Do flexible iron faces help slower swingers?

[Hook DeLoft]

Years ago, when Mizuno introduced the first JPX irons, Dana Upshaw (a well-respected club fitter who was active on the old 4gea) said that the flexible faces were causing big distance gains for faster players, but he wasn’t seeing any gains for players who swung their irons less than 80mph. This seems to be the case for me. When I hit different irons on a launch monitor, the ball speeds vary purely by loft. For example, a 34 degree hot face 8 iron will have the same ball speed as a 34 degree fully forged 7 iron. There will be differences in spin, which can affect distance, but they are minimal. I swing a 7 iron in the mid 70’s.  Of course, ball speed retention on mis-hits is much better with the flexible face irons. I was wondering if anyone else who is a slower swinger or a club fitter has noticed the same results. Don’t get me wrong, I usually play hot face irons, but the benefit I see is forgiveness of mis-hits, not increased distance when comparing loft to loft. 

[Hook DeLoft]

Mods, I think I put this in the wrong folder. Could you move it to shiny metal or general equipment?  Thanks!

[Kansas King]

Flexible faces should in theory help slow swing speeds but materials and construction have generally required the faces to be thick enough to withstand a wide range of swing speeds which require them to be on the thicker side. The result is a very hot clubface for fast swings but normal clubface for slower swings. This should improve in the coming years with better manufacturing and materials but the reality is for a clubface to be thin enough today to help a slow swing speed, it would probably break for those with higher swing speeds. With current technologies, companies would have to produce clubs for different swing speeds and that just isn't feasible. However, things are improving and slow swingers should be seeing improvements as technology makes thinner materials more available. I'm kind of surprised there isn't a company making a slow swing speed specific club given the huge variety of irons out there but you never know what the future holds. 

I would be curious to see how well the new Titleist CNCPTs performed for a slow swing speed since they apparently are at the bleeding edge for golf technology.