gocchin Posted June 26, 2007 Report Share Posted June 26, 2007 I often hear a lot of people say, "I got a new set of irons and lost 5-10 yards over my old set!" Many times people seem to say this without looking more closely at factors like lofts and shafts. In my short time playing golf, I've come to learn it's not that you can hit your 7 iron 180 yards or 140 yards.... it's that you KNOW you can hit your 7 iron 180 or 140 yards. It's all about understanding your irons and how they perform for you. Japanese irons have been often applauded or dissed for having lofts too strong... too weak, lofts all over the place. It's about finding the right shaft to get the type of ball flight you want then growing and learning with those irons... I was reading this article about some of the lofts in JDM irons and the distances they produced which made me realize I really have to know what each set of irons I try can do. I can't quickly dismiss 7 iron A because it only goes 140 yards whereas 7 iron B went 155. I thought I'd post a scan of that article here for you to get an idea of some of the different lofts and distances of a sampling of some JDM irons with their stock shafts. A pro tester is hitting all of these irons for consistency and the numbers are: # Iron Distance Ball Speed (m/s) Launch Angle Spin Apex (highest point) Lots of factors affect these numbers, most notably loft and shaft.... so this is for reference only (they don't even list the lofts of the clubs but we can tell which ones are stronger and weaker... ) The irons are also categorized the same way as the Top Line reference... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoon Posted June 26, 2007 Report Share Posted June 26, 2007 i was just thinking of this the other day. when i was using my ping g5s i would get about 160-75 yards ave for my 7 iron. when i switched to my sword katana jdm with rifle 90s R i noticed that it dropped to about 140. the trajectories were also much much higher. took a long time for me to accept and i though i was doing something different with my swing trying to swing harder just to make the distance. i the realized it could be my clubs and shafts and in fact i have actually tried to adjust and adapt to how my curerent irons play. i am eventually going to change the shaft into something a bit stiffer. whats funny is that my ping mb 56 wedge w nspr 950 S hits further than my jdm Pitching wedge:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blader-X Posted June 26, 2007 Report Share Posted June 26, 2007 Great article to share and really good for those who haven't been playing long to realize that the make up of one's equipment is equally important as to the mechanics of one's swing. The more in tune one is with their own swing and what they need, the better they will be able to choose the clubs that will benefit them the most. You can get fit well be a club-fitter but its still a matter of trial and error even after that to find what works. Just another facet about why this is such and engrossing game that just consumes you. So much fun!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoon Posted June 26, 2007 Report Share Posted June 26, 2007 Great article to share and really good for those who haven't been playing long to realize that the make up of one's equipment is equally important as to the mechanics of one's swing. The more in tune one is with their own swing and what they need, the better they will be able to choose the clubs that will benefit them the most. You can get fit well be a club-fitter but its still a matter of trial and error even after that to find what works. Just another facet about why this is such and engrossing game that just consumes you. So much fun!! well said man! this is going to be a long journey of trial and error and i do hope that in time find the right set of gear that suits my own type of swing. for now its experimentaion... as for consuming, its driving me mad! as the saying goes, "Golf is deceptively simple yet endlessly complicated" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phillip Alexander Posted June 26, 2007 Report Share Posted June 26, 2007 I think the real issue is knowing exactly what the loft is on each club irrelevant of the number on the sole. Interestingly I have tinkered with my MP11s over the years, and have adjusted the lies and the lofts so they are just right. Needless to say, once I got them just right, some of them gained 20 yards. There is now approximately 10-12 yards between each of them. I have recently bought a new set of irons, and these will go through the same process, albeit the lofts are stronger than my old Mizunos. Lighter shafts will also add a bit of distance. It's lot of fun being a ho, but also fun adjusting a set of clubs you really like so they fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajaykkr Posted June 26, 2007 Report Share Posted June 26, 2007 its a pity that because of the clubmaker's preference to show that their clubs hit longer... the lofts of the 6-PW get only stronger....consequently, there is bunching between the 3 and 6 iron to make sure the 3 iron loft is 20+ not sure what benefit there is of a 3 degree increment between the longer irons... (and sometimes that separation may be even less as there is usually a 1* tolerance in manufacturing.....so the actual difference could be just 2*)....clubhead speed of most golfers is not high enough to have a difference between a 3 iron at 21* and 4 iron at 24*...... i yearn for the old 4* degree seperation between 3-PW with the PW at 47* or 48 or 49* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsg4tch Posted July 1, 2007 Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 The irons below the first two have two trajectory charts, one noted with a red dot and one with a green one. What does the red & green signify? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gocchin Posted July 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 The irons below the first two have two trajectory charts, one noted with a red dot and one with a green one. What does the red & green signify? Sorry should have mentioned that... two seperate players... the red dot being a pro and the green a low handicap around 7. You can see they are pretty even distance wise with the short irons, in some cases the 7 handicap is longer by a few yards than the pro, but the gap widens in the pro's favor for long irons. The big bubbles with the actual info and yardage is that of the pro's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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