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Guide On How To Choose Golf Irons
1K views
Apr 1, 2025
With so much choice out there, selecting the right set of irons for you is a difficult task. What type of head should you choose? What about the loft and lie angle? Should I go for steel or graphite shafts? In this video, irons expert Joel Tadman runs through all the things you need to consider when choosing a new set of irons to ensure you get the right clubs in your bag and can start peppering those flags.
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0:00
Are you in the market for a new set of irons? Well in this video I'm going to cover everything
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you need to know about buying a new set of irons. There's a ridiculous amount of choice out there
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it can be incredibly confusing. Watch this video right to the end, you'll find yourself a match
0:15
made in heaven. So without further ado, let's get into it. So the first decision you need to make when choosing the iron is which type of iron you
0:36
want to go for and as you can see I've got five here in front of me. Starting with this one, this is the Muscleback otherwise known as a blade
0:43
It's the one that's got the least amount of technology in it. It's really aimed at elite ball strikers, tall players because it is the most compact
0:51
and there's not a lot of forgiveness built into this clubhead. There's not a lot of technology got into it
0:55
It's the lowest launching, the highest spinning, designed for golfers with quite high swing
0:59
speeds who are very competent ball strikers. Then we move into low handicap irons. These
1:05
can typically form cavity back irons, you can have some hollow headed irons as well
1:09
but these offer a little bit more forgiveness and stability but in a compact head so will
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still suit the eye of a low handicap golfer. The next type of iron we're going to move
1:19
into is a compact distance iron or a players distance iron. As the name suggests, it's
1:24
more of a distance orientated club and as a result the lofts are a little bit stronger
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going to produce more ball speed and distance. Conversely, the two previous ones have quite
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traditional lofts. These are a little bit stronger, going to give you more ball speed
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but you can get them in quite compact packages as well, similar to the low handicap iron
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They are quite refined, but you can get larger ones as well if you like to look down on something
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a bit meatier. Next type of iron is a traditional cavity back iron. These, again, are slightly
1:50
stronger and loft still, and you can see there's a lot more obvious perimeter waiting on this club
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So this will give you a lot more stability on those off-centre hits. If you're someone that utilizes a lot of the club base
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you're going to enjoy the performance that a cavity-back style head offers
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And another option you can go for is like a hybrid-style club. So this is an example of a hybrid-style iron, built more like a metalwood
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so it's going to give you metalwood-like ball speeds and also metalwood-like launch from that really wide sole
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And as a result, they can make the lofts quite strong on these to give you maximum distance and maximum forgiveness as well
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Obviously you have options to combo your set with various models within this selection
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We'll talk about that a bit later in this video, but hopefully that gives you an idea
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as to the types of irons available and which one might suit your eye
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So the next thing you'd think about with your new set of irons is how it looks, and particularly
2:43
down at a dress because that will affect the amount of confidence you have over the golf ball
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There's a lot of design features you need to consider, the blade length, obviously we know
2:52
as the irons get more suitable for higher handicaps, they tend to get bigger, blade lengths get longer
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top lines get thicker, but there are some kind of gray areas you can get for giving irons that have relatively
3:03
short blade lengths and thin top lines. So you kind of know instantly when you put it down
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behind the ball, yeah, that suits my eye, I really like that, or no, I don't like that
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Consider things like different finishes, certain irons can come in different finishes
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you've got brushed satin finishes, you've got reflective glossy finishes, again, one will suit your eye more than the other, more likely
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And there are certain design features that can actually influence the ball flight So really think about the amount of offset that you have on your irons If you tend to miss your iron shots to the right having more offset i the leading edge set back a little bit more from the hosel will produce more left bias for a right
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golfer and therefore should help reduce your slice. So think about that when choosing how
3:40
your iron looks down behind the ball at address. It's going to really affect the quality of your
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shots. Now another area of consideration is the sound and the feel. Yes, this is a subjective one
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but I think it's very important that you enjoy the sensation that you have when you're striking
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shots with your irons. And these can be anything from something that feels very soft, very muted in
4:04
terms of the sound it offers, all the way up to something that's really lively and quite loud and
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powerful. And there's a lot of irons that fit in between those, but I've got two ends of the
4:13
spectrum here, starting with this muscle back iron, which typically would give you a really soft
4:18
dense sensation at impact which is typically preferred by the slightly better player
4:27
You can see there wasn't much kind of acoustics there, it was quite muted
4:31
Then the other end of the spectrum you've got more distance orientated irons that typically
4:36
offer a slightly firmer feel and often a much louder sound to kind of translate into a little
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bit more distance so it kind of really just comes down to what you tend to prefer
4:48
You can see there's a much louder, clickier sound to it. And as I said, there are a lot of irons that
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fit in between those, but it's really important that you enjoy the sound and the feel you get
4:59
from your irons. That's going to steal a lot more confidence and just provide a much more pleasurable
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ball striking experience. Now, one underrated area of consideration for your new set of irons
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is the sole geometry. Specifically, we're talking the width of the sole and also the amount of bounce
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that it has as well. Typically, low handicap irons like this blade I've got here have quite
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narrow soles with not much bounce or camber to it. That means the leading edge is going to play
5:27
quite sharp, you're going to create big divots, and the margin for error on your strike is going
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to be quite narrow. So it's really designed for better players' low handicap irons. But if you
5:35
need a bit more leeway on your strike, game improvement irons do tend to have wider soles
5:40
with a little bit more camber to them. That's going to increase the margin for error. If you do catch the ground slightly before the ball it has less propensity to dig should glide through the
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turf and help hopefully pick the ball off the top of it a little bit more easily obviously we know
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game-proven irons with the wider soles means more weight is pulled lower and further back it's going
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to help increase launch and it's also going to give you a little bit more stability on those
6:02
off-center hits a couple more things to think about on the sole geometry if you tend to be quite
6:06
shallow into the ball you are going to suit more of a sole that has less bounce to it because you're
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not needing as much resistance into the ground. If you're quite steep into the ball
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you might want a little bit more bounce to counteract that steeper angle of attack. And if you are bending the hosel to create slightly less
6:22
or more loft to do some gapping things or whatever, if you hit a specific number on your irons
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that will affect the effective bounce and the way the club interacts with the ground
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So all these things you need to think about, obviously that will be covered during a fitting, especially if you're hitting off grass
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but just consider getting the right sole width and the right geometry to match up your technique
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and that should help you hit better shots. So when you're choosing a new driver
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the number one factor you would consider is distance. Is one model going further than the other
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That might cause you to choose that model versus the other one But with irons it a completely different story It not about distance it about distance consistency It something I said with my reviews time and time again I don really look at how far an iron goes It might be useful to
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some golfers to gain a bit more yardage with their irons, but I'm really looking at the distance
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consistency, so the front-to-back dispersion. How repeatable is an iron at hitting a distance over
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and over again? Because that is really going to help your ability to score. Ultimately, with an
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iron shot, you're tasked with hitting the ball a certain distance. And if you've got an iron
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that delivers that in terms of the right level of forgiveness for your skill level
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you should see your approach shots get close to the hole and your scoring should improve
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So this particular shot, 145 yards away, you want an iron that's going to deliver
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performance that's going to hit the ball as close to that pin as possible
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I've leaked it a bit but it's pin high and that's the most important thing. If you can get pin high
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on most of your iron shots your score should start to tumble. Now when you get fitted for irons
7:58
on a launch monitor you will be bombarded with an awful amount of data, ball speed, launch, spin
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all that sort of thing but one parameter I really want you to pay close attention to
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is descent angle, so the angle your ball is coming in to land on, because that has a really big impact
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on the ability of your golf ball to stop. If your golf ball is coming in nice and steep
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it's going to stop pretty quickly by the hole. If it's coming in too shallow and too hot
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it's going to often run past the flag, and if the pin's at the front of the green
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it's going to be very difficult to stop the ball close to the pin. So the optimum land angle
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varies depending on your swing speed. As your swing speed increases, as does the amount of spin
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you generate and the land angle that you have into the green. So talk to your fitter, see what land
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angle is right for you. Tour average is about 50 degrees with a six iron, so it's quite steep
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I'm generally looking for my swing speed around about a 45 degree land angle with a seven iron
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Might be different for you, but have a chat with the fitter. Make sure you've got a land angle
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that's appropriate for your swing speed, and that should help you stop the ball close to the hole
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So one really important factor when choosing your new set of irons is the set makeup and there's two
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things you need to consider. The first is a combination set so that refers to having different
9:15
types of head within a set so for example a lot of manufacturers offer different models within a
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range that allows you to implement different models in different areas of the set to give
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you the performance where you need it. So you might opt for a slightly larger higher launching
9:31
more forgiving long iron to give you the performance where you need it you know when the
9:35
shaft's a bit longer you tend to strike your long irons a little bit more inconsistently having something that's a little bit more forgiving will offset that drop off in performance from the
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mishits and give you more consistency through the set that's one example where a combo set can be
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really useful and we see everyone from tour players all the way up to high handicap golfers
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opting for something like this the second thing you need to think about is the set makeup specifically
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what's the composition of your set so what's going to be your longest iron what's going to be your
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shortest iron you know low handicap iron sets typically start at four iron and run all the way
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up to pitching wedge high handicap irons often start at five iron because the lofts are slightly
10:12
stronger and go up to kind of a gap wedge and that's because a lot of high handicap golfers
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will want to add one maybe two hybrids underneath that five iron so think about what clubs that you want to have in your bag Do you prefer hybrids You might even want to have three hybrids and then start your set at a six iron and work all the way up to a sand wedge Some iron sets will go all the way up to sand wedge
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so that's another thing you think about. Do you want to go for a speciality wedge or are you okay
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with the wedges that are included within the set? All these things you need to think about
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give them a test. Obviously a speciality wedge at that other end of the bag will give you a bit more
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versatility but if you want all your clubs looking the same within your iron set and your wedges you
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know having the complete set from five iron all the way to sandwich could be the way to go so
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two really key considerations get the right set that's going to suit the way you hit the ball
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now the last thing but still really important thing to consider when choosing new irons is the
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spec of the club now typically this will be covered during a custom fitting but it's worth
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pointing out in this video if you are buying irons off the rack there can be some areas that will
11:18
affect performance the first one being the lie angle of the club so how the club sits at the
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ground when you're striking the ball you want it to be as flat as possible obviously if it's toe
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down it's going to cause misses to the left toe toe up it's going to cause misses to the right and
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the interaction with the ground is not going to be as clean as you want it to be you think about
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you know when you're swinging through the shaft is flexing that the head of the club is drooping
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so you need to make sure that your club is fitted dynamically to get it nice and flat at the point
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of impact so the line goal is really important the other thing is the length of the shaft obviously
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if you're slightly taller you probably need a slightly longer shaft to allow for that and length
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is also used to influence the strike pattern so if you're hitting a lot of iron shots and you tend
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to hit the ball out of the toe the fitter may well add a little bit of length to shift that strike
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pattern from the toe more towards the center of the club so there's two reasons why you might alter
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the the length of the club and the other thing to think about in terms of the spec is the shaft of
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the club so the weight the flex and the material as well i would definitely urge you if you haven't
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tried graphite shafts in the past give them a go that lightweight feel is really really nice it
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allows you to swing more powerfully gives you a little bit more launch and you can get some pretty
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stiff profiles in graphite now that would suit faster swingers better players so graphite is
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definitely something to consider most golfers will look at a steel shaft a huge variation in weight
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and flex so just make sure you get the right weight and flex that feels comfortable for you
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obviously a fitter will be able to identify that for you so those are the things you need to think
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about with the spec obviously you've got the grip as well make sure you get one that feels comfortable
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in your hands the right sort of thickness if you've got larger hands you will typically want
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to go for a slightly thicker grip there is a kind of wife's tail you know thicker grips tends to
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reduce hand action and you know stops the club base from turning over not sure how much science
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there is to that but could be something to think about or something to try you know those thicker
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grips we've seen bryson with those really thick grips could be an option to give you a bit more
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control so consider those things when choosing an iron the spec is really important so hopefully
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you found this video useful in terms of choosing your next set of irons if you're looking to
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upgrade very soon and if you are researching a particular make or model be sure to check out the
13:34
golf monthly website for all our latest reviews and buying guides that can really help narrow down
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on your search. Well that's all for me here from God for God Golf Club. I'll see you next time
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