Improving Dispersion with Equipment

Equipment
#1

@Golfer_Jake_78 asked this on twitter, I think it’s an interesting question and figured I’d throw up my thoughts here and see what others thought.

Jake, you clarified you were more worried about left / right dispersion… I’m still going to talk about distance too… for what it’s worth, I have a 4 utility 699 and love it… it actually carried significantly further than I expected on a mishit Saturday, and I was impressed out how far it went… I’ve also never had one go significantly FARTHER than I expected…

On the distance dispersion part, I think “players distance” irons are problematic for anyone with a good amount of club head speed and moderate ball striking… while it can help a decent amount on OK strikes, I’ve seen good shots go yards past my intended target line… The players distance category just adds too much dispersion for me in terms of length.

As for a smaller head, I do think it can help with left and right dispersion… I’ve never been impressed with the bigger irons (I play Adams CMBs) and the geometry of it makes basic sense to me… if the center of the face is farther from the shaft, the amount your club face is open or close will have more an impact on the ball flight. At least that is how I look at it… the smaller heads are also easier to manipulate / control…

I’m also a big Sub70 homer, and always think they are worth a look… I like my 699. It has a nice solid feel to it and my numbers with it are inline with my expectations… it was also significantly cheaper than any other utility iron on the market… They are easy to demo, but I just had them build a club I wanted to my specs with the thought it was better to spend $100 on an actual club than $20 to try a club. They also have more shaft options than they show on the site, but this isn’t a Sub70 advertisement…

If you are gaming clubs with some significant offset, a less offset club can definitely make a difference… It’s definitely worth trying, especially if you feel like your ball striking isn’t being rewarded with good dispersion…

I do think there are some interesting questions to be asked about how much equipment affects are shots / swing / results, but I know there is at least some relationship… If you are thinking about it, it’s definitely worth exploring the thought some… Maybe just try a 4 iron or PW and see how you like it… I’d also suggest taking the time to figure out what shafts you want in them.

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#2

I do not have a lot of forward shaft lean at impact which is why I’m looking at the Player’s Distance category. I feel like I need a little distance help. I’m also very intrigued by the Sub70 price. I definitely don’t feel like my ball striking is being rewarded as much as I am hoping.

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#3

What are you gaming now? You have obviously been hitting the ball decently judging by your recent successes… but that doesn’t mean the clubs are the best tool for the job…

I haven’t tried the recent iteration of players distance stuff, so maybe they have reigned in the “flyer issue”… I like the 699s and get decent distance from it, but haven’t really gotten a chance to fully put it through it’s paces… I got it last year after I was hurt, and my ball striking isn’t back to pre injury levels…

I’m not sure if offset would help mitigate lack of forward shaft lean… obviously it would keep the head a little further behind the hands but I feel like forward shaft lean is a result of being in a good impact position rather than a cause of a good impact position… so I’m not sure offset would have a huge benefit for that… I’m not a club designer though!

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#4

I have Callaway Steelhead XR. I bought them in 2016 when I was having issues with hosel contact that I couldn’t get corrected. So for about the next 12 months I played every shot with the ball lined up on the toe. I no longer have those issues.

I do hit them quite well, but I do have a fair amount of left misses, especially with 7-PW which is when I really don’t want that miss. I occasionally get a flyer, but not real often. I am hitting them much farther now after a winter of speed sticks.

I generally hit 8-10 GIR per round, and I do play pretty DECADE-ish so I’m not expecting to hit that many shots close, but I wonder if new irons would help turn 30 footers into 20 footers.

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#5

If you are consistently missing left, it could be an issue of the offset. It’s definitely a reasonable avenue to pursue… It’d be nice if we had a tour truck and professional fitter to build sets to our whims…

It’s also been 5 years! You can totally justify a new set!

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#6

I still have to sell the wife on this because I didn’t think I’d be getting new irons this year.

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#7

Good news is the market for wives is pretty good right now, pretty easy to get your money back selling her.

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#8

I’m probably in the minority, but I’m a high handicapper that’s worse with larger SGI irons. I’ve had a # of fittings and a “midsize” iron always yields much better results for me. I was fitted for my current irons a little over 5 years ago and wound up with Apex Pros. I couldn’t hit the regular Apex that well even though they looked okay to me. Last week I went to look at new irons and went through another fitting and ended up ordering P770’s. I feel like my game needs larger more forgiving irons, but the results say otherwise.

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#9

There was a thread discussing fittings on another forum that delved into dispersion some. I was hitting 7 irons on skytrack the other day and had a 12 yard dispersion, hit 2 more shots and looked up and it was 35 yards. 1 shot added 23 yards of dispersion to my total, yes it was a small sample size, however it made me realize that no equipment or fitter would ever be able to “reduce” my dispersion, it is solely a swing thing. 10 shots inside a 12 yard circle and then 1 50 yards in opposite direction of outer edge of circle and boom I suck again. BUT what equipment and fitting will do is make those 10 shots better.

As far of the size of the iron, that is 100% individual, there is no conclusive evidence one way or the other that it helps or hurts. Lots of discussion and arguments but no real results. The best advice I have heard in regards to this is to play the most forgiving iron you can look at.

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#10

I think this is good generic advice overall… I think in Jake’s case he might want something slight smaller and less offset now that his ball striking is back to where it needs to be… I think moving away from heavily offset stuff will be beneficial, even if the new set still has some offset.

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#11

Bingo! Would just like something smaller to look at, and I’m hoping it helps my dispersion.

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#12

Just chiming in. I always played blades after my beginning years because I felt it left less space that wasn’t the sweet spot to hit, if you have a good strike. With modern game improvement clubs, the sweet spot is somewhat expanded, versus there being just more metal to hit. I also had a hard time looking at GI clubs–at least the old ones–I’m a hooker (sorry Mom) so offset gave me hives.

However, I went to to the T300s, and they are not hard to look at. As for the dead center strikes giving you fliers–agreed, BUT, I would go follow Adam Way, foot spray my clubface, and develop centered contact. The benefits of these clubs when you are playing golf (as opposed to “golf swing” I think outweigh the burdens. BTW–I’m not endorsing T300s or anything else–that’s really a personal choice–I have Sub 70 clubs and they are well made, the staff and owner could not be more service oriented and easy to work with, and I would tell you any of their products are well made and tremendous bargains at the price. As to whether they suit you…your call. You might look at New Level as well, they are similar, but they don’t do woods.

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#13

I’m eyeing the following:
-Sub70 699 Pros
-Mizuno JPX-921 Hot Metal Pro
-PXG 0311P Gen 3

My coach and a fitter I talk with on Twitter are both telling me the JPX-921 Hot Metal Pro is probably the best option for me, BUT, I should not do anything until I get fit.

I’ll have to check out the T300s. I really liked the T200s when I got a chance to hit them.

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#14

Greg loves mizuno! I’d check out the srixon as well… I wish I had hit them the last time I got fit. The people who like them love them.

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#15

Try the ZX5’s. Or even the 4’s I had a combo 585/785 and loved them. Went to ZX7’s and they are better.

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