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Degrees of Loft

Posted in: General Golf Discussion

DETWILER Amateur
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After reading several interesting articles online about how the degrees of loft have changed over the years, I decided to research all of my golf clubs (past and present) to see if I have the proper coverage/spacing in my current bag. Current Bag (prior to this project): Club: Make: Degrees: Driver Adams 9.5 - 11.5 adjustable 3H Adams 19 4H Adams 22 5I Adams 25 6I Adams 28 7I Adams 31 8I Adams 35 9I Adams 39 PW Adams 44 GW Mizuno 51 SW Mizuno 56 SW Alien Sport 55 (liked it for its additional weight/feel; used for bunker shots only) Putt Odyssey Notes: 1) I was not happy with the gaps between the Driver and 3H (50 yards difference), the PW and GW (25 yards difference) 2) I did not have any club with more than 56 degrees of loft (a 60 degree would be a great addition to the bag) 3) I was only carrying 13 clubs in my bag, have some flexibility After revisiting some of the other clubs that I had available, my projected bag will look like this: Club: Make: Degrees: Driver Adams 9.5 - 11.5 adjustable 4W Callaway 16.5 4H Adams 22 5I Adams 25 6I Adams 28 7I Adams 31 8I Adams 35 9I Adams 39 PW Adams 44 PW Mizuno 46 or Dunlop 48 (pending range practice) GW Mizuno 51 SW Mizuno 56 LW TBD 60 Putt Odyssey Notes: 1) It seems that this projected bag will offer me better overall coverage and distance control. 2) I get to shop around for a decent LW (around 60 degrees) Summary: I'm hoping that this project will be beneficial to my scores on the course (my current handicap is 18, but I feel like I just lowered my handicap without hitting another ball), as well as a potential interesting topic of discussion for all of you on here. Cheers!
armygrunt47 Professional Champion
# 1 8/21/2015 7:56:28 PM
Filling those yardage gaps will definitely help your game. Will it lower your scores? That's not a guaranteed. Will it make your game a little less stressful since you now have tour gaps filled? Yes more than likely it will.
Egor Legend
# 2 8/21/2015 8:13:28 PM
TaylorMade R1 Driver 10.0° TM RBZ S2 Tour 3W 14.5° TaylorMade S2 3hy 19.0° Mizuno MP-59 3 Iron 21.0° (not usually in the bag) Mizuno MP-59 4 Iron 24.0° Mizuno MP-59 5 Iron 27.0° Mizuno MP-59 6 Iron 30.0° Mizuno MP-59 7 Iron 34.0° Mizuno MP-59 8 Iron 38.0° Mizuno MP-59 9 Iron 42.0° Mizuno MP-59 PW 46.0° Cleveland 588 GW 52.0° Cleveland 588 SW 56.0° Cleveland 588 LW 60.0° The top end of my bag works very well for me. Knowing I have 25-30 yds between clubs, I can take out trouble. I don't usually carry the 3i, but I don't feel like I'm missing anything important between 3hy and 4i. There is 6° is between my PW and Gap wedge. I don't find this to be a problem. Sometimes I get a funny itch to replace my wedges and do 50° 54° 58°, but then I realize the gaps are not as big a problem as my lack of practice. I can see where your big gap between the driver and 3hy could be a challenge and putting a lob wedge in the bag might come in handy. Getting new gear is fun.
DETWILER Amateur
# 3 8/23/2015 12:10:49 PM
I found the project to be interesting overall. Most mid-high cappers may only relate to which club they are using by its letter or number only (pw, 9i, etc) without realizing what the club's respective lofts are (since the lofts, for the most part, are no longer on the clubs), this could be even more prominent if building a bag from individual clubs (multiple brands). Too bad it won't help my putting any.
Mark Simmons Legend
# 4 8/23/2015 5:13:17 PM
Just so you know, loft isn't the only variable that is going to influence distance and gaps between clubs. Shaft length, flex and other characteristics, a clubhead's center of gravity and MOI are just a few other variables that influence distance. On loft alone, I noticed that the lofts on your Adams irons are really bunched leaving your gaps at the top and bottom of your set. Your focus on covering distance gaps is right on!
surfgolfsail Professional
# 5 8/23/2015 11:48:50 PM
That's a pretty tight bunch at the wedge end of your quiver. I can't imagine ever being that exact with my wedges, and they're a huge part of my scoring game. More than 3 wedges seems to be overkill, unless you're last name is Michelson. Until relatively recently, many of the pros didn't even carry anything more than a 56, and most of us mortals only had a PW and SW in the bag. Maybe check out Dave Pell's short game or other instructors who teach the many ways to work the wedges. My PW alone plays from a few yards up to 140 depending on my trajectory, If (when) your handicap drops into the low single digits, then you might start adding another wedge in, but before then, get the techniques down first. It takes a ton of practice to fully appreciate what each one of them can do, and that's even before we start talking about the bounce and the various grinds. Realistically, for every hour I put into my mid to long irons, hybrids, woods and driver combined, I probably put in 1 for the wedges, and 1 for the putter, that's 3 hours of practice. A significant percentage of the score is within the 120 yard range, and figuring out a couple wedges is complex enough, add a third and you've increased it by a magnitude, and a fourth...well, you're probably tour material as far as I'm concerned. And unless you're spanking them a mile, I'd more likely take a look at the other end of the bag and fill in the woods and hybrids a little more closely. Go to a fitter, the range or use a trackman to get a mean distance and dial it in for each of your clubs, and work from there. It's all theory otherwise. And as one of the other's wrote, there's so much more than loft that fits into the equation, and that's so true. The only way to really know is digging it out in the dirt. And take notes.

DETWILER

Amateur

Go to Last Reply

126 Views 5 Replies 0 Likes

After reading several interesting articles online about how the degrees of loft have changed over the years, I decided to research all of my golf clubs (past and present) to see if I have the proper coverage/spacing in my current bag.

Current Bag (prior to this project):

Club: Make: Degrees:
Driver Adams 9.5 - 11.5 adjustable
3H Adams 19
4H Adams 22
5I Adams 25
6I Adams 28
7I Adams 31
8I Adams 35
9I Adams 39
PW Adams 44
GW Mizuno 51
SW Mizuno 56
SW Alien Sport 55 (liked it for its additional weight/feel; used for bunker shots only)
Putt Odyssey

Notes:
1) I was not happy with the gaps between the Driver and 3H (50 yards difference), the PW and GW (25 yards difference)
2) I did not have any club with more than 56 degrees of loft (a 60 degree would be a great addition to the bag)
3) I was only carrying 13 clubs in my bag, have some flexibility

After revisiting some of the other clubs that I had available, my projected bag will look like this:

Club: Make: Degrees:
Driver Adams 9.5 - 11.5 adjustable
4W Callaway 16.5
4H Adams 22
5I Adams 25
6I Adams 28
7I Adams 31
8I Adams 35
9I Adams 39
PW Adams 44
PW Mizuno 46 or Dunlop 48 (pending range practice)
GW Mizuno 51
SW Mizuno 56
LW TBD 60
Putt Odyssey

Notes:
1) It seems that this projected bag will offer me better overall coverage and distance control.
2) I get to shop around for a decent LW (around 60 degrees)

Summary:
I'm hoping that this project will be beneficial to my scores on the course (my current handicap is 18, but I feel like I just lowered my handicap without hitting another ball), as well as a potential interesting topic of discussion for all of you on here. Cheers!

armygrunt47

Professional Champion

# 1 8/21/2015 7:56:28 PM

Filling those yardage gaps will definitely help your game. Will it lower your scores? That's not a guaranteed. Will it make your game a little less stressful since you now have tour gaps filled? Yes more than likely it will.

Egor

Legend

# 2 8/21/2015 8:13:28 PM

TaylorMade R1 Driver 10.0°
TM RBZ S2 Tour 3W 14.5°
TaylorMade S2 3hy 19.0°

Mizuno MP-59 3 Iron 21.0° (not usually in the bag)
Mizuno MP-59 4 Iron 24.0°
Mizuno MP-59 5 Iron 27.0°
Mizuno MP-59 6 Iron 30.0°
Mizuno MP-59 7 Iron 34.0°
Mizuno MP-59 8 Iron 38.0°
Mizuno MP-59 9 Iron 42.0°
Mizuno MP-59 PW 46.0°
Cleveland 588 GW 52.0°
Cleveland 588 SW 56.0°
Cleveland 588 LW 60.0°

The top end of my bag works very well for me. Knowing I have 25-30 yds between clubs, I can take out trouble. I don't usually carry the 3i, but I don't feel like I'm missing anything important between 3hy and 4i.

There is 6° is between my PW and Gap wedge. I don't find this to be a problem. Sometimes I get a funny itch to replace my wedges and do 50° 54° 58°, but then I realize the gaps are not as big a problem as my lack of practice.

I can see where your big gap between the driver and 3hy could be a challenge and putting a lob wedge in the bag might come in handy.

Getting new gear is fun.

DETWILER

Amateur

# 3 8/23/2015 12:10:49 PM

I found the project to be interesting overall. Most mid-high cappers may only relate to which club they are using by its letter or number only (pw, 9i, etc) without realizing what the club's respective lofts are (since the lofts, for the most part, are no longer on the clubs), this could be even more prominent if building a bag from individual clubs (multiple brands).

Too bad it won't help my putting any.

Mark Simmons

Legend

# 4 8/23/2015 5:13:17 PM

Just so you know, loft isn't the only variable that is going to influence distance and gaps between clubs. Shaft length, flex and other characteristics, a clubhead's center of gravity and MOI are just a few other variables that influence distance.

On loft alone, I noticed that the lofts on your Adams irons are really bunched leaving your gaps at the top and bottom of your set.

Your focus on covering distance gaps is right on!

surfgolfsail

Professional

# 5 8/23/2015 11:48:50 PM

That's a pretty tight bunch at the wedge end of your quiver. I can't imagine ever being that exact with my wedges, and they're a huge part of my scoring game. More than 3 wedges seems to be overkill, unless you're last name is Michelson. Until relatively recently, many of the pros didn't even carry anything more than a 56, and most of us mortals only had a PW and SW in the bag. Maybe check out Dave Pell's short game or other instructors who teach the many ways to work the wedges. My PW alone plays from a few yards up to 140 depending on my trajectory, If (when) your handicap drops into the low single digits, then you might start adding another wedge in, but before then, get the techniques down first. It takes a ton of practice to fully appreciate what each one of them can do, and that's even before we start talking about the bounce and the various grinds.

Realistically, for every hour I put into my mid to long irons, hybrids, woods and driver combined, I probably put in 1 for the wedges, and 1 for the putter, that's 3 hours of practice. A significant percentage of the score is within the 120 yard range, and figuring out a couple wedges is complex enough, add a third and you've increased it by a magnitude, and a fourth...well, you're probably tour material as far as I'm concerned.

And unless you're spanking them a mile, I'd more likely take a look at the other end of the bag and fill in the woods and hybrids a little more closely. Go to a fitter, the range or use a trackman to get a mean distance and dial it in for each of your clubs, and work from there. It's all theory otherwise. And as one of the other's wrote, there's so much more than loft that fits into the equation, and that's so true. The only way to really know is digging it out in the dirt. And take notes.

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