Psst: It Doesn't (Actually) Matter How Far You Hit Your 7-Iron...

Distance this and ball speed that, the language has entrenched itself in the vernacular of golf to the point where it seems impossible to avoid. From TV analysis’ breaking down players’ ball speed gains, to everyday golfers comparing smash factors from club fittings, we’ve never gone deeper into the numbers.

But there is one thing we need to stop comparing apples to apples, it’s how far you hit your irons - because I don’t give a shit how far you hit your 7-iron.

To be clear, I’m not saying distance is an issue in golf for a majority of people who play the game, although it is an issue at the highest level - but I’ll save my rollback talk for another day. I also can’t argue with the overwhelming correlation between swing speed, driver distance, and handicap, because Arccos and PGA Tour data prove the game gets progressively easier the longer you hit it.

It’s why training systems that help with swing speed, like The Stack have been so successful, in helping golfers improve.

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What we instead need to better understand is that, after your driver, which is designed to go as far as possible, and as you move towards your shorter clubs, it’s about hitting the ball a specific distance and not just as far as you can.

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This distance-first mentality has too many golfers trying to hit each iron as far as possible as if the scorecard cares that you hit a 9-iron while your playing partner hit a 7. It's what drives golfers into fittings to compare 7-irons to find out which one helps them pick up 10 yards while also not realizing they are getting sold an extra wedge along the way because in reality that new 7-iron is just a 6-iron in disguise.

In the fitting word we used to call these "hero clubs" because (bad) fitters would push there types of clubs on golfers who just wanted to hit it longer without any regard for what is actually playable. A 7-iron is functionally useless if it flys longer but you can't make it stop on a green. The equipment industry learned that lesson around a decade ago, and since then we have seen a reintroduction of HL (High Launch) irons that actually allow golfers to hit the ball higher so they can stop it with some kind of control.

As iron faces get thinner and flex more (greater compliance) they begin to generate more ball speed thanks to energy transfer with the trade-off being less spin. The result is an iron that also doesn't generate as much height.

To counteract this loss of height, mass is moved lower in the head (lower center of gravity) to increase launch and so the ball flys higher, and then the loft is also made strong. The result in an iron that launcher higher with less spin, which in almost every case until the point of diminishing return, results in more distance.

This is how you get a new 7-iron to fly as long as your old 6-iron.

The only thing is, if the longest iron in your set is a 6-iron because it flys the same as your old 5-iron, and now you have an extra wedge to fill the bigger distance gap to your old gap wedge - did you really gain anything?

The best fit irons are not built around distance (although it's always a nice plus) they're built around stoping power and control. Whether you hit an 8-iron 150 yards or a 7-iron, the golf ball doesn't know the difference, and neither does your score card.