I have tested several brands and they all have a problem with the 5 iron up. Something squirly goes wrong with gapping of 5, 4 and 3 irons and I can't help feeling the big brands want the customer to buy 5 to gap wedge and then spend a ton of more money on Hybrids and fairway woods. I knew I would see this on your results. In the olden days blades only market you bought (if you were rich) a set of irons 2 to SW and normally a Driver, a 'Spoon' 2/3 wood and a 4 wood all made of real wood. Working class you bought a half set of odd or even iron numbers up to the individual. You really did know gapping then. My favorite old iron was a 2 coz I had no probs hitting it over 200yds with trad lofts.
Those of us who are older and grew up with properly gapped iron sets hit the long irons just fine (I love a classic 1 iron). For DECADES, the manufacturers decreased loft on the pitching wedge WITHOUT DECREASING loft on the longest irons (1&2). So the loft gaps on the 4-1 irons decreased from 4 degrees in the 50's to 3 in the 70's & 80's and then 2 and sometimes 1 degree in the 90's. The result is that we hit the "newer" 4-1 irons virtually the same distance. This is why modern sets rarely offer 3-1 irons anymore, offering easier to hit and gap hybrids instead. This is not greed IMO but finally realizing that, in view of how lofts have strengthened at the bottom, better alternatives at the top of the bag actually benefit us.
I always start with the longest iron or gapping club hybrid etc. Make sure that club is optimised for height yardage then go to the shortest and work the yatd gaos between.
What do you think about a progressive gapping system? For instance, I use more 8-PW far more than my 4 and 5 irons. I’m thinking 10 yard gaps 8-PW, 12 yard gaps 6-7, 15 yard gaps 4 and 5 iron. Any pros or cons to this?
I think the con to this is no one is perfect, and you are going to have fluctuations in distance with every club. If you are squeezing your averages to only be 10yds apart, you are going to have a lot of overlap. Say where your good strike with a PW is going as far as you ok strike with your 9 iron. You’re much better off keeping a 12-15yd gap for all clubs because of this, but I will agree it’s less important at the top of the bag. Totally common to have a 20 yd gap between say a 4h -> 5w -> 3w
Maybe taking a break between clubs would help in getting better gapping results…. When we play golf there’s probably 3-5 mins give or take between swings. Wonder if taking a 5 minute break between clubs in your session might true up the results…..
I'm more interested in what the gaps should be between clubs. I imagine there is some personal preference. For me, I tend to think there should be a little more gap between each club as the club lengthens. Do you gap between where it lands or expected rollout? There are so many variables to consider.
I typically do the opposite, since roll increases as clubs get longer, the carry gap between them can be a little less. Nothing drastic, but slightly less gap on long irons vs short irons vs wedges is fine.
I think from a snapshot standpoint gapping sessions are useful because they should identify outliers, for example the 6i to 5i transition on the way up or the 7i to 8i transition on the way down. But you hit the nail on the head, you have to take this information with a grain of salt, hitting 5-10 shots is not 100% representative of every club. Or you would make observations like don’t hit 5i when you are tired, or hit the 7i instead of the 8i later in the round.
AJ the average golf is that inconsistent that thay would not hit them gappings from round to round I thick gapping your club's is only good for 5 per cent of golfers
I feel you to a degree, however, I know some people, who because of swing speed and swing characteristics will lose distance with some longer irons, so some sort of semblance of gapping your clubs needs to be done.
Of course you don't have data to back up that 5% ...not knowing your gapping from your 36 degree down to your wedges? Are you playing blind? You don't need a SIM to find your gap range .
Seems the big lesson is do shorter sessions with 3 or 4 clubs at a time. I like the idea of maybe doing them in a random order too. I am just getting my sim set up and this is one of the first items on the list - thanks for the video.
Its mainly based on your speed levels faster players will general be working on 10 - 15 yard gaps slower players anything from 8 - 10 probably a good marker, as for a star position i would start at 6 iron middle of the bag and work from that in both directions gap from highest fairway wood to driver is kind of pointless tbh all you need to know on driver is carry distance for getting over bunkers and other hazards. And the reason things get iffy and they tell you to get hybrids from 5 iron up is simply because most people do not have the speed to launch and spin higher irons enough to keep them in the air on a effective and use full flight.
Interesting results gapping in both directions. Cheers.
I have tested several brands and they all have a problem with the 5 iron up. Something squirly goes wrong with gapping of 5, 4 and 3 irons and I can't help feeling the big brands want the customer to buy 5 to gap wedge and then spend a ton of more money on Hybrids and fairway woods. I knew I would see this on your results.
In the olden days blades only market you bought (if you were rich) a set of irons 2 to SW and normally a Driver, a 'Spoon' 2/3 wood and a 4 wood all made of real wood. Working class you bought a half set of odd or even iron numbers up to the individual. You really did know gapping then.
My favorite old iron was a 2 coz I had no probs hitting it over 200yds with trad lofts.
Those of us who are older and grew up with properly gapped iron sets hit the long irons just fine (I love a classic 1 iron). For DECADES, the manufacturers decreased loft on the pitching wedge WITHOUT DECREASING loft on the longest irons (1&2). So the loft gaps on the 4-1 irons decreased from 4 degrees in the 50's to 3 in the 70's & 80's and then 2 and sometimes 1 degree in the 90's. The result is that we hit the "newer" 4-1 irons virtually the same distance. This is why modern sets rarely offer 3-1 irons anymore, offering easier to hit and gap hybrids instead. This is not greed IMO but finally realizing that, in view of how lofts have strengthened at the bottom, better alternatives at the top of the bag actually benefit us.
That is good logic. much appreciated
I always start with the longest iron or gapping club hybrid etc. Make sure that club is optimised for height yardage then go to the shortest and work the yatd gaos between.
What do you think about a progressive gapping system? For instance, I use more 8-PW far more than my 4 and 5 irons. I’m thinking 10 yard gaps 8-PW, 12 yard gaps 6-7, 15 yard gaps 4 and 5 iron. Any pros or cons to this?
I think the con to this is no one is perfect, and you are going to have fluctuations in distance with every club. If you are squeezing your averages to only be 10yds apart, you are going to have a lot of overlap. Say where your good strike with a PW is going as far as you ok strike with your 9 iron. You’re much better off keeping a 12-15yd gap for all clubs because of this, but I will agree it’s less important at the top of the bag. Totally common to have a 20 yd gap between say a 4h -> 5w -> 3w
I've had fittings.
I've never seen a gapping session offered.
Would love this.
I warm up shortest to longest.
100%
Many fitters will offer a gapping session after you’ve played your clubs for a bit…
Maybe two separate sessions...PW to 7i and then 8i to 5i. And I also have issues with my 6i.
Here's what I think -- I think that cap is FANTASTIC!!!!!!!
Might need a more forgiving iron in 5 and 6. Combo set
Separate issue, but about to happen. New irons going in the bag shortly.
Maybe taking a break between clubs would help in getting better gapping results…. When we play golf there’s probably 3-5 mins give or take between swings. Wonder if taking a 5 minute break between clubs in your session might true up the results…..
I'm more interested in what the gaps should be between clubs. I imagine there is some personal preference. For me, I tend to think there should be a little more gap between each club as the club lengthens. Do you gap between where it lands or expected rollout? There are so many variables to consider.
I typically do the opposite, since roll increases as clubs get longer, the carry gap between them can be a little less. Nothing drastic, but slightly less gap on long irons vs short irons vs wedges is fine.
@@LegacyAirTech
Interesting concept.
So what’s the gaping between clubs. 4% 5%????
I want to try it at random. See what happens if I don't get grooved in on any club.
I would prefer to warm up. And then driver. And then work down. I am usually gassed by the time I work up thru to Driver. Swing starts to fall apart.
I think from a snapshot standpoint gapping sessions are useful because they should identify outliers, for example the 6i to 5i transition on the way up or the 7i to 8i transition on the way down. But you hit the nail on the head, you have to take this information with a grain of salt, hitting 5-10 shots is not 100% representative of every club. Or you would make observations like don’t hit 5i when you are tired, or hit the 7i instead of the 8i later in the round.
Did anyone ever tell you that you look like Jim Furyk?
Yep
Basically, this says do your gapping session in parts.
You aren't supposed to do either. You are supposed to jump around just like when you play a course.
AJ the average golf is that inconsistent that thay would not hit them gappings from round to round I thick gapping your club's is only good for 5 per cent of golfers
I feel you to a degree, however, I know some people, who because of swing speed and swing characteristics will lose distance with some longer irons, so some sort of semblance of gapping your clubs needs to be done.
Of course you don't have data to back up that 5% ...not knowing your gapping from your 36 degree down to your wedges? Are you playing blind? You don't need a SIM to find your gap range .
Seems the big lesson is do shorter sessions with 3 or 4 clubs at a time. I like the idea of maybe doing them in a random order too. I am just getting my sim set up and this is one of the first items on the list - thanks for the video.
Its mainly based on your speed levels faster players will general be working on 10 - 15 yard gaps slower players anything from 8 - 10 probably a good marker, as for a star position i would start at 6 iron middle of the bag and work from that in both directions gap from highest fairway wood to driver is kind of pointless tbh all you need to know on driver is carry distance for getting over bunkers and other hazards.
And the reason things get iffy and they tell you to get hybrids from 5 iron up is simply because most people do not have the speed to launch and spin higher irons enough to keep them in the air on a effective and use full flight.
This is the problem with the new strong lofted clubs being sold today...