With so much choice out there, selecting the right set of irons for you is a difficult task. What type of head should you choose? What about the loft and lie angle? Should I go for steel or graphite shafts? In this video, irons expert Joel Tadman runs through all the things you need to consider when choosing a new set of irons to ensure you get the right clubs in your bag and can start peppering those flags.
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00:00Are you in the market for a new set of irons? Well in this video I'm going to cover everything
00:05you need to know about buying a new set of irons. There's a ridiculous amount of choice
00:10out there, it can be incredibly confusing. Watch this video right to the end, you'll
00:14find yourself a match made in heaven. So without further ado, let's get into it.
00:30So the first decision you need to make when choosing new irons is which type of iron you
00:36want to go for, and as you can see I've got five here in front of me. Starting with this
00:40one, this is the Muscleback, otherwise known as a blade. It's the one that's got the least
00:44amount of technology in it. It's really aimed at elite ball strikers, tall players, because
00:49it is the most compact and there's not a lot of forgiveness built into this clubhead, there's
00:53not a lot of technology got into it. It's the lowest launching, the highest spinning, designed
00:58for golfers with quite high swing speeds who are very competent ball strikers.
01:02Then we move into kind of low handicap irons. Now these can typically form cavity back irons,
01:07you can have some hollow headed irons as well, but these offer a little bit more forgiveness
01:11and stability, but in a compact head, so will still suit the eye of a low handicap golfer.
01:17The next type of iron we're going to move into is a, otherwise known as a compact distance
01:21iron or a player's distance iron. As the name suggests, it's more of a distance orientated
01:26club, and as a result, the lofts are a little bit stronger. It's going to produce more ball
01:30speed and distance. Conversely, the two previous ones have quite traditional lofts. These are
01:34a little bit stronger, going to give you more ball speed, but you can get them in quite compact
01:39packages as well, similar to the low handicap iron. They are quite refined, but you can get
01:43larger ones as well if you like to look down on something a bit meatier.
01:45The next type of iron is a traditional kind of cavity back iron. These are, again, a slightly
01:50stronger loft still, and you can see there's a lot more obvious perimeter weighting on this
01:55club, so this will give you a lot more stability on those off-centre hits. If you're someone
01:59that utilises a lot of the club base, you're going to enjoy the performance that a cavity
02:04back style head offers. And another option you can go for is like a hybrid style club,
02:09so this is an example of a hybrid style iron built more like a metal wood, so it's going to give you
02:14metal wood-like ball speeds and also metal wood-like launch from that really wide sole, and as a result,
02:20they can make the lofts quite strong on these to give you maximum distance and maximum forgiveness
02:25as well. Obviously, you have options to combo your set with various models within this selection.
02:31We'll talk about that a bit later in this video, but hopefully that gives you an idea
02:34as to the types of irons available and which one might suit your eye.
02:39So the next thing you'd think about with your new set of irons is how it looks,
02:43and particularly down at a dress because that will affect the amount of confidence you have
02:47over the golf ball, and there's a lot of design features you need to consider. The blade length,
02:51obviously, we know as the irons get more suitable for higher handicaps, they tend to get bigger,
02:56blade lengths get longer, top lines get thicker, but there are some kind of grey areas you can get
03:01forgiving irons that have relatively short blade lengths and thin top lines, so you kind of know
03:06instantly when you put it down behind the ball, yeah, that suits my eye, I really like that, or no,
03:10I don't like that. Consider things like different finishes, certain irons can come in different
03:14finishes. You've got brushed satin finishes, you've got reflective glossy finishes. Again,
03:19one will suit your eye more than the other, more likely, and there are certain design features
03:23that can actually influence the ball flight, so really think about the amount of offset that you
03:26have on your irons. If you tend to miss your iron shots to the right, having more offset, i.e. the
03:31leading edge set back a little bit more from the hosel will produce more left bias for a right-handed
03:36golfer and therefore should help reduce your slice. So think about that when choosing how your iron
03:41looks down behind the ball at a dress. It's going to really affect the quality of your shots.
03:45Now, another area of consideration is the sound and the feel. Yes, this is a subjective one,
03:53but I think it's very important that you enjoy the sensation that you have when you're striking shots
03:58with your irons, and these can be anything from something that feels very soft, very muted in terms
04:04of the sound it offers, all the way up to something that's really lively and quite loud and powerful,
04:09and there's a lot of irons that fit in between those, but I've got two ends of the spectrum here,
04:14starting with this muscle back iron, which typically would give you a really soft, dense
04:19sensation at impact, which is typically preferred by the slightly better player.
04:27You can see there wasn't much acoustics there, it was quite muted. On the other end of the spectrum,
04:33you've got more distance-orientated irons that typically offer a slightly firmer feel and often
04:39a much louder sound to kind of translate into a little bit more distance, so it kind of really
04:44just comes down to what you tend to prefer. You can see there's a much louder, clickier sound to it,
04:54and as I said, there are a lot of irons that fit in between those, but it's really important that you
04:58enjoy the sound and the feel you get from your irons. That's going to steal a lot more confidence and just
05:03provide a much more pleasurable ball striking experience.
05:09Now, one underrated area of consideration for your new set of irons is the sole geometry.
05:14Specifically, we're talking the width of the sole and also the amount of bounce that it has as well.
05:19Typically, low handicap irons like this blade I've got here have quite narrow soles with not much bounce
05:24or camber to it. That means the leading edge is going to play quite sharp, you're going to create big
05:28divots and the margin for error on your strike is going to be quite narrow, so it's really designed
05:32for better players' low handicap irons. But if you need a bit more leeway on your strike,
05:37game improvement irons do tend to have wider soles with a little bit more camber to them. That's going
05:42to increase the margin for error. If you do catch the ground slightly before the ball, it has less
05:47propensity to dig, should glide through the turf and hopefully pick the ball off the top of it a little
05:51bit more easily. Obviously, we know game improvement irons with the wider soles means more weight is pulled
05:57lower and further back. It's going to help increase launch and it's also going to give you a little
06:01bit more stability on those off-centre hits. A couple more things to think about on the sole
06:05geometry. If you tend to be quite shallow into the ball, you are going to suit more of a sole that
06:10has less bounce to it because you're not needing as much resistance into the ground. If you're quite
06:15steep into the ball, you might want a little bit more bounce to counteract that steeper angle of attack
06:18and if you are bending the hosel to create slightly less or more loft to do some gapping things or
06:24whatever, if you hit a specific number on your irons, that will affect the effective bounce and
06:29the way the club interacts with the ground. So all these things you need to think about,
06:32obviously that will be covered during a fitting, especially if you're hitting off grass,
06:35but just consider getting the right sole width and the right geometry to match up your technique
06:40and that should help you hit better shots.
06:45So when you're choosing a new driver, the number one factor you would consider is distance.
06:49Is one model going further than the other? That might cause you to choose that model
06:53versus the other one, but with irons, it's a completely different story. It's not about distance,
06:57it's about distance consistency. It's something I've said with my reviews time and time again.
07:02I don't really look at how far an iron goes. It might be useful to some golfers to gain a bit
07:06more yardage with their irons, but I'm really looking at the distance consistency, so the front
07:10to back dispersion. How repeatable is an iron at hitting a distance over and over again? Because that is
07:16really going to help your ability to score. Ultimately, with an iron shot, you're tasked with hitting the
07:20ball a certain distance and if you've got an iron that delivers that in terms of the right level
07:24of forgiveness for your skill level, you should see your approach shots get closer to the hole
07:29and your scoring should improve. So this particular shot, 145 yards away, you want an iron that's going
07:35to deliver performance that's going to hit the ball as close to that pin as possible.
07:41I've leaked it a bit, but it's pin high and that's the most important thing. If you can get pin high
07:51on most of your iron shots, your score should start to tumble. Now, when you get fitted for irons on a
07:59launch monitor, you will be bombarded with an awful amount of data, ball speed, launch, spin, all that
08:04sort of thing. But one parameter I really want you to pay close attention to is descent angle,
08:10so the angle your ball is coming in to land on because that has a really big impact on the ability
08:15of your golf ball to stop. If your golf ball is coming in nice and steep, it's going to stop pretty
08:21quickly by the hole. If it's coming in too shallow and too hot, it's going to often run past the flag
08:27and if the pin's at the front of the green, it's going to be very difficult to stop the ball
08:31close to the pin. So the optimum land angle varies depending on your swing speed. As your swing
08:36speed increases, as does the amount of spin you generate and the land angle that you have into
08:41the green. So talk to your fitter, see what land angle is right for you. Tour average is about 50
08:46degrees with a six iron, so it's quite steep. I'm generally looking for my swing speed around about
08:51a 45 degree land angle with a seven iron. It might be different for you, but have a chat with the fitter,
08:57make sure you've got a land angle that's appropriate for your swing speed and that
09:01should help you stop the ball close to the hole.
09:05So one really important factor when choosing your new set of irons is the set makeup,
09:09and there's two things you need to consider. The first is a combination set, so that refers to
09:14having different types of head within a set. So for example, a lot of manufacturers offer different
09:20models within a range that allows you to implement different models in different areas of the set
09:26to give you the performance where you need it. So you might opt for a slightly larger,
09:31higher launching, more forgiving long iron to give you the performance where you need it. You know,
09:35when the shaft's a bit longer, you tend to strike your long irons a little bit more inconsistently.
09:39Having something that's a little bit more forgiving will offset that drop off in performance from the
09:44mishits and give you more consistency through the set. That's one example where a combo set can be
09:49really useful and we see everyone from tour players all the way up to high handicap golfers opting for
09:54something like this. The second thing you need to think about is the set makeup. Specifically,
09:59what's the composition of your set? So what's going to be your longest iron? What's going to be your
10:03shortest iron? You know, low handicap iron sets typically start at four iron and run all the way
10:08up to pitching wedge. High handicap irons often start at five iron because the lofts are slightly stronger
10:13and go up to kind of a gap wedge. And that's because a lot of high handicap golfers will want to add one,
10:19maybe two hybrids underneath that five iron. So think about what clubs that you want to have in
10:24your bag. Do you prefer hybrids? You might even want to have three hybrids and then start your set
10:29at a six iron and work all the way up to a sand wedge. Some iron sets will go all the way up to
10:34sand wedge. So that's another thing you need to think about. Do you want to go for a speciality wedge
10:38or are you okay with the wedges that are included within the set? All these things you need to think about,
10:44give them a test. Obviously, a speciality wedge of that other end of the bag will give you a bit more
10:48versatility, but if you want all your clubs looking the same within your iron set and your wedges,
10:54you know, having the complete set from five iron all the way to sand wedge could be the way to go.
10:58So two really key considerations. Get the right set that's going to suit the way you hit the ball.
11:05Now, the last thing, but still really important thing to consider when choosing new irons is the
11:10spec of the club. Now, typically this will be covered during a custom fitting, but it's worth pointing
11:15out in this video. If you are buying irons off the rack, there can be some areas that will have
11:18effect performance. The first one being the lie angle of the club, so how the club sits at the ground
11:24when you're striking the ball. You want it to be as flat as possible. Obviously, if it's toe down,
11:28it's going to cause misses to the left. Toe up, it's going to cause misses to the right and the
11:33interaction with the ground is not going to be as clean as you want it to be. You think about,
11:36you know, when you're swinging through, the shaft is flexing, the head of the club is drooping, so you
11:42need to make sure that your club is fitted dynamically to get it nice and flat at the point of impact.
11:47So the line goal is really important. The other thing is the length of the shaft. Obviously,
11:51if you're slightly taller, you probably need a slightly longer shaft to allow for that.
11:55And length is also used to influence the strike pattern. So if you're hitting a lot of iron shots
12:00and you tend to hit the ball out of the toe, the fitter may well add a little bit of length to shift
12:05that strike pattern from the toe more towards the center of the club. So there's two reasons why you
12:10might alter the length of the club. And the other thing to think about in terms of the spec is the
12:15shaft of the club. So the weight, the flex and the material as well. I would definitely urge you,
12:20if you haven't tried graphite shafts in the past, give them a go. That lightweight feel is really,
12:25really nice. It allows you to swing more powerfully, gives you a little bit more launch and you can get
12:30some pretty stiff profiles in graphite now that would suit faster swingers, better players. So
12:35graphite is definitely something to consider. Most golfers will look at a steel shaft,
12:40a huge variation in weight and flex. So just make sure you get the right weight and flex that feels
12:45comfortable for you. Obviously a fitter will be able to identify that for you. So those are the
12:50things you need to think about with the spec. Obviously you've got the grip as well, make sure
12:53you get one that feels comfortable in your hands, the right sort of thickness. If you've got larger hands,
12:58you will typically want to go for a slightly thicker grip. There is a kind of wife's tail, you know,
13:04thicker grips tends to reduce hand action and, you know, stops the club base from turning over. Not
13:09sure how much science there is to that, but it could be something to think about or something to try.
13:13You know, those thicker grips, we've seen Bryson with those really thick grips could be an option
13:18to give you a bit more control. So consider those things when choosing an iron, the spec is really
13:24important. So hopefully you found this video useful in terms of choosing your next set of irons if
13:28you're looking to upgrade very soon. And if you are researching a particular make or model, be sure to check
13:34out the Golf Monthly website for all our latest reviews and buying guides that can really help
13:38narrow down your search. But that's all for me here from God for God Golf Club. I'll see you next time.