Why You Hit Your 7 iron While Your Friend Hits Their 8... (2024)

This article was featured inside Tennessee Golf Quarterly, Spring 2019

In the two years Profectus Golf has been open in Nashville, I’ve noticed a common aspect to the shots of players who wish they hit their irons further.
The players who think they should hit it farther, almost always launch the ball too high.

Dynamic Loft is the reason.Dynamic Loft is what loft the ballexperiences at impact. It’s differentthan Static Loft. The static loft of yourclubs can be provided by themanufacturer or be measured with aloft gauge. Static Loft is the what loftthe club has when it isn’t hitting a ball.If you want to hit it farther, you needto hit the ball with less Dynamic loft atimpact.

There are two ways to deliver less dynamic loft.

1) Change Your Swing- Changing your swing is a pretty big process for most recreational golfers. The way to go about making this change is completely based on your individual swing and not something a magazine article or YouTube video can likely help you with. If you go this route, know that it should involve having the grip end of the club ahead of the club head at impact.

2) Change your clubs- Changing your clubs is almost always the way to go for the recreational golfer. While professional and elite players decrease their dynamic loft at impact, turning their 7 irons into 6 irons by the time they reach impact. Recreational golfers do the opposite, turning 7 irons into 8s.

If this is you, the clubs you look for should have lower static lofts and shafts designed to launch the ball l ower. Think about it, If you struggle with hitting the ball too high and usually turn your 7 iron into an 8 iron by the time you reach impact, starting with lower lofted clubs and lower launching shafts will allow you to launch it lower without the need to change your swing.

We use TrackMan for all ourfittings, a doppler radar that tracks theclub at impact and the balls full flight.

It makes it easy for us to compare a players clubs before and after their fitting. The data presented in these before and after images are the averages from a recent fitting session at Profectus.

It is an excellent example of when a player switches from their current clubs to irons with lower static lofts and the right shaft fit. Without a swing change, they achieve the distance they hoped for.