Equipment
“Why can’t I hit my new irons to a consistent distance?” – GolfWRXers have their say
In our forums, our members have been discussing irons and how to hit your numbers consistently. WRXer ‘Hubb1e’, who is a 15 handicap, is having issues and says:
“I recently upgraded from 20 year old Taylor Made 360 irons to a set of custom-built Callaway Apex 19 Forged irons. Old irons were traditional cavity back. New irons are categorized as players distance irons. Both have the same fit.
My new 3 iron will go 230 yards or 130 yards and not even make it far enough to reach the fairway. My new 7 iron will typically go 160 yards but will often will fly 175 yards or drop out of the air at 120 yards. I can’t control the distances of my new irons, and I spent a fortune custom fitting them to my swing. Why is this happening? This was never an issue with my old irons. A bad hit would go 10-20% shorter, but I never had balls fly over the green or completely fall out of the air. What is going on with my new equipment?”
Our members offer up their solutions in our forum.
Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- ThreeBoxers: “Strike quality is your answer. Tech or no tech, irons will not have 50-yard distance discrepancies. Not super familiar with the Apex irons, but they’re pretty forgiving no? You might lose 10 yards on toe or heel strikes but 40, 50? You’re probably hitting it heavy. If they have a beveled edge, it may mask the feeling of hitting it fat a bit, but not the result. My Mizunos have a pretty aggressive front edge grind which helps a ton on heavy shots. It’s the difference between landing 15 yards short and 50 yards short. +1 on using foot spray to check impact.”
- extrastiff: “It also would not hurt to check your swing speed. Even strike being terrible that’s a large discrepancy. Maybe your last build had a weight that helped you get consistent swing speed.”
- WristySwing: “I would say inconsistent strike is the biggest issue. Now that can mean a couple of things. It could mean you, as in the person swinging, are not hitting the ball properly because of inconsistent delivery. The other option is the fit is bad, and it is causing you to be extremely inconsistent because you cannot feel the head. It might be a little bit of column A and column B. However, I would lean more towards column A in this scenario because even a horrifically misfit set someone could get used to it eventually and not have 100 yards of discrepancy in carry shot to shot. I’ve seen people who are playing 50g ladies flex irons with fat wide soles who are very shallow and swing a 6i 92mph still not have 100 yards of carry flux with their sets. If your miss is toe-side 9/10x that is because you are coming too far from the inside. When you get too stuck on the inside you typically stall and throw your arms at it. When you break your wrists (flip)/throw your arms at it you get a very inconsistent low point average that often manifests in extremely fat or thin strikes….typically fat since your squat and rotate is out of sync with your release. As others have said, get some impact tape/foot powder spray and see where you are actually making contact. Then if you can get on a video lesson and see what the issue is. As of right now, we can all only assume what is going on. If your low point control is good, you don’t get stuck, and you are hitting it in the middle of the head — then fit comes into question.”
- larryd3: “I”d be on the phone to my fitter and setting up a time to go back in and see what’s going on with the irons. You shouldn’t be getting those types of results with a properly fit set of irons. When I got my fitting earlier this year at TrueSpec, the fitter, after watching me hit a bunch with my current irons, focused on increasing the spin on my irons, not on distance but on consistency. So far, they seem to be working well when I put a decent swing on them.”
- fastnhappy: “One possibility that wouldn’t necessarily show up indoors is sole design and turf interaction. You may have a real problem with the newer clubs because of a sole design that doesn’t work for your swing. That’s hard to tell when hitting inside off a mat. If so, you’d see major distance inconsistency because of strike. The feedback I’ve seen on the players distance irons is exactly what you’re describing… difficult to control distance.”
Entire Thread: “Why can’t I hit my new irons to a consistent distance?”
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- Kris Kim what’s in the bag accurate as of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. More photos from the event here.
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees @7)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 60 TX
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 Tour (15 degrees @13.5)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana WB 73 TX
Irons: TaylorMade P770 (2, 4), TaylorMade P7MB (5-PW)
Shafts: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX (2), Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 Tour 120 X
Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 (50-09SB, 56-12SB, 60-11TW)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 WV 125
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
Check out more in-hand photos of Kris Kim’s equipment here.
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TaylorMade is continuing its UDI/DHY series with the successor to the Stealth UDI and DHY utility irons: PUDI and PDHY (which the company styles as P·UDI and P·DHY). TaylorMade is folding the designs in with its P Series of irons.
TaylorMade outlined the process of developing its new utilities this way. The company started with the data on utility iron usage. Not surprisingly, better players — i.e. those who generate more clubhead speed and strike the ball more precisely — were found to gravitate toward the UDI model. DHY usage, however, covered a wider swath than the company might have expected with six-to-18 handicappers found to be bagging the club.
TaylorMade also found that the majority of golfers playing UDI or DHY utilities were playing P Series irons at the top of their iron configurations.
Can you see where this is going?
Matt Bovee, Director of Product Creation, Iron and Wedge at TaylorMade: “As we look to the future, beyond the tech and the design language, we are excited about repositioning our utility irons into the P·Series family. P·UDI is an easy pair for players that currently play P·Series product and P·DHY is an extremely forgiving option for players of all skill levels. It is a natural fit to give these players the performance in this category that they are looking for.”
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TaylorMade PUDI
TaylorMade PUDI technology cutaway (via TaylorMade)
Crafted with tour player input, TaylorMade sought to develop a confidence-inspiring utility iron that blends with the rest of the P Series irons. Also of note: Interestingly, the PUDI has a more compact head than the P790.
In comparison to past UDI products, the PUDI has a more traditional iron shape, slimmer toplines, and less offset with a little of the backbar visible at address.
TaylorMade PDHY
TaylorMade PDHY tech cutaway (via TaylorMade).
Larger in profile than the PUDI, the PDHY seeks to position center of gravity (CG) lower in the club for ease of launch. The toe height is larger and the profile is larger at address — roughly five millimeters longer than PUDI — the sole of the club is wider for improved forgiveness.
Club Junkie’s take
Golfers who feel like they are missing something at the top of the bag could find the PUDI or PDHY a great option. The look of the PUDI should fit the most discerning eye with a more compact look, less offset, and a thinner topline. If you want a little more confidence looking down the P-DHY will be slightly larger while still being a good-looking utility iron.
For being small packages both models pack a pretty good punch with fast ball speeds, even off-center. The feel is soft and you get a solid feel of the ball compressing off the face when you strike it well. Your ears are greeted with a nice heavy thud as the ball and club come together. The PDHY will launch a little higher for players who need it while the PUDI offers a more penetrating ball flight. Both utility irons could be the cure for an open spot in the top end of the bag.
PUDI, PDHY, or Rescue?
TaylorMade offers the following notes to assist golfers in filling out their bags:
- PUDI has mid-CG right behind the center face to create a more penetrating mid-to-low ball flight
- PDHY has a lower center of gravity to produce an easier-to-launch mid-to-high ball flight.
- Both PUDI and PDHY are lower-flying than the company’s hybrid/Rescue clubs.
- PUDI is more forgiving than P790.
- PDHY is the most forgiving iron in the entire TaylorMade iron family
Pricing, specs, and availability
Price: $249.99
At retail: Now
Stock shafts: UST Mamiya’s Recoil DART (105 X, 90 S and 75 R – only in PDHY)
Stock grip: Golf Pride’s ZGrip (black/grey)
PUDI lofts: 2-17°, 3-20°, 4-22° in both left and right-handed
PDHY lofts: 2-18°, 3-20° and 4-22° in both left and right-handed
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Equipment
Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (5/3/24): Scotty Cameron Champions Choice 2.5+ putter
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a Scotty Cameron Champions Choice 2.5+ putter
From the seller: (@wwcl): “Has been gamed as pics show. 33.5 includes original h/c and grip. $575 includes shipping and PP fees.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: Scotty Cameron Champions Choice 2.5+ putter
This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules
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Tim Lewis
May 31, 2020 at 2:28 am
I purchased ping G410 after using ping G5 for 12 years. The fitter had me hit my 7 iron then 7 irons from different sets. We settled on the G410 I was ok from the mat inside but now I am having problems with consistency and distance from turf.My old clubs are 1 inch shorter but he insisted that I needed the standard length. Old clubs good consistency, not so good with distance.