Iron tech, how often should you buy to see noticeable improvements?

[aguybadatgolf]

Hi all!

In my second year of golf now and have really been seeing big improvements in my game. Lately I’ve been wondering if it’s time for new irons. I currently game a set of 845 Silver Scott’s that were first introduced in 1988, making them significantly older than I am. You can find an article about them by MGS here. So on the older side. I’m also rather tall and have learned that I need them 2-3 degrees more upright and an inch longer. I’ve already extended them.

 

My real question is, should I keep tweaking these to make them better suit my game or would something like the Sub 70 699 pro on the correct specs really help my game? How much of a difference will the tech advancement make?

Edited June 30, 2023 by aguybadatgolf

[NM01]

There is newer tech/designs compared to 1988. Whether any of them would produce better results will vary by individual.

 

[cnosil]

59 minutes ago, aguybadatgolf said:

have learned that I need them 2-3 degrees more upright and an inch longer. I’ve already extended them.

 

My real question is, should I keep tweaking these to make them better suit my game or would something like the Sub 70 699 pro on the correct specs really help my game? How much of a difference will the tech advancement make?

loft and length adjustments are fairly minimal in cost so that really shouldn’t be a deciding factor.   IMO, you need to ask yourself what do you want/need from a new set of irons that your current irons aren’t providing?  If you just want new irons the answer is always have fun and go get new irons.   Since you are asking about technology improvements it sound like you want a performance improvement.   Switching irons isn’t necessarily going to provide scoring improvements on a round by round basis.  What do you consider noticeable improvement?

[aguybadatgolf]

8 minutes ago, cnosil said:

loft and length adjustments are fairly minimal in cost so that really shouldn’t be a deciding factor.   IMO, you need to ask yourself what do you want/need from a new set of irons that your current irons aren’t providing?  If you just want new irons the answer is always have fun and go get new irons.   Since you are asking about technology improvements it sound like you want a performance improvement.   Switching irons isn’t necessarily going to provide scoring improvements on a round by round basis.  What do you consider noticeable improvement?

One big thing is that I have the wrong flex shaft in my current set. Im sure that would help a bit. The other thing that I am most interested is the added forgiveness and ball speed you supposedly get from a hollow body design. 

[cnosil]

12 minutes ago, aguybadatgolf said:

One big thing is that I have the wrong flex shaft in my current set. Im sure that would help a bit. The other thing that I am most interested is the added forgiveness and ball speed you supposedly get from a hollow body design. 

 I can’t assess if you have the right flex shaft, that would have to be done during a fitting.  Shaft flex is dependent on the shaft that you are using since its measurement isn’t standard.   If you learned that you have the wrong shaft through a fitting or even hitting clubs in a simulator/LM, you should have been able to personally assess if newer clubs were better?    
 

IMO, newer irons would give you more forgiveness and ball speed on off center strikes.   The noticeability of that is very subjective; 1 mph ball speed is noticeable but might not be significant.  That 1 MPH also might not generate anything noticeable on the course.   

[aguybadatgolf]

29 minutes ago, cnosil said:

 I can’t assess if you have the right flex shaft, that would have to be done during a fitting.  Shaft flex is dependent on the shaft that you are using since its measurement isn’t standard.   If you learned that you have the wrong shaft through a fitting or even hitting clubs in a simulator/LM, you should have been able to personally assess if newer clubs were better?    
 

IMO, newer irons would give you more forgiveness and ball speed on off center strikes.   The noticeability of that is very subjective; 1 mph ball speed is noticeable but might not be significant.  That 1 MPH also might not generate anything noticeable on the course.   

Sorry I should have been more clear. I haven’t officially been fit for irons but I was recently fit for a new driver shaft where I was fit into a Xstiff shaft and the fitter made an off hand comment that some stiff iron shafts wouldn’t be a bad idea. I didn’t get any specifics other than that comment but based on my swing speed and some generic charts he’s likely right. 

[cnosil]

16 minutes ago, aguybadatgolf said:

Sorry I should have been more clear. I haven’t officially been fit for irons but I was recently fit for a new driver shaft where I was fit into a Xstiff shaft and the fitter made an off hand comment that some stiff iron shafts wouldn’t be a bad idea. I didn’t get any specifics other than that comment but based on my swing speed and some generic charts he’s likely right. 

I’d go with the fitters comment versus seeing speed or a generic chart.  How you swing and the overall profile of the shaft are bigger influences.   By charts I could be x-stiff but can easily play regular.   I have also read about people width sub 90 speed being fit into x-stiff based on ball contact.  Flex is not standard an x-stiff in one shaft could be equivalent to a regular in another. 

[aguybadatgolf]

1 minute ago, cnosil said:

I’d go with the fitters comment versus seeing speed or a generic chart.  How you swing and the overall profile of the shaft are bigger influences.   By charts I could be x-stiff but can easily play regular.   I have also read about people width sub 90 speed being fit into x-stiff based on ball contact.  

Oh interesting the more I learn about the gear the more clear it becomes that golf is easily the most complex sport I’ve played.

[NM01]

2 hours ago, aguybadatgolf said:

Sorry I should have been more clear. I haven’t officially been fit for irons but I was recently fit for a new driver shaft where I was fit into a Xstiff shaft and the fitter made an off hand comment that some stiff iron shafts wouldn’t be a bad idea. I didn’t get any specifics other than that comment but based on my swing speed and some generic charts he’s likely right. 

Swing speed isn’t the primary thing in choosing shafts. Also remember that there’s no standard in flex. I could give you a kbs tour shaft in stiff flex and a dg s300 which is also stiff and the kbs will play stiffer and be closer to an x stiff.

Shaft stiffness profile and weight are key. Finding the right one is key. And there’s no way to say what weight or profile works for a golfer. Only way to tell is to test either on your own or in a fitting. A fitting for most golfers is the better option because a good fitter is going to be able to narrow down and move in the rift direction faster 

[revkev]

I've enjoyed the read - where are you at with this?  It seems as if you have a local fitter that you can trust.  It would be a good idea to visit him and see what he recommends.  Those silver scotts are classics but tech has really improved since then.  Chances are pretty good that you will be able to increase your scoring potential through a good iron fitting.  

 

Let us know how it goes and good luck. 

[aguybadatgolf]

44 minutes ago, revkev said:

I've enjoyed the read - where are you at with this?  It seems as if you have a local fitter that you can trust.  It would be a good idea to visit him and see what he recommends.  Those silver scotts are classics but tech has really improved since then.  Chances are pretty good that you will be able to increase your scoring potential through a good iron fitting.  

 

Let us know how it goes and good luck. 

I actually found a local fitter who has a few Sub70 products. He was able to confirm the correct specs for me which was very helpful as I am in a bit of a unique spot. Need 3 degrees upright and an inch extended. The shaft I ended up going with is the dynamic gold x100 tour issue. I was nervous about going xstiff but it’s made a huge difference and I hardly notice it.

As for the clubs I ordered the 699 Pros. When comparing on the Trackman I was hitting each club 10-15 yards further. For example my 845 9 iron was about my 150 club. With the 699 pro I now hit it 162 on average but that’s mostly due to different lofts. The real improvement was dispersion and forgiveness I only saw at most a loss of 8 yards when I hit really far out of the heel. With my 845s it was as much as a 15 yard difference if I missed the center. Very happy overall with the whole process and end result.