I play with a senior crowd here and in Fl, but we live in a golf community and the hard headed ego driven players are in the minority. I am almost 66 and discovered years ago how softer flexes and loft can help my game.......plus I don't give a shit what anyone else thinks about my clubs.
Jeff Summitt: Question about shaft comment
sdandrea1 You are in the minority. Around here, I have yet to play with a guy that doesn’t hit it at least 270, “ but just can’t get it going without a slice”. I had one guy promise me he’d out drive me with a 4 iron, the list goes on, but I digress. I have met/ played with a handful of guys ever who actually hit it as far as they think they do and less than that of guys playing clubs that actually “fit” their game, much less being fit for clubs that suit them.
The 30-50 crowd seems to be the worst, the 50 year olds want to believe they are hitting it as far as the 30 year old and the 30 year olds think they are tour players and Gawd help you if you talk to the 20 something’s that all make LDA guys feel inadequate, but they generally admit they can’t score, so I’m not picking on them today.
I’m at the point of admitting I can’t hit it as far as I could, can’t make the shots I think I should be able to and still pretty much ok with it because I don’t give a shit anymore. Golf was a big part of my life for a while, I was pretty good, no where near great, but I don’t play 50+ rounds any more, now I play rounds that may require 50+ shots for 9. So back to the topic at hand, I’m going to play what makes the game easier as should 99.7% of people.
If everyone would get fit, the shaft options would allow that last piece to optimize results, instead it usually ends up a bandaid to cover shitty choices. Who really gives a shit what it says on the shaft? The labels are in the bag for 98% of the round and you should t be reading them the other 2% anyway. Play what works and let others do the same. I love a good conversation on it, with someone who gets it, but that’s the 1%. I need to move to a retirement community apparently.. I’m becoming a grumpy old man about 30 years early out here.
I’m 55 and still hit it about the same distances as I did 20 years ago. This said as I’ve now missed close to a month of good golf conditions while healing from back pain. 
Never was a flexible person to begin with, so I don’t have much range to lose in my swing.
Some of the appeal probably is ego but there is a potential benefit for slower swing speeds. For a given swing speed there is a point in a traditional set where, say, a 4-iron doesn't get any more distance than a 5-iron. But a hi cor 4-iron with a softer tip shaft does. So the hi cor set would appeal to the player who is more comfortable hitting an iron than moving to 7-wood for the same yardage.
You prefer the high lofted fairway wood. Whatever works!
MidwayJ A specific golfer with his/her given swing stats. (club head speed, tempo, transition time, and release along with given impact dictates whether a Hi-Cor design will help them. I believe that you go down into that below 72 mph area of mid-iron club head speed that the appreciable gain won't warrant the use of the Hi-Cor designs. This is why Steve with a longer fairway wood and a softer tipped shaft will launch the ball higher than a hybrid and the longer shaft will generate higher ball speeds and therefore distance. This takes into account that a player like Steve can make decent impact with longer fairway wood playing lengths. I have found personally that Aaron's Pinhawk fairways @42"s yield decent results over hybrids myself.
When you work a lot with ladies and seniors over 65 you see this day in and day out. Also their loft gaps are not performing well for them as the 4* loft industry standard gaps in iron sets are way off for a golfer that has 60 mph mid-iron club head speed.
scotts33 This takes into account that a player like Steve can make decent impact with longer fairway wood playing lengths. I have found personally that Aaron's Pinhawk fairways @42"s yield decent results over hybrids myself.
When you work a lot with ladies and seniors over 65 you see this day in and day out. Also their loft gaps are not performing well for them as the 4* loft industry standard gaps in iron sets are way off for a golfer that has 60 mph mid-iron club
Right on the mark, Scott. The 9 wood is still short enough for me to make solid strikes, but long enough to launch the ball high and long. Apparently my club speed with the G400 7 iron down is still enough to result in hicor benefits as they are a club longer in carry than my G10 irons, however that could be loft related, but the trajectory is the same. I like the 5 degree gaps in the 9, W, and UW too.
sdandrea1 Steve the difference is definitely loft and not Hi-Cor in the difference between the std. G10 7i which is 36.75" and 34 deg. loft to the std. G400 37" 7i and 30 deg. loft. Then add in difference is shafts but comparing apples to apples I believe it's not Hi-Cor....it is loft. Golfers always love to buy into marketing and hype. 
Take your 30 deg. loft G10 and compare to your 30 deg. G400 and you will be within a few yards. Now if you had higher mid-iron club head speeds to take advantage of the Hi-Cor deisgn then it might be true but only within 2-3 yards. Irons are still about accuracy and hitting a ball to a given distance with a given loft IMO. That leads to better scoring.
scotts33
Interesting. I did notice that I hit my 30 degree G400 7i just as high as my 34 degree G10 7i, but 10 yards longer, and so on down the line. The 45 degree G400 wedge trajectory actually looks higher than my G10 wedge and goes 15 yards longer. That head design is def giving me some help. Both sets of clubs have geezer flex graphite.
sdandrea1 As Jeff S. said the Hi-Cor iron design allows the weight to be optimized better weight distribution in the head for better overall performance. Allowing better performance on miss hit shots. Is it better cost wise than comparing a G400 iron say to a Acer XV Std. which are very akin. You only go around once spend the $$$ but to me there is very little advantage when it's all said and done.
I recently built a Acer XK Std. 6i that I had laying around and found the design to be as forgiving as any out there.
scotts33 You only go around once spend the $$$ but to me there is very little advantage when it's all said and done.
Yep. I'm sure that score-wise, I won't see much difference since that really comes down to driving, chipping and putting for me. In the end, I bought these because they look and feel REALLY good.
scotts33 This takes into account that a player like Steve can make decent impact with longer fairway wood playing lengths.
That's key. I get more distance from fairway woods, too, but I hit my hybrids more consistently. On par 5 second shots, I'm usually willing to give up a few yards to hit my longest hybrid instead.
I tend to hit fw better than long irons or hybrids, too. I find the loft on a 9w goes too high though, so I cut down a 7w . It's like the old Perfect club without all the offset.
I do remember a knowledgeable guy on FGI (was it Tim Hewitt, Tait, ?) saying that some seniors with that typical old man lash that doesn't go much higher than waist high back and waist high through actually did better with stiff and even X flex shafts because of the way they swung the club.
sdandrea1 I did notice that I hit my 30 degree G400 7i just as high as my 34 degree G10 7i, but 10 yards longer, and so on down the line.
I think this is where the potential benefit of "longer" irons comes into play. While some might say, "just hit your G10 6-iron," that would mean hitting a club with a longer shaft and lower trajectory. (So potentially giving up some accuracy.)
And say, for example, a golfer is playing G10s and the longest iron he has in the bag is a 4-iron because he didn't hit the 3-iron high enough. With the G400s he might find the 4-iron is still the longest iron he can elevate enough, but it's 10 yards longer. That's a real benefit if, unlike you, that golfer loses consistency or accuracy moving to a fairway wood or hybrid.