What is a good spin rate for iron shots?

[ms1195]

I had a chance to hit the new RocketBladez 7 iron last night at Golf Galaxy. They let me use the launch monitor to show me how much better the new irons are, and it raised a question for me.

 

I'm somewhat familiar with reasonable backspin numbers for a driver, but I have no idea what is ideal for a 7 iron, and I figured some guys here would be able to help. My swing speed was around 81 mph and the spin was upwards of 6900. I don't remember ballspeed numbers but distance was 162-165. That amount of spin seems high to me.

 

FWIW I thought the new irons were pretty sweet, but the stock shafts reminded me of crappy uniflex shafts I've seen before, with the multiple steps bunched together towards the clubhead.

 

Thanks for any input on this.

[Super Tuna]

That's pretty much spot on actually.

 

The rule of thumb, depending on ball speed and LA, is 1000 RPM per number on the iron, give or take 400. At 6900 with a 7, you're smack on the standard. Doesn't mean it's maximized for you, but it's playable as is.

[jayhawker]

Can't say it any better than tuna.

I also tried the rbz irons, I really liked the shafts particularly, I guess I don't have extensive experience in shafts beyond my s300s. I was quite surprised that all my spot on hits felt just as good as my spot on hits with my cg16 tours with higher quality shafts than the rbzs, at least supposedly.

[Ice]

Can't say it any better than tuna.

I also tried the rbz irons, I really liked the shafts particularly, I guess I don't have extensive experience in shafts beyond my s300s. I was quite surprised that all my spot on hits felt just as good as my spot on hits with my cg16 tours with higher quality shafts than the rbzs, at least supposedly.

 

 

Feel is subjective. Quality doesn't mean the shaft will feel better. I can't stand the feel of DGs and they are some of the highest quality American steel shafts there are.

[jayhawker]

Feel is subjective. Quality doesn't mean the shaft will feel better. I can't stand the feel of DGs and they are some of the highest quality American steel shafts there are.

Certain parts of feel are subjective, amounts of it are not. Everyone may feel it different when they it a shot pure, but they sure as heck are gonna notice a stronger feeling in a players iron than high game improvement. Most times on a game improvement it doesn't feel very different at all on non sweet spot shots than sweet spot ones, but there is a clear difference on pure and not pure players irons shots. On the rbz there was a similarity in off center hits to pure, but the difference was greater than many game improvements out there. I liked that

[MmmmmmBuddy]

That's pretty much spot on actually.

 

The rule of thumb, depending on ball speed and LA, is 1000 RPM per number on the iron, give or take 400. At 6900 with a 7, you're smack on the standard. Doesn't mean it's maximized for you, but it's playable as is.

This.....

 

Exactly...

[JMiller]

there was a topic posted in MGS about pga tour trackman data here is the link from awhile ago not sure how up to date this is...

http://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/2037-pga-tour-numbers-on-trackman/

[ms1195]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Hopefully I'll be able to hit the Bladez on an actual range to see what the ballflight looks like. Between the reviews the guys put on this site and the few hits I had, they are looking pretty good for 2013.

[RoverRick]

I went to the launch monitor today and discovered something astonishing. The original intent was to look at the Rocket Bladez (RBlz). But I also took my 6 and 7 irons. What I discovered was I could gain 9 yards with a 7 iron by playing it more forward in my stance. With a R11 19* hybrid, I could gain 20 more yards by ball position. Those are big numbers.

[Blade]

I went to the launch monitor today and discovered something astonishing. The original intent was to look at the Rocket Bladez (RBlz). But I also took my 6 and 7 irons. What I discovered was I could gain 9 yards with a 7 iron by playing it more forward in my stance. With a R11 19* hybrid, I could gain 20 more yards by ball position. Those are big numbers.

Hey Rick, that's interesting. I'm wondering how far forward compared to your front heel say? I play my long irons more forward than most people I think. For my 3i it's only a couple inches behind the driver. I want it right at the bottom of my swing if it's a clean lie in the fairway or on the tee. It's always felt to me that it lets the club unwind a little more and pick up more speed by the time it gets to the ball. If I do that with shorter irons though I'm hitting it too high. I imagine C Tapers or similar might let me get away with that. Haven't experimented that much with it.

[ms1195]

I went to the launch monitor today and discovered something astonishing. The original intent was to look at the Rocket Bladez (RBlz). But I also took my 6 and 7 irons. What I discovered was I could gain 9 yards with a 7 iron by playing it more forward in my stance. With a R11 19* hybrid, I could gain 20 more yards by ball position. Those are big numbers.

 

Sounds like a pretty significant discovery. What did you attribute the added distance to (launch angle, etc.)?

[RoverRick]

Dude, that's almost a club on the 7i and a club and a half to two on the hybrids. Was the 9yd gain with your Mizzy or the Bladez?

 

Fairways & Greens 4ever

 

That was with the Mizzy. I admit that ball position is something that I have had an issue with. I know however if I playing in the middle of my stance I hit it lower than most people but with a ton of back spin and almost no side spin. This makes it very straight and keeps the ball down out of the wind.

 

Now that I think about that it may be a bit misleading. When on the LM I was not really interested in distance control and I was hitting it as far as I can. So who cares if I can hit a certain club 159 yards. If I have a 150 yard shot than I have just hit the ball 27 feet past the flag. Irons are all about hitting to a certain point. Not as far as possible down a certain line. I got caught up in distance craze with the irons.

 

However, 20 yard increase with the hybrid was a useful thing.

[RoverRick]

Hey Rick, that's interesting. I'm wondering how far forward compared to your front heel say? I play my long irons more forward than most people I think. For my 3i it's only a couple inches behind the driver. I want it right at the bottom of my swing if it's a clean lie in the fairway or on the tee. It's always felt to me that it lets the club unwind a little more and pick up more speed by the time it gets to the ball. If I do that with shorter irons though I'm hitting it too high. I imagine C Tapers or similar might let me get away with that. Haven't experimented that much with it.

 

I would say about even with my left ear for the 7 iron. So what you are saying is about right. I have to agree with all you said except that unless it is being blown around or you are ballooning than there is no such thing as too high.

 

Sounds like a pretty significant discovery. What did you attribute the added distance to (launch angle, etc.)?

 

The thing is by moving the ball forward, I had more time to generate more speed with the club head and get into the proper impact position with my weight behind the ball not over it this created more swing speed, more spin, higher launch angle and all of these factors created more distance.

 

The real question is, is this usable distance? All distance is not usable if you are not consistent or straight. So we will see.