Different lofts... But same club number??

Hi guys.

I just realised this, and a little puzzled.

What does the number on your club really mean?

Eg. 5w, 5h The lofts are different.

5w - 18*
5h - 24*

Ok so the 5h loft is closer to my 5i. (mizuno so it's a little strong. Well... 1 club stronger)

But....

What really does the number indicate?

mrkatsucurry wrote:

Hi guys.

I just realised this, and a little puzzled.

What does the number on your club really mean?

Eg. 5w, 5h The lofts are different.

5w - 18*
5h - 24*

Ok so the 5h loft is closer to my 5i. (mizuno so it's a little strong. Well... 1 club stronger)

But....

What really does the number indicate?

Hybrid is normally used to replaced long irons so the loft normally follow the iron. Mizuno clubs are not 1 club stronger if you are using the MP series not sure abt the mpx and the rest.

5w = 5 wood. traditionally, a 5w is typically 18* and 19*

5h = 5 Hybrid. It is intended to be a 5 iron replacement.

hence naturally, you NEVER equate the loft of a 5w with a 5i / 5h

leading on question is, why is some 5h stronger / than the 5i loft in your iron set?
answer is depends
- different brands of hybrid compared with irons
- can be same brand of Hybrid and irons, but the hybrids are purchased separately from iron set

if you want the hybrid loft to flow naturally with your iron set, look for those hybrid-iron mixed set where the longer irons are replaced by hybrids

Alternatively, do your homework, find out the loft of the 5 iron or even 4 iron in your iron set, and go out to the market place and look for similarly lofted hybrids to replace your longer irons.

hope this helps

Its a question of distance gap and consistency for me. I dithered between 5w 19*and 3h 21* because they were the same distance for me 180m. It became obvious i cannot handle the 5w so i have gone with hybrids. In fact i dont have any fw in the bag because i suck. So the numbers mean very lttle these days i suppose. Just figure your distances out.

haragolfer wrote:

Its a question of distance gap and consistency for me. I dithered between 5w 19*and 3h 21* because they were the same distance for me 180m. It became obvious i cannot handle the 5w so i have gone with hybrids. In fact i dont have any fw in the bag because i suck. So the numbers mean very lttle these days i suppose. Just figure your distances out.

True, for me 19 deg hybrid did not go further than 22 deg hybrid but 5 fw did.

Makes sense hybrids and irons.

I use Jpx 800 forged, checked the specs, it's stronger than the us version.

So I guess it's clever marketing. Can sell you long iron hybrids, and some extra wedges.

Still a nice iron la, but I digress.

Guess at the end of the day, it's the gap distance spacing the matters. And what you want out of that club.

But just curious. Since when we're woods typically 6* stronger than their iron counter parts?

Before super sized drivers came along, a driver was about the size of a 3w. Just saw a pic of a 1979 tm driver.( Well ok 1979 is quite a while back. But maybe not to my dad.)

And look at the design of the razr and rbz. Woods and hybrids. To me the fw is a bigger brother of the hybrid.
Bigger mass at impact. More impulse, ball should fly faster. Bus and car langgah you at same speed, bus will send you flying further.

I guess then with a lower loft, and a bigger head, ball should have a lower trajectory, fly faster and climb higher. So more distance. Theoretically la.

Ok I'll admit. The real reason I'm think all this nonsense the is because my damn 5w is ballooning. I suspect it's because my shaft gives me a mid high trajectory. So the thing becomes a super wedge.

Now after that figuring out of lofts and head sizes, my 5w should be a distance club. Not a super wedge. I've got a 5h that is designed to do that. Smaller head, higher loft, some lines on the face to put backspin on the ball.

mrkatsucurry wrote:

Makes sense hybrids and irons.

I use Jpx 800 forged, checked the specs, it's stronger than the us version.

So I guess it's clever marketing. Can sell you long iron hybrids, and some extra wedges.

Still a nice iron la, but I digress.

Guess at the end of the day, it's the gap distance spacing the matters. And what you want out of that club.

But just curious. Since when we're woods typically 6* stronger than their iron counter parts?

Before super sized drivers came along, a driver was about the size of a 3w. Just saw a pic of a 1979 tm driver.( Well ok 1979 is quite a while back. But maybe not to my dad.)

And look at the design of the razr and rbz. Woods and hybrids. To me the fw is a bigger brother of the hybrid.
Bigger mass at impact. More impulse, ball should fly faster. Bus and car langgah you at same speed, bus will send you flying further.

I guess then with a lower loft, and a bigger head, ball should have a lower trajectory, fly faster and climb higher. So more distance. Theoretically la.

Ok I'll admit. The real reason I'm think all this nonsense the is because my damn 5w is ballooning. I suspect it's because my shaft gives me a mid high trajectory. So the thing becomes a super wedge.

Now after that figuring out of lofts and head sizes, my 5w should be a distance club. Not a super wedge. I've got a 5h that is designed to do that. Smaller head, higher loft, some lines on the face to put backspin on the ball.

Ballooning? Then maybe u should take a look at the shaft too soft for u? Perhaps u can try other brands 5 fw maybe stiff and see the result.

Yeah man. Its going a little too high too soon.

Seems to go higher than my 3w.

mrkatsucurry wrote:

Yeah man. Its going a little too high too soon.

Seems to go higher than my 3w.

Logically, I would expect the 5wd to go higher than 3wd. Should not be any surprise there. Other than the shorter distance, the 5wd is designed to get the ball up in the air faster. Height is good for carry, so I wouldn't worry too much there.

And most new woods nowadays have weights placed low & deep to create higher launch angles.

I tend to hit my balls high. I used to carry a 17deg 4wd for a while but was always disgusted with the high ball flight. In the end, I changed to a 3wd. Ball flight lower but less forgiving, since if the contact is a bit thin, the ball will fly lower compared to the 4wd, ESP frightening if there is a water hazard to clear.

Most people do not factor in Angle of Attack and of course their own capabilities.

when you feel like you at hitting it thin or on the extreme end of the equation, ballooning the 3 wood, it means the ball position is not at the right place or the shaft or the club head is not doing what its supposed to do.

not too long ago i have lady golfer who were using 1/2 longer men's length club in for a fitting. the 7 iron distance was about 90 meters. i can see clearly that she had to sweep the ball with a slightly open face to launch the ball and in the process she probably turn the 35 degree loft into 42 degree.

so we cut the 7 iron but a good 1 1/2 inch and immediately the ball striking was better and the distance went to 110 meters immediately.

what happened is the the club is now at the length where she can hit down into the ball (nstead of sweeping) and the shorter length also help her use the stronger loft to gain the 20 meter in an instance.

now coming the professional scene. Most professional golfers have a couple of clubs that they will continuously have problems with. in most cases, its the elusive 3 wood and the conversation will also go like this..." i just need the extra 15 meters and the right trajectory so that i can land it where i want to and roll it when i need it".

in the years of fitting, the key is in the Angle of Attack. just imagine if you hit down on the ball at -5 degree. at 15 degree, they will turn the dynamic loft into 10 degree. that means the ball will either roll uncontrollably (too shallow) or take off like a hot air ballon (too steep). the remedy is usually in the loft of the club or the face of the club. thats why you have deep face woods but they are usually for the better players or those consistently enough to hit down a 3 wood.

i would like to share a picture which i have taken of a player i walked with at Alfred Dunhill some years back. when we say hit down or lag, this is what i mean. in the end this player was fitted with his best 3 wood ever....a 16.5 degree deep face 3 wood with a very strong tip S shaft.

the first point of entry at waist level is the butt of the shaft, not that's what the pros do and most golfer cannot achieve....shown here is a driver swing so imagine what they can do with their irons.



so for those who need to know. its not the loft on your club that gives you the distance, its how you hit them to produce the distance so stop buying clubs to get your distance but work on your swing to get them right first.......sounds like a broken record again.

hope it helps.....DGman

+1 like

assuming angle of attack (as described in DG man's post) remains constant for your clubs, one of the other things that affect distance are length of shaft and loft.

a 18deg will longer shaft may hit longer than a 15deg with shorter shaft. Bearing in mind the kick point of the shaft also matters.

Assuming that your swing is already constant, go to a simulator. There is one in Green Fairways under Chern and test out your distance for each club. Once you find your distance for each club, you can then go to a club fitter to reshaft each club until you get a nice gap for each of your club.

Irons usually have a good gap between irons cos they come in the same set. Usually its the jump from irons to hybrids and hybrids to woods.......irons to wedges that need the shaft adjustment to obtain the desired distance gap.