What is a 6 Iron?

 

Taylor Made P790 6 iron

What is a 6 Iron?

Many times you hear golfers say they hit their current 6 iron further or shorter then their previous one. But what is a 6 iron? Are they all the same? Are they comparing like for like?

Below is a table compiled with the specifications of 6 irons of the current popular brands and their models. The specifications looked at are loft in degrees, club length in inches and lie angle in degrees. The specifications were taken from the various company's websites.

Make	Model	Loft	Length	Lie Angle
Taylor Made	P730	31	37.25	62
	P790	26.5	37.25	62
	P750	30	37.25	62
	P770	29.5	37.25	62
	M3	26.5	37.25	62
	M4	25	37.63	62.5
Titleist	AP1	27	37.5	62.5
	AP2	30	37.5	62.5
	AP3	28	37.5	62.5
	T-MB	29	37.5	62.5
	MB	31	37.5	62.5
	CB	31	37.5	62.5
Ping	G400	26.5	37.625	61.1
	I200	29.5	37.5	61.3
	iBlade	30.5	37.5	61.3
Callaway	Apex CF16	27	37.5	61.5
	Apex Pro 16	30	37.5	61.5
	Apex MB	30	37.5	61.5
	Epic	26	37.625	62
	Epic Pro	27	37.5	61.5
	Epic Star	23	38.25	61.25
	Steelhead XR	26	37.625	62
	Steelhead Pro	27	37.5	61.5
Mizuno	MP 18	30	37.25	61
	MP 18 SC	30	37.25	61
	MP 18 MMC	28	37.25	61
	JPX 900 Forged	27	37.25	61
	JPX 900 HM	27	37.25	61
	JPX 900 Tour	30	37.25	61
PXG	0311 XF	26	37.625	62
	0311	27	37.625	62
	0311T	28	37.625	62
Cobra	King F8	25.5	38	62
	King Forged Tour	29	37.75	62
	King Forged Pro	30	37.75	62
Miura	MB001	30	37.5	60.5
	CB57	30	37.5	60.5
	PP9003	28	37.5	61
	CB1008	30	37.5	60.5
	PP9005	27	37.5	61

As we can see clearly from the table there is no standard specification for a 6 iron. Even amongst manufacturers the specs vary from model to model. Lofts vary from 23 to 31 degrees, lengths vary from 37.25 to 38.25 inches and lie angles vary from 60.5 to 62.5 degrees. Generally speaking 6 irons in the blade type category have lofts around 30 or 31 degrees and the game improvement 6 irons have stronger lofts of 23-28 degrees

What does this mean?

Unless the specifications are the same, you're not comparing like with like. The Callaway Epic Star 6 iron is 23 degrees, 38.25 inches in length and has a lie of 61.25 degrees. The Taylor Made P730 6 iron is 31 degrees, 37.25 inches and 62 degrees, i.e. more loft, shorter length and more upright, not even remotely the same club! That's a difference of 2 clubs, the Callaway is more like a 4 iron.

How do today's 6 irons compare with their vintage counterparts?

Vintage Hogan Clubs

Below is a table of some popular models from 20, 30 and 40 years ago.

Make	Model (year)	Loft	Length	Lie
Titleist	DCI 1993	32	37	61
	Tour Model 1982	33	37	61
	Model 90 1976	33	36.75	61
Ping	Eye2 1983	32	37.25	61.5
Mizuno	TP 9 1986	33	37.25	60.5
Hogan	Apex 1972	33.5	37.25	60.5
Wilson	Fg-17 1982	34	37	60

We can see that the older models had more loft, shorter length and flatter lie angles on their 6 irons. Even the blade models today have significantly less loft then them and would be more comparable to vintage 5 irons, the lofts on the current game improvement 6 irons are comparable to vintage 4 and even 3 irons! Comparing the length you hit your current 6 to what you used to hit one 20 and 30 years ago is nearly a futile exercise. Your current 6 iron will go further!

Why did this happen?

Simply put it's a marketing exercise. The main reason to buy a set of clubs is improved performance. Distance is a measure of performance. If the new clubs are going further, they must be better! The easiest way to make them go further is make the lofts stronger, increase the length and make the lie angles more upright. On the bottom of each club is a number not a loft so many golfers think if the number is the same the clubs are the same. But as we see from our tables this is not true.

Also the shrinking lofts have lead to the disappearance of long irons and appearance of gap wedges. Generally, irons with lofts under 24 degrees are quite difficult to hit. 24 degrees used to be a 3 iron in the 60s and 70s and sets used to be 3-SW. Now 24 degrees is mostly a 5 iron but even some 6 irons are, so sets are now 5-PW and 6-PW. 3 and 4 irons in sets with 24-27 degree 6 irons are just too difficult to hit. They are not produced as they wouldn't sell. Also with 24-27 degree 6 irons some wedges are now 43, 44 and 45 degrees. Sand wedges still stayed at 56 degrees so gap wedges have been introduced to fill the distance gap between the clubs. In essence clubs just really have been renamed.

What should a golfer look for in a set of irons?

The function of an iron is to hit the ball an accurate predictable distance. The set of irons should cover the distance from the shortest wood or hybrid downwards with an even gap between them. For example if the shortest wood goes 200 yards then a set of irons should cover the distance from 185/190 yards downwards with a gap of 10-15 yards between each club. It doesn't matter what the number is on the bottom of the club so long as they perform the required task. If a golfer has a club that they can predictably hit 150 yards it doesn't matter if there is a 5,6,7 or 8 on the bottom of it.

It might be better if the loft was on the bottom and like wedges the golfer would say my 34 degree club goes 150. However this would require a bit of a cultural shaft and might take a while to catch on.

Questions or comments are always appreciated..