Analysis Paralysis

Megah1tz · July 4, 2020

I’m in the market for new irons (need some help here from those that actually know what they are talking about) and went to Club Champion for a fitting. I was targeting the 919 Hot Metal Pro’s and commenced to hitting several shaft options. Long story short, it wasn’t the best experience in the world and I won’t be purchasing the irons from them. The 919’s did not offer me any upgrade over my current TM RSi1’s but I’ll challenge that in a sec so keep with me for a moment. What did offer me better performance was Hogan PTx Pro’s (I think). So let’s jump into the data:

Current Gamers 6 iron Trackman Data – TaylorMade RSi1’s ½” over - +2 upright (they have creeped to over +3) with Project X 95 5.5 Flighted shafts (101g) @ C9

	Club	Ball	Smash	Carry	Total	Height	Attack	Launch	Club Path	Spin Rate
	Mph	Mph		Yds	Yds	Ft	Deg	Deg	Deg	Rpm
1	82.3	105.9	1.29	152.3	168.4	65	-5.5	17.1	3.3	3854
2	85.1	114.4	1.34	158.6	167	82	-5.5	16.7	0.9	6180
3	85.6	118.9	1.39	173.1	183.5	93	-4.9	17.5	1.9	4845
AVG	84.3	113.1	1.34	161.3	173	80	-5.3	17.1	2	4960

919 Hot Metal Pro 6 iron Trackman Data – ½” over – FLAT with KBS Tour (120g) @ D8

	Club	Ball	Smash	Carry	Total	Height	Attack	Launch	Club Path	Spin Rate
	Mph	Mph		Yds	Yds	Ft	Deg	Deg	Deg	Rpm
1	82.8	114.9	1.39	167.8	180.8	79	-3.3	16.5	0.9	4387
2	81.5	111.5	1.37	154	168.1	59	-3.7	13.1	-0.3	5213
3	81.5	112.8	1.38	158.6	168.5	81	-3.7	17.4	-1.9	5426
4	81.4	115.4	1.42	164.6	175.6	79	-3.5	16	-2.5	5140
5	85	115.8	1.36	164.7	178.7	66	-1.1	13.4	-0.9	4845
AVG	82.4	114.1	1.38	161.9	174.4	73	-3.1	15.3	-0.9	5002

Ben Hogan PTxPro 6 iron Trackman Data – ½” over – FLAT with KBS Tour FLT (120g) @ D8

	Club	Ball	Smash	Carry	Total	Height	Attack	Launch	Club Path	Spin Rate
	Mph	Mph		Yds	Yds	Ft	Deg	Deg	Deg	Rpm
1	84.8	119.1	1.4	169.4	180.1	80	-7.1	14.8	-4.1	5400
2	82.7	114.7	1.39	161.5	172.7	75	-2.5	15.3	-1.9	5378
3	82.4	114.6	1.39	162.2	173.6	75	-3.7	15.3	-0.5	5240
4	83.9	118.7	1.41	170.5	185.1	67	-4.3	12.8	-1.1	4690
AVG	83.5	116.8	1.4	165.9	177.9	74	-4.4	14.6	-1.9	5177

SOOOOOOOO here is where I’m stumped! I went to another shop and did the Mizuno Shaft Optimizer and it came back with these for my top 4 – AMT White (R), Project X LZ 5.5 (115g), DG S300 (@ 118g), KBS Tour (120g) Stiff Soft Stepped and it makes sense as I have a quicker tempo swing… Looking at my data, it appears I need more spin but that might not be the case in reality right? I don’t currently have issues “holding greens” because height and decent angles are equally important! The heavier club (@ D8) had me slightly outside-in and closing the face so doesn’t that cost me spin? I suspect the same clubs @D2 (normal for most clubs) possibly perform better because D8 is freakin heavy after a few swings in succession? Both my gamer and the HMP are 26 degree lofts and the PTx is 30 degree and I was getting only slightly better spin with more loft but strangely launch angle went down (I was really tired at that point as the Hogan was the last test after maybe an hour of swinging the club).

Am I over thinking all this? I love the KBS Tour (120g) shaft and I’m seriously considering the Sub70 699 Pro irons… but would a different shaft be better? Maybe mid/high launch like the C Taper Lite or $ Taper Lite? HELP!!!!

NM01 · July 4, 2020

To me the ptx give you the best consistency in strike and numbers.

Some added spin probably wouldn’t be a bad thing and you can get that with a ball change.

Badams69 · July 7, 2020

I'm no expert but numbers will be null and void once you change to a more appropriate swingweight.

D8 is quite different from your standard and/or D2.

Likely shouldn't put much stock in any of these exact numbers without that element being more accurate.

Some things should carry over, but then again .... it could all change as well.

I just realized my swing weight was off by 4 points and now I love my irons after some lead tape. So - something you love you may not, something you didn't like - you may love.

But I sense you know some portions of this given the research and time you are investing.