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Distance adjustment

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Tadashi70

Tadashi70

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I was just reading @JB comments on the new Cobra F9 irons. He stated he doesn’t think about distance control with them. They are right where he needs them to be. (Paraphrasing)
This got me thinking, is this true for most golfers. Do you buy another set of irons and distance control is not an issue or do you have to get used to them. Are you ok with longer or shorter distances? Do you have adjust lofts to get where you want your distance to be?
THP please share your thoughts.
 
As long as I know how far each iron goes I don't really worry about it

When I bought my current irons I gained quite a bit of distance over the equivalent numbered iron in my old set, so once I knew what distance I hit each club I just had to adjust in my head which club I pulled and trust that I had the correct club in my hand

Now, I don't even think about it and just pull 'x' club for 'y' yardage
 
As long as I know the distance they will go, I don't really pay any mind to it. I'm not a fan of tweaking lofts, so that's pretty much out for me. I do not really mind if they are shorter or longer than my previous, but there has to be a trade off somewhere else that I can live with. I'm about to begin a season with new irons for the first time since 2014, so we will see if I have different thoughts on this after the getting-to-know-you period.
 
For me, I usually have to get used to the distances when switching between sets or renting or something, though I can usually guess pretty well based on construction (distance iron vs. one piece cavity back and loft). As far as distance control goes - I don't see much difference in the way of distance control when playing a more GI set vs. something like the Honma 737 I played for part of this year, and that's probably why I'll be playing a set with more help going forward and why I'm glad I did that experiment this year.
 
The only irons that gave me distance control issues were my Callaway XR Pros. I would get “hot” shots off the face about once every 10 shots especially off the mid and long irons. Being over the green by 10 yards is not a good place to be on most courses. It was the main reason I stopped playing those irons and switched to my current Srixons.
 
it’s a big adjustment for me, but mostly because i buy my irons on ebay or from thp’ers. without a fitting, my only opportunity for distance testing is during a round.


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When I went from Wilson V4's to Callaway CF16's last spring, I gained a club. I certainly was going over a few greens per round in the spring until I got used to it. 150 was my 7 iron, now it's an 8.
 
There's always a distance adjustment when switching clubs, be it irons or fw and even driver. I'm usually able to adjust fairly easily, sometimes within the very first round with the clubs because I don't really play max distance of every iron on every shot if that makes sense. I'm always taking a little off or even in some cases squeezing a little extra out of a club depending on the circumstances. Conditions and each shot totally dictate what iron I hit and from what distance.
 
c.a.eleric said:
it’s a big adjustment for me, but mostly because i buy my irons on ebay or from thp’ers. without a fitting, my only opportunity for distance testing is during a round.


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Click to expand...

Sames.
 
Going from the 765's to the new Hot Metals I picked up a full club distance (8-12 yards). After the second round I have adjusted to the extra distance already with not issues.
 
Usually have somewhat of an adjustment period. After I was fitted into my current sticks several years back, I picked up about a club or so's worth of distance which had me airmailing my targets for a bit until I got it figured out.
 
I'm usually plug and play after a session on the range to dial in a new set. I'll make some mistakes during the first couple of rounds, but for the most part I'll be comfortable pulling out the right club for a specific distance. The only exception I've ever had were the Cleveland HB irons and I believe it was because they felt so different in my hands/to my eyes than the sets I'm used to. I couldn't hit a ball the same way twice and ended up taking way too much or too little club. It's definitely a swing flaw of my own but the shape of the club didn't help and I ended up going back to a more conventional set up.
 
Distance adjustment

I stick with traditional lofts... I’ve used 4 sets the last 18 years, all the same lofts, Titleist Cleveland Mizuno... I won’t buy a jacked set. Same shafts usually too... S300, but my current is LZ 6.0


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I've switched Irons twice in the last 3 years. I haven't had any real issues with distance control. I would say that I gained maybe 1/2 a club between set 1/2 and maybe even went back down 1/2 a club between sets 2/3. I lost distance mainly in the longer irons (due to one length club design). But no big deal really after a range session. I actually attribute some distance gains to me swinging a little faster. I have been trying to control my unconscious need to muscle the heck out of a new club because everyone knows when you get new clubs it instantly makes you wanna swing harder because they make you awesomer! lol!!!
 
I think there's always some adjustment period when moving to clubs that change your standard distances. Some moves are less adjustment than others, but it's definitely there. With irons, I usually start with my 7&8 irons at the range to get an idea and base my estimated distances for the rest of the set on how long those go. Usually takes a few rounds to fully get comfortable, but generally you're talking about the difference between aiming at the middle vs. the back of the green. I'm sure some making the switch from older tech could see some bigger gains, requiring a larger adjustment.
 
This summer I bought my first set of SGI irons (G700). After about 9 holes I figured out the G700's are a club longer than my traditional loft Mizuno MP63 irons.
Sometimes I play a "mixed set", for example G700 4-thru 7 iron, followed by MP 7 thru wedge. Or G700 4 thru 6 iron, MP 6 thru wedge. It looks weird having two 7 or 6 irons in the bag, but works fine.
 
I have adjusted lofts on a couple sets of irons in the past to get the carry distance where I want them. I like to keep the gaps between clubs as consistent as possible. It's usually just a 1 or 2* adjustment one way or another. But these days with my game not quite firing on all cylinders, I'm just trying to make good contact.
 
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