It's very long.

And it's not the loft.

Here's my deal. My iron set consists of 8 and 9. So I picked up a 9 iron and on a whim picked up a 7 iron because it was only $75 because I wanted more traditional looking irons.

I have read these were longer and hits higher but with less spin. Well, I've tested them on the range and on the skytrak and it's true. The ball speed is higher off the face.

It's completely jacked up my bag. 7 iron will replace my 6 Hybrid.

I don't know... For me, distance control is much more important than extra 10 to 20 yards with irons.

But if you're looking for additional distance with irons, you don't need to look beyond these bad boys.

So you are playing hybrids up to 6i and blades though 9 iron? If you can hit the i500 7 iron, surely you can hit a cavity back down to a 4 iron.

I've always wondered what people do with this type of club when the gap between the PW of the set and their next wedge off the rack is 30 yards.

leachfan said:

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So you are playing hybrids up to 6i and blades though 9 iron? If you can hit the i500 7 iron, surely you can hit a cavity back down to a 4 iron.

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No. My bag without i500 has 3 through 7 Hybrids.

I've not had 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 irons in my bag for almost 10 years. Yeah I can hit 4 and 5 irons. But I hit 4 and 5 hybrids higher and it's easier to hit.

With i500, I will be taking out 6 and 7 hybrids.

Forum Troll said:

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I've always wondered what people do with this type of club when the gap between the PW of the set and their next wedge off the rack is 30 yards.

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Yeah it's goofy. Currently, my PW is 120 yard club plus minus 10 yards. My GW 50 deg is 100 to 110 yards. So the gap is filled. If i500 PW (I don't have one yet) is longer, then I have issues.

But since I'm taking 6 and 7 hybrids out, I have some wiggle room to add another wedge.

One thing to note is that the modern irons gained distance through loft jacking. PW loft traditionally was 48 to 50 degrees. Now it's 44 to 46 degrees.

Ping on the other hand took the jacked up loft and did more with the design. In a way, Inter Cavity Weighted iron like i500 is not new as TM did it in the 90s.

But with the weighing, I think the forged face must provide some trampoline effect on i500 irons, I guess.

If your i500 PW is longer then your current one, just replace your 50 with a 48 or a i500 GW

No I only have 7 and 9 irons. Need 8 iron.

Not sure I'm going to stay with i500.

I have the i500s. Had them about 3-4 months. Stupid long. I didn't have a problem with spin before, so I willingly sacrificed some spin for distance. I have 4i - GW, and then a 54/60 Vokey wedge setup.

My PW is 140-145, GW is 130-135, 54* is 120-125, 60* is 100 max.

I rarely max out 60*. There's just no reason to. Depending on the wind/bunkers/etc, I use my 54* for everything in the 70-125 range. I hit a lot of balls with this club so that I can hit whatever shot I need. High, low, fade or draw.

You say it's not the lofts but it is to a large degree. My last two iron sets (Wilson & Callaway) had 7 iron lofts of 35 and 34 degrees respectively.

The Ping i500 has a 30.5 degree loft as standard. Let's compare to my current Wilson FG tour V6's 35 degrees.

Keeping in mind there are normally 4 degrees between clubs, your Pings are 4.5 degrees stronger. That is slightly more than a full club stronger. That means your 7 iron would be the equivalent of my 5 7/8 iron.

As I sit here and scan over club specs, the strongest 7 iron I am seeing is 29 degrees. I think it's time to ditch the number sequence on clubs and start putting lofts numbers on the clubs instead. Apples to apples.

aggiedent said:

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You say it's not the lofts but it is to a large degree. My last two iron sets (Wilson & Callaway) had 7 iron lofts of 35 and 34 degrees respectively.

The Ping i500 has a 30.5 degree loft as standard. Let's compare to my current Wilson FG tour V6's 35 degrees.

Keeping in mind there are normally 4 degrees between clubs, your Pings are 4.5 degrees stronger. That is slightly more than a full club stronger. That means your 7 iron would be the equivalent of my 5 7/8 iron.

As I sit here and scan over club specs, the strongest 7 iron I am seeing is 29 degrees. I think it's time to ditch the number sequence on clubs and start putting lofts numbers on the clubs instead. Apples to apples.

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I came from a set of Rogue Pros that was only 1.5* weaker and I gained 15ish yards. They are long on their own, jacked lofts or not.

They also make them in three loft combos, and he didn't specifically say he got the power spec lofts.

aggiedent said:

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You say it's not the lofts but it is to a large degree. My last two iron sets (Wilson & Callaway) had 7 iron lofts of 35 and 34 degrees respectively.

The Ping i500 has a 30.5 degree loft as standard. Let's compare to my current Wilson FG tour V6's 35 degrees.

Keeping in mind there are normally 4 degrees between clubs, your Pings are 4.5 degrees stronger. That is slightly more than a full club stronger. That means your 7 iron would be the equivalent of my 5 7/8 iron.

As I sit here and scan over club specs, the strongest 7 iron I am seeing is 29 degrees. I think it's time to ditch the number sequence on clubs and start putting lofts numbers on the clubs instead. Apples to apples.

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When tested against similar lofted clubs with same shaft, i500 was strikingly longer.

aggiedent said:

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I think it's time to ditch the number sequence on clubs and start putting lofts numbers on the clubs instead. Apples to apples.

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Agreed

Forum Troll said:

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I've always wondered what people do with this type of club when the gap between the PW of the set and their next wedge off the rack is 30 yards.

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It's the main reason I got rid of my cobra F6 irons. Very smooth. Great sweet spot and forgiveness.

But my gapping was too difficult between the short irons.

My buddy was hitting some i500s today and was averaging 175 with the 7i with a rollout to almost 190.

Want to surprised, have your lofts checked by a club fitter. Over 60% of the time the lofts are off by a degree or two. Mizuno is has the least variation with Taylormade bringing up the rear. The QC of club makers is horrendous these days.

I truly believe it's not the loft rather design with i500. The ball flies different. Less spin, higher and faster.

I switched to them a few months ago. Not as forgiving but when I hit them well they have some real pop.