I changed my irons and am now a club shorter - why?

[CMAC]

Snelly, had exactly the same issue last this year with new irons, trust me you will not get used to being a club shorter! I was doing the same as you, sometimes a club more than my mates and still being short! I went back and changed them in 2 weeks!

It's nothing to do with air temp or hit it harder, i'm also a smoother rhythm swinger and you shouldn't have to change your long established swing to suit new clubs.

What's the difference in weight between your old and new shafts?

 

[Snelly]

Hi.

No idea what the weight of the shafts are. I will try and find out.

I have decided to change back to my old irons. I am playing golf in Toulouse on Friday then going to Royal County Down on Sunday for 3 days and need to be unhindered by problematic irons for these trips, especially the latter.

Edited to add that the new shafts are 120g and the old ones are unknown as I have never, and cannot right now either, been able to find any information on them. They are rifle shafts and just say Tour Stiff on them. They are about 12 years old I think.

 

[Ethan]

The Tour Stiff shaft in the X16 Pros is roughly a Rifle 6.0, so not really 'Tour' stiff, which would be PX 6.5 or TT DG X100 level.

The PX flighted is a funny set (I have the same myself) and works kinda like 3 different flexes in one. The longer irons will come out around 5.0, the mid irons around 5.5 and the short irons around 6.0, so the difference in flex with your Pros is greater the longer the club. PX flighted is a different beast from 'normal' PX and tend to give a fair bit more spin.

 

[Snelly]

Ethan - can you shed any light as to why I am a full club shorter with this change in equipment? I am sure I am still hitting the ball cleanly..

 

[Mungoscorner]

Do you hit the ball higher,does the ball spin more on landing ? Ball spin can reduce distance.
I use S300 shafts and hit my 7iron about 160'ish.Have tried the same club with a Project X 6.0 and i'm about a club longer,but they feel dead,which is why i chose to stick with the S300.
Similar Irons from the same brand,can also be worlds apart in terms of distance/ball flight,even if there a similar shape,weight,loft,and have the same shaft.

 

[Alex1975]

fixed that for you........just think...you could debut them at Blackmoor!!:thup:

Your words to me just a 6 or 8 weeks ago were "these are the clubs that are going to take me to cat1"... I guess they did there job, time to get rid of them! =)

 

[Ethan]

Ethan - can you shed any light as to why I am a full club shorter with this change in equipment? I am sure I am still hitting the ball cleanly..

I am sure you are hitting it cleanly, but somewhere in the chain of events between you swinging and the ball landing, less energy is getting directed into maximising distance.

I think it would be interesting to know (if possible) whether you are getting the same clubhead speed into the ball, and what the ball speed, launch angle and spin rates are. Presumably the combination is less efficient, and I doubt it is all to do with extra spin.

Of course, less distance doesn't necessarily mean worse shots. You may have more control and consistency now, albeit with one club more.

 

[Snelly]

I am going to move the X-22's on and put my old clubs in the bag again and am putting this whole change down as a failed experiment with no conclusive results.

I don't have any numbers on the other factors mentioned nor any opportunity to get them. The only other bits of information that I can add are that the trajectories with both sets are basically the same and the notable differences between the two are that with the X-22's, I have hit a lot of shots to the left and seen a marked increase in backspin on shots into greens. None of this seems particularly relevant but I am absolutely not an expert on this.

Need to find a cheap source of Winn grips and then I am back on track I hope.....

 

[Alex1975]

Although the clubs have the same lofts as stock is it possible that one of them has been altered? Maybe your old ones were made stronger before you owned them or the new ones likewise?

 

[MadAdey]

I think you have to answer a question in your own mind snelly. Why have you changed you irons?

Was it for extra distance? If it was then it has not worked.

Was it for more control, bit more stopping power on the greens and more trajectory control? If it was and you have achieved that, then do you hit your irons far enough that loosing a club of distance is not a problem if you are hitting them better?

 

[Alex1975]

I am going to move the X-22's on and put my old clubs in the bag again and am putting this whole change down as a failed experiment with no conclusive results.

I don't have any numbers on the other factors mentioned nor any opportunity to get them. The only other bits of information that I can add are that the trajectories with both sets are basically the same and the notable differences between the two are that with the X-22's, I have hit a lot of shots to the left and seen a marked increase in backspin on shots into greens. None of this seems particularly relevant but I am absolutely not an expert on this.

Need to find a cheap source of Winn grips and then I am back on track I hope.....

Sounds like a wise move, new is not always better. Have you taken both clubs to the practice ground and back to backed them so that you are 100% that weather is not an issue (thick air/thick lies)?

 

[Snelly]

Although the clubs have the same lofts as stock is it possible that one of them has been altered? Maybe your old ones were made stronger before you owned them or the new ones likewise?

That is certainly possible. However, I would say that generally, I am quite a long hitter and would expect to hit my irons significantly further than I have with the X-22's.

 

[Alex1975]

That is certainly possible. However, I would say that generally, I am quite a long hitter and would expect to hit my irons significantly further than I have with the X-22's.

And with that said, you would not expect 1* to make 10+ yards difference and its unlikely that either would have been made much more than 1* stronger.

Its a cut your losses thing by the sounds of it.... I have been there....