Traditionalists, prepare to be grumpy

[Hacker Khan]

I knew from previous experience with more modem clubs that I would need a gap wedge, so I ordered one with the set. What I didn't expect was that the 4 iron would be impossible to hit off the deck, and not that easy off a tee peg. It has only 20 degrees of loft compared with 23 degrees in my previous set. So more like a traditional 2 iron! I wasted my money on that club!

I can't hit any iron below a 5 for toffee, so I use hybrids instead. I struggle with a driver so I prefer to use a mini driver. But that is not the manufacturers fault, it is mine. So I use the clubs that the manufacturers have made available to give me the best help and assistance I need to make the game enjoyable to play so I don't need to spend hours moaning about it on a forum. Simples really.

 

[garyinderry]

The big stick, driver, big dogg, call it what you will, hits the ball the furthest. The humble putter is still the club used to roll the ball along the ground in an attempt to get it into the hole.


There has never been a wider range of clubs to fill hitting all the distances in between. We live in a golden age. We are all different, play the game slightly different, have different swing speeds and swing characteristics so different bag set ups will suit different players.

If its jacked lofts, hybrids and a heap of wedges are your thing go for it. If mini baby blades 1-sw, one wood for par 5s over 600 yards and Napa putter is your thing then fire away.

Most of us will probably fall somewhere in between.

Can we stop the moaning please, not once has a golf brand sneaked up on me with a knife and demanded money. I have paid as and when I wanted too. I have a pile of clubs I no longer use but it was fun finding out what worked and what didn't work for me. In truth that search goes on but I have narrowed my personal preferences.

 

[BubbaP]

Can I just point out to everyone that's whining about this that this is probably the most game improver set you can get. I would say looking at it that it is almost hybrids throughout. That is going to cause the ball to fly much higher so lower lofts are required. Also, it's pretty much for beginners. Do you not think that its maybe ok to give a beginner a club that says its a wedge when really its a nine? Let the guy get some confidence!

Those talking about getting sets and finding some clubs are useless to them because the lofts are different- when I spent £600 on a set of irons I researched them as much as I could so I know that every club would be right for me. Probably makes sense when spending a lot of cash.

Yes some good points there.
As has been said the altering of lofts debate has been done to death.
I do find it interesting them going for PW1 and PW2 though. They could have just done the lofts and not done that.
Even with all the tech, is the 50 deg AW going to extract them from bunkers, or will they need to buy a SW also.

 

[Hacker Khan]

The big stick, driver, big dogg, call it what you will, hits the ball the furthest. The humble putter is still the club used to roll the ball along the ground in an attempt to get it into the hole.


There has never been a wider range of clubs to fill hitting all the distances in between. We live in a golden age. We are all different, play the game slightly different, have different swing speeds and swing characteristics so different bag set ups will suit different players.

If its jacked lofts, hybrids and a heap of wedges are your thing go for it. If mini baby blades 1-sw, one wood for par 5s over 600 yards and Napa putter is your thing then fire away.

Most of us will probably fall somewhere in between.

Can we stop the moaning please, not once has a golf brand sneaked up on me with a knife and demanded money. I have paid as and when I wanted too. I have a pile of clubs I no longer use but it was fun finding out what worked and what didn't work for me. In truth that search goes on but I have narrowed my personal preferences.

Like. As you say the punter has never had more choice and help to make the game more enjoyable, and due to the release cycles, often you can get this as a very good price. What's not to like?

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I'm such a grumpy traditionalist that I hardly understand a word of the OP or the technicalities involved, so will check out of this one

 

[Sats]

Ive never understood all the mither over Jacked Lofts, who cares so long as the club is giving a good Trajectory.
If the manufacturers were gaining distance by making the shafts longer..well that's a different matter.
Please tell me they're Not..

This guys got it

 

[One Planer]

Sorry to say this Del but its not impossible to hit a 4 iron off the fairway.
If you cant do it it's not the clubs' fault or the manufacturers' fault or the wrong ball or the wrong type of grass, it's your fault.
Enjoy your hybrids, sell your 4 iron and move on.
As for the gap between your 7 and 8 iron.........go down the shaft on the 7 on the par 3

Have a like/bump/high5 on me Bob :thup:

 

[Deleted member 15344]

The big stick, driver, big dogg, call it what you will, hits the ball the furthest. The humble putter is still the club used to roll the ball along the ground in an attempt to get it into the hole.


There has never been a wider range of clubs to fill hitting all the distances in between. We live in a golden age. We are all different, play the game slightly different, have different swing speeds and swing characteristics so different bag set ups will suit different players.

If its jacked lofts, hybrids and a heap of wedges are your thing go for it. If mini baby blades 1-sw, one wood for par 5s over 600 yards and Napa putter is your thing then fire away.

Most of us will probably fall somewhere in between.

Can we stop the moaning please, not once has a golf brand sneaked up on me with a knife and demanded money. I have paid as and when I wanted too. I have a pile of clubs I no longer use but it was fun finding out what worked and what didn't work for me. In truth that search goes on but I have narrowed my personal preferences.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

I would have thought the forum would love these stronger lofts. Helps get the forum average 8 iron distance up from 190 to 210 yards :thup:

 

[Hacker Khan]

I would have thought the forum would love these stronger lofts. Helps get the forum average 8 iron distance up from 190 to 210 yards :thup:

I'm assuming that's a choked down 8 iron with those distances?

 

[delc]

It's not the clubs fault you can't hit your 4 iron of the deck

I could hit my previous Ping i15 4 iron quite well off the deck, but it had 24 degrees of loft instead of 20 degrees in the TM Speedblades! As the lofts are not stamped on the heads, how was I supposed to know how different they were? I sort of assumed that because I could hit a 4 iron before, I should still be able to, particularly in a club with so many game improvement features!

 

[dewsweeper]

I'm such a grumpy traditionalist that I hardly understand a word of the OP or the technicalities involved, so will check out of this one

Thank goodness I am not alone, I feel exactly the same.
This thread is like watching a kitten chasing its tail.

 

[One Planer]

I could hit my previous Ping i15 4 iron quite well off the deck, but it had 24 degrees of loft instead of 20 degrees in the TM Speedblades! As the lofts are not stamped on the heads, how was I supposed to know how different they were? I sort of assumed that because I could hit a 4 iron before, I should still be able to, particularly in a club with so many game improvement features!

I'm guessing the 1/2" difference in club length made no difference at all and it was the 4° of loft that meant you couldn't hit it

 

[delc]

I'm guessing the 1/2" difference in club length made no difference at all and it was the 4° of loft that meant you couldn't hit it

I can hit a driver or a fairway wood off the deck with a much longer shaft than either 4 iron, so why should that be an issue? I assume that the lies in the Taylor Made clubs had been adjusted to compensate? My irons were custom fitted anyway, so I know the lies are correct.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

I can hit a driver or a fairway wood off the deck with a much longer shaft than either 4 iron, so why should that be an issue? I assume that the lie in the Taylor Made club had been adjusted to compensate? My irons were custom fitted anyway, so I know the lies are correct.

Hang on, let me get this right. You can hit a driver off the deck but not a 4 iron?

 

[delc]

Hang on, let me get this right. You can hit a driver off the deck but not a 4 iron?

I can hit a driver off a tee peg and a fairway wood off the fairway grass, as they are designed to do.

 

[One Planer]

I can hit a driver or a fairway wood off the deck with a much longer shaft than either 4 iron, so why should that be an issue? I assume that the lies in the Taylor Made clubs had been adjusted to compensate? My irons were custom fitted anyway, so I know the lies are correct.

So, Just to clarify. You have no issue hitting a driver or fairway wood off the deck. Both have much longer shafts, with much less loft than a 4 iron.

Yet you struggle to hit your 4 iron that has a much shorter shaft, with much more loft?

 

[patricks148]

Hang on, let me get this right. You can hit a driver off the deck but not a 4 iron?

i have the same problem, the sail boom gets in the way and catching the wood on the follow chips the varnish.

 

[garyinderry]

Wasn't it a poor custom fit that caused all this ? Didn't he only hit a 7 iron then after splashing the cash noticed he couldn't hit the 4 iron.

 

[delc]

Wasn't it a poor custom fit that caused all this ? Didn't he only hit a 7 iron then after splashing the cash noticed he couldn't hit the 4 iron.

I tried them out at a TM demo day and tried a 7-iron and a pitching wedge, both of which I hit pretty nicely, and further than their Ping i15 equivalents. I wasn't given anything else to try, but I had no reason to think that the other clubs wouldn't perform just as well. I wasn't aware at the time of the loft jacking issue!

The issue I have with the 4 iron is that I don't have enough club head speed (I am a senior) to generate sufficient backspin with the reduced loft to hold the ball in the air, so it tends to scuttle along the ground instead of flying properly. I might manage a decent flight 1 time in 4, but it still goes no further than the 5 iron! If I known this at the time I would have just bought 5-GW.