Difference

[alex57834]

I'm thirteen and use a second hand pair passed down from my dad(lol) a set or macgregor mx (I tried looking on google but it wouldn't come up with my exact irons) irons. Currently I hit my 4 iron around 140 and just wondered how much difference a average set today would make distance wise.

 

[Jay Gee]

A new set today will make a huge difference, but mainly because manufacturers have steadily reduced lofts over the years in order to con people into thinking they hit new clubs longer than their old ones.

I found a chart that compared average lofts over the years. Figures for a 4 iron as follows:
28 deg - Pre 1975
25 deg - 1980-95
23 deg - 1990 on
22 deg - My Diablo Edges 2011
20 deg - TaylorMade RBZ 2012

Pre 1975 (ish) 2 irons were 20 deg on average, same as an RBZ 4 iron, which is 2 clubs longer than they used to be. Your older 4 iron might be somewhere around a 5 or 6 iron today depending on how old it is.

There's no doubt that new clubs have other advantages in terms of shafts and forgiveness etc., but be careful not to get sucked in when it comes to distance.

140 yards would be a 'normal' distance for a junior or senior with a 5 iron and that would be a similar loft to your 4 iron if it was from 1980-95.

I hope this helps.

 

[alex57834]

Well thank you