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Golf.com doing a disservice...

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blugold

blugold

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I made a quick read of the link. I am sure I will sound even more ignorant than usual. If I were to hit 10 different 7 irons, I would be shocked if my distances didn't strongly correlate with changing loft. I know there is more going on with modern clubs but what I am missing here?
 
I don't know. They close the article with the following:

Iron technology simply didn’t used to be as good as it currently is. Irons were hard to hit, and golfers needed help getting the ball into the air. Loft helped them do that — it was a matter of necessity.

But technology keeps getting better. Engineers are constantly figuring out new and interesting ways to push the weight farther back in the clubhead. The clubhead is working harder to get the ball into the air. Golfers simply don’t need as much loft as they used to, because the designs are so much better.

That kind of echoes what OEM's are saying now. The designs are easier to launch, thus necessitating the lowering of loft to keep the flight in check?
 
Yea the article is a bit cheeky, but I do agree with the line about how the tech is getting better which allows golfers to hit lower lofts for the distance. For me and I would guess the masses of recreational golfers, it doesn't matter if thats the reason. I recently pulled my 4h and put in my old i25 3 iron in its place. gapping from that old iron to the top of my new Apex CF19s means it plays like an Apex 4 iron according to loft. I dont care that its a 3 iron, I want a specific distance number and ability to hit it. Now, if it looks like a blade but plays like a SGI set, count me in!!! lol
 
 
mtcowdog said:
I made a quick read of the link. I am sure I will sound even more ignorant than usual. If I were to hit 10 different 7 irons, I would be shocked if my distances didn't strongly correlate with changing loft. I know there is more going on with modern clubs but what I am missing here?
Click to expand...

I would tend to agree with you at least in my experience. My TE Forged 6 iron is 1* less of loft than my Hot Metal Pro 7 iron with the same shaft and same length. Distances are virtually identical. Now how the ball gets to that distance is a bit different and why I play one and not the other.
 
One thing I know for certain. 20ish years ago a friend had a 20* Ping Eye 2 2 iron that me and all my golf buddy friends could barely ever get in the air. Present day I have a 20* Titleist T300 4 iron with a longer shaft than that 2 iron that I consistently launch high and far. It's "get off my lawn" talk to debate whether this thing should be called a 2 iron or a 4 iron because I don't really care. I know which of those clubs I would stick in my bag every single day if I had to choose though.
 
suppose I have a club that has a playing length of 38". it has a headweight of ~255g. the stated loft is 24°.

what number do I put on the bottom?
 
aljaklaw said:
suppose I have a club that has a playing length of 38". it has a headweight of ~255g. the stated loft is 24°.

what number do I put on the bottom?
Click to expand...

5i
 
The article is not wrong. Sure, there is a bit more to the story than OEMs are just making lofts stronger but the article is not wrong. Why is it such a disservice, and who is it a disservice to?
 
A half of a degree? They could have come up with a way better comparison. Like the Callaway Rogue X or some of the other distance irons out there sporting 24* loft in a 6i.
 
A driver is still a driver whether it has 6° or 12° of loft.

I have zero issue with any loft variance within numbered irons.

I have a yardage and need a tool to hit to that distance as consistently as possible as to my abilities. What's marked upon its sole matters next to zero to me.
 
Total click bait naming convention on an obvious reality. Tech provides launch, which subsequently can reduce loft. I strong loft due to two reasons. The first is dynamic loft, and the second is launch angle. If i was launching at a peak of 80 feet, sure, it'd need a change, but I am not.. I'm launching at 120-130 feet. Way to spend most of the article telling half the story... Surprised the last paragraph wasn't in a font half the size.

I love them talking about 0.5 degrees of loft in the last 6 years as a magnificent amount of change when it's practically peanuts.
 
NVGOLFER80 said:
The article is not wrong. Sure, there is a bit more to the story than OEMs are just making lofts stronger but the article is not wrong. Why is it such a disservice, and who is it a disservice to?
Click to expand...

It's a disservice to clubmakers and designers. It's also a disservice to people on the internet who don't understand the importance of launch angles and the insignificance of the number on the bottom of the club.
 
aljaklaw said:
suppose I have a club that has a playing length of 38". it has a headweight of ~255g. the stated loft is 24°.

what number do I put on the bottom?
Click to expand...
Blueberry? 180y? Chair?

Does it really matter what number is on the bottom?
 
I think where the technology has helped is to make the club easier to hit and add feel/forgiveness. It would be fun to test the
same iron with jacked lofts vs standard lofts if that were possible just to see the outcome
 
I have my Hogan Apex Redlines from the late 80's, Hogan Edge GCD's from the 90's, my Mizuno MP-30's from the early 2000's and now my Srixon Z565's. I can hit a 7 iron from each and get a launch monitor and check it myself.
 
That last video was interesting!!
 
blugold said:
It's a disservice to clubmakers and designers. It's also a disservice to people on the internet who don't understand the importance of launch angles and the insignificance of the number on the bottom of the club.
Click to expand...
I am not sure how information can be a disservice. Which is all that article is. it is not (at least IMO) a negative attack article. It is just saying, "you hit your 7 iron further because it has the loft of a 6 iron". it is more of an FYI article.
 
NVGOLFER80 said:
I am not sure how information can be a disservice. Which is all that article is. it is not (at least IMO) a negative attack article. It is just saying, "you hit your 7 iron further because it has the loft of a 6 iron". it is more of an FYI article.
Click to expand...
It's the disingenuous tone that companies just jacked with lofts to get more distance. That's not what happens.
 
NVGOLFER80 said:
I am not sure how information can be a disservice. Which is all that article is. it is not (at least IMO) a negative attack article. It is just saying, "you hit your 7 iron further because it has the loft of a 6 iron". it is more of an FYI article.
Click to expand...

That's generally how I see it as well. I get the holistic club thing with all the tech goodness and the numbers on the club are simply a relative reference. But I suspect most golfers, me included, just hear more distance, Woot! :cool:
 
The only truth is that there is no truth. It's not like any manufacturer or designer has come forward and declared "A 7i shall launch at ___* and shall peak at ___ft and shall descend at ___*".
The basic premise that stronger lofts go further isn't really wrong, but there's definitely much more to it than that.

It doesn't matter. Every player needs to decide for themselves what ball flight they want to have and then find a set of irons that gives it to you.
 
ArmyGolf said:
The only truth is that there is no truth. It's not like any manufacturer or designer has come forward and declared "A 7i shall launch at ___* and shall peak at ___ft and shall descend at ___*".
The basic premise that stronger lofts go further isn't really wrong, but there's definitely much more to it than that.

It doesn't matter. Every player needs to decide for themselves what ball flight they want to have and then find a set of irons that gives it to you.
Click to expand...


Completely agree. Lofts, and numbers do not really matter. There is way more to the story than "hey this 7 has 34 degrees of loft, and this one has 28". It is just like in many cases your standard set these days is 4-GW and it used to be 3-PW. Everyone says "WOW Tiger plays traditional lofts he is soo cool". Well, if you look at your 4-GW lofts your are playing traditional lofts as well. They just put different numbers on the bottom. Whether it is all marketing gimmick, or actual tech advancement is hard to say sometimes.

The numbers on the bottom really do not matter if you know how far you hit your clubs, and that you are getting the right launch, spin, and decent angles to hold greens.
 
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