Has the technology in irons improved as much as drivers in the past 10 years?

[harpua728]

I entered the season playing 10 year old irons (Mizuno MX-200) and driver (Ping G15). I got a new M5 driver this year due to the better performance on both solid strikes and mishits. I know it's more the indian than the arrow, but all things equal, it seems like these new drivers just flat out perform.

Switching gears to my irons, can I expect a similar improvement when comparing new sets to my current 10 year old set? Or have irons not progressed as much over the last decade?

 

[Barfolomew]

Have drivers really improved that much? They look fancier, marketing is sure they have, but if you can find the middle on your older club fine then the .83 COR is the same as an M5...... my older G30 LST doesn't give up anything

[Nessism]

Drivers have better COR over a wider area of the face, plus adjustment features for fine tuning fit. Irons have improved too but not to a similar extent, especially forged players irons which are pretty stagnant.

[harpua728]

> @Barfolomew said:

> Have drivers really improved that much? They look fancier, marketing is sure they have, but if you can find the middle on your older club fine then the .83 COR is the same as an M5...... my older G30 LST doesn't give up anything

 

For ME, the Ping driver was launching too high and was spinning to much. The new heads seem to be as forgiving (if not more) while keeping spin down. For me, I was consistently getting better results with the new drivers. Oddly enough, I demoed new drivers in 2017 and 2018 against my Ping G15 and the results weren't as impressive. However, for whatever reason, the drivers this year consistently outperformed my G15 (on various launch monitors and on the course).

[cardoustie]

I'd say newer irons in the last decade are far more forgiving off the toe and also a letter better with turf interaction ... plus you have the stronger lofts and hit one "less" iron as your 170 club

Ping blueprints are a great example, small package with incredible forgiveness

[Pepperturbo]

It's always Indian over the arrow. That said, GI irons have hugely improved over the last ten years. What gets my attention is handicap percentages haven't changed nearly as much to indicate improved technology. What's that imply?

 

Even though players irons have improved, there isn't as much technology used in them as compared to GI. Drivers and graphite shafts, however, have improved a great deal.

[North Butte]

It's pretty much in the last 10 years they have "perfected" irons with high-COR faces. As in, every manufacturer makes them now and they perform well for a wide range of golfer with few downsides. So that's a legitimately improved thing about irons.

 

But I'm with friend Nessism, the fine tuning of driver faces and adjustability over that same period is a much bigger deal.

[harpua728]

> @cardoustie said:

> I'd say newer irons in the last decade are far more forgiving off the toe and also a letter better with turf interaction ... plus you have the stronger lofts and hit one "less" iron as your 170 club

> Ping blueprints are a great example, small package with incredible forgiveness

 

I played with a rental set of AP3s earlier this year and I do remember hitting two separate 6 irons on par 3s off the toe. My initial thought was that I missed the sweet spot and would end up about ten yards short. On both occasions, the ball flew surprisingly high and landed pin high within 10 feet. I'm a believer in what you've stated above! That being said, part of being pin high may be due to the stronger lofts. However, the ball did launch higher than my usual 6 iron, so you figure that one out!

[RogerinNewZealand]

I bought a Ping G 7 iron head ex fitting cart and shafted it up as a spare practice club.Amazing forgiveness....so i may just buy a set of ie1/g over next year. I do find it hard to keep up with ping irob models now...S54 i35 where are you

[cardoustie]

I know so many guys that improved their iron games dramatically (height, distance, dispersion) when they went to p790's and CF16's

[JJK947]

GI irons have imrpoved in looks and performance a lot and the advent of the so called "players distance" irons has created a new category that can fit a lot of people. For real players irons like a blade, forged CB or AP2 type of club, there has only been incremental improvements, IMO.

 

Same with drivers, in my experience. OEMs, Ping especially, have been able to create drivers that optimize launch numbers with maximum forgiveness where there used to be a trade-off. But for someone who doesn't really benefit from maximum forgiveness, the improvements have not been overwhelming. I put up similar numbers for ball speed, spin, carry, total distance, etc. with my M5 as I did with my 9015D 10 years ago (on similar swing speed and strike). That said, I like my M5 better as I get those numbers with a little more consistency. Biggest difference is 10 years ago if there was a driver that was as forgiving as a G410, it would launch and spin the ball to the moon. Not to mention there are a lot more good shaft options these days.

[randy4]

I doubt that I would score any differently playing clubs that are 10 years old, driver included. I'm not hitting any farther or more accurately than I was in 2009.

[Brass_Bullseye]

> @Barfolomew said:

> Have drivers really improved that much? They look fancier, marketing is sure they have, but if you can find the middle on your older club fine then the .83 COR is the same as an M5...... my older G30 LST doesn't give up anything

 

Until last weekend I was convinced that the hype about the new drivers was all a money grab. I was convinced the difference between a five-year old driver and a new driver was negligible and we as consumers were being fleeced every two years. Then I had to replace my three-year old Titleist 915 D2 after I cracked it. The TS2 I replaced it with is undeniably better.

[Barfolomew]

> @Brass_Bullseye said:

> > @Barfolomew said:

> > Have drivers really improved that much? They look fancier, marketing is sure they have, but if you can find the middle on your older club fine then the .83 COR is the same as an M5...... my older G30 LST doesn't give up anything

>

> Until last weekend I was convinced that the hype about the new drivers was all a money grab. I was convinced the difference between a five-year old driver and a new driver was negligible and we as consumers were being fleeced every two years. Then I had to replace my three-year old Titleist 915 D2 after I cracked it. The TS2 I replaced it with is undeniably better.

 

Did you use the same exact shaft from old driver? Cause i hear they make a difference... maybe even more then head sometimes

[Brass_Bullseye]

> @Barfolomew said:

> > @Brass_Bullseye said:

> > > @Barfolomew said:

> > > Have drivers really improved that much? They look fancier, marketing is sure they have, but if you can find the middle on your older club fine then the .83 COR is the same as an M5...... my older G30 LST doesn't give up anything

> >

> > Until last weekend I was convinced that the hype about the new drivers was all a money grab. I was convinced the difference between a five-year old driver and a new driver was negligible and we as consumers were being fleeced every two years. Then I had to replace my three-year old Titleist 915 D2 after I cracked it. The TS2 I replaced it with is undeniably better.

>

> Did you use the same exact shaft from old driver? Cause i hear they make a difference... maybe even more then head sometimes

 

Granted I used a different shaft as the new clubs don't offer the same shaft options, but I told my fitter I wanted to get as close as I could to the old shaft. I don't think that's even possible going from Aldila to Project X as there is no industry standards for flex and kickpoint. I'm sure that has something to do with it, but the biggest difference I can feel is the face. The TS2 face is undeniably hotter. I barely feel the ball get in the way. Like I mentioned on another thread, it feels like I hit the tee and the ball just magically appears in the air 100 yards downrange.

[Barfolomew]

> @Brass_Bullseye said:

> > @Barfolomew said:

> > > @Brass_Bullseye said:

> > > > @Barfolomew said:

> > > > Have drivers really improved that much? They look fancier, marketing is sure they have, but if you can find the middle on your older club fine then the .83 COR is the same as an M5...... my older G30 LST doesn't give up anything

> > >

> > > Until last weekend I was convinced that the hype about the new drivers was all a money grab. I was convinced the difference between a five-year old driver and a new driver was negligible and we as consumers were being fleeced every two years. Then I had to replace my three-year old Titleist 915 D2 after I cracked it. The TS2 I replaced it with is undeniably better.

> >

> > Did you use the same exact shaft from old driver? Cause i hear they make a difference... maybe even more then head sometimes

>

> Granted I used a different shaft as the new clubs don't offer the same shaft options, but I told my fitter I wanted to get as closed as I could to the old shaft. I'm sure that has something to do with it, but the biggest difference I can feel is the face. The TS2 face is undeniably hotter. I barely feel the ball get in the way. Like I mentioned on another thread, it feels like I hit the tee and the ball just magically appears in the air 100 yards downrange.

 

You're finding the center of the face.... good on ya enjoy my friend