If the driver is all over the place, a solid iron game can still help you score. And even if that driver would be on the fairway regularly, you still need irons to get on the green. In this article, you will find the top golf tips for irons.
Equipment: Irons that work for you
Blades are beautiful, but damn. They are nearly impossible to hit unless your name is Adam Scott. So don’t buy blades. If you already have blades, then sell them. Just don’t tell the buyer they shouldn’t be buying them.
What you need to have is clubs that work for your needs. Getting fitted nowadays is easy and you really only have to do it once. You can just pay for a studio session and get your numbers in. Most likely there won’t be that big chance in your swing over time since most of us weekend warriors don’t really practice anyways.
The basic data that you really need is your height and hand size for the shaft length and the grips. If you’re somewhere between 170cm (5’7) and 185cm (6’1) you’re perfectly good with standard-length irons. Shorter or taller, add a quarter inch for every inch (2.5cm). Grip size can be based on feel, but of course, you can also measure your hand and guess what would be the optimal grip size for you. The easiest way is to go by glove size. If you’re size L or XL, you should use at least midsize grips. But it is more of a feel thing too, as mentioned before. The majority of the Tour pros use some other size than standard.
Then swing speeds to figure out the stiffness and of course, the data on how many times you manage to find the center of the club. Once you have this information you’re pretty much ready to go in finding yourself the perfect irons. In this day and age, every club pro should have at least some sort of device to measure swing speed. Ask them to hit a few 7 irons on the machine. When it comes to stiffness, you have 5 options available:
- Ladies – Under 70 mph
- Senior – Under 75 mph
- Regular – Under 82 mph
- Stiff – Under 90 mph
- X-Stiff – Over 90 mph
While speed is one factor, your ball shape places a factor as well. If you’re already slicing the ball – do not go with the stiffer option. The stiffer the club is, the more of that spin you’re most likely ending to create.
Just winging it most likely will not result in the perfect match. So take some time and realistically think what are your abilities. If you’re a 35 handicapper you most likely find the center of the club fewer times than a single handicapper. You don’t need a trackman to tell you this information. You can feel it too.
Amount of irons and gapping
Even many tour pros have ditched 3 iron to a hybrid or some sort of driving iron that is more forgiving than normal irons. Of course, this is a personal preference. You might feel comfortable hitting 3 iron and if you do, keep it in the set and use it. But when you’re figuring out how many irons you wanna carry in your bag, make sure that you do some proper gapping. Meaning that you know the lofts of your irons so you can plan what other clubs you need around them.
Many times the PW in modern clubs is somewhere between 42 and 44. So yes, you can hit new clubs longer because they have stronger lofts compared to clubs released several years ago. Usually, the gap between irons is somewhere around 4 degrees. So make sure that you check what your lofts are. You don’t want 56 degrees to be your first wedge if your PW is 42 degrees.