11 Comments

1. 

   sumsum

   Nov 16, 2016 at 6:23 pm

   Rick,

   It seems you Averaged 4mm toe on the Apex, and 5mm toe on the srixon – and the shots all went left….. Mizuno averaged 1mm toe and actually dispersed tighter to the line, not all grouped left. Also, you had 1.4deg and 1.6 deg of side spin with the Callaway and Srixon respectively, vs. 3.6 degrees of side spin with mizuno. This could’ve held it from achieving more distance, but more like it seems, it was third in your test, and you miss hit it more often as you tired. I would like to see you stagger the test, 1 callaway, 1 srixon, 1 mizuno…etc to produce a real test. Also, Mizuno is the only full forged head in the group – the other are multi-material constructions.

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   • 

     Tom

     Nov 17, 2016 at 11:30 am

     Huh? and there it is. ….to the rescue.

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2. 

   Tom

   Nov 16, 2016 at 2:23 pm

   Are we gonna get “impact” comments again?

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3. 

   Tom

   Nov 16, 2016 at 2:01 pm

   Wait for it……wait…… for …… it…….

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4. 

   Jim

   Nov 16, 2016 at 1:03 pm

   It doesn’t matter what the loft is. The COG and even proscribed shaft the engineers (occasionally) designed it around to produce the loft needed for the ‘X’ to play as it should. A (‘7’) iron needs to achieve a ball flight apex to land softly. If it does and yields more distance then they did thier job – well.

   In ’97 I played Diawa Comps. Took a bit of ‘getting used to’
   as they looked like shovels compared to my Miura’s, TZoids
   or VIP’s but the thin Titanium face and sharp grooves
   allowed for Tungsten inserts to lower the CG enough they
   went plenty high, stopped dead with 5irons or got nice draw with a 6 on the greens and were almost 20yds longer. A well needed boost following 3 fractured vertibrea and lead shoulder/hand injuries.

   Everyrhing has changed dramatically in 40 years. Jack coulda hit a 200yd 7 iron back then, it just never would of stopped on the green. Even most ‘players’ clubs PW have gone from 48 to 46 or 46.5 because the balls & shafts and better head design allow for it.

   Great work running these tests – and yes, even the grip should be the same. The heads however should be checked to be exact MFR lofts – whether or not there’s a difference between the club’s designated ‘number’…the launch data will tell us if one has been made ‘too strong’ and comes into a green too hot.

   thanks for doing these 🙂

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5. 

   Jack

   Nov 16, 2016 at 8:11 am

   So what you are saying is a lot more people are striping 2 or even 1 irons down the fairway nowadays. Amazing.

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6. 

   Philip

   Nov 15, 2016 at 10:40 pm

   I like that you are getting away from numbers on the clubs as that loft was called a 5 iron when I started playing golf. You shouldn’t even mentioned the marketing number on the bottom of the club, but if someone needs to think that they hit their club with a 7 on it the same distance as my club with a 5 on it – whatever turns their crank. What was the length of the irons? All 37 inches?

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   • 

     Brian

     Nov 16, 2016 at 10:12 am

     I get so sick of listening to people complain about the loft vs. Number on the bottom of your club. Nobody cares what the 5i was back in your day…you also walked to school in the snow, uphill, both ways.

     I bet your 5 iron of yester-year didn’t launch the ball as high as the current 7 irons.

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     • 

       Philip

       Nov 16, 2016 at 11:34 am

       Wow – hit a nerve eh? Didn’t know back in the day was only 5 years ago – what, you age in dog years? Chill dude – reviewing taking about lofts inside of what has become a meaningless number only makes it easier to compare apple to apples. Oh, and a higher launch isn’t always needed or better – horses for courses.

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   • 

     Spanky

     Nov 16, 2016 at 10:58 am

     You score is what counts in golf, right? If it makes you feel better to have a “traditional” lofted 7 iron, go for it. I see no difference though in someone wanting a non “traditional” 7 iron, than what you want and as long as fitted for the clubs. It makes zero difference. Heck, you are free to use a persimmon 1 wood with a 20 year old steel shaft if that makes you feel better. Just hit the ball and have fun. If it worries you that someone says they hit their 7 iron longer than your 7 iron, eh, I think you just need to let it go and learn to give jabs right back about something else.
     For kicks though, go take a 7 iron from decades ago and get on trackman and compare to these newer lower lofted 7 irons. I think you’ll quickly understand the reasons for lower lofts these days vs more traditional lofts. If that doesn’t make sense to you, then go bend the loft down on a 20 year old 7 iron to match today’s lofts (~30 degrees) and see what you get on the course. Let me know how those bullets work out as they only go a few yards off the ground and skid off the back of a green. It is more than just the loft.
     No matter how you look at it, everyone has to hit the club and post a score no matter what is stamped on the club. And if you really think about it, there is no “standard” loft any longer.
     And beyond lofts, the is no standard on what “regular”, “stiff” etc. means in shafts yet many take it for granted those all mean the same thing across manufacturers. They don’t.
     Get fitted. If you end up with a 35 degree 7 iron, bravo. If its 28 degrees, bravo as well.

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     • 

       Philip

       Nov 16, 2016 at 11:53 am

       Another nerve pinched :o) – for the record I have been getting fitted for a while and have ended up with clubs from 2006 that are only “one” number behind the current crop and from what I see there never was a standard so why even bother with random numbers on clubs. Personally I couldn’t care less about the numbers because in the end I decide on clubs via lofts to space my yardages. However, the effect of the decreased lofts and increased lengths just means I have to tweak lofts more than before and add more lead tape than before after cutting down the shaft lengths, as the OEMs use lighter heads to prevent the swing weights from getting to heavy with the longer lengths. My club selection is based on what I need to get my lowest score. I don’t care about the numbers on my clubs, I figure out the lofts that work – my 3W is the length of a 2W (42.5 inches) with the loft of a 4W (18), or is that a 7W now… I don’t care, as in the end all I need is to figure out the length/loft combination that maximizes my potential – the numbers on the clubs are irrelevant other than to make it easier to pull a club. Only makes it a bit trickier when looking for clubs to replace worn out ones.

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