A 7 iron from 4 years or so of one make can be the same loft as a 8 or 9 iron bought new made by someone else today!
If you are 20 yards shorter than someone with the same gear and a similar handicap then I would worry, if you are playing with a set of older blades and comparing yourself to someone with brand new TM cast irons I wouldnt worry one bit!
I WAS a 12 handicapper playing with forged Mizuno MP57s, fairly soft lofts compared to modern TMs and alike.
I would carry a 7 iron about 150, a 4 iron about 170. There are some people on here who hit a game improvement 7 iron about 170! When I played off 17 it was more like 135 and 155!
Next is your shot shape, if you fade you will always be shorter, if it still goes where its supposed to and it flies true and on line then again, don't worry! I drew the ball but my contact was generally all over the place before I got to 12, where you hit it on the club face makes a lot of difference. Try getting some impact tape, I bet you are hitting it on the toe!
Thirdly where did you get your distances from? I am always 10-20 yards shorter with range balls, 5-10 yards shorter with softer spin balls compared to distance balls!
