Ok, I'm going to pick the forum brains for some opinions on an issue that's got me scratching my head just recently...
I'm currently playing Cobra 3400 I/XH irons with the 55gm YS5.1 graphite shafts in them. A 'super game-improvement' club that is ridiculously easy to hit and to get the ball in the air, and that I've been playing for all of this year. These have a VERY wide sole on them to prevent digging.
But digging has never a problem for me, and neither has getting the ball up in the air - I'm very much a 'picker' and if I make a bad swing it always results in hitting the ball thin and I very rarely hit anything other than chips fat.
I bought a new bag last week and decided to put my old irons into my old bag, but for old time's sake I took them down the range to see how I hit them after all my swing changes and general improvement. It was unbelievable. My old irons are the old King Cobra Oversize irons from a good 10 years ago, with graphite shafts, perimeter weighting and not particularly wide soles. I was catching them great and it was noticeable that not only where they a good 5 to 10yds longer than my new irons, but much more accurate. Even more stunning was that I was hitting the 3 and 4 irons, and hitting them well! Bear in mind I only ever carried up to 6i when I used these as I could barely hit the 5i let alone the long irons.
I went back to the range with my 3400s today and noticed they flew considerably higher, but my distance was back down again, and my accuracy nowhere near as good. I also carry a Ping S59 6i with Z-Z65 shaft that I bought cheap in my bag, which I used to use at the range to see how well my swing was going. I was hitting this beautifully today, and it was also a good 10yds longer that my Cobra 6i. I also tried hitting the Cobra 4i (that I never use) and found it barely went any further than the 5i in that set, both only going about the same as this Ping 6i.
What's going on in my head now is wondering what is the reason for this. The lofts on the two sets of Cobras are identical. I can't work out whether the issue is that the ultra-high trajectory of the new Cobras is way too high for me, and robbing me of consistency and distance, or whether it's that the sole is sliding under the ball too easily and giving me these mega-high shots. On top of that I'm wondering how much the heavier shafts in the old Cobras and Ping club are contributing to the extra length and accuracy. Or whether it's all three!
Any help unpicking this is appreciated! My thoughts at the moment are to switch back to the old Cobras, at least for a round or two, and see how they go with my new swing. If they go well, maybe I need to get some 'ordinary' game improvement irons with narrower soles, and probably with heavier steel shafts. Does that sound right?
