Hi,
First post on here, great to get involved.
I bought new irons early this year. Love them in general (Wilson D7 Forged). What I am noting though is that my distances do compress a little in the 5-7 iron.
Wondering if I should really start thinking around maybe going for a much more customised set with more game improvement to improve gaps with the longer irons?
My dad ran into this problem as age has started to slow things down for him. Not saying that’s what’s happening for you, but took out 6-4 irons and replaced them with hybrids. They got him the yardages he needed and the gaps were easy to fit into at club champion.
Just a thought if you’re trying to fill specific yardage gaps.
Thanks for the reply. Have a hybrid at 4 alright, which is a great club. I probably really more need a bit more fitness & strike work, but thought a graduated set may well make life easier for the “lazy” golfer in me 
Is your idea that these irons “compress” distances based off of a general feel or actual data? Would be curious if you could get on a monitor and see the reality here. Because I would image there is an actual reason for this, whether is strike, swing speed, or other thing happening here.
It’s based on data. I use gamegolf so am tracking my distances.
I get nice clean 10-12 yard gaps for the GW-7i, but the gaps shrink through 5-6-7.
Though I do have a smallish sample set to work with, so it may just be anomalous data that will align with time
Good to know you are tracking and taking it seriously like that. I know I have the buddies that are just so much more comfortable for an arbitrary reason with a 6-iron so they hit it further than their 4-iron most of the time just thats just comfort / strike.
I think for me gapping gets even more extreme at those long irons, but maybe just a personal experience.
Most irons (D7 included when I looked them up) are tighter in their lofts at the higher clubs than the lower clubs. Where the GW to PW is 5* different in that set, but 7 to 6 is 3*
Some tightening of the gaps is to be expected and is normal for all players because of this. If you think your gaps are even lower than normal though (like less than 7 yards), then could definitely test out different club options to see if that helps.
What are your distances like? If you pulled your 5 iron, would you miss it? What would you replace it with…
I have taken the view of my bag as 14 different tools that all have a unique role… I have large distance gaps between my driver, 3w, hybrid, 4 utility and 5 iron… but my four utility is great for keeping the ball low and the hybrid is great for hitting it up and landing softly… the gaps between them are less important than the shots I can hit with them.
If your three middle irons are only filling 2 roles, you should change something. Maybe bend the 5 down and add another hybrid?