Filling the gaps: Determine the clubs you should buy to make your set work.

Loft is simple, unless you refuse to pay attention to it.

My friend, Jay has refused so far.

He has little to no idea of what loft means to ball flight and distance. Of course, one also has to factor in length to make a loft equation work. Let's look at a couple loft and length tables.

First, here are the specs for the classic Ping Eye 2 irons.

These are the irons Jay used to play:

We can see that the Ping Eye 2 5 iron had 28.5 degrees of loft and was 37.75 inches long.

Here are the specs from Jay's new irons, the Ping G20:

The G20's 5 iron is two degrees stronger than the Eye 2 5 iron. Even at the same length this makes the G20's 5 iron close to the loft of the Eye 2's 4 iron.

Now look at the 9 iron lofts. There's a full 5 degrees of difference. That means the G20s are over one club stronger than the Eye 2s in the short irons.

That, my friends, is a big difference.

Stronger lofts at a given length mean generally longer ball flight. Yes, I am purposefully ignoring issues such as the club's center of gravity and shaft flex (for now).

So, it should come as no surprise to Jay that his new 7 iron flies further than his old 7 iron given its 4 degree stronger loft.

Let's look a bit closer at Jay's set:

Jay plays a 10.5 degree driver that is 45.5 inches in length yet his longest iron (his 4 iron) has a loft of 23 degrees and is 38.25 inches long.

It's pretty clear he'll need some clubs to fill in that length, loft and distance gap.

Happily, it's a simple problem to solve now that we have our length and loft tables.

As a brief aside, for the last 20 years stronger lofts and longer lengths have been the fashion. The explanation for this is easy; people like to believe their new clubs result in longer shots than their old clubs and club makers are happy to help facilitate the illusion.

Stronger lofts create a problem, though, that's different (and I would say more difficult to solve) than weaker lofts. In a weak loft set (like the Eye 2), the player can go directly from his 50 degree pitching wedge to a sand wedge.

But, in a stronger lofted set the player will be forced to learn to play and use a gap wedge which will fill a gap between his strong-lofted pitching wedge and his sand wedge that shouldn't be there in the first place.

We can forget about all that for now...

Jay still needs to address the gap between his 4 iron and his driver.

The first step is to find a club that will take care of the range a 3 iron would cover. We can see the 3 iron loft would have 20 degrees of loft. A much easier club to hit would be a 3 hybrid which will have a loft of 20 degrees and be just a touch longer than a standard 3 iron. Those of you who are paying attention have noticed a classic gap between clubs of around 3 or 4 degrees...

In the old days, a set would either have a 2 iron or a 5 wood. Most modern sets have neither but we still have a length, loft and distance gap to fill. The next club could be either be a 17 degree fairway wood (likely a 4 wood) or a 17 degree hybrid. A strong player might choose a longer, 17 degree hybrid (which would create the lower ball flight of a traditional long iron. But, Jay's not a very strong player. He needs clubs that are easy to hit and get the ball into the air.

A 20 degree hybrid and a 17 degree 4 wood fill the gap between his 4 iron and driver just fine.

His basic set should consist of 9 irons (sand, gap wedge, pitching wedge, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 and 4 irons), a 20 degree hybrid, a 17 degree 4 wood and his driver. When he adds in his putter he's at 13 clubs.  Many players have a specialty club they add for specific conditions or courses. Some add a lob wedge, a chipper, a low bounce wedge or maybe even a two wood or a strong 3 wood, on any given day, thereby maxing out their bag at the USGA limit of 14 clubs.

Here's something that doesn't matter at all, but lots of people (Jay?) think it does:

People are prone to get all worked up over how far they hit their irons.

They'll say things like, "I used to hit my 7 iron 150 and now I hit it 130."

They say this as if it matters but it doesn't.

The distance a player hits a club is a function of club head speed, the path of the club and the angle of the club head as it strikes the ball. Each one of those are variables for any player, and are wide variables for the recreational player.

Don't get worked up over losing distance which really hasn't been lost. Try to focus on striking the ball squarely and play the distance you get. Then, figure 10 yards distance between each club and get out there and post a score.

See, Jay?

It's simple.