HOW Far SHOULD You HIT your Golf Irons? and do you hit your Irons the right distance? The old classic 160 yards with a 7 iron, but things have changed over the years. Loft is the biggest factor in the difference also Club Face technology has created more springy faces and thus more distance.
Exactly how fast do you need to swing the club to hit 150 yards and also what is the functional affect of ball flight using strong lofted Game Improvement irons over more traditional lofts. Also added into the mix is a Hybrid Iron from Eleven…….
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45 Comments
Love this, Jay – thanks. Got fitted for JPX HM HL recently and this comparison validates the choice! I really think power bats are of limited benefit for anyone more concerned about control over raw distance
My stock 7 iron carry distance is 190-192 and my Cobra King CB 7 iron is traditionally lofted at 34 degrees, your video is very interesting and it shows that distance control is really important for all golfers including much slower swingers and that they should play with irons with which they can get sufficient launch and spin to stop their approach shots on the green.
How far should you hit? Well right at the pin of coz
i230 7i (32*) 157-160 yards. 45-47* decent angle (Trackman Numbers), MP20-MB (34*) 145-155 yards. Swing speed with 7i ranges 78-83mph subject to mobility on the day! The tin man often needs oiling! 😂
Jay, one of your best educational videos ever.proves the theory that very strong lofted irons work adversely for slower swing golfers. Keep up the great work…..
I have been watching this channel for awhile, and it finally hit me. This is Charlie brother Allen from Two and half men… the air laugh gives it away.
My 150 yards club is my PW at 47°…. I sometimes struggle keeping it on the greens when hit too well as it sucks back because of spin. My solution is to use "cheapo balls" which spin way less. However that limits the control on short chip shots.
The first Mizuno irons had a 37 degree 7 iron!
Wonderful guidance. Nobody else does this, and I’m a golf geek who subscribed to at least 36 golf video producers. I am currently helping a son and a colleague look for irons. My takeaway from this is avoid any set that has a 7 iron loft stronger than 30.5, and by all means look at a 31 degree hybrid instead of a 7 iron, and similar hybrids to replace the 6 iron and possibly the 5 iron. Question: when you get to the 5 iron and 4 iron, would you suggest possibly going to a 24 degree 9 wood and 21 degree 7 wood? Or would you recommend staying with hybrids/utility clubs up to where a 5 wood comes in?
What is that magic wand 31 degree 11 hybrid, and what shaft did it have? Don’t be cruel and a tease. 😂
70 MILES AN HOUR LOOKS LIKE SLOW MOTION LOL wtf
Only issue here is your hitting punch shots at the lower speeds 71.6 mph and a launch of 14.2 and delofted your club to 18.6 ( with the 27 degree head )so its not the way most players at that speed would deliver the club head at all and when you went to the 31 degree ( 4 degrees weaker) your Dynamic loft went to 26.6 ( 8 degrees weaker ) I am guessing it has to due with that you are a higher speed player so it is harder to mimic it, I think it would be neat to have someone who swings at these speeds naturally hit the shots, good vids thou !!
Jay…I’ve broken down Tman LPGA and PGA Avg Tour distances yards per mph and yards per ball speed. Generally avg 7is are nominally 1.9 to 2.0 yards per mph. I use 2.0 because it’s an easy # to do the math in your head. Think this is a simple way to quickly access shaft fit for 7is.
Curious, if you take out forgiveness from the equation and assume you hot everything in the middle, would the JPX Forged go the same distance and decent angle as the HL? With the slower swing speed. There is a 1 deg difference 30 vs 31. Thanks, Ric
I really like the way my 923 high launch flies when I hit it right. It really does get the height, which lets it fly near to 145, and stop, which makes me happy. Note and then my swing comes together and I get the 150 carry, with the height. It’s a wonderful feeling!
That hybrid sounds really good as well!
This is a great video, Jay. I haven't seen anyone else do this kind of test and it's very relevant to a lot of average golfers. One thing I did want to point out was that when you were hitting the 27º club you were taking a lot of loft off it – basically hitting kind of a wind-cheater punch shot, And I think you had to do this for the test because you were taking so much speed off and swinging (for you) so slowly. I agree completely with the premise: that more loft equals more control. But a slower-swinging player who is coming, say, 5º over the top, with the face open and delivering close to the static loft of the club – hitting what we'll kindly call a fade – is going to get more height and more spin and a good descent angle. Of course that delivery is not maximizing efficiency by any means, but if it's the same delivery every time and they know where the ball is going, strong lofted irons will work for them. And of course that's why we get fitted.
Can you do a follow up purely on dynamic loft? 70mph swing 2 different dynamic lofts with the same club? What are the potential drop offs or gains?
This is my current struggle. Currently use M4s(first year back golfing in 20 years). My last set of clubs were from about 1993. I beleive they were bladed, the 5 iron was a butter knife.
That 1993 7 iron was 150yds on the money every time. These new clubs, yardage gapping is horrible. The bad shots feel good. And i think the offset is making my shots land left green instead of center.
As always another great video, for me this is a part 1 of 2. The natural follow up is at what speed/loft do you move to a hybrid. I'm getting older but have decent(ish) 7 iron speed at 83 mph. Bought a set of zx5's, in large part due to your review and review/compare videos, (thank you) after going for fittings (Srixon, Mizuno, Taylormade). My 7 iron distance is approx162-165, but for me that's actually irrelevant. It's 165 with a great decent angle (47-49) the ball stops. The 27 degree club in my set is a 6 iron, goes further, the decent angle is lower (45ish) and the fitter actually said with your speed I'd have hybrids above that. Because you've taught us well when i went for the fitting i was conscious of the dispersion and the decent angle in particular and got the clubs i needed to get me to the numbers i wanted. There have been 5, 7 and 9 woods for years. As a kid i remember playing with a guy who had these (i think they were ping) but 45 years later i would hazard a guess that predominantly we are still hitting probably longer irons than most of us should. Now my irons are sorted i'm looking into hybrid purchases (my wife loves me), i'm starting with a Mizuno 4 and maybe progressing upwards. Cheers as always.
Well in the winter today its 145 yards, in the summer it’s 160. Absolutely crazy. I’m a 6 hcp don’t understand it at all
You've convinced me to ditch my 7i and buy that Ping 6H (30 deg).
This is so interesting. My 7 iron is 31 degrees and my swing speed is around the 76 mark but I’m struggling to even get 140 yards out of mine even when I feel I hit it well unless the top tracer and range balls are lying to me
Not sure anyone wants their 7 iron to have 3400 backspin ? Ball rolling out like a driver shot lol
One thing to keep in mind when it comes to rollout distance is ballflight. My iron set are the Wilson d9, so the loft is 27 degrees, but they're weighted for high flight so if I hit a green with a 7 iron, the ball usually sinks into the green quite a bit on the first bounce effectively killing the rollout like the sim showed. I try to go for the most bottom weighted clubs to replicate that feel through the bag.
What’s the old adage, pride/ego comes before a fall or should we say inconsistency in golf. Knowing and hitting your distances is the thing. That’s why I have blades in wedges and 9. Shallow cavity 8 to 6 and hybrids in 3 to 5. Trust your fitter and park the ego. Also, lighter shafts as you mature and graphite should not be ignored whatever age you are. Your elbows will thank you 😃
I have a slow swing speed – mid 70s with 7i. I see the benefit of the high launch club (higher loft + lower CG) but does that not usually come with an inherently wider sole that may have a detrimental effect with turf interaction? Which should be more of a consideration, given that golf is not often played off of mats?
good insight. it took a while as I got Ping i230 last December but I use 3 distances for each club from 7 iron onwards a soft normal and good one, its handy if want to keep the flight down or take spin off
good post
Fantastic video Jay.No surprises in there but great clarity. My 921 forged irons up to 7 (sometimes 6 but my strike is less consistent) stop on a dime, much faster than e.g. a friends stealth irons. My “problem” is at the long end of the bag on Par 5’s. My G425sft 3W is set at 17.5 deg and I get 180-190 Total yds from early 80’s mph (not sure of carry but high ball flight, limited roll. I’d love a bit more distance (200 yds). A similar test on speed/loft to achieve say 180 yd carry distance would be really handy! This was one of your best! Tx
Gapping and carry are super important. I could play 2 or 3 degree stronger lofts and gain 4 or 5 yards, but it would start running into my hybrid and wood yardages. I never understood the movement to deloft irons for everyone. No one needs three clubs that go in the 190s for yardage. People that need greater gapping in the irons should simply play hybrids or more woods.
Am I correct that you said the loft on the first iron you hit at 77, 74.5 74 and 73 was 27 degrees? I swing my 34 degree forged blade 7 iron at 74-74.5 but cannot get 142 or 152 carry, more like 135. 27 degrees would be my 5 iron. This is such a useful video I am watching it for the third time. Thank you.
Many sources say you get 2.3 yards more distance with each extra 1 mph of clubhead speed. So if you got 145 yards with 76.3 mph for the 34 degree blade, then a 74 mph swing would produce just over 5 yards less carry or 140 yards. I can get that but only with my best shot and near perfect strike location. So you are proving that if I, like many long-time golfers, want to have a reliable 150 yard approach or short part 3 shot that stops, we need to either find a 7 iron with a 30.5 degree loft and lots of weight distribution and fast face technology to get the ball launching high, or pick up a 30 or 31 degree hybrid like you have here. It may sound funny to stronger players, but this 150 yard shot is so critical because if you play tees where you will have several approach shots of 140-160 on par 4s and can consistently land on the green with a chance to one putt and an almost sure 2 putt instead of a miss, a pitch, and two puts, you will knock a good 5 or more strokes off your score and feel a lot better about life.
I notice you are only taking a half swing with your left arm just at or very slightly above horizontal on the backswing. I wonder if a shorter swing might also be a good idea for those of us who are in that slower swinging crowd. Of course a longer, fuller backswing normally will produce more clubhead speed and greater distance, but for those with less athletic coordination and skill it also brings into play less consistency and control and more off-center strikes.
How do these go 150ft yards swinging so slow!?!?!?! If I swing slow it will carry 120, and swinging hard I get 140. That’s with shaft lean and negative attack angle!!!! I truly don’t get it!!!!
Use a 8 iron 😂
If not on hard links greens and you hit 4° down on the ball and get between 6k to 7k backspin the ball will stop as well on the green.
It will hop and maybe roll 3 to 4 meter.
Is this your full swing or are you doing half swings to show the reduced club head speed?
P7MB’s…….150
P790’s……175
Not all clubs are the same.
I changed my P790 ™ to Ping I230… 10 to 15 yards shorter… and my ball stick much more on green… not bad at all… but I now feel short!
What degree is the 7 Eleven?
thats a problem with how manufacturers of game improvement clubs are trending towards where lofts are getting stronger and stronger each year and cg is going lower and lower in the club head to add back spin. they are doing this so that you can get closer distances to profesionals with the same Number iron. the problem with this is that it is a tricky balance you need a trustworthy fitter to make sure you still get all the other numbers correct (landing angle and spin). that particular 7iron is actually producing a 170yd total which is similar to a 170yd carry and 2yd roll for a tour pro, so the final distance is similar but it actually lands and spins like a 4 iron. to me that doesn't seem like a good fit at all since it's actually really hard to play fun golf with 20yd roll on a short iron as not every green will allow for that. if you are in this predicament and already bought the clubs, my advice would be to play a spinnier ball which is the lowest cost change and doesnt require any swing change. but seeing how that 7iron performed i really just felt it was a poor fit for 75 club head speed and that swing.
LPGA average 7iron is 74 club head speed and 104 ball, very similar to what you produced here, but landed 47 degrees with 6700 spin. <–this is the kind of numbers you want. its 140yd carry but honestly if you needed 150+ there is the 6 iron.
I'd say a good 80% of my customers need height and landing angle over everything thing else. I try to find as much of that as I can through shaft, then turn to high launching heads to squeez out any extra height I can. Depending on speed and strike constancy it can be anything from cleveland launcher xl halos to high lofted blades. The players distance category is doing really well for height these days too, I'm loving the zx5, 790, and t200 this season for damn near anyone once we get the right shaft in their hands.
You've also triggered a completely reverse thought. What is the minimum swing speed to use a particular loft with stop? Most people thing of an 8 or possibly 7 as the lowest scoring club. But what speed/distance should you give up on control of stop?
People look at Blades as "too hard to hit" but perhaps the other end is equally import – eg "you hit your 7i HL 125, don't expect stop".
I've just started playing golf 6 months ago (after not playing since I was a teenager 40 odd years ago). I can't hit balls as far as You're meant to with each club.
but quite early on I took my clubs up the range and hit every club in the bag 10x to get an average. I hit my 7 iron about 130 yards and 9 iron about 100yards And Driver 220-230yards.
I tried a hybrid and didn't like it. Ii was about the same distance wise as my 3 iron only I feel I hit 3 iron better around 190-200 yards
But trying to keep everything consistent is the problem. Just because I know how far it is to the pin and know what club ought to get there There are several other factors that prevent it from doing so!
I’ve just purchased these 4-8 I’m a sporadic golfer but don’t have time to practice and just want to go enjoy golf. I think these are right in my wheelhouse
You have great swing