Blade users thread (NO DEBATING CLUBHEADS! NO Buy Sell Trade!)

[Christen_The_Sloop]

Got out to the range on Saturday. Packed my Ping Hoofer with clubs Must have had two sets worth of irons among them, The TN87s, Ms 203s, Proismes, Yamaha Tour Pros, MR23 CBs. Long story short, I still keep coming back to the 87s. The Yamahas are interesting though. They came with Modus 105x and they are about a half inch over standard - this is a shocker, since I got them in Japan. Nothing comes over standard here. The ball flight with them. I feel like they are the right stiffness and they hold their line nicely. There was a marker about 180 yards out and a raised green to the right about 185. I was trying to hit a shot to the right where the ball rode the slope to the left. Hit the other clubs and couldn't do it and I did it with the second swing of the Yammies. Hit the Proisme 3-iron well too, even with TTDG R400 slugs. What kind of mental defective designed that shaft for the Japanese market? I was surprised I could hit a little cut with them as I am predominantly a hooker.

 

I've been keeping the wife very happy running around, taking care of our two year old, making dinners, cleaning, basically being a flawless human - so, I might be able to actually sneak out for a game before the heat of the summer really hits Mid-May. Wish me luck.

 

Oh, I forgot I hit the wedge shots with an old raw Miura 58. The first was 5 feet, next hit the pin and the next one hit that ball on the fly. Put it back in the bag after that. God I love golf sometimes.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

> @Bigmean said:

> Issac those tm TD cast blades are what got me into blades. I think the 2-4 are hollow. Back when I had like 11 sets of irons a few years ago I had them for nostalgias sake, they are probably almost as much to ship as worth as you know lol. Sometimes I feel like I am being annoying on the JDM content so happy to hear that's not the case for at least everyone ?

 

Same here with regards to the TM TDs. The 1-4 irons were hollow. I remember I got either the 1 or 2 iron separately. I never liked the long irons, except off the tee. That hollow head seemed massive at the time. I suspect they're the main reason I don't play SGI irons.

I don't remember the TDs being particularly amazing in terms of feel, but I did like their look at address, from PW down to 5i.

 

 

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

> @Christen_The_Sloop said:

> The Yamahas are interesting though. They came with Modus 105x and they are about a half inch over standard - this is a shocker, since I got them in Japan. **Nothing comes over standard here**.

 

I just want to second that. Nice find, though.

[Doaner84]

> @Bigmean said:

> Thanks!!

>

> Going into the garage shortly to give this a go..

 

Did they work out okay for you?

[Bigmean]

Yeah, I got hang of it, some solvent to slide on non double sided tape was The trick for sure...

 

So my weekend went like this. Sat I glued up the onoffs and driver. Sunday morning went fishing with son, cane home and did some grips but at some point in garage, and I mean doing nothing, just bending weird, I tweaked my back. Now the old me would have for sure hit the driver yesterday, becuase I am dying to, it looks awesome and full of all the new driver hope...I also want to see numbers on the 14s.......however, I have been laying back, Sunday was not good (this was like on of the discplaced nerves type pain) and I am doing pretty good today, like I could play golf this afternoon if I wanted, but I am smarter now and in it for long run so I am just going to go about my week and let the hot nerve cool down, and finish grips I need to do Friday night and swing the driver when I feel like I can swing a driver. It may be Thursday, it may be next week, I am going with my body flow not mind.

[wmblake2000]

I am at the point where, after working very hard on my swing and after a series of really helpful lessons, my swing is pretty decent (for me!). But I am just not hitting a lot of greens and I should be. Every other club in the bag is solid, but not irons. I am playing p790 and I am not hitting them solid, which frustrates and confuses me. So several trips to launch monitors, some with a fitter, trying Ping G410, very light-weight graphite shafts, different lies. My bias was as much 'game improvement' as I need.

 

So I am getting warmed up today, to re-test things, and all that was there (I didn't take my clubs in) were some ping i blades with PX 6.0. Wrong heads, wrong shafts. I hit them really well. Solid, right at target. Fitter comes, I focus on G410 and P790. Ugh. Neither was hit solid. Always felt a little fat. I tell the fitter about the iblades, we try them. Bingo. He thinks I can't hit wide soles, thinks I don't need them. I try some more players' cb. None are as solid as the iblades.

 

So... this time, without any bias toward blades, in fact the opposite, I left with this guy telling me I play blades the best.

 

If I had any hair, I'd pull it out. And where is DeNinney to rub in a 'I told you so!" (and in fact, my lowest scores over past 2 years were all with blades) Now, the fact that the iblades are sort of quasi-blades is irrelevant to me. I am interested only in 2 things: getting the ball near the hole, and making solid contact. Look/feel are secondary.

 

Still... this insight is shocking to me... shocking.

[edgerat]

Sorry to hear I am not the only person that cannot play P790. Tried to game some but COULD NOT hit them flush. Went back to my AP2s whilst waiting on all kinds of other bladey things to show up .

Isaac

[Bigmean]

No one here is that shocked. Plus you are playing really fast and loose with the queens english calling pings blades ?

 

Well, I know you have seen a lot of sets, enough to know that there are only ones you get along with and don't, and no lightening in a bottle.... I hope you find what works for you and those GIRs go up!

[wmblake2000]

> @Bigmean said:

> No one here is that shocked. Plus you are playing really fast and loose with the queens english calling pings blades ?

>

> Well, I know you have seen a lot of sets, enough to know that there are only ones you get along with and don't, and no lightening in a > bottle.... I hope you find what works for you and those GIRs go up!

Haha... quasi-blades, at best. Not exactly small blades, not forged on the thighs of Japanese sword maker.

 

 

 

 

 

[Bigmean]

All razzing aside. I think that there are clearly diminishing returns in what needs to be done for forgiveness. At a certain point hybrids throughout would be on appear better on paper and science, but not in practice better. At one end of the bag even those touting forgiveness have non CB wedges for precision, and at other end people who are indifferent or pro blade as I am both really, ditch long irons at a certain point for hybrid. I could seriously make the case for me just having 5-p. Same argument for people against blades, I just don’t have the body anymore or confidence to hit a 4 that far or high.

 

So point is you want precision to a point you are comfortable with it. Precision doesn’t need to be dragon forged samurai ashes, it could be that ping body or it could be one of many players cbs that are basically blades. At some point whether it is pw, 7 iron or 3 iron etc forgiveness and ball flight trumps precision I would think. That point is subjective.

[wmblake2000]

I think you nailed it... there is this unquantifiable sense of precision with a smaller headed blade. I keep struggling with the fact that my lowest scores are all with blades vs how often I miss the center of the face. I keep thinking there’s an analytical approach but there’s not an easy one. The one thing I can’t shake is I trust thin-soled clubs more than wide ones. That was the key thing yesterday- I’d make a decent pass at the ball with a wider soles club but it would sound and feel chunky - but it wasn’t. Ball would go great but feel awful. Same is true on the course. Strike rarely feels solid even though ball flight is good. Turf interaction is just not good for me except with thin soled clubs. The end result is the club feels cumbersome- that sense of precision is missing.

 

Yep. Writing this out helped. That’s the core issue. Thx...

[NRJyzr]

WB, you sound like a perfect candidate for a mixed set. In worrying about forgiveness, Tom Wishon has said there's no difference in the short irons, it's really only when you get to the 7 iron or so that it matters.

 

Maybe a mixed set such as the Ram Pro Set Tour Grinds would suit you? CB's seem to not have wide soles.

 

Oh look, I'm recommending Rams. How unusual. LOL

[dpb5031]

> @wmblake2000 said:

> I am at the point where, after working very hard on my swing and after a series of really helpful lessons, my swing is pretty decent (for me!). But I am just not hitting a lot of greens and I should be. Every other club in the bag is solid, but not irons. I am playing p790 and I am not hitting them solid, which frustrates and confuses me. So several trips to launch monitors, some with a fitter, trying Ping G410, very light-weight graphite shafts, different lies. My bias was as much 'game improvement' as I need.

>

> So I am getting warmed up today, to re-test things, and all that was there (I didn't take my clubs in) were some ping i blades with PX 6.0. Wrong heads, wrong shafts. I hit them really well. Solid, right at target. Fitter comes, I focus on G410 and P790. Ugh. Neither was hit solid. Always felt a little fat. I tell the fitter about the iblades, we try them. Bingo. He thinks I can't hit wide soles, thinks I don't need them. I try some more players' cb. None are as solid as the iblades.

>

> So... this time, without any bias toward blades, in fact the opposite, I left with this guy telling me I play blades the best.

>

> If I had any hair, I'd pull it out. And where is DeNinney to rub in a 'I told you so!" (and in fact, my lowest scores over past 2 years were all with blades) Now, the fact that the iblades are sort of quasi-blades is irrelevant to me. I am interested only in 2 things: getting the ball near the hole, and making solid contact. Look/feel are secondary.

>

> Still... this insight is shocking to me... shocking.

 

Well, as has been pointed out, iBlades are not really anything close to a true MB blade design other than overall size and general profile. iBlades are way significantly more forgiving, as are Ping S55s, which by the way, might really fit the bill for you.

 

In terms of the wide soles and look of some of the more extreme GI stuff, I think there's merit in the idea that the look of the club can actually influence how some players swing at the ball. I think two things happen. First, some players will get scoopy with those wide bladed designs, and second better players may start changing their AOA because the immediate high launch of GIs is disconcerting to them as the ball is not departing in the visual window they're accustomed to. In either case, it can be destructive to the player's swing and certainly negatively affect scoring. Is is psychological? Perhaps, but really doesn't matter.

 

A club with a more compact profile, like a true MB blade, can encourage striking the ball first with a descending blow, as opposed to hanging back and dump-scooping it with a wide soled GI. Those "dump-scoops" are moderately effective with a fat soled GI, but won't work at all with a thin soled blade.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Recently, if I'm playing a round where I want to score the best I can (i.e., not a persimmon and blades round), I won't bag a blade stronger than a 5i. I've put a 23* hybrid in that fills the gap pretty nicely between the 7w and 5i, but it's a bit longer than a 4i. At the range, I've been hitting the 4i and even the 3i well, but the bad shots are truly bad. Whilst the great with the 3 and 4 irons are really great, I know I am going to get better overall results with the hybrid. Put it this way, in a proper round if I had to clear 200 yards of water to pin 215 yards away, I wouldn't attempt the shot with a 4i blade. With a hybrid, I wouldn't hesitate.

As an experiment, I've just bought a Bridgestone X-CBP 4i, which is a more GI version of their CB. It's got a Modus 105S shaft in it, so I don't feel like I have to go balls to the wall to launch the ball high. So far, the results are promising. I'm not looking at it to replace the hybrid, but rather to maybe fill the little gap between hybrid and 5i. I'm happy to drop a wedge, as I have noticed recently that I only play 3 even if I am carrying 4.

 

 

[Bigmean]

The Crews posts always seem to be more open minded than zealot, but hey, more importantly.......

 

My back is on day two of feeling normal, thinking about hitting sim after the gym of that all feels the same....I am super excited to try this epic forged and finally I have my hands on a crazy shaft.....I am going to be grading this extra harsh but so far pleased on that the head despite being labeled .5 closed sits almost open to my eye, like I am

Not seeing it and wondering if forged is different there...also I am playing it at 44.5”, and also, the actually hitting area of this head is not big relatively speaking...hard to explain, I will try to take pics and share numbers of the rest of my day goes as planned....

 

14s spent a week in garage and started turning, in closet now and I need to clean off maybe an 8 and 6 and see what is what. I can throw a grip on to one of the copper onoffs as well, even though I am not quite finished trimming those...

 

SW coming out spot on. The attas are playing between d2-d3 with no manipulation so I am thrilled about that...

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

I've got to admire your patience with the back, Biggie. I've recently got a bad neck sprain, and I know I should lay off golf until it goes away completely, but I just can't help myself. It's even affecting my swing a bit as I know I am nursing it through the downswing.

[Bigmean]

It’s easy, go to a hospital unable to walk, then have a good scare a few months ago...No one who knows me would attribute patience as something I possess, however I am basically exhibiting it at gunpoint under a hostage situation ? so that makes it easy.

 

 

What is the craziest is I have been slammed at work, I haven’t hit balls really in two weeks....but before that, I was hitting balls, go to gym 6days a week, play hard with son, and all good. And I got that flare up (I am pretty sure)from Leaninng over my 4 iron in garage looking at grip alignment taking 2 days off from gym....Like it is crazy what can trigger it....

 

Plus as you OGs here know, I had it down to like 5/6 2 summers ago and got really focused on score and that was when everything fell apart from the tee and subsequently my chances of breaking 80

Without putting my a** off. Last year I was 3-5 FW a round....shooting 82-84 grinding from penalties and punch outs really makes you want to not play. I am ready to get over my driver yips, I am quite convinced that it is mental at this point as I still stripe my 3 wood. So all that said, I have this serious internal conflict of the light me knowing I can be good off the tee again, and the dark me that knows I will suck with any driver, and I am honestly as nervous as excited to try out a new one.

 

[Bruceapex]

Hogan apex redlines from 1988 with apex #4 shafts. Started playing them the year they were release. Have tried other blades but always came back to the redlines because of feel and how deadly accurate they have been for me. I’m on my 5th set. Have been lucky enough to find new, never hit sets thru the years and this spring put a new set of them in the bag.

For what it’s worth, my wife also plays apex redlines with #3 shafts.

We are both in our early/ mid 60s and play to a 4 and 10 handicap respectively.

[wmblake2000]

> @Bruceapex said:

> Hogan apex redlines from 1988 with apex #4 shafts. Started playing them the year they were release. Have tried other blades but always came back to the redlines because of feel and how deadly accurate they have been for me. I’m on my 5th set. Have been lucky enough to find new, never hit sets thru the years and this spring put a new set of them in the bag.

> For what it’s worth, my wife also plays apex redlines with #3 shafts.

> We are both in our early/ mid 60s and play to a 4 and 10 handicap respectively.

 

That’s some fine golf in your marriage. Gear wise and hdcp-wise. I’m 67 and I swear this summer is going to yield my best golf ever ... golf is so great because even in your 60’s you can still play.

 

[Bigmean]

Giving us all hope for the long haul!!!!

 

So I am officially cursed with driver....I will post 9 iron club fitting data later, but I need to share this. The crazy shaft epic combo is awesome....

 

My first swing with it was 290...

 

Right, then I proceed to not really lose much and the feel is sick, like I mean soft blade awesome, maybe this is part of the big money shaft perk...forged head is said to be notably softer....anyway, I am proceeding to really hit nice drives and bad drives that are not penalties and loving this, like smile on my face loving everything. Feel, shots, I start trying to work it both ways...and I am like happiest I have been in golf in over a year easy, for real....

 

Address the next shot, and it is really closed, like WTF, my f****** glue job I guess somehow someway was f****** coming undone...I can’t tell if the tip

Is damaged Or broken....I am going to take it to pro I guess and see what is what. I want to cry, like I finally have this setup, I am feeling it, not my swing bad shots too are not as bad and this is working, and then for first time in all my builds ever this happens....?

 

Golf gods are truly cruel when they want to be....

 

[wmblake2000]

Backs...necks. Glad to see things on the mend.

 

So I go to Roger Dunn - huge store, 90 day return policy. The only way I really know how to evaluate a club is play it. So I went intending to get a couple of iblades (they have a lot of single clubs). But there’s a huge inventory of used clubs so naturally I look around and see a used set of MP4’s. 3-W, s300 shafts, looking almost new, and cheap. All wrong for me. So I decide to hit them and compare to iblades. 20 shots each club, comprehensive data. Results: dead even carry distance and dispersion. But the strategy at this store is: start cheap and trade up in price if you return clubs. So I leave with the MP4 and go straight to the course. No warm up just jump on and play. First iron shot on first hole (par 5) is a 4 iron. Smoked. Second shot, wedge from 110 to 5 feet.

 

So I play 9 holes, played alone, hit 2-3-4 iron shots per hole. Every club in the bag. So call it the same number of iron swings as I’d take in 36 holes. I hit more flushed compressed balls in this first day than all the rounds combined with p790 since Oct (and I am in Los Angeles so I played all winter)

 

It makes no sense to me. I have less than zero interest in playing blades to present an image, or even for the feel. I just want to hit the ball solid and get it near the hole, shoot a score. This was the best I’ve hit irons in a long time.

 

I’m definitely going to sell p790. My game improvement backup is going to be The Macgregor vfoil 1025m (GI as per Ralph

 

In the last 5 years I have played (blades) Macs, small blades, Fourteen Fh1000, callaway Apex Raw, RomaRo Pro and now these Mizunos. Here’s what I’ve learned. You have to play blades with great confidence and freedom. If you get squeamish and tight, they’ll eat you alive. But if you’re fearless and aggressive - nothing better.

 

I’ve got 90 days to test drive these. I’m betting they stick around. I get sort of embarrassed having blades in the bag because I can shoot 75 or 88 and hate feeling like a poser. But facts is facts. This is the best I’ve hit an iron since at least a year.

[Bigmean]

It has to be screwed right? There is no way the tip is not screwed.....unreal.

[wmblake2000]

I've had heads slowly come loose, twist around the shaft just a little. If the epoxy bond wasn't good, then your tip should be ok... I think it's got to be heated for the torque to damage the fibers. I mean, the torque a head puts on a shaft when it is solidly bonded is much greater than when the bond is weak. The twisting of the head from impact is different from twisting the head after the shaft has been heated....(I had a set of irons with I forget which shafts - some pricey hard to find ones - and the kid in the shop heated them and started twisting the head. Fortunately I was there, saw it, stopped her instantly.)

[Bigmean]

I hope that is it....man.......

 

Ok so iron testing, you will like this as it is much to do about a golfer than an iron. I got 5 balls with each iron. I did this relatively cold and without swinging a club in a few weeks and after a solid workout. Not excuses, just saying that it was optimal mediocre swing conditions.

 

 

 

I have had the hardest time posting pics so I hope these work...

 

I can tell you I was fighting a pull draw across all irons. I don’t think I missed more than 2/20 right of pin. I can also say knowing I would post this, I was super nervous hitting the Miuras cause I have talked a lot of crap on doing best with them hahaha. Also on a similar note, The GC2 doesn’t measure clubhead speed, it guesses it based on ball speed and smash factor. Now someone who knows more please correct/enlighten, but I am not swinging the Mira’s faster, just catching them more on the center to explain the speeds. Same for shingles, they are cbs and hotter on center and misses.

 

As far as what the numbers say, I don’t even know. I really bad pulled at least 2 for each, but postive is that those are my full swing trying to step on it numbers generally as that shot tends to be the most I can get from a club. The 14s are short, they feel soft and short. The shingos has solid numbers but didn’t stand out to me, I hit my miuras bad, but just left bad, and I am a little stunned by the onoffs. I feel like they stole it. I hit them I thought best in a little warm up and also for this. I know the shaft is really low torque, and I can tug pull anything, but they just felt solid and seemed to be half a club longer than miuras. To my senses. I hit first one of them fat. Sonthe avergaes are thrown off.

 

I truly don’t know how to analyze numbers, but I felt like I had the same issues across all clubs, evenly, I didn’t try to correct and cut cause I didn’t want to lose numbers in changes from what felt normal...but for 4 different irons, I certainly felt like it all screamed Indian.. the onoffs were a pleasant surprise to me though. They will be good in real life.

 

 

 

[wmblake2000]

I practice with a gc quad (I rent time) and it gives clubhead data, too. Path/head - your data looks like hook spin too. Be good to see club data or video but closed head to path and path pretty close to down the line or left is my guess. Does your r elbow get high/outside the plane sometimes (ott)?

[MajorOh4]

I have got some Srixon Z Forged on the way. Really excited about these. I have played the 765 and 785 for the past 3 or so years but I decided its time to have something that Im dying to hit, which is these, at least 5-p. Keeping 785 4iron. Also making a switch of shafts which has me stoked/scared. Going from 6.5 LZ's to x100 AMT Whites. Through fitting, dispersion was comparable but the little bit of extra apex and improved descent angle on long irons has me pretty confident its the right thing to do, until its not.

Anybody out there have Z Forged in the bag? What do you think? What made you go there? Also, opinions of V-sole?

[Bigmean]

> @wmblake2000 said:

> I practice with a gc quad (I rent time) and it gives clubhead data, too. Path/head - your data looks like hook spin too. Be good to see club data or video but closed head to path and path pretty close to down the line or left is my guess. Does your r elbow get high/outside the plane sometimes (ott)?

 

Yes, that is my struggle, I have a super neutral path, and tend to close face a smidge early on the bad ones. What do you mean by right elbow out of plane? I think mine drifts away from my body in tendency.

[Bigmean]

Also funny kinda, I woke up to a dream at some point last night fully based on the shaft fail. I put a .335 shaft in a .355 opening and I needed a shin or that the shaft would never work for the head and the whole thing was ruined and the one person who could help me wasn’t helping me and all those usual frustrating dream things......it was unresolved

 

 

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

> @04majorhmgc said:

> I have got some Srixon Z Forged on the way. Really excited about these. I have played the 765 and 785 for the past 3 or so years but I decided its time to have something that Im dying to hit, which is these, at least 5-p. Keeping 785 4iron. Also making a switch of shafts which has me stoked/scared. Going from 6.5 LZ's to x100 AMT Whites. Through fitting, dispersion was comparable but the little bit of extra apex and improved descent angle on long irons has me pretty confident its the right thing to do, until its not.

> Anybody out there have Z Forged in the bag? What do you think? What made you go there? Also, opinions of V-sole?

 

I've hit the Z-forged at the local shop a few times, and I liked them a lot. Well, the 7i as that was the only demo club they had.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

> @Bigmean said:

> > @wmblake2000 said:

> > I practice with a gc quad (I rent time) and it gives clubhead data, too. Path/head - your data looks like hook spin too. Be good to see club data or video but closed head to path and path pretty close to down the line or left is my guess. Does your r elbow get high/outside the plane sometimes (ott)?

>

> Yes, that is my struggle, I have a super neutral path, and tend to close face a smidge early on the bad ones. What do you mean by right elbow out of plane? I think mine drifts away from my body in tendency.

 

 

A 26-yard hoik left with a nine iron is pretty impressive! My personal best is a 40+ yard hook with a 7i*. The guy checking the monitor was surely impressed. To be fair, I wasn't sure where I was supposed to aim, and was already starting it off left.

 

*not counting drivers here. I've hooked those on launch monitors into the next dimension.