Bending Different Iron Models to Same Loft / What Will Happen? 

This is exactly what I was looking for, awesome to see someone actually do the experiment

Club manufacturer's hate this one weird trick. Great video!

Now take one of those club heads and try it with 3 different shaft flexes, say a regular, stiff and X stiff. I'd be curious to see how much of a difference it makes.

Game improvement clubs are designed to help people with slow speed to get the ball in the air. At high speed you can play whatever you want without much difference. Good video. 👍

Along with the guys at TXG (… not CC) and Russ Ryden, this is some of the best build/fitting centered content you’ll find online. Awesome new and legacy content for new builders + enthusiasts.

Thx for doing that experiment. The conclusion makes sense considering the simple math involved. I’ve always said that the number on the bottom of the club is just a reference for how far I hit that club. I have a set of clubs that I hit the 7 iron 145 yds, and another set that I hit the 7 iron 175 yds.

About time someone did this. Imagine that, similar results. Stamp 7 on a 5 iron loft. IT GOES FURTHER!! You were expecting what? If you need to, just call your 5 iron a PW if that's what you need to feel better about yourself...

THIS is the content we need!

What an awesome test. Thanks for doing this.

Shaft flex too, steel and graphite. I try to keep my clubs the same loft and lie regardless of the brand or model. People panic over 2 degrees but what is your compression angle! I am sucker for $600 14 club bag builds, I enjoy using different bags as much as different courses. when spot amazing clubs from 2015 forward for few dollars it is hard to say no! ). I GPS phone app record every shot and play 90-100 9 hole rounds yearly at my clubs and always sport a rotating bag for fun! Great to see analysis of irons and FW woods and drivers, ( never that much in them either, goes to show! )

It looks like the peak heights and decent angles were also very similar, AJ. I thought there might be some difference there, based on CG differences.

I've always wondered about this, AJ. You've finally answered my question. Thank you for doing this test.

Great test, and nice results. Thanks for sharing...!

Okay, great comparison video. Now, I need you to repeat this test but swinging at 75 mph club head speed. Curious to see if the numbers hold up at a slower swing speed.

Outstanding idea to test this! Thank you!

Brilliant video! I play Titleist 680 irons and have no plans to change anytime soon. You can't blame the manufacturers for jacking lofts, though, when the majority of golfers want to hit their pitching wedge 175. I'll keep my 10 yard gaps between clubs and 120 yard pitching wedge, though.

great work as always.

Nice breakdown AJ thanks. Seems like weakening to a specific loft on a game improvement is gonna give that added height they took away from making them longer

Your channel lets me see things I wonder and wish I could test all the time. This is beautiful man. You’re so fun to watch and see you tweak things. I have a question- you delofted a 6 iron a few months ago and went down to 24 from 28- I’m curious and am wanting to loft up my long irons by one club- I think that the low bounce with the way I strike is something that causes me issues and could help me if I had more bounce on my long irons. I’m curious if this is something you could do a test on so we could see? This video does it a bit but I would love to see you take a 3 iron at say 21 degrees and bend it to 24 like a 4 iron in the same set would be and see if you hit it better and how the height of shots is affected as well. If you do I’ll be here to watch- if not- I’ll still be here to watch hahaha thanks man have a good one

These are all player level clubs. Would be curious to see say a ping Blueprint S vs a ping g710 if the lofts were the same and how the club profile and design impacts it. It’s been said that the GI/SGI type irons have to be strong lofted these days otherwise the ball would just balloon.

Perfect video as I’m looking into blending a set of these! Love the content!

Great aspect of review. Myth was solved. I was thinking 2 degree weaker on 245 or standard loft on 243. many thanks.

Nice effortless swing!

Very clever insights. Thanks! So too many complex variables and BS hype and $$$$ in clubs these days. Maybe just buy 3--4 yrs old used, save $500+ to spend on fun or lessons or tune them up with a fitting or social fun times in a golf school week end?

Great video

Great info as always! Wondering if you could take 5,7,and 9 irons and make shaft same length? Would appreciate some feedback on that. Thanks and keep up the good work

You should take an old set and set all the lofts to the 7 iron loft and look how the gaping changes based on just shaft length. Then maybe compare the same set converted to one length with standard lofts.

Thank you for this! Now I’m curious about let’s say the paw or 9i as they no longer have the slot in 243.

That just made up my mind finally I’ll be contacting you to finally get me clubs build

This is a great video. I am interested in the Mizuno Pro irons and this was excellent. One question.... did they all have similar or same Mizzou sweet feel?

Interesting video of course to many BUT, there is one manufacturer that has maintained the stopping power on greens after jacking the lofts with one model. Not to mention the forgiveness in a reasonably compact package. If you tend to hit it more straight they are perfect, and believe it or not they are workable, not as much as a blade, but it’s reasonable. Can you guess?

Interesting video. I play a Men's Standard Titlist 710MB set of irons with the 7 iron at 35 degrees loft. I was really interested to see that your 7 irons are at 32 degrees (which is a mere 1 degree short of my 6 iron). The test was excellent and does help me in my decision(s) regarding changes for the 2024 season. I am considering, to fill in carry gaps, making a 1 or maybe 2 degree stronger loft change to maybe 3 different irons. This test (and the other test you did 6 months ago) helps me decide what direction to go. Observation: for the FORESIGHT system, I use Trackman, I noticed your screen said Hole DR. Does Foresight not, sort of, adjust results and data for club differences? Thank you.

great video, I was trying to get a fitter to change my lie angle on the AI Smoke HL irons and he said they wouldn't do it because it is a cast head and that the changes would eventually just go back to what they were before they changed it, thoughts? Thanks

Thanks for the info. That helps a lot. I currently play a 30 degree 7 iron thus the 243 plays like an 8 iron for me. After watching this video I think changing the lofts will make a big difference. I have not purchased them yet. I am currently testing a 7 iron at my club.

Go through every club to get the proper length for driver and irons. how is that done. Thank you.

Recently I was fitted to PXG clubs I gained 10 yards on the irons and gained nothing on the driver, three wood or hybrids. All that fitting told me was that the irons were of a stronger loft. I kept my old clubs and never ordered PXG clubs. My conclusion is they have been making clubs for decades and there's only so much they can do to make them better. Other than changing the material that they are made of, I don't see much difference. A lot of this new club talk is hype.

So, different centers of gravity don’t really affect launch angle much?

Are there any iron heads you would NOT bend? Such as PING I 1972 investment cast irons? I know someone who has multiple sets. Thanks.

Great video! Which would you consider more forgiving, the MP245 or the Srixon ZX5?

Length and loft. Boom

That is really interesting. I expected the weight displacement to have a bigger impact than that. I guess the lofts other than egos just determine if you need to lose long irons and carry more woods / hybrids or need more gap wedges.

I am looking to buy the new 243s however they do not fly as far as my current clubs that are about 2 degrees strong. My current 7 iron is 30 degrees and the 243 is 32 degrees. What kind of issues would I have if I had the 243 lofts to match the 245 lofts?

Good video AJ! BTW when it comes to long irons, will it be more difference? some more spring effect on the face with hollow body design?

By the way, AJ. What shaft were using when you did this?

Ya always wondered with that one...number on the bottom of the cloud is kinda irrelevant 😊

I think this is why I can’t hit my 5 Iron like I used to with my old set. Now I go 6 Iron (which is really just a 4 or 5 Iron), then Hybrid.

Interesting

where is your fitting studio located

Do you have any insight on if it's doable to bend a T200 (2023) utility iron 3 degrees strong? Titleist offers 2 degrees strong, so figured 3 might be safe.

This data dispels what club manufacturers have marketed for a very long time - that lofts were adjusted to produce similar launch metrics because of increased sole weighting.

I've been told that Mizuno's run 2° flat compared to most other brands. I play the Mizuno JPX921 Tour irons. If I have them bent upright 2°, will this also change the loft?

So I took my old set of irons and changed the numbers on the bottom to one number higher!

What loft and lie machine do you use

Asking again for a butt trim vs tipped comparison video lol

🙏🙏🙏

No Dynamic Loft numbers ??? That's what matters unless you're a Robot and deliver the Static Loft every swing.

All of this holds true for the most part but a few things to note but the TLDR is a better test would take a less similar line of clubs and for sure test outside off grass. 1) like you said it does change bounce and it may worth doing this test again off real grass. Bending a SGI club to blade loft 4 degrees weak or vice versa would really impact the sole and leading edge and thus turf interaction. Really by making them all the same loft you’ve made turf interaction the most significant variable and it’s not observed well enough off turf mats. 2) usually head shape and design would be another significant variable but with this particular mizuno lineup, it is far too similar for the 7 irons. None of them are particularly deep heads and the 243 I think surprisingly has 2 more grams of tungsten than the 245, and they both have that speed pocket hollow thing. So CH properties very similar. Other manufacturers have a bigger delta in weight low and deep between models and this bigger delta in CG which while not as pronounced as in a wood, still is a variable inspecting launch conditions in irons. 3) you have pretty good swing speed and angle of attack. So for you it opens the possibility to play all 3 and deliver similar launch and spin. A sweepy player or one with slower speeds won’t be able to generate enough compression to launch a ball without the tech. We have to consider turf interaction off real grass here again as well as trapping a ball on turf for lower launch and higher spin isn’t as viable since the turf is spongy and springs it out like a trampoline. I’d expect a tad more spin off grass for an SGI club but a decent amount more spin and lower launch with the blade off grass taking divots with a -3 AoA. I think the offset and sole width/bounce differences come into play here as well. 4) the video still proved a good point. Don’t let a fitter put you in one box. Hit all the club heads without looking at carry or spin numbers whatsoever. Focus on feel, dispersion, and which you can hit more greens with. Worry about sticking the green with spin, and your carry numbers after you select the head. Then fit the shaft, Loft, and ball to get your launch conditions carry and spin sorted. And don’t forget to check your lie angles on all these clubs before you pick one. After “forgiveness” and “help” needs are met, at the end of the day the only things you should base your decision on are sole, offset, and feel through the strike. Everything else is adjustable if using forged heads.

I'm so interested in this. My golfer (I'm a caddy) got fitted into 245s after he had 223s last year, and he hates em. We're waiting for the 243s to come in and I'm really interested to see the results here

Question, do you think a 69 year old man should get fitted in drivers and irons!! 😂😂😂🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

That is not "Turf" that is a mat.

I dont hit irons consistently enough to perform this test . I had to stop watching when you hit the same club 10 yrds different in two swings 🤷🏻‍♂️. Making clubs and hitting them isnt the same , The same loft at the same speed will produce the same distances ..

"i hit my 7i 200yds".... so do i, i just use the 5i. 😊