
Men’s driver shafts often weigh from 0.12 to 0.13 pounds, while women’s shafts weigh between 0.09 and 0.11 pounds. The length, pace, and tempo of your favorite club are all factors in determining the shaft weight. Golfers should be careful of increasing their weight.
Full Answer
What is an Irons in golf?
Irons are golf clubs that are designed to send the ball on distances between that of fairway woods and hybrids and that of wedges. This category of clubs is usually the most represented in a golfer’s bag – oftentimes at 7 clubs and classically numbering from 3-iron all the way to 9-iron.
What is the average swing weight of an irons for Tour players?
The swing weight of irons probably varies between D2 and D5 for 95% of Tour players. Most will be somewhere in this range. Players with high club head speed like Rory McIlroy or Dustin Johnson tend to be around D5-D6. Players with more average tour club head speed are around D3-D4.
Why do golf clubs have different swing weights?
The manufacturing tolerances of the major manufacturers are so large that a club head can be heavier or the shaft longer than it should be. Both lead to a swing weight that is not consistent.
How much difference should there be between each Golf Club?
This gives you about 12 to 14 yards difference between each club, offering better flexibility and control for your shots. Long hitters often keep irons separated by 3 degrees, while short hitters can use a 5-degree difference to ensure proper gapping. TYPES OF SHAFT AND FLEX

How much do golf irons weigh?
The average weight for a set of irons range from around 0.88 pounds (0.40 kilograms) at the three iron all the way up to 0.95 pounds (0.44 kilograms) at the nine iron.
How much does each golf club weigh?
Individual golf clubs weigh less than 1 pound. According to golf digest, the average weight of a professional golf club is 0.73 pounds (0.33 kilos). A set of 14 clubs gives us a total dry weight of 10.22 lbs (4.64 kilos).
Are golf irons different weights?
The scale ranges anywhere from A0 (the lightest) to G10 (the heaviest), but most men's golf clubs fall in the range of C7 to D7. Two grams may not seem like a lot of weight, but that's about how much weight difference is required to change one full swing weight point.
How much should my irons weigh?
In general, golfers with slower swing speed and tempo can and should play a lighter shaft. Golfers with very fast speeds and tempo should play heavier shafts. Driver shafts typically weigh 55-60 grams for men and 45-50 grams for ladies. Iron shafts can be as light as 55 grams in graphite, and 130 grams in steel.
How many grams should my irons be?
Swing Speed Vs Iron Shaft Weight Table6 Iron Swing SpeedShaft Weight< 60 mph45 – 50 grams60 – 70 mph55 – 85 grams70 – 80 mph75 – 105 grams80 – 90 mph90 – 120 grams1 more row
Does the weight of a golf club matter?
Swing weight has a direct impact on swing speed. If you are swinging a club that feels too heavy for you, you will not be able to swing it as fast. If, instead, you have a club that feels lightweight, you should be able to get quite a bit more distance.
Should all your irons weigh the same?
All of Your Clubs Should Have the Same Swing Weight Make sure all your clubs have the same swing weight. Even if you think your clubs are a bit light or heavy for you, all the clubs in your bag should at least be very close to the same swing weight.
Are heavier golf irons better?
“Efficient golfers hit with their body and get their body weight into it,” Mucklow says. “Going to a heavier club makes that easier for most. If you can imagine swinging a sledgehammer or an axe, those things are so heavy, it's almost impossible to swing them incorrectly. You have to use your body.”
Is D5 swing weight too heavy?
If it feels too heavy at D5, you can remove strips of lead tape one by one until it feels right. If your driver is heavier than D5, ask your club fitter to add a heavier grip or a counterweight to reduce swing weight to D5. Get Fitted By A TPT Authorized Fitter.
How do you know if your golf clubs are too heavy?
Nippon suggested that a player should be able to tell largely by feel. A shaft that's too heavy will cause a “labored golf swing.” A shaft that's too light will hurt your ability to make solid contact. When you find the right shaft weight, you'll experience a “high energy swing” with uniform contact.
Is 75 gram shaft too heavy?
75 and 85 Gram Shafts And Who They Are For? These are generally for your stronger and better players, as they will be generating a lot of clubhead speed, the weight of the shaft helps to keep the clubhead under control during the swing.
What do heavier iron shafts do?
Heavy shafts tend to produce more distance, accuracy, and lower ball trajectory for a golfer with faster swing speeds.
Why are golf clubs called irons?
The golf clubs called irons are so-called because their clubheads are made of metal. Of course, "woods" are now also made of metal, but that's a relatively recent development. Irons have featured metal clubheads (steel, these days) for centuries. The clubheads of irons are thin from front to back, and the clubfaces are grooved to impart spin on ...
How many clubs are in a set of irons?
A typical, off-the-shelf set of irons will include a 3-iron through pitching wedge (advertised as "3-PW"), 8 clubs total. The clubs are identified by a number (3, 4, 5, etc.) on the sole of each club, except for the pitching wedge which will have a "PW" or "P." Other irons may be available for purchase separately, including a 2-iron and additional wedges ( gap wedge, sand wedge, lob wedge). None of the additional clubs are necessary for beginners, and especially not the 2-iron. 1-irons used to be available, too, but are now virtually extinct.
Why are irons called irons?
The golf clubs called irons are so-called because their clubheads are made of metal.
What is the difference between a blade and a muscleback iron?
The difference is that a blade-style features a full back on the rear ...
How many yards is a 3-iron?
The yardage gap between irons is generally 10-15 yards. Your 3-iron, in other words, should produce shots that are 10-15 yards longer than your 4-iron. The specifics of this gap depend on the player, but the gap should be consistent from club to club.
What are the different types of irons?
Irons are generally categorized as long irons, mid-irons , and short irons. Long irons are the 2-, 3- ,and 4-irons; mid-irons, the 5-, 6-, and 7-irons; short irons, the 8- and 9-irons and pitching wedge. (Two-irons are becoming obsolete and are exceedingly rare for recreational golfers. Because of this, some sources now count the 5-iron as one ...
Why is a shorter shaft better?
A shorter shaft makes a club easier to control in the swing (think of baseball where a batter will " choke up " on the bat—essentially, shorten the bat—when he's simply trying to make contact rather than swing for the fences). More loft helps get the ball airborne and adds a little more control to the shot.
What is the difference between a long iron and a short iron?
Long irons are used to hit the ball further with a shorter loft, while the short irons are designed to produce a higher loft. The higher loft results in a steeper ball launch angle from the initial elevation to the final drop.
What are the two main styles of irons?
DIFFERENT STYLES OF IRONS. The two main styles of irons are cavity-backand muscle-backblades. The muscle-back style features a full back on the rear, while the cavity-back is made with a hollowed-out rear club head. Muscle backs are primarily used by the pros and advanced players, and the hollowed-out rear club head offers novices perimeter ...
How many degrees does a long hitter need to keep his irons separated?
Long hitters often keep irons separated by 3 degrees, while short hitters can use a 5-degree difference to ensure proper gapping. TYPES OF SHAFT AND FLEX. The type of shaft and flex you choose affects the feel of the club, the distance it produces and your swing speed.
How many clubs are in an 8 club iron set?
Typical iron sets include seven or eight clubs: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 irons, as well as a pitching wedge and sometimes a gap wedge. Now, 8-club sets generally come with a gap wedge instead of a 3-iron. Hybrid iron sets replace the harder to hit long irons with hybrid clubs that are easier to launch with more forgiveness.
What is hybrid golf club?
Hybrid clubs, also known as rescue clubs, are designed with a larger profile and sweet spot that makes it easier to quickly elevate the ball to achieve a straighter shot with its more forgiving club face.
Mizuno Irons Handicap Chart
Mizuno irons have a reputation of being “better player irons.” While their latest selection of irons are geared toward low handicappers, they do offer a couple options for mid to high handicappers.
Callaway Irons Handicap Chart
Callaway irons are one of the most consistently high performance golf clubs in the market. Ever since they introduced Apex technology, their irons are the perfect blend of accuracy, distance and forgiveness.
Titleist Irons Handicap Chart
When it comes to irons, Titleist Golf is known for their blade designs and driving irons. You will see plenty of Titliest long irons on Tour utilized as driving irons when the fairways get too narrow.
TaylorMade Irons Handicap Chart
TaylorMade Irons also range from low to high handicap options. If you’re looking for a more controlled ball flight and like having some shot shaping skills in your bag, the TaylorMade P700 series is right up your alley.
Cobra Irons Handicap Chart
Cobra irons have a large offering for every skill level. If you’re looking for control and feel, you’ve got it; if you’re looking for speed and distance - check.
PING Irons Handicap Chart
PING irons have mainly focused on Moment of Inertia (MOI) as of late. By increasing the MOI, or resistance of the clubhead in the impact zone, PING Golf has given the clubface a much higher chance to be square at impact, creating straight, long shots.
Cleveland Irons Handicap Chart
Cleveland irons are focused on increasing your launch angle, as noted by the models listed below. Theoretically, the higher your golf ball goes - with the appropriate amount of spin - the longer your carry distance.
How many swing weight points does half an inch of shaft make?
And that is the last thing you want: a set of irons with varying length and swing weight. With the shaft, you can roughly say that half an inch makes up about 3 swing weight points.
What is swing weight?
Swing weight is probably something that only a fraction of all golfers have ever heard of. Every player knows the difference between steel and graphite shaft. Or between stiff and regular. But if you ask a player what swing weight he has in his irons, you'll probably only get questioning looks. And yet, the swing weight is of elementary importance.
What weight swing does Sergio Garcia use?
The wedges are extremely heavy, but the long irons are very light. Sergio Garcia plays with a swing weight of C-8, which is very light. On the other hand, he plays one of the heaviest shafts of all, the Modus 130, and adds some weight to the end of the shaft.
How does swing weight affect performance?
The swing weight has a big influence on how you can move and accelerate a club during the swing . Among other things, it determines where the club head is at the moment of impact and how it can be controlled. As you can see, these are all important points that have a great influence on performance. But why is the swing weight not right ...
Can you make sure the swing weight does not fit you?
On the contrary: by making small changes you can even make sure that the swing weight does not fit you at all. Two short examples: - You buy a new iron but choose a shaft that is 1 inch longer because you are quite tall. The manufacturer makes this club for you by simply adding a longer shaft.
Is shaft weight a reliable indicator?
Always assuming the weight distribution in the shaft is identical - which it rarely is. In this respect, the shaft weight is not a reliable indicator, especially since one rarely knows the exact weight distribution. The grip also has a great influence and is often underestimated.
Is swing weight suitable for senior women?
The result: A swing weight that would be suitable for a female senior player. These are just two examples of what can go wrong. The main problem, however, is that there is a "standard" that is of course only suitable for one specific type of player and not for any other.
What is an iron in golf?
Iron. Irons are golf clubs that are designed to send the ball on distances between that of fairway woods and hybrids and that of wedges. This category of clubs is usually the most represented in a golfer’s bag – oftentimes at 7 clubs and classically numbering from 3-iron all the way to 9-iron.
Which shaft is better for golf?
Better golfers with faster swing speeds will tend to prefer steel shafts as they are thought to provide more feedback to the hands. In contrast, graphite shafts will usually be preferred by golfers with lower swing speeds and those with more limited body strength.
What are golf clubs made of?
In the very beginning of the game, golf club shafts were made from hardwood. In modern club design however, the shafts of irons are predominantly made from steel, although a sizable segment now feature shafts made from graphite and both are readily offered by club manufacturers.
What are the different types of iron clubheads?
Types of Iron Clubhead: Cavity Back vs Muscle Back (Blades) Irons either belong to one of two clubhead categories: the cavity back or the muscle back. Muscle back irons features smaller head sizes than their counterparts and are generally made using the forging process.
What is loft on irons?
The loft (or angle of the clubface in relation to a vertical line) of irons climbs higher as does the number on the sole of the club. Or in other words, the loft will be lower on lower-numbered iron than on high-numbered irons.
Super Game Improvement Irons
The super game improvement iron category has been around for less than a decade. There have always been versions of super game improvement irons, but today just about every manufacturer offers its own version.
Game Improvement Irons
Game improvement irons are a toned-down version of super game improvements irons and they fit a much wider range of golfers. Some players can actually stay in game improvement irons for their entire golf life.
Players Distance Irons
The players distance iron genre came out of necessity and consumer demand. Golfers playing game improvement irons who found they weren't getting enough spin on their approach shots but weren't ready sacrifice distance by switching to players irons needed another option. And with that, players distance irons were born.
Muscle Back Irons
Muscle back irons are a more forgiving alternative to the traditional blade. The point of a muscle back iron is to provide feel and workability to better players while incorporating some of the offset and forgiveness found in other types of irons. The word “muscle” refers to the noticeable material you’ll see near the sole on the back of the club.
Players Irons
Players irons are another broad category, but to to put it simply, they are intended for better golfers. Players irons can take on the design profile of cavity backs or muscle backs, but they typically don’t lean towards the blade profile.
Blade Irons
Blades irons feature the thinnest top and bottom line of any golf iron you can find. They are the least forgiving, lowest launching, and overall hardest to hit. Sold yet? No worries, blades aren’t for everyone, but for advanced players, blades can be a tremendous asset to your golf game.
Iron Selecting Guide
Now that you know all about every type of iron on the market, it's time to decide which style is best for your game. Use this table to help guide you to the perfect set of irons.
Snake Eyes
I have to play graphite due to elbow issues and like the heavier heads. I have purchased some clubs with stock graphite shafts and the swing weights are coming in between c8 and d0 (according to my scale from Golf Works.) with very light shafts.
DaveMac
The majority of OEM's don't have heavier weight iron heads specifically for graphite shafts.
HISPL
Here is the "low down"... Those Apex heads are the same be it steel or graphite shafts selected as an option.
Snake Eyes
Thanks for the responses. I was confused about the swing weight and lighter/heavier shafts but seems like the heads are probably the same.
bladehunter
Callaway has 3 weights in some of their heads. Razr MB for instances has a L stamp for light weight ... No extra stamp is standard and H stamp for heavy. Same for razr forged and apex im 100% sure. As stated mizuno has two heavy and light. And I've heard of a light ap2 head although never seen a set.
DaveMac
Thanks for the responses. I was confused about the swing weight and lighter/heavier shafts but seems like the heads are probably the same.
Snake Eyes
Thanks for the responses. I was confused about the swing weight and lighter/heavier shafts but seems like the heads are probably the same.
What performance attributes do you value most in an iron?
If your answer to this question is something along the lines of wanting more distance or needing to hit the ball higher or that maximum forgiveness is essential, you can probably stop reading at the end of this section. Game-improvement irons of some sort are going to be the right choice to best meet your needs, which is perfectly fine.
How often do you find the center of the clubface?
The question is pretty simple in theory, but it might be harder to answer than one might guess, and here’s why. Many golfers don’t pay enough attention to what’s happening at impact. They’re simply focused on results, which is important to note because hitting the center of the clubface doesn’t guarantee a good golf shot.
How good are your bad shots?
One of the biggest misconceptions in golf is that what matters most are your good shots. That’s actually not the case. Even the best players in the world only hit so many perfect golf shots in a given round, and a really good shot is a really good shot regardless of the ability level of the player who hits it.
In what direction is your golf game trending?
If you’re reading this, you already know how difficult golf is, and it’s a game where success can be fleeting. If you’re in the market for a new set of irons, an objective assessment of where your game is heading is important.
What is your go-to shot under pressure?
Pressure in golf isn’t only for professionals trying to win on their respective tours. Golfers of all ability levels feel pressure on the course at times, whether they’re trying to shoot a personal low score, trying to beat their best friend in a $2 Nassau, or trying to win a club championship.

Set Composition
Loft, Length, and Distance
- As you go through the set, from the 3-iron to the pitching wedge, each iron has a little more loft than the previous, and a little shorter shaft length than the previous, so each club (going from 3-iron to PW) hits the golf ball a little less distance than the previous. That is, a 5-iron has more loft, a shorter shaft, and produces shorter shots th...
Long, Mid-, and Short Irons
- Irons are generally categorized as long irons, mid-irons , and short irons. Long irons are the 2-, 3- ,and 4-irons; mid-irons, the 5-, 6-, and 7-irons; short irons, the 8- and 9-irons and pitching wedge. (Two-irons are becoming obsolete and are exceedingly rare for recreational golfers. Because of this, some sources now count the 5-iron as one of the long irons. We still classify it as a mid-iron…
Distances
- Learning your distances—how far you hit each club—is much more important than trying to hit each club to some predetermined "correct" yardage. There is no "right" distance for each club, there is only your distance. That said, a typical male recreational golfer might hit a 4-, 5-, or 6- iron from 150 yards, while a typical female might use a 3-wood, 5-wood, or 3-iron from that distance. …
Hitting
- Irons can be played from the teeing ground, using a golf tee, and it is often appropriate to do so. On a par-3 hole, for example, you will probably use an iron on your tee shot. Or you might use an iron off any (or even every) tee in order to have better control over the shot. But most of your iron shots will come from the fairway. Irons are designed with divots in mind. That's why they have a …