Do You Need Stronger-Lofted Irons? The Arguments For And Against

There are a number of questions a golfer will ask themselves when they’re thinking about buying new irons or going for a custom fitting, one of which is whether they’d be suited to stronger-lofted irons.

Generally speaking, most irons have become two to three degrees stronger over the last 20-30 years.

For example, most 7-irons 30 years ago would probably have had about 35 degrees of loft.

Some of the latest models, meanwhile, might be as low as 26 or 27 degrees.

It varies between manufacturers and different models, but this gives you an idea of one of the equipment trends we’ve seen in recent times - a move towards 'stronger' lofts.

Most of the stronger-lofted irons available are game improvement irons or distance-orientated irons.

Could you do with a set? Actually, what you really need to know is what the pros and cons are.

"When you strengthen the loft, all other things being equal, ball speed will go up," says Golf Monthly’s Joe Ferguson, former head pro at The Celtic Manor Resort.

However, it's not always this simple, as Ferguson, who used to head up the National Fitting Centres for both Titleist and TaylorMade, explains.

"Ball speed going up doesn't necessarily mean distance will increase if the ball is just flying lower.

"Some golfers might have the speed to make a stronger-lofted 5-iron, for example, go further, but a lot of club golfers would end up hitting it lower and it wouldn't carry so far."

Without getting overly technical, if you want the benefit of extra distance from a stronger-lofted iron, it’s usually a balancing act with the other technology in the club, such as getting the center of gravity in the right location and matching up the launch angles to get the most out of a stronger lofted set of irons.

Other considerations

There are a couple of other potential 'side effects' of playing with strong lofts, too.

Firstly, the less loft you have, the less spin you will be able to generate - therefore you might find yourself hitting a longer ball, but you could also find yourself struggling to hold greens.

Suddenly, being able to hit your irons 10-15 yards further doesn't feel quite so advantageous.

Secondly, less spin on the ball can increase your dispersion. In other words, you could end up finding accuracy becomes an issue.

Again, the benefit of being able to hit a longer ball is suddenly negated.

"It can be like robbing Peter to pay Paul," says Ferguson, who emphasizes the importance of trying different options during a custom fitting.

"If you’re someone who hits the ball high, then yes, you’re almost certainly going to get a boost in distance,” he says.

"If you have a more moderate swing speed, perhaps you’re a senior player, less loft will actually make it harder for you to carry the ball."

Ferguson also has a few more words of advice.

If you're thinking about taking your existing irons somewhere to get them bent stronger "to sneak some extra distance", there are implications for bounce and offset.

In other words, your ball-striking might suffer, and you finding 'digging' into the ground and not getting that sweet connection you need.