Utility 4 iron

[spongebob59]

Thinking of getting a utility 4 iron to replace the PXG 4 iron i have in my set, I hit it well but wondered if id get a bit more from a chunkier version.

Currently looking at the Titleist U510 but is there anything else to consider ?

 

[Imurg]

Srixons always get good reviews
Well worth a look

 

[Neilds]

I tried a couple earlier this year and I found out very quickly that I don't have the swing speed to get the ball up in the air. A very short lived experiment

 

[Imurg]

I tried a couple earlier this year and I found out very quickly that I don't have the swing speed to get the ball up in the air. A very short lived experiment

I have a 5 utility as my 5 iron
I wouldn't want to go lower than that...

 

[Singlefiguregokfer]

I’ve a Ping crossover 2 iron which is very easy to hit

 

[Voyager EMH]

When playing a shot with a 1-iron or 2-iron I try to make a slow smooth swing.
This is why it puzzles me when people mention that a faster swing is required to play long irons.

I learned this playing my junior sized Dunlop Blue Flash 3-iron in the early 1970s. Trying to hit it hard resulted in too many poor shots.
Just your normal swing, which in my case was a 13-year-old's swing with a short-length shaft, is sufficient.

And today people have been convinced that such a club is "impossible" to play with. Utter nonsense.

 

[Singlefiguregokfer]

When playing a shot with a 1-iron or 2-iron I try to make a slow smooth swing.
This is why it puzzles me when people mention that a faster swing is required to play long irons.

I learned this playing my junior sized Dunlop Blue Flash 3-iron in the early 1970s. Trying to hit it hard resulted in too many poor shots.
Just your normal swing, which in my case was a 13-year-old's swing with a short-length shaft, is sufficient.

And today people have been convinced that such a club is "impossible" to play with. Utter nonsense.

View attachment 52832

What’s that got to do with the OP’s question?

 

[Voyager EMH]

What’s that got to do with the OP’s question?

What's that got to do with a continued discussion where I pick up on a point made by another contributor with regard to playing with long-irons?
Does an OP need to set out limiting parameters at the start or can discussions develop in whatever direction they happen to go?
Who gets to decide on what are acceptable and not acceptable points being raised?

 

[Orikoru]

When playing a shot with a 1-iron or 2-iron I try to make a slow smooth swing.
This is why it puzzles me when people mention that a faster swing is required to play long irons.

I learned this playing my junior sized Dunlop Blue Flash 3-iron in the early 1970s. Trying to hit it hard resulted in too many poor shots.
Just your normal swing, which in my case was a 13-year-old's swing with a short-length shaft, is sufficient.

And today people have been convinced that such a club is "impossible" to play with. Utter nonsense.

You may just naturally have enough speed anyway, because you (presumably) have a good swing, being a low handicapper. For most mid and high handicappers it's practically an accepted fact that you need a certain level of swing speed to launch a 4 iron well enough that it actually goes further than a 5 iron. Hence why we switch to hybrids and 7 woods which generate more speed and a higher launch to give the distance we require.

What’s that got to do with the OP’s question?

Well he asked if we thought he should get a 4 iron. And we're talking about whether 4 irons are easy to hit or not. So it feels relevant to me.

 

[Teebs]

Would you contemplate a hybrid 4 instead?

 

[Wabinez]

You don't have to go too chunky. I just replaced my T100s 4 iron, with a T200 4 iron, just for a bit of added oomph and help. One round in, it was a good choice.

 

[Voyager EMH]

You may just naturally have enough speed anyway, because you (presumably) have a good swing, being a low handicapper. For most mid and high handicappers it's practically an accepted fact that you need a certain level of swing speed to launch a 4 iron well enough that it actually goes further than a 5 iron. Hence why we switch to hybrids and 7 woods which generate more speed and a higher launch to give the distance we require.


Well he asked if we thought he should get a 4 iron. And we're talking about whether 4 irons are easy to hit or not. So it feels relevant to me.

No.
I was not even average height for my age at 13. I was not a low handicapper, 27 at the time. No such thing as hybrids.
There was going to be a massive gap between the 5-iron and the 4-wood unless I learned to hit the 3-iron properly.
Just went to a school field and practiced for a bit. I could hit the 7-iron and with the same swing, I found that I could hit the 5-iron and the 3-iron.
Using the same swing as with the 7-iron, the 3-iron club head is bound to be travelling a little faster because the shaft is longer.
A poor shot, if it occurred, was just the same as with any other clubs, it didn't go very far.
It is this myth that something "extra" is required to hit a long iron (and/or a bladed one) that I have never been able to subscribe to.
It may have been that I was simply not aware of this myth and just got on with it without those negative thoughts.
Anyway, no such negative thoughts have ever entered my head with regard to long irons.
I've had 3 hole-in-ones and one of them was with a 2-iron - Ram Laser Fx forged set that I played with from 1992 to 2008. I still have the 1-iron from that set. Wish I had kept the lot.

 

[Orikoru]

No.
I was not even average height for my age at 13. I was not a low handicapper, 27 at the time. No such thing as hybrids.
There was going to be a massive gap between the 5-iron and the 4-wood unless I learned to hit the 3-iron properly.
Just went to a school field and practiced for a bit. I could hit the 7-iron and with the same swing, I found that I could hit the 5-iron and the 3-iron.
Using the same swing as with the 7-iron, the 3-iron club head is bound to be travelling a little faster because the shaft is longer.
A poor shot, if it occurred, was just the same as with any other clubs, it didn't go very far.
It is this myth that something "extra" is required to hit a long iron (and/or a bladed one) that I have never been able to subscribe to.
It may have been that I was simply not aware of this myth and just got on with it without those negative thoughts.
Anyway, no such negative thoughts have ever entered my head with regard to long irons.
I've had 3 hole-in-ones and one of them was with a 2-iron - Ram Laser Fx forged set that I played with from 1992 to 2008. I still have the 1-iron from that set. Wish I had kept the lot.

1. As you're usually so fond of pointing out, that 3 iron probably had the same loft as today's 6 irons.
2. Using yourself, again, as the only case to make your point is slightly naïve I feel. You obviously took to the game pretty naturally and are a good ball-striker. Most people aren't.
3. It's not invented, many mid and high handicappers use indoor SIMs and/or launch monitors and can see that their 5 and 4 irons don't travel any further than their 6 irons. Again this might be different for you, but you're not most people. Just because you can do a thing, it doesn't mean that everybody can do that thing.

 

[Imurg]

You don't need something extra to hit a long iron successfully...you need something to start with..
Generally speaking, most amateur golfers can't generate enough club speed to make having a 3, 4 or even 5 iron a usable club in the bag.
There are exceptions to the rule..
I can hit a 4 iron and even a 3 but they don't carry any further than a 5 and they then roll out 30+ yards which is no good to anyone going into a green
Lofts were more generous back in the day, the head design of modern long irons helps the ball into the air - hence the stronger lofts
But you still need decent speed and technique - both sadly lacking in the majority, to make the best of them.

 

[Voyager EMH]

1. As you're usually so fond of pointing out, that 3 iron probably had the same loft as today's 6 irons.
2. Using yourself, again, as the only case to make your point is slightly naïve I feel. You obviously took to the game pretty naturally and are a good ball-striker. Most people aren't.
3. It's not invented, many mid and high handicappers use indoor SIMs and/or launch monitors and can see that their 5 and 4 irons don't travel any further than their 6 irons. Again this might be different for you, but you're not most people. Just because you can do a thing, it doesn't mean that everybody can do that thing.

They just need to learn to do it rather than seek to deem it not possible for them.

I was quite clearly, to me, not naturally talented at golf at all.
I had a desire to become competent and I persevered and learnt how to learn in order to improve rather than say to myself that some aspects of the game were beyond me.

It was the same for my dad and older brother who started playing in 1969. They learnt how to hit their bladed 3-irons.
Dad never got below 21 handicap, but he did not entertain the fear and dread of long irons.

 

[Crumplezone]

https://www.golfbidder.co.uk/yonex-nanospeed-i-hybrid I have used the 5 and 4 iron version of this sucessfully for many years. Really easy to hit.

 

[Voyager EMH]

You don't need something extra to hit a long iron successfully...you need something to start with..
Generally speaking, most amateur golfers can't generate enough club speed to make having a 3, 4 or even 5 iron a usable club in the bag.
There are exceptions to the rule..
I can hit a 4 iron and even a 3 but they don't carry any further than a 5 and they then roll out 30+ yards which is no good to anyone going into a green
Lofts were more generous back in the day, the head design of modern long irons helps the ball into the air - hence the stronger lofts
But you still need decent speed and technique - both sadly lacking in the majority, to make the best of them.

I wonder if modern clubs actually prevent players from becoming more competent?
And the launch monitor data - they take as an immutable fact - instead of it being an indicator of sphere of improvement to be made.

Maybe a set of early 1970s blades for less than £20 off ebay would make excellent training/practicing clubs for a lot of players?
Wouldn't work, of course, unless they have the desire to learn how to do it.

But no, it won't happen. The modern way is to bash away with the most "forgiving" clubs you can find and shy away from what you have mistakenly learnt is beyond your capability.

Two wheeled cycles are much more difficult to ride than 3-wheelers aren't they?

 

[Neilds]

I wonder if modern clubs actually prevent players from becoming more competent?
And the launch monitor data - they take as an immutable fact - instead of it being an indicator of sphere of improvement to be made.

Maybe a set of early 1970s blades for less than £20 off ebay would make excellent training/practicing clubs for a lot of players?
Wouldn't work, of course, unless they have the desire to learn how to do it.

But no, it won't happen. The modern way is to bash away with the most "forgiving" clubs you can find and shy away from what you have mistakenly learnt is beyond your capability.

Two wheeled cycles are much more difficult to ride than 3-wheelers aren't they?

Unicycles are even harder but I bet even with practice, most of us wouldn’t use them

 

[Singlefiguregokfer]

I wonder if modern clubs actually prevent players from becoming more competent?
And the launch monitor data - they take as an immutable fact - instead of it being an indicator of sphere of improvement to be made.

Maybe a set of early 1970s blades for less than £20 off ebay would make excellent training/practicing clubs for a lot of players?
Wouldn't work, of course, unless they have the desire to learn how to do it.

But no, it won't happen. The modern way is to bash away with the most "forgiving" clubs you can find and shy away from what you have mistakenly learnt is beyond your capability.

Two wheeled cycles are much more difficult to ride than 3-wheelers aren't they?

Maybe we should all buy vintage blades, that way we can be split between those that can and those that can’t use them.
If you struggle tough luck and maybe consider giving up because you won’t enjoy your golf anymore…but at least you’re using old clubs with the correct loft.

 

[spongebob59]

Would you contemplate a hybrid 4 instead?

I have a 3i hybrid but as I hit the 4 iron really well so thought Id like to try something in between an iron and hybrid .