Iron Launch Angles and Max Height/ Apex

[farhanby]

Searched the forum, and couldn't find much on IRON launch angles and max height. There's heaps on driver related numbers though.

Found this interesting info on the net ...

PGA TOUR AVERAGE VERTICAL LAUNCH IN DEGREES {initial launch}
and Maximum Height of Ball in Yards:
5 iron: 12.1, 31
6 iron: 14.1, 30
7 iron: 16.3, 32
8 iron: 18.1, 31
9 Iron: 20.4, 30
PW: 24.2, 29

Wow! These numbers are incredibly low!!

Was hitting on a simulator with a 7-iron Nike blade Project X 5.5 Rifle, and it gave out the following data:
Shot Distance: 175.3 yards
Ball Speed: 117 mph
Club Speed: 94.2 mph
Smash Factor: 1.24
Launch Angle: 19.3deg
Hor. Angle: 3.3deg R
Club Path: 7.4deg inside->out
Club Face Angle: 1.4deg closed to path
Ball hit on Center
Slight Draw
Max Height: 50yards (approximation from visual graph)
Unfortunately the sim doesn't give Spin and AOA numbers ...

Seems like I need to try out stiffer shafts, and flatten out my swing a fair bit (lesser AOA)!!? But I'm already coming from the inside (see club path)!

Is it possible to come from the inside with a steep AOA !?

 

[Frans@France]

Maybe hit it in the sweetspot would help?

If your numbers are correct you are hitting an iron 7 with 94.2 mph but the ball only has a 117 mph speed. So 117/94.2 = 1.24 smashfactor. Minimal smashfactor for a iron 7 is around 1.30 (depends on the static loft as well).

PGA tour average for a iron 7 : 120/90 = 1.33

PS If there is no spin there is no reliable height data!

 

[farhanby]

Good point ... smash factor is really low! However, hit the ball with the 7i for half an hour and never got anything above 1.27. Pretty sure I must have hit the sweet spot on most occasions.

Which leads me to believe that the AOA and Spin (both backspin and draw) are affecting the smash factor!?

Will hit against a Zelocity Purelaunch soon , and hopefully have more data ...

 

[Frans@France]

Good point ... smash factor is really low! However, hit the ball with the 7i for half an hour and never got anything above 1.27. Pretty sure I must have hit the sweet spot on most occasions.

Which leads me to believe that the AOA and Spin (both backspin and draw) are affecting the smash factor!?

Check with impact tape/labels. There is a relation between dynamic loft and smashfactor. Higher the loft lower the smashfactor. However 7i only 1.27 is to low.

Will hit against a Zelocity Purelaunch soon , and hopefully have more data ...

With the Purelaunch only ballspeed, Launch Angle and clubspeed is available when using the Zelocity software.

 

[mgranato]

It's not a fair fight to compare TM data with simulator guesstimates.

 

[farhanby]

followed a friends advice and made some progress ... gained 10 yards in distance, lowered height by around 10 yards as well ... and smash factor touched 1.30 ... its a start and will keep at it ...

the advice was to follow through low and left (on plane) ... while I was previously following through up and towards the target line (he said I was swinging like a tennis player instead of a golfer)!

So instead of an in -> out swing .. my swing now resembles more of a in -> in swing ..