How does a Hickory 5 Iron really perform vs steel shaft?

Equipment The Hickory Era
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Believe it or not.. I was on trackman (or equivalent) testing a 1900 hickory 5 iron vs my in the bag MacGregor 985 Tommy Armour 5 iron.

I set up the hickory to exacting ABS Spec… same as my 5 iron. I had to epoxy about an 1 1/2 ounce lead disc onto the back of the hickory.. right behind the sweet spot.

Absolutely ZERO difference in performance. Probably hit a dozen balls with each club and there was no difference. The ball that happened to be the longest one hit by a yard or two was actually the hickory!

I’ll have a youtube video on this session coming out soon…

Also.. tested some golf balls. The Callaway Chrome X does in fact spin more than a Pro V1… no doubt about that.

The real shocker of the ball testing was that a 1970’s Flying Lady (authentic woman’s ball) flew as far as the Callaway hitting multiple balls. The Flying Lady actually had the old very small dimple pattern. Solid core ball with a suryln cover.

Finally tested my 1951 MacGregor 985 Seven iron against the 1964 VFQ with the dots on the face in the triangle …. then tested that against the brand new 2025 Seven iron that Chad Dietz sent me ABS Spec… no difference between these clubs. With the same loft, lie angle, dead weight, shaft length.. no offset… they all hit the same.. just as Old Man Physics would predict. Physics cares about mass of the club, loft, lie angle etc.. .couldn’t care less about the name on the club or what year it was released.

No surprises here.. but it just confirmed to me that most all of the equipment hype is just that.. or maybe even complete nonsense.

It’s the Indian not the Arrow.

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I’ve had an itch lately to get into hickory golf. But there isn’t as many cheap, usable hickory clubs as there are classic clubs from the 50’s onward.

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Looking forward to seeing this testing. Chad and John together in the last video was pure gold. Thank you for sharing your findings with the masses.

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Well done video. The folks from Carlsbad are going to have a fit over this one. In all my tests I have reached similar conclusions with the only exception being a slight ball speed edge for trampoline face clubs (which in my view violate the spirit of the game)

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Great video. Was cracking up watching. Iron byron there lag.
I think the new drivers though add distance for sure. Irons all blades probably same. Although the rocketbladez and p790s i think might add distance. You should hit those although u would hate them. Interested in that test if you go back although i love my blades now and wouldn’t go back to those again.

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High COR faces (“trampoline”) add distance. The only other way to add distance is get someone to swing faster or improve launch conditions.

The trampoline faces should have never been allowed.

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Or add mass with the same speed. Since I use more of the bigger muscles to move the club… adding mass isn’t as much of an issue. For golfers who use more of a hand and wrist fly swatting approach, adding mass doesn’t work. Slower rotational speed with more mass feels more in control and mass is in the equation. I have yet to see a modern player stay connected through the strike with 120 mph clubhead speed. I don’t think the body can move that fast to properly stay connected.

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