Distance for irons

[Gapwedge]

My pitching wedge is 48 degrees and I know that when I started with these they were a little bumped from the previous generation of 50 degrees. I remember a guy playing Cobra could hit his pw as far as mine once he switched and I later found out that the pw was 46 degrees. Shocking. Now a pw is 44-45 degrees. Everytime I think of looking at irons, I look to see if anyone has a pw near 48 degrees. It is hard to find. When I do bite the bullet, I know I will have to reconfigure the wedges because that pw will be an 8 iron.

When I get my vintage late 1960's H&B; Power Bilt Scotch Blade irons back from Golfworks from a restoration process I will show you a picture of a 5 iron then and a present day 5 iron. Yes, the lengths have grown as well as de-lofting. Adding a 1/2" will alter your swingweight to a heavier feel by 3 swingweight points as well as changing the lie somewhat, upright as you rightly state.

Your commentary is funny, but the direction golf is heading with longer golf balls knuckle balling out there with virtually no spin, longer shafts, and stronger lofts in the irons, many older courses are becoming obsolete in distance and hazard placement. I grew up with balata balls (balls that you could knock out of round and had to retire it to your shag bag). persimmon head drivers with steel shafts, and muscle back irons. I have been playing for 45 years (turn 55 this week) and I drive the ball further off the tee now than when I was 25.

[TourSpoon]

Your right about golf's direction. I guess it is hard to let go...at least my sand wedge is still a sand wedge.

I still have a couple of Titleist Professionals in my old shag bag. Luckily they aren't smiling, although I have had a few of those in my day. Back then you had to check the ball before you putted to make sure that it was still round, these new balls hold up a lot better.

[mikelz]

While it is true that an overall lighter club weight will produce a slightly faster clubhead speed removing 1/2" does take away 3 swingweight points making a C9 now a C6. If someone is fitted for a certain swingweight and length the only thing to do would be to have the lofts adjusted if they are not what you want. A golfer with a slower swingspeed needs the extra loft to get the ball airborne. Thus the advent of the hybrid. A brillant marketing move. The OEM's de-loft the irons making them harder to get the ball up, thus saying, ok, we have built these hybrids that will help get your ball in the air.

I can't remember the manufacturer but they promoted lightweight clubs in the 80s . They failed. Speed was no problem. Lack of mass was the problem. E=MC^2 or something like that.

[mikelz]

"Standard" driver length used to be 43 1/2" "Modern Standard" increased that by about 1/2" Today's drivers are 45-46" or longer. I grip down two inches on everything now. Yes, the irons are an inch or more longer but Driver length is the new testosterone scale (I guess). Oh, gas_can will probably get me for this since I don't know anything but I'm going out on a limb: Longer shafts would make the club lie flatter if your hands stay in the same place and the sole lies flat.

[Jack_2251]

I personally think that distance in irons is not SUPER important. I know some distance does help, but control, feel and workability are a lot more important for irons. Drivers are for distance, irons for accuracy.

[mustangbryk]

you might want to think about getting rid of those clones. I switched to real clubs like 4 years ago and gained almost 1 full club. I can tell a big difference in the feel of the ball too. I have always hit either PW or 9I from 150 yards so it really doesn't matter i guess about these new clubs being longer.

[rudygu]

Even Ping Eye2s made before 1988 were not as strong lofted as the irons you see today... The 1, 2 and 3 iron lofts have not moved much its more the 4-iron thru the pitching wedge... Some companies have an 8-iron stamped P on the bottom of the club... The Wilson DI7s have a PW with 43 degrees of loft... My Nike Blades which I don't play any more... (I had my lofts weakened) has a 51 degree pitching wedge... which was standard 35 years ago... I still hit that PW 150 if I needed it... I've since went to a set with a 47 degree Pitching Wedge and noticed about a 1 club difference... so I cut down my shafts a 1/2 inch to compansate... Length of shaft has something to do with it as I found out... but still overall lighter club weight will hit the ball farther... I've thought about getting a set of U.S. Kids Golf Irons Just the heads... and put a set of DG x100s in there to see if there was a difference...

Keep in mind that loft is only part of the equation. Most of the iron sets that have lower lofted PW's also have deep, undercut cavities. This moves the center of gravity low and back and will cause the ball to launch higher than the same loft would in a more blade-like iron. Also, it's not uncommon for these irons to be sold stock with higher launching shafts. My current PW is 47* with the DG X-100 shaft and it launches a bit lower than my previous Callaway X-18 PW (46*) with the S-300. This is mostly because of the difference in the size of the cavities and slightly due to the shafts I imagine.

I agree that companies wanting to claim more distance plays a factor in the lower lofts (43* is insane), but it may not always be as severe as it seems.