Iron lofts

[trumb1mj]

So I recently went to the Mizuno JPX pros and love them but my yardages were all off. Come to find out I was playing some pretty strong lofted clubs. The first column is the actual loft and the second is what I was thinking of bending them to. Has anyone toyed with their lofts at all?

3i 20 21
4i 23 24
5i 26 27
6i 29 31
7i 33 35
8i 37 39
9i 41 43
P 45 47

 

[trumb1mj]

Also, are the stronger lofts just a marketing ploy? I actually feel like it hurts performance and only marginally helps distance...

 

[azgreg]

I play Cleveland CG2 circa 2005.

3i 21°
4i 24°
5i 27°
6i 30°
7i 34°
8i 38°
9i 42°
pw 46°
gw 51°
sw 56°

 

[anonymous golfaholic]

If those irons are forged, I wouldn't see a problem bending them. I'm not sure about cast. I do like the weaker lofts though.

Don't forget it will change the bounce on the club too.

 

[TEA Time]

Don't forget it will change the bounce on the club too.

This is a good point.

 

[trumb1mj]

I had them built at customer club fitter so I'm hoping they'll be able to grind the bounce accordingly. Also, this should get me some more trackman time

 

[BigJim13]

If they are forged, no reason you couldnt bend them. My question would be will it be worth it? Are these new? Do you really want to mess with the lofts and then grinding bounce and then having them rust up after spending alot of $$? How big of an issue is it? WHy not just dump the 3i, get a gap wedge and pretend each club is one club less than it is (since it kind of is anyway).

I am not against bending them, but those are questions I would be asking myself if I just dropped a bunch of $$ on new clubs.

 

[trumb1mj]

If they are forged, no reason you couldnt bend them. My question would be will it be worth it? Are these new? Do you really want to mess with the lofts and then grinding bounce and then having them rust up after spending alot of $$? How big of an issue is it? WHy not just dump the 3i, get a gap wedge and pretend each club is one club less than it is (since it kind of is anyway).

I am not against bending them, but those are questions I would be asking myself if I just dropped a bunch of $$ on new clubs.

Yeah, true. They offer this service after the fitting so I'm guessing they'll be able to answer these questions.

 

[BigJim13]

Yeah, true. They offer this service after the fitting so I'm guessing they'll be able to answer these questions.

When you say off, what does that mean? To long? Ballooning?

 

[limpalong]

If the lofts are too strong, why not just drop back a club? If you hit your 8 where you used to hit a 7... so what? My Eye 2+ irons are extremely weak lofted compared to most of today's jacked up lofts. Did I have them bent stronger? Of course not. I may hit 6 when others are hitting 7's or 8's... It's not how, it's how many. I've never seen a scorecard where the specific club you used to get the ball to the hole was recorded.

Cobra started the jacked up loft thing in the late 80's. Egos soared when you could hit a shorter iron than your playing partners. Started the progression where all manufacturers jacked up lofts to compete. Irons are all about knowing exactly how long YOU hit a specific club. No one else cares what number is on the sole of the club.

I'd be much more worried about adding significant bounce to each club by weakening lofts than simply hitting one less club.

 

[SilverUberXeno]

I keep my loft gaps the same.

23
27
31
35
39
43
47
51
55
60

Peace!

 

[EHokie]

If the lofts are too strong, why not just drop back a club? If you hit your 8 where you used to hit a 7... so what? My Eye 2+ irons are extremely weak lofted compared to most of today's jacked up lofts. Did I have them bent stronger? Of course not. I may hit 6 when others are hitting 7's or 8's... It's not how, it's how many.

Works fine except for the aspect of the length of the clubs, which is gonna change swing plane and impact, divot, etc.

If not for that, we might as well just grind down all our soles and replace 7's with 6's.

This may work for some people, but thinking about just shifting my whole set up to the next iron for each shot wouldn't work for me.

 

[trumb1mj]

When you say off, what does that mean? To long? Ballooning?

My flight is penetrating and rarely balloons. That might be a worry if I were to add some loft to my irons.

A few reasons for the change though.

a) I'd prefer a PW with more loft to fit in my set a little more seamlessly (47* - 53* is a nice span for my game).
b) 145 yards used to be a strength for me (full 9i). Now my 9i is going 152ish and wedge is 140ish. I am always trying to lay off a 9i or nuke a PW. So in this case the comfort is off a bit for yardages.
c) I would also like to hit my 3-5i with a bit more spin for a higher ball and more control.

I do not have a flawless swing by any means so when my struggles come, these lofts seem meaningless. I would just like a more seamless set for my own confidence I guess.

 

[David Lake]

It is a sad fact in the golf industry that the club manufacturers strengthen the lofts so that consumers will buy into their marketing hype about increased distances. There is no standardization in the golf industry as to loft angles. This means that one manufacturer's #7 iron might be the equivalent to another manufacturer's #6 or #5 iron. Many golf club manufacturers will make their irons with "strong" loft angles in order to give the illusion that their golf clubs produce increased distance. You have heard golfers say it a thousand times: "I can hit this #8 iron a lot farther then my old #8 iron". The fact is that they can't. What they can do is hit an 8 iron with a 35º loft angle farther than an 8 iron with a 39º loft angle.

 

[Rockford35]

Iron loft is irrelevant. Iron distances are what count.

The loft or number on the bottom of the club should not correlate to the score you mark on the card. It's how you weild the club that is what should be paid attention to.

Loft creep? Who cares. Your first range session will open your eyes to what distances you are hitting with each club - whether it be a set from the 60's or the new Rocketbladez.

R35