Nobody Cares What Club You Hit

Testing traditional, modern and strong lofted irons – is it time to stop worrying about what number is on the bottom of the club?

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here we have three seven irons
small medium and
large the internet likes to argue about
what Loft the seven iron should
be but does it really
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matter okay so with this pretty
traditional 7even iron those launch
numbers carry everything is pretty
typically what I would see with my own
that one slightly better but pretty
similar so around 185 is let’s say
average
carry 125 ft in the
air launch is nice spin is plenty
descending angles very steep Ball’s not
going to go anywhere this is more of a
high performance hollow
body stronger hotter
faced iron but it is still a seven iron
pulled it a tad but we’ll take
it so almost the same height in the air
almost the same Landing angle onto the
green but it went 20 yards
further
okay so this goes further one might
argue actually went a little bit higher
as well landed just as steep ping
g730 power iron
power that that has the
power so the the flag is at
233 are you intrigued
so you just said to me off camera you
don’t understand how this is possible I
did say that to you mat they all do say
seven on them you can see that right The
Lofts are as follows this seven iron
33° by modern standards that’s pretty
traditional iron number two ping
i530 that was a 29° loft so for your
reference the six iron in my set is only
a 30° so this is actually this 7 is
stronger than my six iron then
configured a third iron which is this
guy and it’s available in a spec called
Power spec remember I mentioned power
26.5 which is actually stronger than the
five iron in my set now you may be
saying that stupid why don’t you just
not lie to people and say it’s a seven
iron when it’s clearly a five
iron Etc but when you look at an
interesting stat which is the height of
the ball right so most people would
think okay sure you give me a seven iron
that’s it’s a 5on loft that’s great it’s
going to go far but it’s not going to
land on the green it’s not going to be
no good it’s not going to be functional
I can’t stop it but when we look at the
peak height
numbers the highest flying iron the
strongest lofted Club of the group the
lowest lofted basically the five iron of
the group went
134 and 1/2 ft in the air the lowest
Flying Club was the highest lofted Club
124.80
9
ft with the i530 and then the the angle
at which it came into the green was
within one degree of each other all
three of them basically hit the green at
almost the exact same pitch uh obviously
the most Back Spin was on this ball the
least Back Spin was on this one the
strong lofted so the stopping power is
not exactly the same meaning if it was a
very firm surface like you’re playing
the US Open yeah the 50° Landing angle
is helpful but the spin’s kind of low
but most of us don’t play in US Open
conditions so 50° Landing angle probably
not going anywhere so on your screen now
you will see red is the traditional Club
yes lowest Peak height green the middle
club and then blue the highest peak
height is the lowest lofted Club so how
do three irons you can see the red
actually launched the highest these two
launched pretty similar so even with a
higher launch angle how does it end up
at a lower Peak kite the answer is speed
ball speed so the variable that makes
the most difference in the case of peak
heite right now is the speed off the
face of the ball so 131 mph with the
traditional guy 141 with the guy in the
middle and 144 just over 144 milph of
ball speed so you literally imagine you
take 17° of launch let’s say on average
with a three of them or 18 and you fire
them all out at that exact angle but two
of them are going way faster they’re
going to end up higher in the air that’s
basically so the spin rate is enormously
different yep yep so as I mentioned this
ball here at 6300 spin of course is
going to stop quicker it’s more stable
in the air so it’s not going to curve as
much it’s got more spin on it so I’m not
advocating that this is as accurate
unlikely to be as accurate it does
actually go 30 yards further in the
air which is crazy now of course it is
basically a five iron in terms of the
Loft and the flight but it is um a seven
iron length shaft so it should be as
easy to swing let’s call it and make
contact with as the more blades sell
seven iron but it it literally goes two
full clubs further for me at the same
well actually at a higher Peak height if
anything the way to think of it more
than worrying about what numbers on the
club or the loft or anything it’s it’s a
club that goes a distance that’s it
that’s that’s literally it it makes I
don’t care not only do I not care about
the number on the club I actually don’t
even care about the Loft just doesn’t
matter it’s a club that carries a
distance at the height that you require
that’s it
okay so a couple more shots with the
traditional SAR in there so Dynamic Loft
number of 27 or 28 at my speed is
actually too high so I’m kind of showing
some extremes like a really traditional
lofted iron it doesn’t fit that many
people fits the occasional person who
really dofs the club excessively um and
doesn’t really want all that much
forgiveness I guess on a thin club like
that and the middle ground here would
probably be more appropriate for your
average person if you have some speed
you probably want to get the dynamic
Lofts lower more like 25 or
26 so it’s a touch low but that’s closer
to the right number so ultimately Lofts
of these clubs all vary what really
matters is the Loft when you strike the
ball Dynamic Loft some people strike the
ball like this face is shut hands are
way ahead some people literally strike
the ball like this so I’ve seen people
take a 26° 7 iron like I see there and
actually put 33° of Loft on it at impact
you know what I mean so really all that
matters is offsetting what your delivery
does to produce a good number on the
dynamic Loft so that the launch angle
and the spin rate produces enough height
and goes the distance that it needs to
go so that shot there was probably a
little bit too hot in terms of of the
spin um the carry was a little on the
spicy side so the the next thing you can
do let’s say the first set of irons was
a little on the weak side for me little
bit spinny a little bit too high even
with a kind of a mid spin ball this
second set here that’s stronger in Loft
I just hit one with a prov1 it’s kind of
too knuckly what if I kept this cuz I
liked the flight the launch the ball
speed and then I just played a spin ear
ball so this is a
prov1x so now you see the spin go up
about about 5 600
RPMs balances the flight out a little
bit it’s going to stop quicker on the
green which actually that did um but
very similar launch and pretty much the
same ball speed and then there’s the
last extreme where I would do the
opposite of what I just did with the
Spiner ball on iron number two I’m going
back to iron three super strong Loft
really low spin ball in an AVX here this
would be for the person who literally
cannot get the ball to go the correct
distance if they’re constantly short
they’re always hitting it high and short
or soft or spinny super strong Loft
powerful iron super low spin
ball 222 in the
air so the question would become I’ve
move I’ve essentially moved my set one
Club stronger so I’m hitting seven iron
from the place I would normally hit six
iron right so what am I supposed to do
with my set the easy e EST answer is you
just don’t carry a 4 iron in my case
anymore the five iron of this set is
basically the four iron of my old set I
need to then bias the set differently in
the wedges so I need to carry five to
gap wedge instead of four to pitching
wedge if I wanted to hit the ball with a
shorter shaft that I find easier to
strike at a certain yardage this would
be the type of thing I could do yes it
is essentially the same thing but do I
have more confidence swinging this seven
iron then I do my own six iron uh and I
you know my experience I generally do I
just feel like Club length is probably
the biggest variable for people
obviously seeing less loft is a little
uncomfortable but the main confidence
factor that I see what really drops off
for people is it’s just as the club gets
longer what I’m generally seeing from
from most people is in transition this
shaft plane is like here right the face
is either open or closed who cares
there’s different patterns but people
are bringing the club in generally
speaking a little steep and if they’re
not steepening it from the top they’re
going to start steepening it right now
so the club will really late steepen in
the down swing so that’s a super common
pattern as I said there’s different ways
people then bring that to the ball some
people cut across it some people get
really dumped under but the reality is
that type of extremely common pattern is
the reason why people have an easier
time hitting a short iron and as their
as their clubs get longer their results
get worse and worse the number of times
I’ve heard someone say yeah I hit my
short irons pretty well once I get past
like seven iron as soon as I hit six or
five and I get really uncomfortable I
really can’t get the flight I’m looking
for my my slice gets worse my hook gets
worse and I have no you know I have
basically no hope in the Woods I hear
that literally every single day and so
if I can give somebody theoretically I
mean first of all give them a lesson if
they’re willing to have one but if it’s
gone past that or they just want to make
their life a little easier if you can
give them a shorter club that goes the
distance of their old longer Club yeah I
think they would have a better chance of
having a functional result at a longer
yardage than they currently do a mini
driver and uh a very strong lofted seven
arm they’re not that dissimilar I mean
are they a bit of a Band-Aid um for
nonideal technique yes they absolutely
are um but it’s not necessarily
something to be ashamed of like I don’t
know why people feel like it would be
shameful for them to play equipment that
kind of mass their less than Stellar
ability to hit a ball you know what I
mean like we are playing a recreational
game I don’t know why we all think we
should have the ability level and talent
level of Scotty Sheffer on the golf
course just doesn’t make sense um so
that would be my message to people
people is like yeah obviously it would
be great if we all struck the ball
within 10 mm of Center where this iron
wouldn’t give you too much punishment in
terms of M hits it would be great if we
all delivered an amount of shaing that
makes this 33° 7 iron turn into a 26° 7
iron at impact that would be great uh it
would be great if everyone’s shaft
playing on the down swing was on the
shallower side so that as the club gets
longer their swing doesn’t explode and
the results don’t go to that would
be great um and I’m more than willing
and often do teach someone some of those
things before they’re fit so that they
don’t have to go down the Band-Aid route
changes and Improvement to your
Technique and your own personal
performance how you swing the club would
be an ideal thing to do not everyone has
the talent the skill the time uh the
access to good coaching to kind of make
that happen and if that’s the case there
really is no shame in at least giving
yourself a little bit of help number on
the club relevant loft of the club
relevant all that matters is what
distance does it go how high does it go
and does it serve a purpose for you on
the golf course
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