Kevin Na states that blades are too hard to hit

I'm all for playing what you want to play recreational basis . If a tour player says its too hard hit for him I'm thinking its too hard for me.

https://www.golf.com/gear/irons/2020/04/11/kevin-na-callaway-apex-cavity-back-iron-fully-equipped/

“I played blades in my early 20s, maybe one year — when I was dumb.”

lol....

Pat Perez is a Tour winner with about as SGI of irons as one can get. PING Eye2's were in the bags of many winners for well over a decade.

So are 'blades', musclebacks, and MAWBB's. Different strokes for different folks. No news.

But what does a PGA Tour pro know? Clearly he's never been on GolfWRX...

You know I've missed when threads got locked for things other than Covid19.

A devolving 12-pager of bladesplaining by guys shooting in the 80s & 90s can have us thinking of happier times... ah the good 'ol days.

I did some experiments long ago with blades vs cavity backs (6i's). Over around 45 balls each hit to the same target and total error measured, there wasn't a meaningful difference. But I would not say that this 'experiment' was good enough to be conclusive.

I ended up playing blades (kinda - Hogan Channelback) for years and currently play irons probably best described as 'Player's Cavity Backs' (Wishon 560's). But I play so little these days in comparison to prior years, I don't think it matter what I hit - bad shots are bad shots.

dave

I wouldn’t take him very seriously, not a very strong iron player.

Na? Who wants to listen to him? He doesn’t drive it 350 yards like most of us here. He is clearly not a premier player like the majority of us.

IF I was a tour player, where a missed shot can cost thousands of dollars, I might play all hybrids.

Ben Curtis, Kenny Perry, Colin Montgomery, even Henrik Stenson, the list of very excellent pro golfers who prefer forgiving irons is fairly long.

I remember years back when Montgomerie put Cally Razr XFs into play. He was money. He couldn't miss. Those things were boat paddle wide and his iron game was stellar. Maybe it was a confidence thing, maybe it was a realization that golf is harder, especially as you begin to have physical issues, but while you should play what works there comes a point when you again, should just make the game as easy as possible.

One of my long time playing partners has used a hybrid bag for YEARS. He's STILL using Nike 4-7 iron hybrids from whenever he got them. His office has 8 hole-in-one balls. Deadly isn't the right word. The man is a straight assassin on Par 3's and approach shots. He shoots Par like he's breathing. Makes me sick! LOL

I understand the notion that what you see brings confidence and some just hate the look at address of a gi iron.

But you’re story reminds me of software updates that look different. At first, you’re like, “this is horrible, the old version is much better”

Then, after a few days you get used to it and see all the improvement in function.

Kevin Na, weight-wise, is somewhat puny, supposedly 167lbs, combined with 36yrs of age, puts a premium on distance and accuracy to make tour cuts. He ranks 177th in GIR, not excellent in that league.

Blades are not hard; they require more practice and put a premium on ball-striking.  A lot of people are either too lazy to practice and or don't have the needed time. Therefore, if "YOU" are built like him and or a mid-hi cap and not wanting to put in the practice regimen that blades require, not playing blades may be the right decision. Tour players MUST make cuts to make money, so their motivation is very different than 99.5% of golfers in general.

I am more than twice his age and 48lbs heavier and play 620MB blades. Before Shelter-in, my game scores were in low-mid 70's. I am not playing the yardages tour guys play. These days my max yardage is 6500+yds. If I was playing 7300 +/- yard challenging courses and needed to make cuts, pay a caddie, and meet sponsor & contract obligations, I may see my equipment choices differently, or not.

As it is, I don't have those issues and quite happy with my scoring ability with blades.  Our choice is equipment is kind of like choice in the vehicle we drive to get somewhere. It's all about how we want to get there. Any ole vehicle or golf club will get us where we're going. However, I like driving a car as opposed to steering (there's a difference), so the average car or, in this case, a golf club isn't going to cut it for me. To track a fast car at high speed, I had to go to driving school and to play blades I had to put in the practice time. What ever you chose, nobody cares and I am not going to insult you because of your choice. I'll leave that to jacka*****

You make a good point regarding the challenges to meet financial obligations. I totally agree that players that are fighting to keep their PGA card have totally different equipment priorities than the rest of us. But saying Kevin Na's GIR as "not excellent" when the likes of Spieth, Koepka and Molinari (to name a few) are ranked even further below him. Also, how do you know Kevin Na hasn't put the time in to practice blades? When he was playing blades, you don't think he spent hundreds of hours practicing with top instructors on a trackman? Maybe Kevin was exaggerating when he says blades are "hard" to play. I believe what he meant to say was it is hard to be consistent with blades. Shot to shot consistency with blades is scientifically proven to be less than cavity backs. The penalty on bad strikes for blades are more severe than a cavity back.

Pepper! How's it all going? Best to you and yours.

You know...Rory is like 5'8 and a hundred fifty-nothing ; )

But, I understand that golf is about scores but also about the full experience and enjoyment of any hobby/past time. Plus, I can see how you just can't put a set of shovels in the same bag as your Cohiba's ; )

if that was a blade it might of gone in!!

Probably took him a long, long, long time to reach that conclusion.

some of you dont realize because you weren't around back when PING was a major supplier of clubs to places like Ok State, Ariz State and a few other major programs, and if you were on a scholarship there you played those clubs, so for some of those guys making the transition to a blade after seeing a cavity back on the ground all their junior career is difficult

Blades require on-going practice, shovels or even player CB's not not nearly as much. That's one of the reasons so many chose CB's or SGI clubs, they don't have the time to practice so forgiveness is #1; I understand. I know a few tour guys that play CB's on tour but at home blades, and my relative played MacGregor Blades on tour back in the late 50's & 60s; he plays CB's today and is 80yrs old.

Interesting timing...the average cut was 70 and ties, but this year it's the top 65 and ties after 36 holes. Fewer people are going to make cuts. If they've been frequently on the cut-line, they may not see as many cuts if something doesn't change.

I don't see comparing accomplishments of Spieth and others to Na as pertinent to the topic of blades are hard. But if we're going there, those you mention all have won majors, and Molinari is even smaller in stature and still plays blades and hits them well. Tommy Fleetwood is same size as Na, yet plays the more difficult new TM-TW blades. Apparently, they don't think they are hard. Therefore, we can't be bias myopic but must look at the bigger picture. After many years with Titleist, Na recently switched from 718 AP2 to Callaway to play Apex Pro.

I am not going to guess what Na meant because that means applying a bias. I'll just take the chosen words at face value. Also, the penalty for a poor blade strike is about 10yrds short. All my misses are still relatively straight. I am sure that is the case with Na, What I don't experience is poor distance control which happens easier with CB's, and can mean either long or short 10-20yrds. I am not trying to change anyone's mind, just say, there's more to choices than meets the eye.

All is good. Thank you and to you and yours be safe.

Rory is an excellent example of a puny guy that hits the bejesus out of his blades. Right again, shovels in the back seat of GT3 RS, and Cohiba's wouldn't mix well. It's all about purity of mind, purity of taste buds, pure speed and purely smacking the ball.