A Set Is a System, Not Eight Separate Clubs
Fitting one seven iron well and assuming the rest of the set will follow is how bags end up with two clubs that go the same distance and a gap somewhere else nobody noticed. We fit irons as a progression.
Lie Angle Is Settled First
Of everything that can be adjusted on an iron, lie angle has the most direct effect on where the ball starts, and it is also the specification most likely to be wrong on a set bought off a rack. A club that is two degrees too upright will start the ball left of target for a right-handed player before any path or face consideration enters into it.
The correct reading comes from a lie board under the sole, not from a static measurement of your height and wrist-to-floor. Those static numbers give a starting bracket. What matters is the lie the club is presenting at impact, which is affected by shaft droop, posture, and how much the hands lower through the strike.
We take the board reading across four reference irons rather than one, because delivered lie is not constant through a set. A player can need standard lie in the short irons and a degree flat in the long ones, and a set bent uniformly to a single number will fit exactly one of them properly.
How a session is structuredWhat a Degree of Lie Costs
- 7 iron, 1° uprightAbout 2 yd left
- 7 iron, 2° uprightAbout 4 yd left
- Pitching wedge, 2° uprightAbout 6 yd left
- 4 iron, 2° flatAbout 3 yd right
Approximate figures at typical carry distances. The shorter and more lofted the club, the larger the effect.
Set Progression We Build To
- Length step0.5 in per club
- Loft step, mid irons4 to 5°
- Lie step0.5 to 1° per club
- SwingweightMatched, usually D0 to D4
- Frequency slopeEven through the set
Where the Gaps Actually Come From
Distance gapping problems are usually blamed on loft, and loft is frequently innocent. A set with correct four-degree loft steps can still produce two clubs that carry the same distance if the length progression is uneven, if swingweight jumps at the point where the construction changes, or if the shaft frequency slope has a kink in it.
That last one is common in mixed sets and in sets that have had a club replaced. A shaft installed at a different playing length behaves differently from its neighbours, and the club that results feels subtly wrong without anybody being able to say why.
We measure length, swingweight and frequency across the set you brought before recommending anything, which frequently identifies a single misbehaving club rather than a set-wide problem.
Choosing Construction From the Strike Map
Cavity Back
Perimeter weighting, wider sole, more offset. Forgiving on the horizontal misses that dominate most amateur strike maps. The default recommendation unless the map argues otherwise.
Hollow Body
Thin face with internal support. Ball speed close to a distance iron with a shape closer to a players iron. Useful in the long end of a progressive set.
Players Cavity
Compact footprint with a small amount of forgiveness retained. Fits players whose strike map is already tight vertically.
Muscle Back
Minimal help off centre and superb feedback for players who do not need help. We fit them when the tape earns them, not when the player asks for them.
Progressive Sets
Different construction through the set: hollow or cavity long irons blending into a compact scoring end. Often the best answer for mid handicaps.
Distance Irons
Strong lofts and thin faces. Genuinely long, and they create gapping problems at the wedge end that must be planned for rather than discovered.
A Weight Question Dressed as a Material Question
The steel versus graphite debate is mostly a proxy for a weight decision. Modern graphite iron shafts are available in weights that overlap the lighter steel options, and the stability difference that made graphite suspect twenty years ago has largely closed.
What has not changed is that graphite damps vibration more, which matters if you have joint issues or play a lot of golf off firm ground. And steel remains cheaper, which matters too.
We fit the weight first and let the material follow from it. If two shafts in different materials land in the same weight band and produce the same numbers, the choice comes down to feel and budget, and we will say so rather than manufacturing a reason.
Weight Bands in Iron Shafts
- Ultralight graphite55 to 70 g
- Mid graphite70 to 95 g
- Light steel95 to 105 g
- Standard steel105 to 120 g
- Heavy steel120 g and up
What You Leave With
Per-Club Build Sheet
Length, lie, loft, swingweight and grip build-up written out club by club.
Gapping Map
Measured carry for each iron from real blocks, with any overlaps flagged.
Baseline Comparison
Your current set's numbers alongside the recommendation, so the gain is provable.
Keep-or-Change Call
A written verdict on whether the set you own can be adjusted instead of replaced.
Two Hours, Fitted as a Set
Bring the whole set if you can, or at least a long iron, a mid iron and a scoring iron. The progression is what the session is really about.