4* gaps in loft through the irons

[Ferrins]

3- 21* _ 21*
4- 24* _ 25*
5- 27* _ 29*
6- 31* _ 33*
7- 35* _ 37*
8- 39* _ 41*
9- 43* _ 45*
p- 48* _ 49*

TaylorMade 300 forged =/- 2* loft adjustment tolerence.

I'm looking at getting this done.

Thoughts

[henno]

At my skill level, I could even go 5 degree increments I reckon.

I really like those scratch irons that have lofts, rather than iron numbers, on the sole. It's a concept I've thought about doing, but I'd have to research shaft lengths and stuff, considering it'd all be different to what I am currently used to. (There'd be one club less for starters.) Not to mention lie angles.

[henno]

Interesting bit here:


I understand that you guys (Scratch Golf) have just finished making Ryan (Moore) a new set for 2010 with the newly mandated USGA legal grooves. Tell us about this set.

This set that we made for Ryan is unlike any other irons that you will see on Tour. Most iron sets have 4-degree loft gaps between the short- and mid-irons and 3-degree loft gaps between the long irons. Ryan felt that this traditional set makeup did not give him the yardage gaps that he wanted and had too many clubs too close together, especially in the longer irons. For years, he had wanted to get a set like this made but never had a company that could make them for him without having the sole grinds and offsets inconsistent and incorrect from bending the heads. Since Jeff McCoy grinds all of our Tour Custom clubs by hand to exact specs and because we bend the raw head to loft before doing any grinding or finishing, we were able to make this set for him and have it come out perfectly with the exact sole grind and offset that fit Ryan's game. The set starts at 20 degrees and goes to 60 degrees in 5-degree loft increments.

http://www.thegolfchannel.com/equipment-insider/whats-next-for-scratch-golf-34313/

[TourFit]

More 'traditional' lofts...no problems. You should be able to get away with NOT having a GW in the set playing 49* PW up to 55* SW (or 54*) and then up to 60*.

You may find that the distance gap between 3 & 4 is a little more, but personally I think it matters LESS than at the short game end. I like to do 3.5* in long irons, 4* in mid irons and then 4.5* in short...this is because for 1* loft in irons = approx 5 yds in long irons, but only 3 yds in the short irons.

This would then give you the suggested lofts of:

3- 21* _ 21*
4- 24* _ 24.5*
5- 27* _ 28*
6- 31* _ 32*
7- 35* _ 36*
8- 39* _ 40*
9- 43* _ 44.5*
p- 48* _ 49*

[Ferrins]

Cheers for that info. I'll be playing a 54 & 58* wedge.

[kpac]

Beside that fact that i think you're mad to alter lofts to a 'consistent' increment, on what would be a perfectly good set of clubs; you do realise, degree increment means nothing compared to distance increment.... It's seem pretty obvious that the 'standard' set, is based on distant increments rather than pure loft.


Loft is a number only mate - distance at the long irons, will be further separated, but adjusting lofts as you say.

[razaar]

The reason why there are fewer degrees in loft between the longer clubs is that the contact between the clubface and ball is more direct (more towards the horizontal) which gives more length with these clubs. The contact with higher lofted clubs doesn't go as far because the contact is not as direct (more towards the vertical), which needs more degrees of loft between these clubs to achieve a similar distance difference.

[PeteyD]

Isn't that what tourfit said in a lot fewer words?

[markTHEblake]

There is a list of TW's old Titleist specs somewhere online, he has/had a 21 deg 2 iron, then 3, 4, then 5 degree increments to a 50 degree wedge. I would struggle to beleive that was just how Titleist made them, nor that he had anything but consistent incremental distances. What Ray says make sense and it would pay all of us to be properly assessed and get a set of clubs that filled in the gaps accurately. GCI do this now with MOI matching, Gary said that for some golfers it takes 8 irons, some 7, some 6. For the latter that might be a 4,6,7,8,9,W. For example for a very short hitter it might be practical to have 5 or even 6 degree gaps in the irons.

[vman]

I like to do 3.5* in long irons, 4* in mid irons and then 4.5* in short...this is because for 1* loft in irons = approx 5 yds in long irons, but only 3 yds in the short irons.


That is a very general comment and, while it may be true at certain clubhead speeds, it is probably not true for most golfers, especiallly those with slower clubhead speeds. These golfers will not produce sufficient spin in the lower lofted irons and in many cases will carry a 24* 4 iron further than a 21* 3 iron.

[razaar]

Isn't that what tourfit said in a lot fewer words?
He did indeed. My few words added a bit more info why that is.

[3oneday]

If we aren't scratch markers or great ball strikers, would we be good enough to tell.

[TourFit]

That is a very general comment and, while it may be true at certain clubhead speeds, it is probably not true for most golfers, especiallly those with slower clubhead speeds. These golfers will not produce sufficient spin in the lower lofted irons and in many cases will carry a 24* 4 iron further than a 21* 3 iron.

Exactly right Veeman...the higher the swingspeed the greater the DISTANCE gap will be for the same loft gap.

However, remember that MOST golfers you speak of buy off a rack and either know nothing about loft and lies (and their value)...or just play the specs that the OEM's use, which is generally 3* gap in 3-4 iron and then 4* for everything else. For some that will be OK and for others tweaking may improve the results. To be truthful, most golfers would BENEFIT from having bigger loft gaps between the short irons especially...as that is where 'distance pinch' is usually most notable. Different folks, different strokes.

At the end of the day the iron set you have IS DESIGNED to be bent and adjusted to whatever YOU need to get the job done. They are just bits of metal. What you decide to bend them to is entirely personal preference and should be largely based on the set make-up that you have. Golf clubs should be selected on a FUNCTION basis - what do you want the club to do?? As such, LOFT and loft progression can be a very powerful tool to use in the setting up of your clubs.

When fitting slower swingspeed seniors and ladies, I usually suggest MORE loft and LESS clubs with bigger gaps. In fact, I am building a ladies' set today where I'm using a 5 Hybrid and then 7,8,9,PW,SW - with the 7 iron bent strong, the 8 iron slightly strong, the 9 iron stays as is and the PW bent weak. Thus the gaps have spread, distance becomes less 'crowded' between clubs...