So What Is a 7-Iron, Anyway?

[ggammon2]

I moved from some older (1999ish) Titleist (honestly don't know the model etc as I was given them in 2003 after my dad upgraded and loved them) to some taylormade rocketbladez recently. I know the lofts and lengths are jacked so a 7 iron is more of 6 or maybe even a 5 iron spec wise. But it is at least as easy to hit as my old 7 iron, goes higher and lands softer than my old 7 iron, and is easily 20 yards longer. It also is very confidence inspiring to pull a "Pw" on a 150 yd par 3 when your buddies have 8s and even longer.

 

I think the new jacked lofts aren't so much fraudulent or a marketing gimmick as much as matching trajectories to make up for the game improvement technology. I can hit a 7 iron higher than anyone I play with even if mine is 30 degrees instead of 35, so I'm glad it's de-lofted some.

[jbil8802]

I moved from some older (1999ish) Titleist (honestly don't know the model etc as I was given them in 2003 after my dad upgraded and loved them) to some taylormade rocketbladez recently. I know the lofts and lengths are jacked so a 7 iron is more of 6 or maybe even a 5 iron spec wise. But it is at least as easy to hit as my old 7 iron, goes higher and lands softer than my old 7 iron, and is easily 20 yards longer. It also is very confidence inspiring to pull a "Pw" on a 150 yd par 3 when your buddies have 8s and even longer.

 

I think the new jacked lofts aren't so much fraudulent or a marketing gimmick as much as matching trajectories to make up for the game improvement technology. I can hit a 7 iron higher than anyone I play with even if mine is 30 degrees instead of 35, so I'm glad it's de-lofted some.

The lofts are jacked so they can sell clubs. Bottom line. If the average Joe that doesn't know much about clubs tests a new set of irons and hits the new 7 iron 10 or 20 yards longer than his current one then he is going to be more likely to buy them. If he hits it the same distance, it's probably not as likely that he's going to drop hundreds of dollars. Now that they've jacked the lofts up so much and compressed them so much at the top end of the sets they're running out of options. Hence the recent marketing strategy of forgiveness and all the "technology increasing ball speeds across the face". Why have a 3* gap between your 5 and 6 irons but a 5* gap between your 9 and PW? Maybe it's just me but it makes no sense to me.

 

If I hit my PW 150 then I have to carry more wedges and figure out in between distances with 3/4 swings and 1/2 swings meanwhile my 4 and 5 are going similar distances. No thanks. I'd rather try to keep it simple. Most of my approach shots are inside 150 not outside it and that's where I have my best chances of making birdies.

 

I agree with you about them being easier to hit and easier to launch. I think it's great for keeping people interested. Some people legitimately need distance irons because they have too many options on the bottom end. In the end though the only thing that matters is that your set works for you and you get the distances out of each club that are most effective and efficient for your game.

[mbrodeur86]

It doesn't matter to me personally. I have an idea of how far I can hit each club and that's all I care about. Sure, It would be nice to hit a 7 iron 200 yards but I'm happy hitting a nice draw 175-180. What I find funny is that I had the original "delofted" clubs - the burner 2.0's and my Wilsons are what most people would call "traditional" lofts and my 5 iron goes at least 10 yards farther than the old burner's I had. Feel much better too.  

 

But in all honesty, if it makes you feel better to hit a 43 degree pw, who are we to judge right? It's what the game is coming down to these days

[ggammon2]

The lofts are jacked so they can sell clubs. Bottom line. If the average Joe that doesn't know much about clubs tests a new set of irons and hits the new 7 iron 10 or 20 yards longer than his current one then he is going to be more likely to buy them. If he hits it the same distance, it's probably not as likely that he's going to drop hundreds of dollars. Now that they've jacked the lofts up so much and compressed them so much at the top end of the sets they're running out of options. Hence the recent marketing strategy of forgiveness and all the "technology increasing ball speeds across the face". Why have a 3* gap between your 5 and 6 irons but a 5* gap between your 9 and PW? Maybe it's just me but it makes no sense to me.

 

If I hit my PW 150 then I have to carry more wedges and figure out in between distances with 3/4 swings and 1/2 swings meanwhile my 4 and 5 are going similar distances. No thanks. I'd rather try to keep it simple. Most of my approach shots are inside 150 not outside it and that's where I have my best chances of making birdies.

 

I agree with you about them being easier to hit and easier to launch. I think it's great for keeping people interested. Some people legitimately need distance irons because they have too many options on the bottom end. In the end though the only thing that matters is that your set works for you and you get the distances out of each club that are most effective and efficient for your game.

I think you're right about the motives obviously. Looking back I probably misrepresented what i meant, my point was more why it works well for me and how I rationalize them, not so much the club makers reasons for jacking lofts. I agree with you about the extra wedges but I actually like that. I carry a 60 a 56 and a 52 in clevelands now (95, 112, 125 are the distances I love to see with each) as well as a 50 degree gap wedge rocketbladez (133) and the rocketbladez pw (147). Because of this I only carry through a 5 iron but I hit it as far as my old 3 iron and way more consistently so that's fine.

[BIG STU]

For me it is the distance I can hit that particular club. I can remember we had this discussion at the old golf shop one rainy Saturday. The guys were wondering why I could airmail this one particular pretty good player off tee with the driver but on the par 3s he was hitting one or sometimes 2 clubs less than I was. At the time I was playing 1970 Macgregor VIPs and he was playing TMag R-7s I think. Had to literally put both clubs on the loft and lie machine to show them. Good example his PW was the same loft as my 8 iron. But to further reinforce my effort they said well he hit a PW on a certain par 3 and I hit the 9 iron. Yeah he hit a draw hook and I hit a slider cut. But I was 3 feet from the hole and he was past the pin about 30 feet to the left he three putted from a bogey and I made birdie. Don't matter what club you use or what number or in case of the new Hogans what degree is on the bottom. BTW my modern Infiniti irons are not set as hot as they can be in fact they are weak to some folks standards they are set maybe 2* hotter than my older Macs which translates roughly into maybe one club stronger. It is all in how the club was made from the factory as to how you can jack the lofts and in what it was designed to do. If for say you take an older set of forged blades like my Macs and jack the lofts more than 2* they would dig to China. Good example the other day. We had some team matches going on and I came to our 8th hole which is a great par 3 up hill playing about 175 up the hill with the wind blowing. The pin was on the front. I knew I could balloon the 9 wood up there but would have a downhill putt. I hit a little low cut 5 iron in there a one hopper 5 feet up hill from the pin birdied the hole. When we were doing the bet settling and calling the holes my other buddy asked who birdied 8. Stuey did he said let me guess he hit a one hopper cut 5 or 6 iron in there. Yep he knows my game. My partner a young pro says lucky shot my other buddy told him he has been hitting that shot before you were born. Just have to adapt and go. Now if it had been a forced carry then I would have to had to hit a high cut 9 wood and hope I could stop it. In retrospect as I always say you have to set and adapt your equipment to your game