Selecting The Correct Irons For Your Short Game

Regardless of the handicap and style of the player - selecting a set of irons is a personal choice and there is no doubt that irons are the most essential part of any player's golf arsenal. The capacity to adapt your iron shots to the style is what truly defines your game and will lower your handicap. The ability to hit long, straight distances with a driver is one thing, but unless you can find an optimal position on the green through iron play, the rest is in vain.

Golf irons will typically contribute towards 8 to 9 clubs in your golf bag, so the emphasis on selecting the right set of irons can have a noticeable improvement on your game. The market is full of different brands of irons each with their own specifications; the following suggestions will offer some guidance in selecting the perfect set of irons for your game.

Blade Irons

Offering a small striking area through a thin club-head the blade iron distributes its weight proportionally across the entire club-head which produces a sweet-spot in the centre of the iron's club-head. A strike to the centre of the face will produce a long, straight flight trajectory. A swing that creates an off-centre shot will undoubtedly produce a short, uncontrolled trajectory of the golf ball. Manufacturers of blade irons place additional weight behind the sweet spot to produce more ‘feel' to a shot compared to a cavity backed irons. This type of iron is best suited to low handicapped players who benefit from the additional feel and workability offered by this time of iron.

Cavity Back Irons

This type of iron is better recognised as the perimeter weighted iron. The design of the club-head is what makes this type of iron so powerful. Manufactured from stainless steel this type of iron produces a hard-hitting shot by distributing its weight around the perimeter of the club-head which creates an oversized sweet-spot.

An over-sized sweet-spot produces a more forgiving, longer and straighter when struck off-centre. As a downside the more forgiving the iron is the more its feeling is reduced making it more suitable to a high handicapped player who will benefit from a large sweet-spot, making the cavity back iron a prime example of a modern game-improvement iron.

Hybrid Sets Of Irons

The latest evolution of iron sets is the hybrid iron - designed for players who find it hard to hit long irons (3 and 4), the hybrid iron set is an evolution from cavity back short irons to reduced cavity mid-irons to hybrid rescue wood. The obvious benefits to a beginner are unquestionable. Cavity back short irons will offer maximum forgiveness and additional control for short distance shots to green. Hollow-backed mid-irons reposition the weight lower and further back towards the heel of the head to produce straightforward high mid iron shots. The hybrid iron sets also offer the distance of a fairway wood with the control, distance and accuracy of a long iron. This type of iron is best matched to mid-handicapped or the senior player.

Steel Shafted Irons

The most common type of shaft for an iron is one composed of stainless steel. This is a heavier material compared to a graphite or composite shaft yet offers a consistent degree of torque and flexibility. The advantage to the golfer is that all irons will offer the same flex and stiffness from a 3 to a 9-iron. A stainless steel shafted iron is typically less expensive compared to graphite editions making it a popular choice amongst golfers.

Graphite Shafts Irons

The graphite shafted iron is traditionally more expensive than a stainless steel iron. Graphite offers a lightweight alternative to steel and increases the potential to deliver a more powerful swing to deliver increased distance at the expense of feeling. A stiff graphite shaft will not feel like a stiff steel shafted iron. The cost of graphite shafted irons is typically more expensive than stainless steel shafts. A graphite shaft is best suited to senior, junior and lad y golfers who prefer the light feeling of a graphite shafted iron