Can the absolutely best irons make a profound difference?

[dunn]

No

[nikegal]

Conversely I do think Drivers (and having a fairly new one) is important

Hi U2H? I have Played the same driver for the last 6+ seasons(Nike Vr Pro Limited Edition) and while I’ve tried other drivers out, this driver has always gone back in the bag for tournaments and competitive play. I have two requirements for my driver, direction & distance, and I just feel that after a certain point technologically wise, it’s mute, and a few yards here or there does not come close to matching the confidence that I feel when I pull this club out of the bag.

 

Regarding your question on irons, and based off of what I’ve seen over the past two plus decades with my students, no, having “the best” iron in their hands, with “the best” being whatever the iron du jour happens to be, versus a decent iron that they have confidence in and a consistent reproducible swing, well, I think that you can guess where I fall in this, haha :) Your best amateurs will play the same irons for years and I know that to prove a point, Richard got a set of “off the rack” Mizunos 68’s from his range, and he went on the play the best golf he had played in 15 years for the first half of the season and then he replaced them when he found a set of OTS Staff Fg 59 Tour Blades, and he played better, winning a regional tournament that according to most(me included, haha), he had no business winning, lol. We had the same Teacher and he stressed that you should get yourself a good set of clubs, and learn to hit them anywhere, any time under any conditions.

 

I think that for anyone, myself included, it comes down to confidence. Play the iron, driver, putter, etc., that gives you the most confidence to execute that next shot, whether it be on the line or in a tournament. If it’s the latest greatest club du jour, fine :)

[Under2hours]

Conversely I do think Drivers (and having a fairly new one) is important

Hi U2H I have Played the same driver for the last 6+ seasons(Nike Vr Pro Limited Edition) and while I've tried other drivers out, this driver has always gone back in the bag for tournaments and competitive play. I have two requirements for my driver, direction & distance, and I just feel that after a certain point technologically wise, it's mute, and a few yards here or there does not come close to matching the confidence that I feel when I pull this club out of the bag.

 

Regarding your question on irons, and based off of what I've seen over the past two plus decades with my students, no, having "the best" iron in their hands, with "the best" being whatever the iron du jour happens to be, versus a decent iron that they have confidence in and a consistent reproducible swing, well, I think that you can guess where I fall in this, haha :) Your best amateurs will play the same irons for years and I know that to prove a point, Richard got a set of "off the rack" Mizunos 68's from his range, and he went on the play the best golf he had played in 15 years for the first half of the season and then he replaced them when he found a set of OTS Staff Fg 59 Tour Blades, and he played better, winning a regional tournament that according to most(me included, haha), he had no business winning, lol. We had the same Teacher and he stressed that you should get yourself a good set of clubs, and learn to hit them anywhere, any time under any conditions.

 

I think that for anyone, myself included, it comes down to confidence. Play the iron, driver, putter, etc., that gives you the most confidence to execute that next shot, whether it be on the line or in a tournament. If it's the latest greatest club du jour, fine :)

Conversely I do think Drivers (and having a fairly new one) is important

Hi U2H I have Played the same driver for the last 6+ seasons(Nike Vr Pro Limited Edition) and while I've tried other drivers out, this driver has always gone back in the bag for tournaments and competitive play. I have two requirements for my driver, direction & distance, and I just feel that after a certain point technologically wise, it's mute, and a few yards here or there does not come close to matching the confidence that I feel when I pull this club out of the bag.

 

Regarding your question on irons, and based off of what I've seen over the past two plus decades with my students, no, having "the best" iron in their hands, with "the best" being whatever the iron du jour happens to be, versus a decent iron that they have confidence in and a consistent reproducible swing, well, I think that you can guess where I fall in this, haha :) Your best amateurs will play the same irons for years and I know that to prove a point, Richard got a set of "off the rack" Mizunos 68's from his range, and he went on the play the best golf he had played in 15 years for the first half of the season and then he replaced them when he found a set of OTS Staff Fg 59 Tour Blades, and he played better, winning a regional tournament that according to most(me included, haha), he had no business winning, lol. We had the same Teacher and he stressed that you should get yourself a good set of clubs, and learn to hit them anywhere, any time under any conditions.

 

I think that for anyone, myself included, it comes down to confidence. Play the iron, driver, putter, etc., that gives you the most confidence to execute that next shot, whether it be on the line or in a tournament. If it's the latest greatest club du jour, fine :)

Again makes perfect sense. At the end of the year I will probably do a fitting and decide what to do for next year. I have an M1 and see little reason to replace, with the only issue being how do I get an extra 10-20 yards distance. Again I'll tinker with my swing (on my own), but no way am I taking lessons, as I'd have to rebuild it, and as of now I hit it in the fairway so what I want is to see whether a different shaft or set up will accomplish that.

 

Irons again the question is whether the set up is correct. When I hit them right they do exactly what I want.

[Dry Tortuga]

I would lean toward no. I spend time researching, reading reviews, buying and testing new (and old) clubs because it's fun for me (like a lot of people on here, probably). But I don't have any illusions that any type of equipment change, no matter how cheap or expensive, will make a significant, let alone profound impact on my game. The only thing that will help my game is practice.

[pinestreetgolf]

I would lean toward no. I spend time researching, reading reviews, buying and testing new (and old) clubs because it's fun for me (like a lot of people on here, probably). But I don't have any illusions that any type of equipment change, no matter how cheap or expensive, will make a significant, let alone profound impact on my game. The only thing that will help my game is practice.

 

Get a PM grind wedge. Its pretty profound around the green.

[chisag]

... Having played around 100 sets + or - in the last 40 years, only two changes made a profound difference for me. When switching from MB's to Players Irons, especially the long irons, I had a jump in my index because I had more confidence and was able to swing freely without fear of a mishit. The irony is, I began mishitting less which is one of the many idiosyncrasies about this game. After playing many sets of players irons I really only noticed a change in feel or look, not performance. It wasn't until the P790's that a set of irons made a profound difference in my game. At 65 the added length, forgiveness and lower spin cut almost 2 strokes off my index.

 

... Anecdotal and my personal experience, but 2 profound changes out of 100+ means it is very unlikely a change is going to make a profound difference unless you move to a different type of iron that better compliments your game.