New iron and shaft combo - help needed!

[doctorgriffo]

New to the forums - first post so I hope this isn’t an annoying new thread - I’m driving myself crazy trying to figure out what to do. I’m struggling to identify the best iron/shaft combo, and there are no demo days around right now and I can’t get fit due to restrictions. I got a set of p790s, stock DG105 stiff shafts, but couldn’t control distances in the mid irons (20 yard variance - flew greens from good lies). Had them on the 90 day return policy with Golfmart, so have the credit to burn and one more go at a risk-free trial of a new set of irons.....

I have a Skytrak at home, and have been playing with a borrowed set of Callaway x forged (6 and 7 iron, modus 120 stiff shafts)/Apex MB (8-PW, KBS Tour flt stiff) - I hit them ok, but the flight on the x forged is a bit low given my ball speed (mid 120s mph with the 6 iron), and while I love the MBs I’m prone to a bit too much of a draw/pull with them (even in these short irons). I compared them to my long-time gamers, Nike forged pro combos (2013) with PX PXI 6.0, which I hit really straight (nice high gentle draw), but with much lower ball speed, too much spin and super-high flight - this loses me more distance than I think I should give up (10 yards shorter than the MBs with equivalent loft, and even more of a gap with the x forged). Given that the shafts and heads are all different, I don’t know if it is the heads, the shafts, or a combo of both.

I’ve rounded down what I think I want to try to some combination of the Mizuno mp20 range,  or the Srixon 785/z forged, (either all 785 or z forged in the short irons) but have no idea which shaft would be the best bet, and which head would get me the launch, spin and descent I’m hoping for. I’m a 5 HC, with a relatively short backswing and aggressive release. I would ideally work with a fitter, but my credit is at golfmart and I don’t have much faith in them (it i is amazing how often I “fit” the stock shafts, and I got fit into clubs 2 deg upright one visit without using anything to actually check, and 2 flat when I went back A week later). Any advice on the best shaft given my  results above, and irons that would give the soft feel and form of the Nikes (small head, thin top line, bit of help in the longer irons with the split cavity) would be greatly appreciated - my golfmart credit is burning a hole in my pocket and most of the courses here are open again!

[cnosil]

Sounds like you have some knowledge on what to look for. Since You don’t have a demo day or quality fitter available, why not
go to the golf mart and try some combos to see what works and what doesn’t. While you provided lots of info, it is really impossible for us to tell you what would work. People will tell you shafts they like but that really has no relevance to what will work for you. You have to experiment to find the best fit.

[RickyBobby_PR]

Curious what the 20 yard variance you refer to about the p790s is in comparison to? When you flew greens was it because you pulled the same numbered club as your previous set that had different loft and launch characteristics than your previous set?

As cnosil mentioned you seem to have some knowledge and an understanding of what you like.

Unfortunately as you mention you have lots of different heads and shaft combos and not without testing different combos in each head it’s really going to be tough to determine a good setup. Curious what your peak height is especially with the Callaway clubs as you noted it’s too low for your ball speed?
 

The modus 120 or 130 would be a shaft I would recommend as well as maybe looking at s300 or s400. Another is the PX 6.0 it’s not going to be as soft as the pxi 6.0.

 

[jddaigneault]

I have p790s and have only noticed a difference in distance with off center strikes, which means it is likely something in your swing that can be helped with the right shaft and by getting lessons. 

Based purely on your swing speed, I’d say the 105s were too light for you. Getting a little bit heavier shaft will help you control the club head more throughout the swing. If you’re swinging 120mph with a 6 iron (faster than tour pros), you likely want to try some x stiff options. I’d double check the swing speed on a launch monitor at your Golfmart if they have it. Typically low ball flight isn’t an issue if the shaft flex is too low. It’ll usually balloon on you. 

Can you either post a video of your swing or describe how you load the shaft? Use some foot spray on the club face and check your strike pattern. Is it consistent? Kind of all over the place? Those things would help make a recommendation. 

[RickyBobby_PR]

36 minutes ago, jddaigneault said:

I have p790s and have only noticed a difference in distance with off center strikes, which means it is likely something in your swing that can be helped with the right shaft and by getting lessons. 

Based purely on your swing speed, I’d say the 105s were too light for you. Getting a little bit heavier shaft will help you control the club head more throughout the swing. If you’re swinging 120mph with a 6 iron (faster than tour pros), you likely want to try some x stiff options. I’d double check the swing speed on a launch monitor at your Golfmart if they have it. Typically low ball flight isn’t an issue if the shaft flex is too low. It’ll usually balloon on you. 

Can you either post a video of your swing or describe how you load the shaft? Use some foot spray on the club face and check your strike pattern. Is it consistent? Kind of all over the place? Those things would help make a recommendation. 

He’s not swinging 120mph that is the ball speed and that’s about 7mph under average of pga tour pros.

[doctorgriffo]

Thanks for the replies - sorry I wasn’t more specific about the speed thing: my 6 iron ball speed is about 125-130mph (skytrak only guesses at club head speed so I don’t pay attention to this, but the ball speed is pretty accurate compared to other launch monitors I’ve used like gc2 etc). When I have worked with a fitter on a better launch monitor, my club speed with a 7 iron is low to mid 80s mph. I was really confused by the p790 numbers I got - I am a solid ball striker with a very repeatable swing, and the gaps mainly happened on the course and could have been due to my unfamiliarity with the distance gain i got from the 790s v the nikes (with 180 to the pin, that would be a hard 6 with the Nikes, so it is possible that I swung harder to get it there, then flew it 190+). Whatever the cause, I lost confidence in distance control, and haven’t had that issue with clubs before or since. Also, my main miss is a bit of a pull, and this consistently adds ball speed and distance, and the addition of yardage with this miss seemed more severe with the p790s.

My strike pattern is solidly in the middle of the club, with my main face miss being a bit toe-y, leading to a loss of backspin and too much draw spin (checked this with spray). I do put the occasional appalling swing in there (too quick in transition because of my short-ish backswing) but discount these results because it is rare. I take it back not far past vertical, and pull down pretty hard so create quite a bit of lag in a shortish swing. 

The interesting thing is the descent angle in the Nikes v the x forged. Comparing the 6 iron v both the 5 and 6 nike clubs (the loft is in between), I struggle to get a land angle above 45deg with the x forged/modus combo, and 28 or so yards height, but the Nikes go 31-32 yards up and descend at 47-48 degrees with about 1000 more revs (x forged spins in the high 4s/low 5s with a 6 iron). What I did like about the p790s was they flew high and came down steep (offsetting a big drop in spin in the mid-short irons). 

I know this is a difficult (and maybe stupid!) question because the answer lies in getting and hitting some different shaft and head combos, but Golfmart is the only place around here (and I have the credit there) and they are doing curbside pickup only so you can’t go inside. Before the shut down, I tried the apex and apex pros and really didn’t like the feel (and they only had me swing it with the stock 95g shaft, that felt far too light), but unfortunately never hit the Mizunos or Srixons (I think the fitter heard “I want to get back 10 yards of distance from my current clubs” and went straight to the player distance irons, and my experience with the x forged and MBs open up other options).

[doctorgriffo]

I should add that I get one more “free swing” at golfmart so can take a chance on a setup and still return it for full credit within 90 days (which will see me through the summer!), and go and hit a bunch of options once they fully reopen. 

[RickyBobby_PR]

6 minutes ago, doctorgriffo said:

Thanks for the replies - sorry I wasn’t more specific about the speed thing: my 6 iron ball speed is about 125-130mph (skytrak only guesses at club head speed so I don’t pay attention to this, but the ball speed is pretty accurate compared to other launch monitors I’ve used like gc2 etc). When I have worked with a fitter on a better launch monitor, my club speed with a 7 iron is low to mid 80s mph. I was really confused by the p790 numbers I got - I am a solid ball striker with a very repeatable swing, and the gaps mainly happened on the course and could have been due to my unfamiliarity with the distance gain i got from the 790s v the nikes (with 180 to the pin, that would be a hard 6 with the Nikes, so it is possible that I swung harder to get it there, then flew it 190+). Whatever the cause, I lost confidence in distance control, and haven’t had that issue with clubs before or since. Also, my main miss is a bit of a pull, and this consistently adds ball speed and distance, and the addition of yardage with this miss seemed more severe with the p790s.

My strike pattern is solidly in the middle of the club, with my main face miss being a bit toe-y, leading to a loss of backspin and too much draw spin (checked this with spray). I do put the occasional appalling swing in there (too quick in transition because of my short-ish backswing) but discount these results because it is rare. I take it back not far past vertical, and pull down pretty hard so create quite a bit of lag in a shortish swing. 

The interesting thing is the descent angle in the Nikes v the x forged. Comparing the 6 iron v both the 5 and 6 nike clubs (the loft is in between), I struggle to get a land angle above 45deg with the x forged/modus combo, and 28 or so yards height, but the Nikes go 31-32 yards up and descend at 47-48 degrees with about 1000 more revs (x forged spins in the high 4s/low 5s with a 6 iron). What I did like about the p790s was they flew high and came down steep (offsetting a big drop in spin in the mid-short irons). 

I know this is a difficult (and maybe stupid!) question because the answer lies in getting and hitting some different shaft and head combos, but Golfmart is the only place around here (and I have the credit there) and they are doing curbside pickup only so you can’t go inside. Before the shut down, I tried the apex and apex pros and really didn’t like the feel (and they only had me swing it with the stock 95g shaft, that felt far too light), but unfortunately never hit the Mizunos or Srixons (I think the fitter heard “I want to get back 10 yards of distance from my current clubs” and went straight to the player distance irons, and my experience with the x forged and MBs open up other options).

There’s probably a good 3-5* difference in loft between the nikes and the p790 with the p790 being stronger as they are player distance vice the more traditional players style of the Nike. They would probably spin less as well. So I would say that is where the issue you had with the p790 lies and as a result you were over clubbing for the shot at hand.

The mp20s mb are probably going to spin a bit more than the Callaway x forged and close to what you see with the Callaway mb. The mmc will be somewhat closer to the Nike and x forged as would the z785. The z forged are you blade offering from Srixon.

The short aggressive swing leaves you with several shaft options but the feel aspect and how hey work with each head is unfortunately player dependent. You have the modus 105/125 which is a different profile from the 120/130. Theres PX 6.0 which are good for aggressive swings. There’s $ taper from kbs. 

[jddaigneault]

Modus 120 is great for aggressive swings. The Modus 130 is the highest launching shaft in their Tour line though. Might be worth giving that a shot. 
 

@RickyBobby_PR is right about the loft different. I went and did a gapping session with my p790s and weakened some of the lofts to get my descent angles better. Distance definitely isn’t a problem with those irons. 
 

Srixons are great if you have a steep angle of attack, with their v-sole helping add bounce. Given their dominance in Most Wanted testing, there’s nothing like a mizuno. If I didn’t get a fat discount on my Taylormades I’d be playing mizuno right now!

[doctorgriffo]

Thanks for the replies - in a miracle development, Golfmart just reopened so I could go in and hit the various options. Didn’t even get as far as the Srixons, because I hit the MP 20 MMC so well with the Modus shaft - turns out that it must have been the x forged head that was giving the lower flight for my swing. Great numbers for descent, spin, peak height, distance and consistency with the MP20 MMC in the mid irons, and MP20 MB in the 9 and PW (hit the s300 and $ tapers and the balance felt way off - so glad I got to test out various shafts). Now I probably need to buy new wedges to blend in better - the urge to buy new clubs never ends!

[jddaigneault]

11 hours ago, doctorgriffo said:

Thanks for the replies - in a miracle development, Golfmart just reopened so I could go in and hit the various options. Didn’t even get as far as the Srixons, because I hit the MP 20 MMC so well with the Modus shaft - turns out that it must have been the x forged head that was giving the lower flight for my swing. Great numbers for descent, spin, peak height, distance and consistency with the MP20 MMC in the mid irons, and MP20 MB in the 9 and PW (hit the s300 and $ tapers and the balance felt way off - so glad I got to test out various shafts). Now I probably need to buy new wedges to blend in better - the urge to buy new clubs never ends!

Congrats! Which modus shaft did you land with?

[doctorgriffo]

Went with the modus 120 throughout - felt the most balanced to me, and the numbers were great.

[Kanoito]

 love me some Mizuno and Modus...

Gratz on the new sticks... and wedges... lol

[doctorgriffo]

Have to wait 2 weeks to get them - can’t wait, Will post pics, thoughts and some numbers when they get here (as long as the numbers look good!)

[doctorgriffo]

They arrived - took over 4 weeks (looks like Mizuno have quite a backlog). Had a bit of a hit into the screen with them, but will tear them out fully this weekend. They feel awesome off the face so far!