After GI irons, What next?

[chisag]

... Moving from GI to players irons does not make you better and in many cases can make you worse. Practice makes you better. A repeatable swing makes you better. Hitting the center makes you better. Style of iron is irrelevant for the majority IF you already play GI irons well. Anecdotally there will be those saying switching to a more demanding iron made them better. Again, for most it did not. It was the practice and focus that made them better. Of course there are golfers in GI irons that need the attributes of a players iron because of swing speed, launch, spin and of course personal preference combined with confidence and it is a logical progression.

 

... Reviewing clubs for many years now, I have played probably close to 100 sets of irons in my golfing career. in 40 years of playing golf only twice have I switched to irons that made a difference in my score and my game. Mostly it was a difference in look or feel. Switching from MB's to players irons, especially the long irons, enabled me to jump to single digits over 20 years ago. And moving from players irons to distance irons with P790's was the next jump from around a 1 to a +1. The forgiveness and added distance at age 65 was a difference maker for me, again especially the long irons. I have said this many times and will say it many more, especially at WRX where the myth that playing more demanding irons makes you better... Play the most forgiving irons you can effectively play... That means different things to different players and most certainly includes MB's for the most elite ball strikers and player irons for many better balls strikers, but for most it means GI's or even SGI's if you are honest about how much you practice, your swing and your typical iron shot. As always the mandatory troll aversion disclaimer applies: Play whatever gives you the most joy, especially if shooting the lowest score is not your primary goal.

[North Butte]

... Moving from GI to players irons does not make you better and in many cases can make you worse. Practice makes you better. A repeatable swing makes you better. Hitting the center makes you better. Style of iron is irrelevant for the majority IF you already play GI irons well. Anecdotally there will be those saying switching to a more demanding iron made them better. Again, for most it did not. It was the practice and focus that made them better. Of course there are golfers in GI irons that need the attributes of a players iron because of swing speed, launch, spin and of course personal preference combined with confidence and it is a logical progression.

 

... Reviewing clubs for many years now, I have played probably close to 100 sets of irons in my golfing career. in 40 years of playing golf only twice have I switched to irons that made a difference in my score and my game. Mostly it was a difference in look or feel. Switching from MB's to players irons, especially the long irons, enabled me to jump to single digits over 20 years ago. And moving from players irons to distance irons with P790's was the next jump from around a 1 to a +1. The forgiveness and added distance at age 65 was a difference maker for me, again especially the long irons. I have said this many times and will say it many more, especially at WRX where the myth that playing more demanding irons makes you better... Play the most forgiving irons you can effectively play... That means different things to different players and most certainly includes MB's for the most elite ball strikers and player irons for many better balls strikers, but for most it means GI's or even SGI's if you are honest about how much you practice, your swing and your typical iron shot. As always the mandatory troll aversion disclaimer applies: Play whatever gives you the most joy, especially if shooting the lowest score is not your primary goal.

 

For me I think the pure "forgiveness" value of a set of irons maxes out at a stroke or two per round relative to "players cavity back" (or in current fashion "players hollow backs"). It just isn't that often I hit routine shots that aren't solid but are close enough to solid for the shovel effect to kick in an steer it on the green.

 

The reason my handicap went up when I switched back to shiny forged, smaller headed, thinner-soled irons was I simply attempted to play golf in a different manner with them. That was the whole appeal, to have something more manueverable and gain some flexibility in opening or closing the face, playing the ball back to hit it lower, getting an iron on the ball in the rough (rather than hacking out with a wedge) and generally trying to get more out of every swing.

 

If I had tossed the shovels, picked up some forged players cavity backs and continued to simply aim for the middle of the fairway, then the middle of the green and to chip out any time I didn't have a good lie then I don't think my scores would have deteriorated enough to matter. But if I'm going to play like that, I hardly need to spend a thousand bucks on a set of forgings.

 

It's like the old adage about playing Pebble Beach. I didn't spend $500 and fly across the country to lay up. I'm going for everything!

[chisag]

... Moving from GI to players irons does not make you better and in many cases can make you worse. Practice makes you better. A repeatable swing makes you better. Hitting the center makes you better. Style of iron is irrelevant for the majority IF you already play GI irons well. Anecdotally there will be those saying switching to a more demanding iron made them better. Again, for most it did not. It was the practice and focus that made them better. Of course there are golfers in GI irons that need the attributes of a players iron because of swing speed, launch, spin and of course personal preference combined with confidence and it is a logical progression.

 

... Reviewing clubs for many years now, I have played probably close to 100 sets of irons in my golfing career. in 40 years of playing golf only twice have I switched to irons that made a difference in my score and my game. Mostly it was a difference in look or feel. Switching from MB's to players irons, especially the long irons, enabled me to jump to single digits over 20 years ago. And moving from players irons to distance irons with P790's was the next jump from around a 1 to a +1. The forgiveness and added distance at age 65 was a difference maker for me, again especially the long irons. I have said this many times and will say it many more, especially at WRX where the myth that playing more demanding irons makes you better... Play the most forgiving irons you can effectively play... That means different things to different players and most certainly includes MB's for the most elite ball strikers and player irons for many better balls strikers, but for most it means GI's or even SGI's if you are honest about how much you practice, your swing and your typical iron shot. As always the mandatory troll aversion disclaimer applies: Play whatever gives you the most joy, especially if shooting the lowest score is not your primary goal.

 

For me I think the pure "forgiveness" value of a set of irons maxes out at a stroke or two per round relative to "players cavity back" (or in current fashion "players hollow backs"). It just isn't that often I hit routine shots that aren't solid but are close enough to solid for the shovel effect to kick in an steer it on the green.

 

The reason my handicap went up when I switched back to shiny forged, smaller headed, thinner-soled irons was I simply attempted to play golf in a different manner with them. That was the whole appeal, to have something more manueverable and gain some flexibility in opening or closing the face, playing the ball back to hit it lower, getting an iron on the ball in the rough (rather than hacking out with a wedge) and generally trying to get more out of every swing.

 

If I had tossed the shovels, picked up some forged players cavity backs and continued to simply aim for the middle of the fairway, then the middle of the green and to chip out any time I didn't have a good lie then I don't think my scores would have deteriorated enough to matter. But if I'm going to play like that, I hardly need to spend a thousand bucks on a set of forgings.

 

It's like the old adage about playing Pebble Beach. I didn't spend $500 and fly across the country to lay up. I'm going for everything!

 

... Away from WRX, I taught for 5 years and the vast majority of players out there need all the help they can get. They need help hitting the ball in the air. They need help when they hit the ball almost or completely off the grooves. They need help for their over the top slice. They need lots of help. Where so many on WRX make their mistake in evaluating irons is, they just don't need that same kind of help because they have a more repeatable swing, practice more and understand how their irons work best for them. WRX members are the exception, not the rule, although there are plenty of poor ball strikers with non repeatable swings that can use the help posting here. Again, I said in my reply I changed irons many times with zero difference. Played on vacation when my irons did not arrive on the flight and played some Ping GI's with no real difference in my score after adjusting to the higher flight.

 

... Too many here equate their experience to everyone's experience. I have little doubt if they taught a full schedule of lessons for a week at a public range or golf course, they would change their opinions on what the average golfer needs from their irons.

[HiSpeed48]

If you're hitting your G30's well then there's no reason to switch, unless you feel there is some fault with them that could be remedied with a different type of club.

 

Spending your money on lessons and range balls will better serve you in getting to the "next level"

[Ritocop]

If you wanted a distance club that looks closer to a blade go try the I500s Apex Pros p770s Titleist CB etc

[epyon]

Do what brings you joy! If getting new clubs will help you enjoy the game even more, then by all means do it. If sacrificing a few shots is worth the joy of hitting new irons, then go for what makes you happy. You may even play better with them, who knows?

[North Butte]

Do what brings you joy! If getting new clubs will help you enjoy the game even more, then by all means do it. If sacrificing a few shots is worth the joy of hitting new irons, then go for what makes you happy. You may even play better with them, who knows?

 

I did enjoy my few months with those X Forged '09 irons. I even had one magical round of shooting 80 (albeit by making every putt I looked at for eighteen holes). It's just that joy of shiny new forgings and of trying to pull off deliberate hooks and slices wears off after a couple dozen rounds. For me the joy of scoring a few strokes lower is more long-lasting.

[Beaver17]

I am approximately a 9 handicap who gets to play about 12 times per year, and maybe hit balls twice a month. I currently play 716 AP2s, but just bought a set of G700s after hitting them on the LM at Golf Galaxy two weeks ago. I also just sold my Scotty Cameron and put a ER9 in the bag. In the last 12 months, my lowest score on 18 was 1-over, but my highest was 15-over. I am terribly inconsistent given how little I play. When my timing is on, I can shoot around par or in the 70s with my AP2s, but it is a struggle some days when absolutely nothing is going right.

 

My ego several years ago probably caused me to buy the AP2s instead of the AP1s, but I need all the help I can get given how little I play. Golf is hard and I don't need to make it any harder.

 

Looking forward to the switch to a GI/SGI iron.