HighlandLaird

Utter tripe. In your conceit, you obviously think you know more about clubs than Tom Wishon, but the informed amongst us know that you do not.. Here are the FACTS:- My irons are Wilson Staff Dynapower 1973 and the PW has a loft of 51 degrees, with the 7 iron at 39 degrees. Current Adams New Idea 7 iron = 32 degrees. Cobra Baffler XL 7 iron = 30.5 degrees. Cleveland 588 Altitude 7 iron = 31 degrees. Progen Haema 7 iron = 31 degrees. TaylorMade RocketBladez Max 7 iron = 30 degrees. Wilson D-100 7 iron = 31 degrees Yonex VXF 7 iron = 31 degrees. Nike VRS Covert 2.0 7 iron = 31 degrees. ALL these are around 7.5 to 8.5 degrees "stronger" than 1970s irons. I quote the manufacturers' own figures. It is not surprising then that "distance" with a numbered iron depends entirely upon the loft, not the particular number ascribed to it. Your own 7 iron will have a loft of 36 degrees, and you would certainly hit the above quoted clubs further. In short, sir, your rude dismissal of what I wrote is arrogant and misinformed. You should be a little less sneering and a little more informed. But then, you claim to know more about clubs than THE American and indeed world expert, Tom Wishon, don't you?

Hear, hear, sir.

And how much better would you play with a 12 gauge shotgun cartridge behind the face of your driver like that guy in "Caddyshack"? This stuff about making golf easier is ridiculous-----if there is no challenge, the game becomes nonsense. Clubs have been allowed to stray too far from the original rules definitions, what with "belly putters", "chin putters" and so on. I'm not suggesting a return to hickory shafts, but I do feel recent equipment changes have made the game easier for hackers------persimmon woods had to be hit properly, so talented players had an advantage, but today even a beginner can hit some of the 460 cc titanium drivers well.

This is a nonsense question. It depends entirely on the loft your clubs have. See Tom Wishon's excellent book "The Search For The Perfect Golf Club", in which he points out the "vanishing loft disease" of recent years. Irons have typically lost eight degrees each over the last thirty years, so today's pitching wedge is yesterday's 8 iron and so on. It is the reason gap wedges and hybrids are necessary, (as current one or two irons would have insufficient loft to get the ball airborne), thus increasing the manufacturers' sales. It is all a matter of manufacturers' salesmanship-------they claim their clubs go further than their rivals' products, so each manufacturer goes along with this cynical exercise in selling to the greatest mugs on earth-----golfers!

I see you play at Wollaton Park GC----it is really superb, but I haven't played there in years (early 1960s!)----do you still have the deer herd?

Yes, and a one iron as well. As Tom Wishon has pointed out in his superb book "The New Search For The Perfect Golf Club", iron lofts have been reduced over the years, so that a three iron today has almost the same loft as a one iron of the 1960s to 70s, in an effort to sell more clubs to the gullible on the supposition that the particular manufacturer's irons are longer than those of others !! There are none as gullible as golfers!!!!

Tom Wishon calls this the "vanishing loft disease". Club manufacturers have for some time been reducing the loft of their irons so punters can hit them further, thus making the 1,2, and 3 irons redundant and necessitating the use of gap wedges. AS he sagely points out, this does nobody any good, but all manufacturers have fallen into line, because a it is not a very good sales pitch to say "buy our irons, they go less far than our competitors' clubs"!!!! I use an old seat of forged blade irons, with lofts standard in the 70s and have no difficulty in hitting the 1 and 2 irons. Wishon has written a superb book, which should be standard reading for all golfers "The New Search For The Perfect Golf Club", and in which he quotes iron lofts thus:- Club 1960s-70s 2010+ 1 17degrees N/A 2 20 " N/A 3 24 " 19-21 degrees 4 28 " 22-24 " 5 32 " 24-27 " 6 36 " 27-31 " 7 40 " 31-35 " 8 44 " 35-40 " 9 48 " 40-44 " PW 52 " 44-48 " GapW N/A 48-52 " SW 56 " 54-56 " So, when you hear that some pro hit his 7 iron 200 yards, he actually hit his 31 degree iron 200 yards, in old money a 5 iron!!! No wonder folk imagine the current pros are longer than their predecessors ! I bet none of them could hit the ball as far as Leopoldo Ruiz or George Bayer or Sam Snead hit it in the past.

Hi----this is a problem I also have suffered from. I found that for me it was caused by one of two things, or sometimes both!! Standing too near the ball causes me to hit "fat" shots, especially with the longer irons, but the other cause is "collapsing" at impact, by which I mean not hitting against a firm left side----I cure this by raising my left shoulder at address, so there is more of a shoulder tilt, and then straightening my left knee forcibly on the downswing., so hitting against a straight left leg. As for standing too near the ball at address, if you drop the club butt onto your left leg, it should touch just above your knee----another test is to release your right hand after taking up your address position, and allowing your arm to move backwards, away from the ball. If you are the correct distance from the ball, your hand should go straight back from the grip----if it deviates away from you, you are too near the ball and vice versa. Try one, or preferably both, and I think you will find your problem disappears magically! I hope so. Good luck...!

Thank you! I think I need to use the ladies' tees----I'm going to see if they drum me out of the club for using them!

I am 72 and have played golf since I was 13. My lowest handicap was plus one, in the days the lowest handicap one could hold was scratch, with current internationalists on plus one and the National (British) Amateur Champion on plus two. My driving and particularly iron distances are rapidly diminishing, with my drives averaging around 220 yards and 5 iron about 150 yards. What distances should be expected at my age do you think, and what steps can I take to counteract my loss of distance? My home course has 11 par 4 holes, and 7 are out of reach in 2 shots nowadays, so I struggle to play to my handicap -----would you join another, shorter course??!!! I've tried whippier shafts, longer clubs, softer balls and nothing seems to help. What would you do, other than stop playing???!!

Nobody needs a professional caddy, and for that matter no-one needs a swing "guru". Lee Trevino, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson never had a swing coach and they weren't bad. Indedd Trevino said he'd listen to a swing guru if he could find one who could beat him-----there were no takers!

Just a small addition------we need to ask not what number is on the club , but what the LOFT is.

Because it is a 5 iron!!! See Tom Wishon's book "The New Search For The Perfect Golf Club" and you'll see that the loft of irons has been steadily reduced by the manufacturers over the last few years, to persuade us all that their clubs are best!!! As a result, we need hybrids at one end of the set, and gap wedges at the other!! It's crazy.....

I bought a Piel tan leather pro bag a couple of years ago. It's heavy, but magificent, and you'll see very few. They are made in Colombia of cow hide and are of superb quality, and sold by a US company. You'll find them via "Google", and although they are expensive,you'll really stand out from the crowd, and they will last forever if looked after.. Tan is the best colour, although they also have them in black.

Thank you very much, mvmac----I watched the video and will try this on the practice ground today.

Thank you, cp.

I prefer regular steel shafts in my irons nowadays, (having previously used stiff for many years, but I'm now 72 !) but whilst I hit them all straight, I have a tendency to hit the long irons "fat" rather too often. Is the cure simply to put stiff shafts in my longer irons, or has anyone a swing-related answer, please?

I prefer regular steel shafts in my irons nowadays, (having previously used stiff for many years, but I'm now 72 !) but whilst I hit them all straight, I have a tendency to hit the long irons "fat" rather too often. Is the cure simply to put stiff shafts in my longer irons, or has anyone a swing-related answer, please?

What on earth is "racist" about fried chicken? You'll have to explain that to this simple Brit. What is special about fried chicken in the US? This seems to me to be nonsense. For my money, it would be a good thing if Woods disappeared from golf----all I ever see him doing is spit, swear and throw clubs, or congratulate himself if he hits a good shot, all rather more reprehensible than referring to one kind of cooked chicken compared with another. The reason I loved watching Snead, Hogan, Nelson, Cotton, Thomson, Locke, Casper, Palmer, Nicklaus, Trevino, Weiskopf, Player, Watson et al is that they were such sportsmen, modest in victory and dignified in defeat, completely unlike Woods.

I'm heartily sick of listening to silly TV commentators who refer to "fairway metals". "Irons" are not made of iron, but of steel, either mild or stainless ( both of which do contain some iron, being alloys), and some have been made of graphite. But we do not talk of Mickelson using a 5 steel. Similarly, IMHO we should refer to fairway 'woods', even though they are no longer made of wood (mind you, I still have an old Ping 4 wood!!). It would be perhaps better to refer to drivers, spoons, baffies etc, in the old terminology, but it is pedantic in the extreme to talk of "fairway metals", and in my opinion, only an ignoramus would use this daft term. This is just my opinion----what do you think?

His "creator" was actually two-----his parents. Gods do not enter into it. Superstition is a terrible thing-----there have been almost as many "gods" as humans over the years. Indeed the multitude of gods over the millennia proves that " god " is man-made, not the reverse.

Despite being British, I favoured Ernst to win the play-off, as he is obviously young and needs the success-----then I heard his "victory speech". Oh, dear!! Like many Americans, he attributed his win to "My Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ"!!! I would have thought He would have more important things than helping Mr. Ernst win a golf tourney------methinks Mr. Ernst needs to reassess things, as it is highly unlikely he is favoured more than the other players on high!! I shall not be rooting for him again.

Just a final word----I've tried most of the suggestions (not Viagra, as that would keep me away from the course, completely) and my distance is definitely improving. Perhaps the most useful thing is having massages, and stretching exercises. I'm also trying to hit the ball much harder----I think I've been tending to "pat" the ball instead of hitting it hard. Many thanks to all you gentlemen---you've been a great help.

Hi, minitour, Yes. Lee Trevino advocated having the mid irons at "standard" lie, and the long irons progressively more upright, whilst he had the short irons progressively flatter. He said the hips move fast with the harder swing on long irons, making a tendency to cut the shot, but slower hip action with the short irons, making a tendency to pull them. I adopted this myself thirty years ago and vastly improved my iron play overnight. Most pros seem to think I'm mad when I have asked them to alter lies in this way, but are quickly converted when they see the amazing benefit.

Hi, deekay, Read Lee Trevino on this subject---I have found what he said to be spot on. He maintains that short irons are made too upright in lie, as there is a natural tendency to pull them, because the hip action is slower when swinging softly, as with these clubs, Conversely, he says that with long irons, the hip action is much faster, so there is a tendency to cut the ball. With this in mind, he had his mid irons (4,5,6) at standard lie (whatever that might mean !), and his long irons progressively more upright, with the 4 one degree upright, the 3 two degrees upright and the 2 iron three degrees upright. At the other end of the set, he had them the other way, with the 7 iron one degree flat, the 8 two degrees flat, the 9 iron three degrees flat and the wedges four degrees flat. He advised Jack Nicklaus to flatten the lies of his wedges as he felt this was the only slightly 'weak' area of his otherwise superb game, and he took Lee's advice.. I have adopted the same method as Trevino, and it has immeasurably improved my iron play. Get your pro to flatten the lie of whichever of your short irons has given most trouble, and I think you'll be delighted to find that swing changes are unnecessary, and you'll be "converted", as I was. If you find that to be the case,you can then have your whole set "doctored". Best wishes.