27 degree 5 iron v 27 degree 7 iron - Average Golfer

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The stuff I use to film all this rubbish....

[atomant]

If I took a grease pencil and marked a glass at the half full point then filled it with water to the mark, the glass would be half full. If I then erased the mark and moved it an inch lower on the glass to where the water level is above the mark. Now do I actually have more water in the glass? That's the problem with what the manufacturers are doing with these clubs. They're selling a club claiming it to be "unapologetically long" when all they have done is moved the mark on the glass.

[jimmyfireball]

The oddity with strong lofts is you end up not needing a 4 iron, but need a couple of extra wedges to sort your gapping. The help that the head gives is great, no need to crank the lofts though. I play TM M6, with the lofts softened be 3 - 3.5 degrees, perfect for me 👌🏻

[Cornwall]

These strong clubs aren’t low spinning they spin exactly how you’d expect a 27 degree club to

[ianbarnes]

I've just ordered a set of these after hitting them in American Golf and then getting professionally fitted. I'm a 60 year old 17 handicapper who averages around 12 rounds per year. I carry my current 7 iron over 160 yards (these were carrying 175) but I don't really feel that I need any extra distance in my irons, so why did I buy them? Simply because they feel great to hit. I tested Ping G400 and 700, Srixon Z565, Taylormade P790, Callaway Rogue etc and the Rogue X simply had the edge on feel over any of them. Granted I've now got to get fiited for a gap wedge, sand iron and lob wedge to make sure I get the gapping correct but I don't have a problem with that. Also I feel that at my age my current swing speed of around 87 mph is probably only going to reduce so maybe I'll be thankful for the extra distance

[johnnymac]

I think another worthy test would be the Rogue 5-iron against the MP5 3-iron, just to see if it really is easier to hit. Once you get down to a 21 degree iron, they are harder to hit, regardless of the number on the bottom of the club.

[JR-hymq]

I just got the taylormade stealth irons 5 iron 21 degree, 6 iron 24 degree, 7 iron 28 degree. My 7 iron is now a 175 carry which is crazy.

[ripyerballs]

Another cracking good honest video Andy for us weekend warriors

[donharrold]

My irons are like shovels with very strong lofts; 29.5 degree loft on the 7 iron for example. They're definitely not lookers but when I hit a 7 iron, I get a 6 iron carry with an 8 iron peak height without swinging out of my shoes. My view is "What's not to like"!

[georgesealy]

It's mental. The main thing is how well the ball is struck. That should determine the brand of irons in the bag. You can always use a longer iron. So the number on the bottom doesn't matter.

[sloebone]

Lower CG gives it a slightly higher launch and a little extra spin. It’s two paths to the same destination. The problem comes where the Callaway PW works like the traditional 8 iron., meaning the strong lofted set is, in effect, missing 2 clubs. There’s a huge gap between the PW and your SW.

[robertcourt]

I've not played or looked at golf clubs for the last 5 or 6 years and whilst this loft issue confuses me the cost of clubs have gone through the roof while I've been away!

[stevebest]

Great idea for a comparison, my take is that if the Callaway had a 5 on the bottom we would say it performed well

[MrSomeone]

I bought a set of callaway XR OS this year and am loving the clubs. My 7 iron is 31.5 degrees and I think it is a good balance. Stronger than a tradition 7 iron at 33-34 degrees so it helps me keep the distance I need with my slower swing and inconsistency. I bought a used set of Mizuno mp60 as well because I was curious just how much my game improvement clubs were helping me. The biggest thing I noticed of course was distance, but not so much any difference on forgiveness from toe strikes and heel strikes and etc. But man do they feel amazing when you hit a solid one with the Mizuno. I will continue to play my Callaways regularly with the hope that I could move up into the mp60 I bought and still have confidence in the course.

[mikepartridge]

The loft should be on the club. When it comes to gapping for distance control what distances between clubs are we expected to accept now. It used to be around 10 to 12 yards. Can’t see that with these stronger lofts.

[uwebaus]

the biggest problem with the low loft iron is the gapping in the low iron range. beside this i follow your opinion, it is not the number on the club which is important but the result which must fit your game

[johnnypenso]

Last summer I polished off my Dad's mid-80s Wilson Staff Fluid Feel irons. Had them regripped, checked the lofts and away I went. The 7 iron is 39 degrees!! I have two 9 irons in 2 other sets that measure out at 40 degrees. So all I did was add two clubs and voila, same distance. I was hitting 5 irons from 150 yards where I'd normally hit a 7 and from there I transitioned to my 6 hybrid. At the other end of the bag the PW measured out at 51 degrees so I dropped my 52. I do chip very well with that highly lofted pitching wedge with it's perfectly flat sole and very little bounce.

I saw Michael Newton's video yesterday and your results are pretty much identical to his. To me it confirms the fact that faces aren't actually hotter, all that's changed is the loft. Are they more forgiving? That's the real test. In all the anecdotal club tests I've seen I don't think I've ever seen any real difference in dispersion between any kind of golf club. In fact, my feeling is that the "players irons" and blades are actually more consistent, especially in the shorter and mid range clubs. You'd have to hit more than 4 or 5 balls to get a big enough sample though. Perhaps 30 of each with some good statistical analysis. I suspect your old Mizunos are just as accurate as the Callaways or any other club, loft for loft, distance for distance.

[pickinyou]

This is why I bought a set of Taylormade RSI TP's about a year ago. The 7 iron on those are at 34 degrees also. Now in this test, I maybe know why the Rogue did not go further. It was a 7 iron, and had a shorter shaft. I actually did not expect the Roue to go as well as it did. So an actual true test for todays lofts compared to yesterdays lofts, you should have hit your MP 7 iron against the Rogue 7 iron. I am sadly a higher handicap than I used to be. Struggled with a driver for years. Used to be a 10 handicap. I am now a bogey golfer, but.... I have yet to play a round with my new RSI's, but I do, on a simulator, hit the Forged clubs longer and straight er than a cast cavity back. I always have, but pros back in the day would always talk be out of buying a blade. I started testing some last year. Loved the looks of the Calaway XR forged, but could not hit them. I grabbed an RSI TP Forged, and averaged 20 yard longer, and straighter. I now wished I would have listened to myself back 20 years ago, and gone with a good forged club, and I would so much better off today. Now I also have just found a Driver that I can hit straight, and the yardage will come, but at least every swing is a straight one. Also driver from 3-4 years ago. The Srixon Z454. Sorry for the long post when only a small portion was about your test.

[kourt]

For sure the benefit is better launch conditions per club, especially for slower swingers, and the off center hit ball speeds are probably substantially better than with the mp5.

[stefanarvidsson]

Great comparison. Much more intersting to compare 2 170yrd clubs than to compare 7 iron to 7 iron. I play Ping i200 but think it’s intersting to see how these powerbats work. The way that I see it, the Rougue X would work better for you to hit a 170yrd carry shot that stops on the green.

I was a little surprised that the dispersion was similar, would have guessed that the Rogue X would have been tighter on slight misshits.

The biggest problem for me with these strong lofted irons would be that I would need at least 2 GW clubs to cover 100-130 yard approach shots which is very common shots for me where I play.

From manufacturers I am hoping to see iron sets that are progressive like i200, AP2 or similar in the shorter irons and when moving to the longer irons I would like more powerbat feeling clubs. Not far off from single length idea but a PW should be PW length and the 180-200 carry clubs could be just slightly longer than 7 iron length. And without huge offset. That would be my perfect set of clubs.

Thanks for great content!!!

[michaeld]

My 7 iron is also 34 deg and my 5 iron is 27 deg. The interesting thing is that the Callaway 7 iron hits the ball higher and spins more so it probably stops quicker. Hence you have a club that flies the same distance as your 5 iron but holds the green better. That’s a good thing and you will need to recalibrate your distances. The big problem is that you will also need to add yet another wedge as the Callaway wedge loft is probably the same as your 9 iron. Another issue is that the gaps between irons are slightly bigger for the Callaway.

I already carry 3 or 4 wedges so I’d have to add another one if using the Callaway set. I would drop the 6 iron and stronger as they would overlap with my hybrids.

So it’s good that the Callaway hit the ball higher with more spin but bad that the gaps between clubs is bigger and you need another wedge.