What counts as a loft overlap?

Two clubs whose lofts are within 1 degree of each other. At that spacing they launch and carry close enough to be interchangeable, so one of the 14 slots is doing no independent work. The classic case is a 4 hybrid and a 4 iron both at 22 degrees.

What counts as a large loft gap?

7 degrees or more between neighbouring clubs. MyCaddie applies that threshold at both ends of the bag: between the long clubs at the top end, and between the wedges. A 46 degree pitching wedge next to a 54 degree sand wedge is an 8 degree gap, which usually leaves a 20 to 30 yard window with no club assigned to it.

Does loft gapping actually tell me my yardage gaps?

No, and treating it as though it does is the common mistake. Loft is a starting proxy. Two clubs with a clean loft step can still carry the same distance if shaft length, shaft weight, or head design differ, and this is especially common where a hybrid meets an iron. Loft gapping is a fast way to find which pairs are worth testing. Measured carry distance is what settles it.

Do I need a launch monitor to check my gapping?

Not for the first pass. Stated lofts are enough to find overlaps and large gaps, and stated lofts are printed on the club or published by the manufacturer. You need measured carry distances only for the pairs that get flagged, and a range with marked targets is enough to separate two clubs that were supposed to be 15 yards apart.

Is the MyCaddie gapping analysis generated by an AI model?

No. It is deterministic, rule-based TypeScript that runs in your browser. The same bag always produces the same output, the thresholds are the fixed numbers stated on this page, and no language model is in the recommendation path. It is not a professional club fitting.

Golf club loft gaps: the numbers that flag a gap or an overlap

Q: What loft gap should there be between golf clubs?

Through the irons a 3 to 5 degree step between neighbouring clubs is typical, which is how most stock iron sets are built. MyCaddie does not enforce an ideal number, because the right step depends on your swing speed. It flags the two cases that are wrong at any speed: neighbours within 1 degree of each other, which is an overlap, and neighbours 7 degrees or more apart, which is a large gap.

Q: How many wedges should I carry and at what lofts?

It depends on what your pitching wedge is lofted at, which on modern strong-lofted sets can be as low as 43 degrees. MyCaddie works from your actual pitching wedge rather than a standard chart: when the step up to your next wedge is 7 degrees or more it suggests a filler wedge at the midpoint of that gap, within about 1 degree. If your highest wedge is well under 58 degrees it suggests adding one in the 58 to 60 degree range for shots that have to stop quickly.

Q: How many clubs am I allowed to carry?

Fourteen, under the Rules of Golf, counting the putter. MyCaddie treats 14 as a hard ceiling: once the bag is full it stops suggesting additions and instead identifies which existing club is the weakest use of a slot, because at that point every addition is a replacement.

The two rules

≤ 1°

Overlap

Neighbouring clubs within one degree of each other. They launch and carry close enough to be interchangeable, so one of your fourteen slots is doing no independent work.

≥ 7°

Large gap

Seven degrees or more between neighbours. That is usually a twenty to thirty yard window with no club assigned to it — the distance you end up steering a club into.

Between those two numbers there is no single correct answer. A three to five degree step through the irons is what most stock sets are built to, but the right step depends on your swing speed: the faster you swing, the more yardage each degree buys you, and the tighter your steps need to be.

A worked example

A real fourteen-club bag, sorted by loft. The right-hand column is the step up from the club above it. Two pairs break a rule.

Sorted by loft, ascending. Putter excluded — it is the fourteenth club.
Club	Loft	Step
Driver	10.5°	—
3 wood	15.0°	4.5°
5 wood	19.0°	4.0°
4 hybrid	22.0°	3.0°
4 iron	22.0°	0.0° overlap
5 iron	26.0°	4.0°
6 iron	29.5°	3.5°
7 iron	33.0°	3.5°
8 iron	37.0°	4.0°
9 iron	41.5°	4.5°
Pitching wedge	46.0°	4.5°
Sand wedge	54.0°	8.0° gap
Lob wedge	58.0°	4.0°

What the two flags mean here

The 4 hybrid and 4 iron are both 22°. One of them is redundant. Which one goes depends on turf interaction and how you use the club, not on loft — but carrying both spends a slot for no extra distance coverage.

Pitching wedge 46° to sand wedge 54° is an 8° step. The midpoint is 50°, so a gap wedge at 49° to 51° fills it. That also frees the sand wedge to be the bunker and short-side club rather than a stretched full-swing club.

Checking your own bag

Write down the stated loft of every club except the putter. Stated lofts are printed on the sole or published by the manufacturer.
Sort the list by loft, lowest to highest. Sort by loft, not by the number on the sole — strong-lofted modern sets mean a 7 iron can sit where a 6 iron used to.
Subtract each club's loft from the one above it in the sorted list.
Anything at 1° or less is an overlap. Anything at 7° or more is a large gap.
Take only the flagged pairs to a launch monitor or a range with measured targets, and compare real carry numbers before you buy or sell anything.

MyCaddie does this arithmetic for you, in the browser, and shows the result as a loft ladder with the flagged pairs marked.

Build your loft ladder — free

Where loft gapping stops being useful

Loft is a proxy for distance, not a measurement of it. Two clubs with a clean loft step can still carry the same yardage when shaft length, shaft weight, or head design differ. This happens most often exactly where a hybrid meets an iron — the same place the overlap rule tends to fire.

Stated loft is not always actual loft. Manufacturing tolerance and bending during a fitting both move it, sometimes by more than a degree.

Neither rule knows how you play. A golfer who never hits a full sand wedge is not hurt by a wide wedge gap. A golfer whose approach yardages cluster in that window is.

Loft gapping is a fast filter that tells you which pairs deserve testing. Measured carry distance is what settles it. MyCaddie is not a professional club fitting and makes no performance guarantee.

Common questions

What loft gap should there be between golf clubs?

Through the irons a 3° to 5° step is typical, which is how most stock sets are built. MyCaddie does not enforce an ideal number, because the right step depends on your swing speed. It flags the two cases that are wrong at any speed: neighbours within 1° of each other, and neighbours 7° or more apart.

How many wedges should I carry, and at what lofts?

It depends on your pitching wedge, which on modern strong-lofted sets can be as low as 43°. MyCaddie works from your actual pitching wedge rather than a standard chart: when the step up to your next wedge is 7° or more it suggests a filler at the midpoint of that gap, within about a degree. If your highest wedge is well under 58° it suggests adding one in the 58° to 60° range for shots that have to stop quickly.

How many clubs am I allowed to carry?

Fourteen under the Rules of Golf, counting the putter. MyCaddie treats 14 as a hard ceiling: once the bag is full it stops suggesting additions and instead identifies the weakest use of a slot, because at that point every addition is a replacement.

Do I need a launch monitor?

Not for the first pass. Stated lofts are enough to find overlaps and large gaps. You need measured carry distances only for the pairs that get flagged, and a range with marked targets is enough to separate two clubs that were supposed to be fifteen yards apart.

Is this analysis generated by an AI model?

No. It is deterministic, rule-based TypeScript that runs in your browser. The same bag always produces the same output, the thresholds are the fixed numbers on this page, and no language model sits in the recommendation path.