Numbers on golf clubs!

[ManinBlack]

I've thought long & hard about this. The numbers mean nothing. The longest iron in your bag should be the longest, with the least loft, you can hit reasonably consistently. For some it will be the 5 iron, for me, with a very forgiving set it's the 3 iron, with standard loft 1½" longer than standard. The 9 iron should be around 4° straighter than your pitching wedge, in my case 42°. The other clubs should then have lofts & lengths evenly spaced between your 9 iron & longest iron. Once you've done this, measure how far you carry each one, either on the range or on a simulator, using the ball you normally play with, and that's it. Get some woods & hybrids to fill the gap between your driver & longest iron and you've got a set that suits you.

I built my set this way & it works brilliantly. The 3 iron is 1½" longer & I get an important 15 yards extra with it. All the other irons, 4 to 9 are varying amounts longer than standard, with the 9 iron ½" longer than the pitching wedge. I think I could hit the 3 iron with a little less loft so I may have the lofts of 3 to 8 strengthened a bit to give an even spread.

I've never met a club fitter with this approach, it just seems logical to me, and, more importantly, it works.

 

[SammmeBee]

It would be nice to have a good idea of how far your shots will go after buying or hiring a set of clubs though!

You do...your six iron will go further than the seven and not as far as the five iron......

 

[Hobbit]

It would be nice to have a good idea of how far your shots will go after buying or hiring a set of clubs though!

First of all, from the first post, there was a 1 wood and 1 iron, 2 wood and 2 iron, 3 wood and 3 iron... and that was way back in the mists of time when I started playing - think everything was in black and white back then. Its not a modern phenomena.

As for knowing how far; every individual hits it different distances, and different distances on different days @ different times of the year.

Far from suggesting it would make things less complicated, I'm inclined to think you're over complicating things...

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Surely all that matters is how far you hit each club - it could say a letter on the bottom as far as im concerned

Delc do you actually like golf ? You want to change so many fundamental things in the game

 

[Tommo21]

It would be nice to have a good idea of how far your shots will go after buying or hiring a set of clubs though!

That’s exactly what I done, went through my bag on Trackman. My 5 wood has a 3 wood shaft in it, my 19 degree hybrid has a 5 wood shaft in it. For me, I have from driver down, everything I need to make a proper judgment with the right gaps. Taking this further, lately I’ve been collecting some vintage sets of clubs and the choices over the last 60,70,80 years are every bit as complicated in many ways.

 

[Foxholer]

Surely all that matters is how far you hit each club - it could say a letter on the bottom as far as im concerned

Delc do you actually like golf ? You want to change so many fundamental things in the game

There's an entirely logical strategy involved... Every change is based on the premise that it will make, or appear to make, Del more competitive!

 

[huds1475]

Is it April Fools day already?

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Another great idea Del. so let's stick 19' on the bottom of a hybrid and the same on a fairway wood and the all the beginners will know exactly where they stand :thup:


Oh, apart from the fact they would still go different distances, have different ball flights, different length shafts etc etc.

Don't you think it's about time you stopped trying to change things that don't need changing and just got on with enjoying the game as it is?

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

I think Taylormade should bring out a full set of clubs where the driver is called 'A' and the putter is called 'Z' and you can pick any selection of letters inbetween for your other 12 clubs :thup:

 

[Lord Tyrion]

My Cleveland irons have an iron number and loft on them. Seems very simple. Helpful for newbies to golf as well.

 

[shewy]

Personally I'd like to see the number on the bottom left as is and the lofts standardised then you would get a true indication if a new club goes further, I mean how can you compare them when the newer version is 4 degrees stronger and an inch longer. (I'm not pointing the finger at any one manufacturer as they are all at it)

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Personally I'd like to see the number on the bottom left as is and the lofts standardised then you would get a true indication if a new club goes further, I mean how can you compare them when the newer version is 4 degrees stronger and an inch longer. (I'm not pointing the finger at any one manufacturer as they are all at it)

I don't think you'll ever get an industry standard though. Every time they crank a loft by another half degree they can say it adds xx yards in the marketing. What's a 7 iron in one set may be a 6 or close to a 5 in another

 

[garyinderry]

It matters not what you call any club or number them. my driver will only go so far. The rest all work down from there!

We also don't need to dumb things down for newbie. They can either use the internet, ask a friend or a kind chap in American golf will explain everything.

 

[Foxholer]

I don't think you'll ever get an industry standard though. Every time they crank a loft by another half degree they can say it adds xx yards in the marketing. What's a 7 iron in one set may be a 6 or close to a 5 in another

Er...No. A 7 iron is a 270/271gm head and a 6 iron is 263/264gms! But that's all that's 'standard'! OEMs can, and do, vary weight distribution, method of manufacture, material(s) and a host of other details as well as loft, in order to attain the optimum performance for the target customer!

 

[MadAdey]

Not what the problem is. My irons only come in 4-PW, so couldn't have a 3i, but they are slightly stronger lofts than the old standards, but not jacked up like some clubs.

Get your irons, find out how far you hit them, then fill the gaps around them. That's what I did and that's how I ended up with 2 & 3 in the MP-H4.

I'm not interested in we there the bloke next to me is hitting a 3i or a 5i, if my set says I need a 4i then that is what I will hit.

 

[Slab]

Leaving to one side the naming convention on clubs and maybe I’m reading too much into Del’s opening post but isn’t the problem that what should be a simple act of changing irons being over complicated as inevitably it also leads to changes to the clubs at either end of the range i.e hybrids/fw’s and wedges

So regardless of what's stamped on the club, the problem the manufactures have forced on the player through changes in lofts/lengths etc is how do I change a set of irons without having to revamp the remainder of the bag as well? (excl putter/driver) and having to put up with an extended transition period as each player then needs to re-work distances of new irons to establish which of those other clubs need to change to restore a shot distance gaping

 

[Region3]

Er...No. A 7 iron is a 270/271gm head and a 6 iron is 263/264gms! But that's all that's 'standard'! OEMs can, and do, vary weight distribution, method of manufacture, material(s) and a host of other details as well as loft, in order to attain the optimum performance for the target customer!

Have the head weights always been that way, or have they changed them as shafts have gotten longer to keep swing weights the same?

 

[CMAC]

of course at impact though a shaft leaners 6 iron is a flippers 8 iron - so loft per head changes per player I would think.

 

[delc]

Leaving to one side the naming convention on clubs and maybe I’m reading too much into Del’s opening post but isn’t the problem that what should be a simple act of changing irons being over complicated as inevitably it also leads to changes to the clubs at either end of the range i.e hybrids/fw’s and wedges

So regardless of what's stamped on the club, the problem the manufactures have forced on the player through changes in lofts/lengths etc is how do I change a set of irons without having to revamp the remainder of the bag as well? (excl putter/driver) and having to put up with an extended transition period as each player then needs to re-work distances of new irons to establish which of those other clubs need to change to restore a shot distance gaping

Exactly the point I was trying to make. I noticed the difference immediately when I traded up to a modern set of clubs. It's basically all a con to make you think that Brand X clubs hit the ball further than their competitors. If you try clubs out you are typically given a 7 iron (used to be a 6 iron) because that is probably the easiest club to hit. If the Brand X 7-iron goes further than the others, you will be impressed and shell out for the full set. You will then find you need one or even two gap wedges and that the longest iron is virtually unusable! Pitching wedges have gone from 51 degrees in the old days to as little as 45 degrees now. Absolutely ridiculous IMO!
:mmm:

 

[TheJezster]

Putting aside the fact it was delc who started the thread (as I think there are many on here who simply take the polar opposite view he does because they don’t want to agree with him), I personally think it makes sense and would be a good idea to have an industry standard for loft per club. That way there wouldn’t be any “84 yards further than any other 7 iron” claims by leading manufacturer and everyone would know where they were. It still wouldn’t matter what anyone you were playing with hit, because its only what you hit and how far you hit it that counts, but it would mean you could buy new clubs without the hassle of changing other clubs. Plus, if you had a 5-PW set from say, Callaway, you could go out and buy a 4iron from TM if you wanted. It just makes sense. I can see why the manufacturers don’t want this, but for us, the consumers, it would be so much easier and simpler.

That’s my view anyway, not that it changes anything, but it would make things a lot simpler.