The standard 9 iron will be around 36 inches in length with a loft between 41 and 44 degrees. While the pitching wedge is just slightly shorter at 35.75 inches and between 45 and 48 inches. These clubs are typically used between 100-145 yards depending on the golfer’s swing speed.
The 9 iron and the pitching wedge…two great scoring clubs where a golfer should be looking to score and potentially make a birdie
Are you tired of not being able to hit the ball close with these clubs and too frequently find yourself chipping?
Stick around and let us help you get better.
When you reach a fairway and only have 110-145 yards left, this is your chance.
This is the opportunity to give yourself a chance for a birdie and at a minimum make a par and move onto the next hole.
The 9 iron and pitching wedge are two of your scoring clubs.
While many people spend a great amount of time trying to get that extra 10 yards on a driver, the key really here is to be able to maximize your skill level with both of these clubs.
Below, I will dive into the 9 iron vs pitching wedge and provide some tips to help you reach that next level.
9 iron vs pitching wedge
The reason for the range in loft is that over the years, club manufactures have made the lofts of irons “stronger” meaning they reduce the amount of loft for marketing purposes. Think about it for a second, you head to your local sporting goods shop that has a launch monitor or golf simulator.
You go ahead and test out the 9 iron and you hit it 7-10 yards further than your current 9 iron. You start thinking about your scoring opportunities and how great those clubs are. For years the standard loft on a 9 iron was 44 degrees and on a pitching wedge 48 degrees.
By making the lofts stronger and the shaft slightly longer, golfers are able to hit these clubs farther.
Many golfers do not realize this, but the clubs are not only better from a technology and improvement they have made to the clubs, but you are also hitting a stronger club and a slightly longer club.
Most people will take pride in the fact that they can hit a 7 or 8 iron 150 yards, which is often the sign that you have decent distance or speed in your swing.
Check out our chart below on swing speed and distance of different clubs to see how you measure up:
| Senior | Average | Low Handicap | Tour Pro | |
| Driver Swing Speed | 91 and Below | 91-101 | 102-112 | 113-123 |
| Driver Distance | 210 and Below | 210-235 | 235-275 | 275-300 |
| 3 Wood Distance | 200 | 220 | 230 | 243 |
| Hybrid Distance | 190 | 205 | 215 | 225 |
| 4 iron Distance | 170 | 185 | 195 | 203 |
| 5 iron Distance | 160 | 175 | 185 | 194 |
| 6 iron Distance | 150 | 163 | 173 | 183 |
| 7 iron Distance | 140 | 153 | 163 | 172 |
| 8 iron Distance | 130 | 143 | 153 | 160 |
| 9 iron Distance | 120 | 131 | 141 | 148 |
| pw Distance | 110 | 121 | 131 | 136 |
| sw Distance | 90 | 100 | 110 | 120 |
| lw Distance | 70 | 80 | 90 | 105 |
Here are the topics we will further explore:
- What is the difference between a 9 iron and pitching wedge?
- When to use a 9 iron vs pitching wedge?
- Should you shape your shots with these clubs?
- How to measure your distance with these clubs?
- BONUS TIP: How to gain 5-8% of swing speed!
What is the difference between a 9 iron and pitching wedge?
The 9 iron has a stronger loft, typically 4 less degrees of loft than your standard pitching wedge. It is designed to be hit further and for most golfers they will hit their 9 iron between 120 yards and 150 yards. Phil Mickelson hits his standard 9 iron 155 yards.
The pitching wedge is truly a scoring club and one that you should be comfortable with. Getting really good with your pitching wedge, sand wedge and lob wedge will often have the greatest impact on your overall score.
The key is to ensure you have the proper loft gaps between these clubs. With the strengthening of decreasing of the loft in a pitching wedge, it might become important for you to add a gap wedge in there as well.
Make sure you check out how to measure your distances below.
When to use a 9 iron or pitching wedge?
You will typically use these clubs between 100-150 yards. The key here is to know what adjustments are needed. You can have an idea that you hit your pitching wedge 125 yards and a 9 iron 135 yards, but what if you end up with a 130 yard shot.
You have to be able to make the adjustment in your swing with the 9 iron or pitching wedge to try to hit the ball 130 yards.
There will be factors that come into play, such as where is the pin located (front, middle or back)? Do you want to be above the hole or below the hole? What is the wind doing? Do you feel more comfortable hitting a club harder or softer? Do you want to work the ball left to right or right to life?
Yes, it may sound complicated, but the key is to ensure you have an idea and are making a solid decision or at least going through the process to make a decision.
The great thing about golf is that you get immediate feedback on the decision and the execution of the decision. We get to do this for 4 hours on shot after shot during an 18 hole round of golf!
Many people will choose to hit chip shots with their 9 iron or pitching wedge. I frequently turn to these clubs for a simple bump and run around the greens where you may have just missed the green and are on the fringe, approach or in the rough.
Making a putter like stroke with one of these clubs sends the ball slightly in the air, but gets it rolling quickly It helps eliminate a lot of potential error and the shot is simple.
Do I need a sand wedge? 5 Items to Consider
Should you shape your shot with these clubs?
I feel like if you asked 100 teaching professionals, you will get 50 to instruct the golfer just hit your stock shot and 50 to recommend to try to work the ball.
Draw vs Fade – Check out this post!
Unless the pin is completely tucked to the right of the green, I will generally hit my stock draw shot and trust that I will start the ball on my intended target line and that it will draw 1-3 yards back towards the target.
My advice for you is to experiment at the range and determine ahead of time if you are better at hitting a stock shot (draw or fade) or working the ball both ways depending on the pin location and the wind conditions of every shot.
Below the true recipe to improving at the game of golf can be found. . Regardless of if you are hitting a 9 iron, 7 iron or driver, developing a stock shot is key.
You want a shot that you can rely on with some certainty. There is nothing worse in golf than having no clue which direction the ball will start in and then curve.
Check out our 10 tips on improving a golf swing!
Need help building a stock shot? Check out this Drill:
How to Build A Stock Shot?
A stock shot allows you to control your start line and your curve, which is the 2nd fundamental (see fundamentals below) in golf. I would recommend the stock draw shot. Here is a drill you can practice at the driving range:
- Setup an alignment stick about 7 to 10 yards in front of you on the target line.
- See how many shots out of 10 you can start to the right of the target.
- Track this data over time and continue to work on your start line.
The goal here is to get the club face pointing in a similar direction as many times out of 10 as possible. Once we get the ball starting the right spot, we can then move onto the curve of the ball.
If your ball is starting to the right and curving to the right, let’s work on getting your swing path more to the right, which will then help you hit a draw.
Practice this every range session you have for at least 20-30 golf balls. Don’t just stand at the range and aimlessly hit golf balls. This drill can be a game changer for many golfers.
What are the Fundamentals of the Golf Swing?
The Stack and Tilt Instructors said it best when they described what they believed were the fundamentals of golf. They explained it somewhat similar to this:
- The first fundamental is the golfer’s ability to control the bottom of the golf swing. The best golfers will hit the ground in the intended spot, close to 100% of the time.
- The second fundamental is the golfer’s ability to control the curve of the golf ball. The best golfers are able to start the ball to the right or left of the target line and have the ball curve towards the target without the ball over curving past the target.
- The third fundamental is the golfer’s ability to have enough power to play the golf course. This means they are able to hit the ball far enough to play the course in regulation.
They explained that among the greatest golfers of all time there were different grips and different aim points. The fundamentals in golf are not grip, and alignment.
Ben Hogan played with a weak grip, while Lee Trevino had a strong grip. Lee Trevino and Fred Couples aimed way to the right, while Sam Snead and Arnold Palmer aimed well to the right.
We explain all of this to help understand the importance of controlling the curve of the ball. Read your ball flight and start to get better today.
How to measure your distance with these clubs?
Another key to solid golf is knowing how far you hit each club and then being able to adjust to a distance that sits between two clubs. For example, I hit my 8 iron 155 yards and my 9 iron 144 yards when I make a solid, crisp swing and ball contact.
However, if I have 151 left to the pin, I have to know the feel or swing length to take some slight distance off with my 8 iron. This is where golf can get fun in trying to hit the different distance shots. If you have the stock shot going for you, the next step is controlling your distances.
In today’s golf world, even amateurs can have access to amazing technology and data with the technology now available and know the distance they hit their irons and all of their clubs.
The professional golfers of today all have access to some great technology including launch monitors to help measure their swing and know their numbers.
Can an amateur use this same or similar technology for game improvement? Yes, absolutely and I would highly recommend it.
Even if you aren’t going to go all out and build an indoor golf simulator like I did (see below), you can still pick up a launch monitor at a reasonable price and use it in your indoor net or taking to the course or driving range with you!
Know numbers like spin rate, ball speed, spin axis and other key information is vital to your growth, but most importantly your carry distance with each club.
Sharing these numbers with your instructor can be helpful and help with equipment selection as well.
I would recommend one of the three launch monitors listed below:
BONUS TIP: How To Gain 5-8% in Swing Speed
Let’s face it, regardless of the current state of your game we all want more speed. It has become very clear the need for speed in the golf swing and there are ways to add speed! The analytics on all levels of golf show how important speed and additional speed are in reducing golf scores.
It is time to start training for some additional speed. This is a drill and training protocol that I would highly recommend.
SPEED DRILL: Increase your swing speed through overspeed training
- Check out SuperSpeed Overspeed Training Protocols
- Train every other day for 10-15 minutes.
- See a 4-6% increase in swing speed as early as the first training protocol.
The number one thing that has helped me gain significant distance is the SuperSpeed Training System. This overspeed based system where you train every other day for about 10-15 minutes with different swing sticks can help you increase your swing speed by 5-8% which can be 20-30 yards.
Who wouldn’t want an extra 20-30 yards? Plus it helps improve your mechanics.
SuperSpeed Golf – Use Discount Code Golfjourney365 for some savings!
The analytics are pretty clear on the importance of speed in the game of golf. Would you rather hit your approach shot from 130 yards of 160 yards?
The answer is pretty simple! We know that over the course of time, we will hit shots from 130 yards much closer than from 160 yards, whether we are an average amateur golfer, a scratch golfer, or a PGA Tour member!
The key is having shorter approach shots, so we can hit the ball closer to the hole and then make more putts! Speed is king in the game of golf! Make sure you check out SuperSpeed Golf!
Final Thoughts: My Secret To Golf Improvement
The reality…in order to get really good at golf, we must practice frequently. About three years ago, I made the leap and invested in a golf simulator build for my garage.
I went with a SkyTrak Launch Monitor and the TGC software and can now play over 100,000 courses including Augusta, Pebble Beach, Bethpage Black, Whistling Straits. St. Andrews and many other of the top 100 courses in the world.
This golf simulator setup, which is more affordable that you might imagine, has been a game changer. I can now play golf everyday of the year regardless of rain, snow, cold weather or time of day. I can practice or play rounds of golf. I can stand in the 11th fairway at Augusta and with the auto-rewind feature I am able to practice my approach shots from various differences.
It is worth checking out through Rain or Shine Golf as they offer some incredible packages along with financing offers that are difficult to beat.
Some direct links to Rain or Shine Golf for pricing and financing:
Take Action – What You Can Do Today to Get Better
What does this mean for you? I believe in the following recipe to get better:
1 – Improve your motion in the golf swing by identifying a golf instructor. Here are some options:
Here is a list of golf instructors that we have reviewed:
2 – Train to swing faster and improve your swing speed. Here are some options:
Looking to gain more Speed and Distance in your swing. Two Options:
3 – Understand course strategy and work to break through your next barrier. Here is a series on breaking through:
We have provided guides on how to break 100, 90, 80 and 70. Check out more below, if interested.
4 – Practice Frequently
Did you know that I build a golf simulator in my garage and have played over 500 rounds of golf on my SkyTrak system? It has been a game changer and one worth checking out. Here are some of my other posts on golf simulators frequently asked questions:
- Is a Golf Simulator Worth It?
- How to Build a Golf Simulator?
- What is the Best Golf Simulator?
- Golf Simulator Accessories?
- How to Build a Golf Simulator for under $7000
- Top 11 Reasons to Buy a SkyTrak
- How to Build a Golf Simulator for Under $1000
- Why Build A Golf Simulator?
- What Space is Needed?
- Can A Golf Simulator Improve My Game?
- How Much Does A Golf Simulator Cost?
- Don’t Forget to Check out our 15 best golf swings of all time.