If a player was looking for an iron design to increase their spin rate, which Maltby design would you recommend and what would you generally look for in the MPF data for COG? Is a lower COG the main focus?
If a player was looking for an iron design to increase their spin rate, which Maltby design would you recommend and what would you generally look for in the MPF data for COG? Is a lower COG the main focus?
@rosscw. Highly recommend the TE’s. I can’t say enough about them. Thinner top line, lofts that I like. Sometimes I can’t get used to the higher lofts, so I always look for Maltby forged models closer to classic models. Love the Gap wedge which is a 51. Just love the thing.
-Bill
@Therty I spend a ton of time on a simulator and seeing the effects of a high VCOG iron in real time is tough to notice. What I have seen in real-time is where contact is made and it’s huge effect on spin. High and Low on the face.
Right now I’m playing a nostalgic for me set of irons with a very high vcog. The playing surface is new at the simulator and will allow a club head to really sink and hit a marginally fat shot. It will still feel good but will go nowhere, spin too much and fall way short. Ball Speed was way down as well.. A thin or bladed shot is far less penal as it’s still going to nearly go the intended distance with no spin but it’s 10′ off the ground. But in this case ball speed drops far less and at times does not drop at all. So the high Vcog did nothing to help in this case.
Proper spin or higher spin is very dependent on striking the ball well. High on the face is spinny but does not go a consistent distance. A guy who thins a shot with less spin will have a lot more consistent results, poor yes but far more consistent. I was so frustrated on this new surface till I put some impact tape on the face. Once I realized how fat contact was i was able to adjust. Sawpping in a more playable design was not showing me a big difference unless they had a wide sole or a much longer blade length. Both were keeping the iron from ‘sinking’ into this new turf. This was allowing better contact, and results.. but still I was seeing poor consistency due to higher than ideal strikes. But the more playable design shows how it can ‘help’ poor technique
I also test a ton of different shafts with identical heads and here is another area that will greatly influence spin rates.
I may be stating the obvious but seeing spin numbers and ball speed immediately being posted is a vital tool. Hope this makes sense.
Super – thanks Britt
Lower CG and higher lofts are what will increase the spin more. Loft being the major factor. You might look at some of the legacy models like the TE forged or the DBM Forged since they have more traditional lofts. The KE4 S would be another to consider. It has a little stronger lofts but still has a low cg and is an Ultra Game Improvement design.
Britt Lindsey
Britt,
Could you expand on this a bit? A higher VCG is going to allow the club to strike the ball lower relative to the VCG which will either reduce negative gear effect (ball cg closer to the vcg of the clubface but still above) or tend to hit the ball “thin” (cg of the ball below the vcg of the head) and increase gear effect, increasing spin. If you wanted more spin wouldn’t you want more loft and a HIGER vcg?
A higher vcg on an iron makes it much less playable. The more loft you have on clubs the more oblique the hit and the less the vcg effects the spin. Spin on irons is highly influenced by the loft, slightly influenced by the grooves, and very slightly influenced by the VCG. Reverse gear effect, although it exists, is basically a non factor on irons. You hit a ball thin, it’s not spinning more because of where the cg is. Most likely it spins way less due to the fact that the loft was not part of the equation on the truly thin shot. Possibly if you draw distinction to low on the club face strike versus high on the club face strike, but still any variant in the spin that would be attributed to the vcg on the iron would be negligible. It is more a factor on Drivers because of the vertical radius of the face, the size of the head and the reduced loft. What I will say is for a shot to feel solid and be optimal in it’s trajectory and distance, the actual vertical cg must make contact below the cg of the ball. Optimal spin depends on the ball, the angle of attack, the loft, etc. If the ball is struck with the cg of the iron above the cg of the ball, it will feel less solid and depending on the angle of attack and the loft of the club, the spin could theoretically be less. That being said, I would not in any way recommend a player buy a less playable, higher vcg iron in the hope that a few thousands of an inch higher vcg would reduce the spin on their iron shots. Players that want to reduce spin on iron shots will do it with technique and the type of ball they play.
Britt Lindsey
The TE Forged and DBM Forged have more tradtional lofts (31 and 30 deg on a 6 iron, respectively)) and a vcog of .675″. Those would be the ones to look at. Also the KE4S, with a 6 iron loft of 28 and a vcog of .725. it also is extremely stable an an Ultra Game Improvement profile. As I said, loft will influence the spin far more that vcog on irons. These have the lowest vcog to contribute to the spin equation, and lofts that are higher than the industry average.
Britt Lindsey