Updated on June 23rd, 2023 at 06:49 pm
If you haven’t noticed, golf clubs and their lofts are quite a hot topic of discussion at the moment. Since golf club technology has gone through some major loft adjustments in the last few years, many golfers are now confused about the clubs that they have in their bags and what the proper lofts should be.
If this describes your current situation, you are not alone. In addition, it can be hard to get the exact loft of your clubs measured unless you have a lie and loft machine. Let’s take a look at all of the important information you will need to know about the degrees of golf club loft.
What Are The Degree Loft Of Golf Clubs? (All 14 In Your Bag)?
As we go through each degree loft for your golf clubs, it is important to note that each of these lofts will be different depending on the brand of golf clubs that you own. If you have a TaylorMade SIM 2 6 iron or a Callaway Mavrik 6 iron, you can expect that the lofts will be considerably different. We have helped by giving you a range of what to expect for each club.
Driver
8.5-15 degrees
A driver will have the widest range in the loft angle of any golf club in the bag. This is because the driver has varying levels of performance depending on who is going to be using it. Golf drivers for higher handicappers, women and seniors tend to have close to 15 degrees of loft.
PGA Professionals and golfers with very fast swing speeds play with drivers that have closer to 8 or 9 degrees of loft.
Drivers with higher loft are easier to hit than golf drivers with lower loft. Most newer drivers have an adjustable loft ranging from 8 degrees loft up to 13.
3 Wood
15-18 degrees
A 3 wood is going to have right around 16 degrees of loft. The range is typically 15-18, which is quite low for a club that will mostly be hit from the fairway. You may also use your 3 wood for more consistency off of the tee. This is partly what makes 3 woods not quite as forgiving. Be sure to check out our reviews of the Best 3 woods for 2022.
5 Wood
18-21 degrees
A 5 wood has a bit more loft than a 3 wood, making it a favorite club in the long game for many golfers. If you want to hit the ball up in the air from the tee box and from the fairway, the 18 to 21 degree 5 wood is going to be a great choice to consider.
See the hottest selection of 5 woods available here.
3 Hybrid
19-21 degrees
A 3 hybrid is going to have a loft of around 19-21 degrees. As you can see, this will overlap with the loft of your 5 wood, and it will overlap with the 3 iron loft. Most golfers choose the 3 hybrids of 5 wood over the 3 iron because it is much easier to hit.
4 Hybrid
22-24 degrees
The 4 hybrids will have between 22 and 24 degrees of loft the 4 hybrid acts as a replacement for a 4 iron. A 4 hybrid is known for being very easy to hit out of the rough, and you can easily see that with the higher loft that this club carries.
5 Hybrid
24-27 degrees
A 5-hybrid loft will have between 24 and 27 degrees of traditional loft, depending on the manufacturer. A 5 hybrid has a loft angle that is typically very pleasing to a wide range of players. More and more golfers take the 5 iron out of their bag and put the 5 hybrids in place.
4 Iron
20-24 degrees
A 4 iron will have between 20 and 24 degrees of loft. The 4 iron is a club that was typically very popular for knock-down shots and even as an alternative to a driver from the tee. Over time, people realized that a 4 iron is actually quite difficult to hit out of the rough. The 4 hybrid, which has a similar loft, has been used to replace a 4 iron.
5 Iron
23-27 degrees
A 5 iron typically has around 23 or 24 degrees of loft. This is very similar to the 5 hybrid golf clubs. A 5 iron is often a borderline club in the bag where golfers will switch between irons and hybrids and potentially decide to take the 5 iron out of the bag.
6 Iron
27-30 degrees
A typical 6 iron will have close to 30 degrees in the loft. The 6 iron is a popular club that most golfers will decide to keep in their bags. However, some players may switch to the 6 hybrids.
7 Iron
30-34 degrees
The 7 iron is probably one of your favorite golf clubs in your bag. The 7 iron has a degree of loft betwen 34 and 35 and provides the perfect blend of forgiveness and distance, and many people love what this club provides.
8 Iron
34-38 degrees
The 8 iron has between 34 and 38 degrees of loft. When you start getting down to the 8 iron and 9 iron, you will have to pay attention to the loft gapping and make sure that your golf clubs will not have large loft gaps between them.
9 Iron
39-42 degrees
A 9 iron is likely another favorite club of yours. The 9 iron has tons of built-in forgiveness to allow golfers to get higher ball flight, lots of distance, and impressive overall performance.
Pitching Wedge
44-47 degrees
A pitching wedge is going to be your go-to golf club for lots of short game shots and approach shots to the green. Having a pitching wedge that you trust and can rely on is essential. Pitching wedge loft will range between 44 and 47 degrees; however, some models on the market are getting closer to 43 degrees for the pitching wedge. This may be a bit low for some golfers.
Gap Wedge (Approach Wedge)
48-54 degrees
The gap wedge is going to have a wide range of loft, anywhere from 48 to 54 degrees. The gaps are so large in the wedges that golfers sometimes carry two wedges; others three, and serious golfers often have four wedges in their bag. This means that filling in your iron sets with the proper degrees of loft on the wedges can be a bit more complicated.
See our recent Gap wedge review.
Sand Wedge
54-58 degrees
A sand wedge will have between 54 and 58 degrees of loft. A higher lofted sand wedge will be quite a bit easier to hit out of a bunker and get you back on the green. Sand wedges tend to spin quite a bit as well. The combination of loft and spin is what makes sand wedges one of the most important golf clubs in the bag.
See our latest Sand wedge review.
Lob Wedge
58-62 degrees
Lob wedges are your best club for hitting high lofted shots that need to quickly get up in the air and then spin when they hit the green. A lob wedge is a great club to have out of the bunkers as well. Some of the lob wedges for better players may have a very high loft. This is best for the golfer with high swing speed looking for precision as opposed to yards.
How Much do Lofts Vary from Manufacturer to Manufacturer?
Lofting varies greatly from manufacturer to manufacturer. For example, TaylorMade’s fairway woods have a loft ranging from 14 to 18 degrees while Callaway’s fairway woods have loft ranging from 15 to 19 degrees. When the average golfer goes through the Iron fitting process or a club fitting, they can expect to see a more consistent distance with their shots, hitting the sweet spot more often.
What is Dynamic Loft?
Dynamic loft is the amount of lift or drop in the clubface at the moment of impact. The higher the dynamic loft, the greater the lift or drop in the face of the club. The lower the dynamic loft, the less the lift or drop in lie angle on the face of the club.
Dynamic loft is measured relative to the horizontal plane of the clubhead and is typically measured in degrees. Most manufacturers use an internal measurement system called MOI which stands for Moment Of Impact. MOI is used by all major golf equipment companies including Titleist, Ping GYRO, Cobra, Taylormade, etc…
MOI is measured using a laser device that measures the exact location of the club head where it strikes the ball. By measuring this data, the MOI number is calculated.
For example: If the MOI is +3 degrees, this would mean that the clubface was 3 degrees above the horizontal plane of the ball at the moment of impact and therefore the ball is lifted off the ground.
If the MOI is 0 degrees, this would mean the clubface was perfectly aligned with the horizontal plane of the golf ball at the moment of contact. Therefore, no lift or drop in the golf ball.
If the MOIs were negative numbers, the golf ball would be dropped below the horizontal plane of the ground.
Why does Dynamic Loft matter?
Dynamic loft affects the distance of the shot due to the fact that the loft at impact affects the launch conditions of the golf ball. When the loft is too low, the golf ball launches too far forward. This causes the golf ball to travel farther than normal. Conversely, when the loft is too high, the golf ball launches farther behind the intended line. This causes the golf shot to go shorter than normal.
When the loft is correct, the golf ball launches just right. This allows the golf ball to fly true and land exactly where you want it to.
Conclusion
Now you should have an excellent idea of the lofts of all of the golf clubs in your bag. Remember that manufacturers will make clubs with differences in lofts, which is something you will have to investigate a bit on your own. The most important thing that any golfer can do is ensure that the gaps between each of their clubs are going to be consistent.
