mentioned better understanding of golf swing mechanics, and improved physical conditioning.  I don't know how to allocate the distance increase to each of the different factors, but technology has provided a significant portion, in my opinion. 

I'm not a club mechanic expert, but I understand that the shaft and clubhead design produce higher ball flights than the decreased loft might otherwise indicate.  These guys aren't hitting a 7 iron on an old 5-iron trajectory, if anything they're hitting it even higher than a 7-iron at the time.

[RH31]

The clubs, balls, course conditions (generally speaking) make the game much easier to play than it used to be.

I can't imagine how bad I'd be if I played the clubs I started with in the '80's. Probably at least 6 shots worse.

[Lihu]

I got this quote from here regarding Jack Nicklaus's distances for comparison to Dustin.

 

  Quote

From Golf My Way p. 31

Driver: 250 yards and up
3-wood: 235 yards and up
1-iron: 215-235 yards
2-iron: 205-220 yards
3-iron: 195-210 yards
4-iron:185-200 yards
5-iron: 170-185 yards
6- iron: 155-170 yards
7-iron: 140-155 yards
8-iron:130-145 yards
9-iron:105-135 yards
Pitching wedge: 80-130 yards
Sand wedge: Up to 100 yards

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Although, I think the older 7i are more like a modern 9i?

Referenced from here.

Dustin is one heck of an athlete. I think I'll go with @nevets88's explanation in this post. Kind of like Occam's razor.

 

[Jeremie Boop]

  On 2/15/2017 at 2:29 PM, DaveP043 said:

I've seen your swing, and don't doubt your distance, but the clubhead, shaft, and ball technology has probably added 20 yards or more since the time I started playing golf in the 70's.  If you go back to some of the old Shell's World of Golf episodes, you'll see big-hitting pros of the time hitting 7-iron from 150 yards.  I'd also bet that better understanding of the golf swing through high-speed video has also added to the distance the pros hit it, along with substantially improved physical conditioning.

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Oh, that's definitely true. I've used clubs from 1978 and they are easily a club length+  shorter in distance when I used them. That said, OP mentioned 10 years ago and the Mizuno's I'm using *T-Zoid Pro* are from ~1999 and there isn't much distance difference on well struck shots between them and my Ping I irons. The biggest difference, I think, is the ball technology being used these days. I'm pretty sure if you give these guys a 1970's era ball with their modern club they are going to see some pretty significant distance loss. Much more than if you give them a 1970's era club and modern ball. I could be way off on that though, so I readily admit I may not know what I'm talking about

 

[DaveP043]

  On 2/15/2017 at 3:48 PM, Jeremie Boop said:

Oh, that's definitely true. I've used clubs from 1978 and they are easily a club length+  shorter in distance when I used them. That said, OP mentioned 10 years ago and the Mizuno's I'm using *T-Zoid Pro* are from ~1999 and there isn't much distance difference on well struck shots between them and my Ping I irons. 

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OK, I admit I read right past that "10 years" part, and proceeded with my own agenda.  In this case, I'd guess that the difference between the OP's 4 and Dustin's 7 is simply the difference between the OP and Dustin.  Dustin is a freak of nature.

[Wally Fairway]

Here is an clip from the '72 US Open at Pebble - and it shows Jack playing 17, on a very windy day, hitting 1-iron
Some of you may have heard about this shot.

There ongoing equipment argument, and this thread discussing club - but year vs. year (or more like decade vs. decade) it is about ball, shaft, and club.
But certainly, as one can see in the opening shot on the video - Jack was no slouch when it came to taking a rip at it.

 

 

And to also support nevets point about being limber - I've always heard that Sam Snead was the most limber player on tour.

 

[klineka]

I think technology has only played a minor impact in the game specifically regarding distances. One video that I remember with Peter Finch and Rick Shiels, they chose old drivers and still him them 275+ yards. I think newer designs certainly offer more forgiveness than older models and probably are easier for high handicappers to hit, but in terms of distance, I think this demonstrates that it is more about the person swinging the club than it is the actual club.

 

 

[JxQx]

I'm sure the equipment helped some but the majority of it, as others have stated, is his build, athleticism, and tons of practice.

[Bryan Kasper]

 

  On 2/15/2017 at 1:36 PM, Bucki1968 said:

I was watching the Pebble Beach Pro Am on Sunday. I'm watching Dustin Johnson hit a 7 iron on #17. I played Pebble Beach about 10 years ago and hit a four iron on that hole (about 200 yards, virtually no wind). Now I'm not any where near Dustin Johnson's ability...but I'm a pretty good player (I would like to think). I hit it the ball further now than I did 10 years ago, but a 7 IRON? Are you kidding me?

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i don know that i would chalk that up to technology...its an iron. other than making it easier for the average player to keep distance on off center hits, irons cant really change all that much. i have read  couple of articles(which i am currently trying to revisit) that test older model irons vs. newer model irons that show that when struck in the center of the clubface (which all tour players do about 90% of the time) there is no difference in distance. workability might be a little difference story. Im not so sure how you would test that. but the restrictions on head weighting for irons hasnt changed, so Cog meeting COG will carry similar results.

[nevets88]

Plus deeper pool of athletes, better understanding of body to maximize time in gym.

But really, there's one thing that started all this: $

Well, two, Tiger Woods and $