I don’t think it matters the number on the bottom. Lots of comments saying so an 8i at 32degrees is a 7 iron. My 7 is 36 degrees so your 7 iron is my 8 iron. These are designed for someone with slower swing speeds that need help or a a more beginner that needs help. Just hit the club that works to hit the right distance
Very interesting each iron performance customized did I hear that correctly. Asking because I also heard Abnormalized, and that I assumed referenced a common winter layoff problem. 👍
Great and amusing patter made me feel like I knew and trusted your opinion from the off. I also went to Manor (72-79) and lived in Warsop. I knew the Etches family from there, are you related? If so what a coincidence as I'm about to get fitted for a full set of TaylorMades next week and was searching TH-cam for reviews and came across yours.
Interesting, my Nike Vapor Speed irons for comparision are as follows. PW average is 138y, 8i is 178y and 4i is 216y. Im not a fast swinger and typically play around 23-24 handicap.
PW =145 to 150. 8i = 185 to 190. Doesn't that mean there are going gap issues in the lower irons. Heck a 4i going 260 a full 70 yards over the 8i concerns me too. How do you get around those kind of gaps?
My take is that given these are really only designed for maximum game improvement, someone buying these likely won't know and don't care about their gapping and truthfully, they wouldn't be consistent enough to maintain a gap that matters anyway.
Great clubs for people who play weekends, work can’t go to range , great for summer players , great for people who have bad , back, shoulders , hips. Great for older folks who can run as much anymore. They aren’t bad for AL. as he says.
So the lofts are basically for the next club up ! 8i = 7i. ( I have an Adams blue 7i 31.5deg lie 63 deg ). I would like to see how far you could it the 4i ? 300 yards?
You right, the loft is part of it. But these aren't the strongest lofted clubs out there. Today's lower lofted clubs produce higher launch angles, then their predecessor's. If the lofts weren't lowered you be hitting your 8 or 9 iron so high, that they'd be impossible to control in the wind. I think Callaway Roque X's have a 7 iron loft of around 27. Which is even lower than these. BTW - I have a 35 degree 7 iron. That's a 9 iron with many sets today.
I can’t wait until I can hit my 7 iron 230. Every year it’s the same story. Longest, straightest, most forgiving ever. If they keep decreasing the loft on these irons, a 3 and 4 iron will be a thing of the past..love your vid’s though.
The thing is, these are game improvement irons and are likely to be used by players with a 8 iron swing speed in the 70’s not high 90’s, so with pressed lofts, it’s all very well blatting it out 160 yards, but how do you get it to stop on the green when the landing angle is less than 40deg?
Well, back in the day, you'd have to hit a 5 iron or a 4 iron to get it to go that far with a swing speed in the 70's. Those came in really shallow. It's physics not magic. If you don't have high enough swing speed you aren't getting stopping power, no matter what iron. Lower swing speed guys have to play for more run out on the green. That's why we are all doing speed training, because speed is/was/ and will likely always be an advantage in golf.
For slow swing speed golfers, forget about buying a set of current day irons. The long irons are too strongly lofted and the gapping of the 8i-9i-PW is too big for your golf game. Your WITB should be more like Driver, 3W, 5W, 7W, 5H, 6H, 7i, 8i, 9i, PW, 50°, 54°, 58°
@@zazhou Agreed. This is almost my exact WITB, with the exception of the short end where I just have 50 & 56. I used to carry a 60, but on UK courses found it got little use. This last few weeks I also swapped out my 3w for a TM Brnr, which now better fills the gap between my 5w and driver, and is particularly useful on longer Par 3’s.
@@VonTwinzig nice! I didn't want to go into too much detail, so yes the normal 3 degree loft differences between 3W, 5W and 7W is just a bit too small for most slow swing speed golfers. So one can look at fairway woods with adjustable lofts if 4 degree gapping works better. Similarly for 7i through gap wedge, traditionally lofted clubs generally have smaller and more optimal gapping. Another thing SSS golfers do not realise is a 7i with traditional loft has the same loft of a modern 8i but has a slightly longer shaft and therefore should have slightly more clubhead speed.
@@VonTwinzig if I may ask, what are the distances for your driver, TM BRNR and 5W? Are you able to use the BRNR off the fairway confidently and get adequate height?
My 790's suffer the same distance gaps (minus Al's distances) My 9 iron carries 150..ish and the PW barely hits 130. 9-4 iron are a good match, so the only method is to choke up on a 9 (not a fan) or strengthen P-Gap wedge by a couple of degrees. Then I"m messing with the bounce. Still, I wouldn't trade my 790's for anything.
@@dzaino1986 - You know you can get fitted for those and have them bent to maintain proper gapping. You may want to consider that. Never strengthen a club though. Always weaken the one above it.
A distance that far with an eight iron presents massive gapping problems at the bottom of the bag. I don’t know why they would do that. I don’t think an eight iron of 190 yards has any utility on the golf course. Looks nice though.
Everyone is seriously missing the point here. I wouldn’t play these irons. These are intended for golfers that require help with launch and distances. So it should never be an issue
8 iron is probably 28° loft 😂😂😂 Actually Al said the 7 was 28° which is actually less strong than even the M2s so instead of going into madness they are scaling back. Those are crazy long for those lofts
I know it’s pointless and the new normal now but still feel like it would be more honest to say something like - we made our 5i fly higher so it will stop like a 7i- rather than stamp a 7 on it. However, if they were to make a 1iron of this, which I guess would be at 8ish degrees, and it was even half functional for the uninj-AL-ed swing I would go buy a set to pay TM my debts for being a total idiot. In the meantime I’ll continue questioning the lowered loft sales pitch that forces anyone with more traditional lofted irons in the bottom part of the bag to question if it would be strange to have a combo set that goes pw-9i-8i-7i-8i-7i-6i-5i…
I don’t understand why people want long irons. I want long woods and accurate, consistent irons that stop. I thought that’s why clubs have different lofts. Do you need 5 wedges to game these irons?
@@alexetchesgolf but do they perform like that with a slower (average) swing speed? I hit a 300m drive once, it must have hit a rock or something. I have game improvement iron (older ones) and struggle to hold greens, I score anything from 90-98, it’s frustrating watching balls land on greens and roll off the back. This is the year I plan to upgrade my bag and I’m confused where I need to be going. I do enjoy watching you hit monsters though.
@@keyboardoracle1044 I’m a senior player, and in my youth (1970’s) my blade-like 7i was close to 40deg and went in the 140 yard area. By the 90’s my Tommy Armour 855’s still went the same distance, and whilst the loft has gotten a little stronger, it was still a respectable 36deg. Fast forward to last year and I tried a Srixon ZX 4. Wow! 160 yards. Amazing. Life was good, except my 45deg decent angle was in the 30’s with no chance of holding the green as the loft was 28.5 deg, that’s virtually my old 855’s 5i. I did find a solution that worked for me - Cobra Forged Tec X with a KBS TGI shaft. The lofts are super strong at 27deg for a 7i, but there’s so much tungsten weight stuffed low in these things, the decent angle for my 7i is a reasonable 45-49deg. Distance is back in the 140 yard area with sensible gapping. There are solutions out there, but keep an eye on those decent angles. I can’t find any TH-camr working with a slower swing speed player to provide honest feedback on modern club tech, which is disappointing. Must be an opportunity for someone bold, I would have thought.😉
@@alexetchesgolf what is the point we’re all missing, Al? Game improvement clubs by definition are not for fast swinging pro’s, so presumably their audience is more likely beginners and slower swing speed players seeking more distance and forgiveness. With pressed lofts, those players don’t develop enough energy to keep the ball in the air long enough for them to work properly, I guess that’s why the second hand markets are stuffed full of ads for ‘used a couple of rounds and didn’t suit me’, sets of clubs. I for one would love you to find someone in your club with a 7i swing speed in the mid-high 70mph to test a bunch of the market leading game improvement irons back-to-back to show distance vs decent angle. Now that would be insightful. Might upset the manufacturers though.
@VonTwinzig everyone is so tied up on the lofts when it’s purely a trajectory strategy. Spin is the enemy for new golfers, the launch conditions of this would outdo any MB/CB iron which everyone seems to compare it to. If you had to sacrifice distance or spin in a forgiving golf club - there only one answer!
So I usually shoot low 80’s. Was it a good option to get these clubs?
I don’t think it matters the number on the bottom. Lots of comments saying so an 8i at 32degrees is a 7 iron. My 7 is 36 degrees so your 7 iron is my 8 iron. These are designed for someone with slower swing speeds that need help or a a more beginner that needs help.
Just hit the club that works to hit the right distance
Very interesting each iron performance customized did I hear that correctly. Asking because I also heard Abnormalized, and that I assumed referenced a common winter layoff problem. 👍
Great and amusing patter made me feel like I knew and trusted your opinion from the off.
I also went to Manor (72-79) and lived in Warsop. I knew the Etches family from there, are you related? If so what a coincidence as I'm about to get fitted for a full set of TaylorMades next week and was searching TH-cam for reviews and came across yours.
King Cobra forged Tec x vs these Taylormade bombers.. DO IT!!
Interesting, my Nike Vapor Speed irons for comparision are as follows. PW average is 138y, 8i is 178y and 4i is 216y. Im not a fast swinger and typically play around 23-24 handicap.
Apples with Bananas mate! 😂 speed irons were literally designed for one thing. And it’s in the name 😂
Looks like a great replacement for my old Calaway X-22's. So tempted to upgrade my irons this year.
I just got fitted today and these were the clubs that I ended with.
Hey Alex when you talk about your back pain do you know what it is? do you know if it's S.I. joint pain
Greta review Alex. Very thorough.
PW =145 to 150. 8i = 185 to 190. Doesn't that mean there are going gap issues in the lower irons. Heck a 4i going 260 a full 70 yards over the 8i concerns me too. How do you get around those kind of gaps?
My take is that given these are really only designed for maximum game improvement, someone buying these likely won't know and don't care about their gapping and truthfully, they wouldn't be consistent enough to maintain a gap that matters anyway.
Not made for me! Come on 😂
Great clubs for people who play weekends, work can’t go to range , great for summer players , great for people who have bad , back, shoulders , hips. Great for older folks who can run as much anymore. They aren’t bad for AL. as he says.
when comparing to stealth 7 iron it nearly a club less. that is insane. ball roll back only going to push more advance tech for golf clubs...
Best reviewer on you tube… 💥💥💥
So the lofts are basically for the next club up ! 8i = 7i. ( I have an Adams blue 7i 31.5deg lie 63 deg ).
I would like to see how far you could it the 4i ? 300 yards?
You right, the loft is part of it. But these aren't the strongest lofted clubs out there. Today's lower lofted clubs produce higher launch angles, then their predecessor's. If the lofts weren't lowered you be hitting your 8 or 9 iron so high, that they'd be impossible to control in the wind. I think Callaway Roque X's have a 7 iron loft of around 27. Which is even lower than these. BTW - I have a 35 degree 7 iron. That's a 9 iron with many sets today.
I can’t wait until I can hit my 7 iron 230. Every year it’s the same story. Longest, straightest, most forgiving ever. If they keep decreasing the loft on these irons, a 3 and 4 iron will be a thing of the past..love your vid’s though.
Taylormade Stealth bombers wow them numbers mate were unreal but you do bomb them 😅
The thing is, these are game improvement irons and are likely to be used by players with a 8 iron swing speed in the 70’s not high 90’s, so with pressed lofts, it’s all very well blatting it out 160 yards, but how do you get it to stop on the green when the landing angle is less than 40deg?
Well, back in the day, you'd have to hit a 5 iron or a 4 iron to get it to go that far with a swing speed in the 70's. Those came in really shallow. It's physics not magic. If you don't have high enough swing speed you aren't getting stopping power, no matter what iron. Lower swing speed guys have to play for more run out on the green. That's why we are all doing speed training, because speed is/was/ and will likely always be an advantage in golf.
For slow swing speed golfers, forget about buying a set of current day irons. The long irons are too strongly lofted and the gapping of the 8i-9i-PW is too big for your golf game. Your WITB should be more like Driver, 3W, 5W, 7W, 5H, 6H, 7i, 8i, 9i, PW, 50°, 54°, 58°
@@zazhou Agreed. This is almost my exact WITB, with the exception of the short end where I just have 50 & 56. I used to carry a 60, but on UK courses found it got little use. This last few weeks I also swapped out my 3w for a TM Brnr, which now better fills the gap between my 5w and driver, and is particularly useful on longer Par 3’s.
@@VonTwinzig nice! I didn't want to go into too much detail, so yes the normal 3 degree loft differences between 3W, 5W and 7W is just a bit too small for most slow swing speed golfers. So one can look at fairway woods with adjustable lofts if 4 degree gapping works better. Similarly for 7i through gap wedge, traditionally lofted clubs generally have smaller and more optimal gapping. Another thing SSS golfers do not realise is a 7i with traditional loft has the same loft of a modern 8i but has a slightly longer shaft and therefore should have slightly more clubhead speed.
@@VonTwinzig if I may ask, what are the distances for your driver, TM BRNR and 5W? Are you able to use the BRNR off the fairway confidently and get adequate height?
150yd PW and 190yd 8i means a 170 yd 9i and some pretty massive gaps!!
My 790's suffer the same distance gaps (minus Al's distances) My 9 iron carries 150..ish and the PW barely hits 130. 9-4 iron are a good match, so the only method is to choke up on a 9 (not a fan) or strengthen P-Gap wedge by a couple of degrees. Then I"m messing with the bounce. Still, I wouldn't trade my 790's for anything.
Yeah PW probably 42°
@@dzaino1986 - You know you can get fitted for those and have them bent to maintain proper gapping. You may want to consider that. Never strengthen a club though. Always weaken the one above it.
What about spin and decent angle?
Oh you smooth talker!
Yep convinced me I need to upgrade my irons to Qi
A distance that far with an eight iron presents massive gapping problems at the bottom of the bag. I don’t know why they would do that. I don’t think an eight iron of 190 yards has any utility on the golf course. Looks nice though.
Everyone is seriously missing the point here. I wouldn’t play these irons. These are intended for golfers that require help with launch and distances. So it should never be an issue
Problem there is you've a 185 yard carry with 8 iron and 145 carry with PW. 40 yard gap with just a 9 iron to fill
As I said, it’s not an iron for me. This isn’t a problem for the target audience
Al, I heard that these clubs are obscenely loud. Did you find that to be true?
Actually, this is not the first time that performance has been optimized for each individual iron. They did the same thing for one length irons too…
On this level with spin corrected face technology. This IS the first time
@@alexetchesgolf you win again Sir!! For the record, I love your videos man. Best of luck for the New Year!!
sounds like TM borrowed Callaways AI super computer.
Its all mirrors and camera tricks, i know you are dubbing a 4 iron in there while hitting a 5 wood. /s😂
8 iron is probably 28° loft 😂😂😂 Actually Al said the 7 was 28° which is actually less strong than even the M2s so instead of going into madness they are scaling back. Those are crazy long for those lofts
There’s only 1 iron between pw 145 yards and 8i 190 yards. Thats a 45 yard gap?!?!?!?
Wow you hit very hard
As a player who doesn't play a drifer or hybrids, why would anyone need these clubs with this set?
Peak heights and landing angles???
High and steep
Surely there is a gapping problem with them, 8 iron 190yards and pitch 145 yards.
Not designed for me! Quite simply
@@alexetchesgolf you could grab the PW halfway down the shaft??🤪
I know it’s pointless and the new normal now but still feel like it would be more honest to say something like - we made our 5i fly higher so it will stop like a 7i- rather than stamp a 7 on it.
However, if they were to make a 1iron of this, which I guess would be at 8ish degrees, and it was even half functional for the uninj-AL-ed swing I would go buy a set to pay TM my debts for being a total idiot.
In the meantime I’ll continue questioning the lowered loft sales pitch that forces anyone with more traditional lofted irons in the bottom part of the bag to question if it would be strange to have a combo set that goes pw-9i-8i-7i-8i-7i-6i-5i…
What are the shaft specs as tested? I would guess a player looking at 'game improvement irons' is not sporting the same flex as you play. Ta ;-)
I don’t understand why people want long irons. I want long woods and accurate, consistent irons that stop. I thought that’s why clubs have different lofts. Do you need 5 wedges to game these irons?
Irons - higher peak height & rpm: more control
@@alexetchesgolf but do they perform like that with a slower (average) swing speed? I hit a 300m drive once, it must have hit a rock or something. I have game improvement iron (older ones) and struggle to hold greens, I score anything from 90-98, it’s frustrating watching balls land on greens and roll off the back. This is the year I plan to upgrade my bag and I’m confused where I need to be going.
I do enjoy watching you hit monsters though.
@@keyboardoracle1044 I’m a senior player, and in my youth (1970’s) my blade-like 7i was close to 40deg and went in the 140 yard area. By the 90’s my Tommy Armour 855’s still went the same distance, and whilst the loft has gotten a little stronger, it was still a respectable 36deg. Fast forward to last year and I tried a Srixon ZX 4. Wow! 160 yards. Amazing. Life was good, except my 45deg decent angle was in the 30’s with no chance of holding the green as the loft was 28.5 deg, that’s virtually my old 855’s 5i. I did find a solution that worked for me - Cobra Forged Tec X with a KBS TGI shaft. The lofts are super strong at 27deg for a 7i, but there’s so much tungsten weight stuffed low in these things, the decent angle for my 7i is a reasonable 45-49deg. Distance is back in the 140 yard area with sensible gapping. There are solutions out there, but keep an eye on those decent angles. I can’t find any TH-camr working with a slower swing speed player to provide honest feedback on modern club tech, which is disappointing. Must be an opportunity for someone bold, I would have thought.😉
Nice…if u like a 20+ yrd gap between irons
Wouldn’t be for the target audience
It’s a 32* 8i so it’s a 7i
Those cavity backs are massive 🌮
Long Kittens
You are screen mirroring your shots from better players 😂
You’re hitting 20 yrds between clubs…that’s stupid. 185 8 iron, 165 9, 145 wedge…. Good luck getting close to pins with that much gap between clubs.
Not meant for me
@@alexetchesgolf for sure. Nice
Review though, you always keep it fun. Now let’s see the driver!
it's only fast because the thing is 32 degrees! are you kidding! the 4 iron is 18.5 degrees. I have a 2 iron that's 18 degrees! ridiculous
You’ve completely missed the point
@@alexetchesgolf what is the point we’re all missing, Al? Game improvement clubs by definition are not for fast swinging pro’s, so presumably their audience is more likely beginners and slower swing speed players seeking more distance and forgiveness. With pressed lofts, those players don’t develop enough energy to keep the ball in the air long enough for them to work properly, I guess that’s why the second hand markets are stuffed full of ads for ‘used a couple of rounds and didn’t suit me’, sets of clubs. I for one would love you to find someone in your club with a 7i swing speed in the mid-high 70mph to test a bunch of the market leading game improvement irons back-to-back to show distance vs decent angle. Now that would be insightful. Might upset the manufacturers though.
@VonTwinzig everyone is so tied up on the lofts when it’s purely a trajectory strategy. Spin is the enemy for new golfers, the launch conditions of this would outdo any MB/CB iron which everyone seems to compare it to. If you had to sacrifice distance or spin in a forgiving golf club - there only one answer!
Wilson Dynapower waaay cheaper!
Wow just wow . Nose bleeding 😅
Alex the Taylor Made shill