cbbcrazy:When I go to the 6 iron everything is back to normal, 5-4-3 are way out of whack.
Like I said, I think this is the new reality. Those 3 irons have always been handled differently than the others. When the R11s first came out and were the top clubs, what made them good was how those irons played-they were exceptional.
Then the Vapors came along and while they were the same yardages as the R11s, what really made them superior was the change made to the 6-PW--those irons now matched the performance of the long irons and were what separated the Vapors from the R11s.
I used the 71 Nike with the Vapors primarily because, as a feel golfer, I was able to depend on the carry numbers and that combo made it easy because the carry was very close to the rated yardage of the clubs. Now, as you are discovering, that has changed. Your numbers are what I get, too, and this is distressing.
I personally believe the addition of the TM and Titleist balls allowed WGT to stick to their insistence that equipment specs don't change BUT, with a new ball, that gave them a chance to dial back the iron performance with the lesser balls.
I'm not about to go find out but I would be willing to bet that performance we've become accustomed to would still be there if we used a much more expensive ball, like the Titleist or the high level TMs.