Could you be losing distance by playing blade irons? Maybe, but the first thing you want to remember is that irons are designed for accuracy not distance. If you hit your irons consistently the same distances each and every time, then why worry about distance. But if you are not hitting your golf irons accurately and you are losing distance, then you may need to take a closer look at your irons to see why.

Age

Take for example age. No not your age, but the age of your irons. If your blade irons are old it's a good possiblity that the loft of those irons are probably very weak. They can range from 4 to 8 degrees weaker than a current set of blades! Now consider this rule of thumb: for every degree of loft added or removed, this can equal up to 2 yards of gain or loss. So if your irons are 5 degrees weaker, for example, than a modern set, you could be losing nearly 90 yards throughout your entire set, just due to loft (3-SW).

Another thing to analyze is the length of your shafts. Older irons were built using shorter shafts. Sometimes up to an inch shorter! Here is another rule of thumb: for every half inch added or subtracted, this can result in 2 yards gained or lost. So let's say for example your older blades are 1 inch shorter than modern blades, you could be losing 4 yards per club. That can result in losing up to 36 yards throughout your iron set (3-SW).

As you can see, you could be losing a total of 126 yards with your current set of irons. Ouch! So maybe it's time to upgrade to a modern set of irons.

Here is something else to consider. I had an older set of blades that I started learning the game of golf with years ago. For some reason I could not hit my 6 iron far. I could only hit it about 90 yards. Can you guess why? I couldn't figure it out, until one day on a par-3 the head flew off the shaft! The reason I was losing distance with that iron was because the epoxy used to hold the head onto the golf shaft had broken loose. Thank goodness I didn't kill anyone. But this made me check the heads on all my other irons and I found 3 more that were somewhat loose. So, it's a good possibility that many may be losing distance with older irons because the glue is weakening.

Harder to Hit

Now, blades are harder to hit in the sweet spot so contact is very critical. It's not because the design and the material used to make the irons is inferior, but it's just that blades demand dead center impact. Especially with the really older blade designs, you can easily lose 5 yards just by missing the sweet spot by 1/4 of an inch. Modern blade designs don't lose as much as older blades, because of expanded sweet spots, but they are still harder to hit than a cavity backed iron.

To test if you are hitting the sweet spot, use impact tape. This will tell the true story.

Just remember that if you are hitting your irons well, don't worry about more distance. Concentrate on accuracy and feel and your game will continue to improve. But if you lack distance due to the above reasons, I highly recommend that you go to your local golf shop and demo some newer irons. You might be glad you did.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Choosing Golf Clubs
• How to Properly Check the Club Heads of Second Swing Used Golf Club