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

[NRJyzr]

Been working on my swing of late, trying to shorten it so I don't go past parallel; I've long gotten to as much as 45* past. Someone once snapped a pic at the exact point I was starting my downswing, I was past even 45* past parallel. Ugh.

 

As happens in such situations, my game has been all over the place. I've had a few mid 80s rounds, a few upper 80s rounds, a couple rounds in the low 80s. In every instance, any chance sst a better score was instantly squashed by various mistakes; lefts, rights, fats, thins. And, as wet as it's been here, fats are not a good thing.

 

Also, my driver distance has been garbage. I've gone back to the Daly swing with driver, in part because of distance, but that's not doing anything. Ironically, my shortened-to-normal backswing isn't hurting my 3w distance. Go figure.

 

Yesterday, as I fumbled around with various garbage, I finally got frustrated and borrowed my friend's driver on #9 tee. It's a Cobra F6, HZRDUS Black 65 6.5 shaft. I have the 75 in my LTD, because ive never gotten along with sub-70g shafts. His F6 is also 45.25" long, and I've cut down a great many of my drivers to 43.5" in response to a fitting I had a few years ago where my swingspeed maxed at less than that. I hit the ball a bit to the right, it hits the cart path and gets a ludicrous distance down the hole, leaving me a flip wedge on a 431 yard hole. Because of the path, it was hard to say how far down it carried, but it seemed to be close to the old me.

 

Fast forward thru the back nine, it's more of the same. My driver tee shots are going nowhere, 3w still going good, iron play sporadic, wedges decent. Amusingly, had no trouble hitting the 1 iron off the tee, except into the wind on the par 3 I aced last week, LOL. Get to 18, borrow friends driver again, promptly hit a ball that carried about 270-275 and sat down in the wet fairway. For a 55 year old dude with a sketchy back, I was pleased with that. And, it tells me I think I need to reexamine my driver club length practices.

 

Going to trot out my 44.5" LTD at my next round. I may even try my SLDR with the 6.2 TS shaft that came in it. Oh, the humanity!

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

**NRJyzr**

The older I get, the more I see the ability to get past parallel at the top as a positive, even if the actual results are terrible....

[Nard_S]

I'ver been vexed by the swing better/ play better challenge. What Mahonie said rings real true. Mental awareness to unlock innate, athletic, instinctual play is something that has to be re-ignited/further developed or breached anew altogether. Mind set of practice/improvement has to be different, yet still possess some of the hierarchy that is required to play free and unencumbered. Genuine swing improvement is a marathon that takes years and there's lag to translate to index. I'm more Ranger Rick than golfer these days and not by choice but I've made peace with it by making practice "the work" and when I do get out it's R&R and playtime. Did this last season, never walked off disappointed nor did I quit through the round or tank for holes to get back on track. Had some great new level stretches and down spots were shallower and shorter. So care nothing about CAP or INDEX and hope to never again. Big takeaway I had from chasing scratch dreams is rhythm, tempo and balance are the most important technical aspect to playing well. Possess that and a clear mind, swing at 95% (not less), your stale bubble gum or new & improved re-tooled swing can reach new lows.

[wmblake2000]

> @Nard_S said:

> I'ver been vexed by the swing better/ play better challenge. What Mahonie said rings real true. Mental awareness to unlock innate, athletic, instinctual play is something that has to be re-ignited/further developed or breached anew altogether. Mind set of practice/improvement has to be different, yet still possess some of the hierarchy that is required to play free and unencumbered. Genuine swing improvement is a marathon that takes years and there's lag to translate to index. I'm more Ranger Rick than golfer these days and not by choice but I've made peace with it by making practice "the work" and when I do get out it's R&R and playtime. Did this last season, never walked off disappointed nor did I quit through the round or tank for holes to get back on track. Had some great new level stretches and down spots were shallower and shorter. So care nothing about CAP or INDEX and hope to never again. Big takeaway I had from chasing scratch dreams is rhythm, tempo and balance are the most important technical aspect to playing well. Possess that and a clear mind, swing at 95% (not less), your stale bubble gum or new & improved re-tooled swing can reach new lows.

 

It's a catch-22. You KNEW your old swing wouldn't hold water, except every now and then you get on a hot streak. But to make those scores in the hot streak the new norm, everything had to improve. So you go thru the really challenging process of change, and the index roams around like a drunk. I am now convinced all the technical pieces are in place for my game to make this quantum jump, index-wise. This summer... this summer. The thing that I am seeing is, the new feels are becoming more familiar, and much less a strain to produce - and I can now take them to the course except for when I can't!

 

But dam, it took a lot of reps to get this to happen. This seems to me to be the foundation to do all the mental stuff. I just never believed (and I tried it) that the mental stuff alone was going to make my bad mechanics playable at a higher level.

[Bigmean]

Really good read catching up today.

 

So I am shafting they Callaway finally today....(just been busy) but this club is getting the positive vibe no swing technical thought if it doesn’t break in first 10 lol.

 

I think that going forward, I know there are some things I do that are bad, but it

Can be limited to about 3 big ones I am aware of. I am not going technical past those 3. I just want to give myself chances to hit fairways, then chances to hit greens, then chances to make putts. This is going to be my one shot at a time mantra. I am really peeling back to simple...with

My Back as priority 1, I can’t think of a better summer to do that

 

[Nard_S]

> @wmblake2000 said:

 

> But dam, it took a lot of reps to get this to happen. This seems to me to be the foundation to do all the mental stuff. I just never believed (and I tried it) that the mental stuff alone was going to make my bad mechanics playable at a higher level.

 

On some level It's an "ownership" thing. If you own the swing with some measure of confidence, you get the liberation to pursue 'hunt the flag'. Best scoring stretch & lows was when I owned my Fred Flintstone swing and never, ever practiced. Day I said, "I'll fix this", cap went south or is that north?

 

So you start tweaking enough, it needs boatloads of reps to own it again, that can take years meanwhile your play is hemorrhaging with bizarre stretches of OMG good and WTF bad. Went 2 seasons like this, but last year was actually pretty good for 15X out. Part of that was I adjusted and re-defined success. Pass/fail is at practice. Playing is just that. Stats matter, attitude/mental matter too, but score is dead last and does not define pass/fail at all.

 

I've got 9 holes in this year, that's it. My driving is best I've ever grooved and I'm chomping to get some rounds in. But I'll be a monkey's a** if start chasing score. I'm staying the course, play 18 games of hunt the flag.

[wmblake2000]

> @Nard_S said:

> On some level It's an "ownership" thing. If you own the swing with some measure of confidence, you get the liberation to pursue 'hunt the flag'.

 

Well, there’s the rub. How to have ‘some measure of confidence?’ Interestingly, often when I would get on a good run, I’d think I was feeling very confident and duck hook OB followed half the time.

 

I personally am very interested in the score as the measure. I’ve played a million different ways, always caresd about whatever I wanted to at this leisure activity. But these days score matters. Of course score is a dependent variable, an outcome and not a lever. Goal this summer: +5 or less on consecutive rounds.

[shanx]

Just snagged a set of mint MP15s, kind of a blade, no?

[Nard_S]

> @wmblake2000 said:

> > @Nard_S said:

> > On some level It's an "ownership" thing. If you own the swing with some measure of confidence, you get the liberation to pursue 'hunt the flag'.

 

> I personally am very interested in the score as the measure. I’ve played a million different ways, always caresd about whatever I wanted to at this leisure activity. But these days score matters. Of course score is a dependent variable, an outcome and not a lever. Goal this summer: +5 or less on consecutive rounds.

 

I've gone to maintaining several degrees of separation from it. It's like you say an outcome indicative of the 1/2 dozen skill sets one needs to play well. Much like an AGI on tax return, it's telling but it does not reveal the whole story of how you go about the work you do.

[Doaner84]

so I was playing around today with the idea of negative bounce to zero or little bounce on irons. I made a 4-gw into 3-pw. They hit amazing for me. I was concerned with digging but it was non factor for me. it actually helped me keep it lower to my eye but i'll have to go on a gc2 to check spin rates and specs. shot 42 in the front but was too hot to finish the round.

[Nard_S]

Starting to appreciate that I'm too passive with left side in swing. Spend too much effort on getting shallow and ideal release. Irony is firing left more in down swing shallows things automatically. Pop of driver and long irons returns along with better directional control. It's like Stage I of firing and right is Stage II. Trick is keeping shoulder disposition, it's plane to spine more honest. It's great to see horsepower rewarded with great ball speed and enhanced control for once, been a while since driver felt this good. Applied this to shorter irons and it proves it has a place there too. Still only have 9 under belt but may get out in next few days. Been hitting the FG 59 #7i a bit, really nice club. The Maruman's are world class.

[Christen_The_Sloop]

> @Nard_S said:

The Maruman's are world class.

 

Amen.

They had a pretty good run with Woosnam and Olazabal... and Strange, I guess.

Had a chance to get to the range today, so I took it. Just to the TN87 out. And, trying to see how the top of the bag works without a driver. I demoed a G410 LST 14.5 with the Tour 65 S flex against my Titleist 915Fd. I was finding the 915 a little small, compared to what's in the stores right now, but I have to say, I hit it every bit as good as the Ping, but I think I'd have more confidence in the Ping in the long run. The 915 wins for feel definitely, it's got an almost wood wood feel.

 

As far as the swing, I noticed that my swing got really closed off my last game, especially with driver, so I had to come over the top to keep it all working. It's a swing I can use to get it around, but in the long run, it's gonna hold me back. So, I work on weakening the grip a bit, and tried an exaggerated open stance... And I was hitting high soft fades. Something that I should be really be happy with. The trick is taking it onto the course.

 

 

[Nard_S]

I'm using a Mizuno Type 1 driver w/ an AD TP shaft. It;s a setup that keeps s*** honest. Real "blade" of big Ti, I yank the handle, it goes left, I block it really blocks, get steep I pay , it's forgiving but not on scale of Epic , somewhat akin to hitting the TM R510, nutted passes are ridiculous long but it demands "nut". The accuracy is excellent. I've had this thing where there's my iron swing then there was my driver swing, both were awful but i could get real caveman on big stick. The whole endeavor is to align it all, SW to big dog, put arms in proper role and get body motoring in big boy fashion. The role of left side has been lacking and in part due to hazard of getting lateral, so legs and hip fix is prerequisite and this all takes a gazillion reps. Things are starting to gel and I'm finally liking my swing. I can own this one. May never carry a sub 5 cap, but I'll enjoy whacking the ball a lot more. The .2 seconds from top to impact has to be one of the biggest enigma's in all sports.

[wmblake2000]

Wife and I went to palm desert for a few days. Played Stadium Course 2x... always remember Tip O’Neill (Speaker of the House) in red white & blue plaid pants in this DEEP bunker on 16 taking swipe after swipe on natl tv.

 

For any of you deep swing theory nerds I joined Athletic Motion Golf last weekend. Great stuff. Seems to me with more and more data all the teachers who look at the best swings are ending up with very similar ideas. AMG focuses on the reality that it’s a half a second from arm parallel going back to impact. They want you to have limited lead arm across chest (like Jim Waldron) at the top and a ton of shoulder turn (so long as you don’t lose posture) then arm swing down so that there is a lot of pivot to be unleashed thru impact by using ground forces aggressively. I would summarize their stuff as they are trying to get everything in order so that in the last .2 secs into impact that it’s all all set up to use ground to generate speed effectively.

 

MP4 are great... 2nd day at stadium I had 6 legit birdie putts (only made 2. I am a pro at leaving putts short). Best was we played 17 island green (‘Alcatraz’) from 175 black tees. Smoked a 5 iron to about 20 feet.

[Bigmean]

Got a funny aside from my buddy I play most with. So we play one day with his work friend, who told him he shot a 76 the round before, and dude drops like a 93 and no way is breaking 80. I remember that round well as I dropped a 75 with my Vegas, lowest round with them and I one of my best since back, I just played great, pre driver yips. Took a 5 iron off last tee unreachable par five in total Bail out b**** move for par to save what I thought was a stroke better score at the time lol.

 

Anyways, I get this text from my buddy today after a pic of a golf course to be in my face about playing.

 

“76 nick is in town. Made the best comment ever. I’m really a better golfer, my score would be a lot better if it weren’t for all of these penalty strokes hahaha”

 

As awesome as that comment made by him in all seriousness (He is serious which makes the talk better) it is Funny how 3 years later, I couldn’t shoot 75 with 3 mulligans and I feel the same exact way Hahahahaha....I just don’t take it serious.

 

So good news for me. I am going to be testing the epic forged with trpx and the crazy(tipped 1” because obviously God thinks I need a more penetrating flight) , in the masda head I couldn’t sell on eBay for $70 so screw them, it is getting A new lease on life.

 

 

[Bigmean]

HOWEVER.....In bigger news, I think I also self solved my driver yips problem.....

 

 

I rush the downswing and get arms ahead of lower body, because I am not firing my hips to trigger shoulders/arms. This causes the heel miss maybe across the board, and the early closing face snap hook and then I hold off so much I rotate lower body even less, and hit that fall back push slice/fade thing. I try to get my weight over, and I do but I move weight but not clear hips enough ergo That is my hardest duck hook move and also my tendency to really miss it on the face up/down.

 

Basically I have these tendencies in all clubs but smoother tempo and loft makes them

Not bad or ineffective.....but the driver swing microscopes all of their bad....that combined with my mental failure at this point is just “hit it” and let hand eye coordination fix it for me as maybe it had for some time is highlighting all of my bad.

 

I am really certain on this, but Applying changes and seeing progress is as you all know why golf is so hard. I at least have a focus now. This is the first beam of light through the trees of this wretched forest I have been making circles in for so long. ?

[Nard_S]

> @wmblake2000 said:

> Wife and I went to palm desert for a few days. Played Stadium Course 2x... always remember Tip O’Neill (Speaker of the House) in red white & blue plaid pants in this DEEP bunker on 16 taking swipe after swipe on natl tv.

>

> For any of you deep swing theory nerds I joined Athletic Motion Golf last weekend. Great stuff. Seems to me with more and more data all the teachers who look at the best swings are ending up with very similar ideas. AMG focuses on the reality that it’s a half a second from arm parallel going back to impact. They want you to have limited lead arm across chest (like Jim Waldron) at the top and a ton of shoulder turn (so long as you don’t lose posture) then arm swing down so that there is a lot of pivot to be unleashed thru impact by using ground forces aggressively. I would summarize their stuff as they are trying to get everything in order so that in the last .2 secs into impact that it’s all all set up to use ground to generate speed effectively.

>

> MP4 are great... 2nd day at stadium I had 6 legit birdie putts (only made 2. I am a pro at leaving putts short). Best was we played 17 island green (‘Alcatraz’) from 175 black tees. Smoked a 5 iron to about 20 feet.

 

AMG has real solid data on what makes high level swings work. I love how they speak in geometry, math & logic the makes perfect sense., even if it's only to conceive things better.

 

[wmblake2000]

> @Nard_S said:

> > @wmblake2000 said:

> > Wife and I went to palm desert for a few days. Played Stadium Course 2x... always remember Tip O’Neill (Speaker of the House) in red white & blue plaid pants in this DEEP bunker on 16 taking swipe after swipe on natl tv.

> >

> > For any of you deep swing theory nerds I joined Athletic Motion Golf last weekend. Great stuff. Seems to me with more and more data all the teachers who look at the best swings are ending up with very similar ideas. AMG focuses on the reality that it’s a half a second from arm parallel going back to impact. They want you to have limited lead arm across chest (like Jim Waldron) at the top and a ton of shoulder turn (so long as you don’t lose posture) then arm swing down so that there is a lot of pivot to be unleashed thru impact by using ground forces aggressively. I would summarize their stuff as they are trying to get everything in order so that in the last .2 secs into impact that it’s all all set up to use ground to generate speed effectively.

> >

> > MP4 are great... 2nd day at stadium I had 6 legit birdie putts (only made 2. I am a pro at leaving putts short). Best was we played 17 island green (‘Alcatraz’) from 175 black tees. Smoked a 5 iron to about 20 feet.

>

> AMG has real solid data on what makes high level swings work. I love how they speak in geometry, math & logic the makes perfect sense., even if it's only to conceive things better.

>

I totally agree. For me, the clearer and more thorough my idea of the swing is, and the fewer big question marks I have, the easier it is to then just work on the feels that create the motion. This is a WHOLE lot easier than wondering if it’s this or that that I need to do. AMG ties a lot of loose ends together- good data, analysis and connecting to impact.

 

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Hit the range today with my Mac 20ths and a couple of MP14s (5i and 8i). The 20ths are one of my favourites, but the 14s look like being right up there alongside them. Very different feel to the Macs, softer for sure. Lofts and shafts are the same, so it was no surprise to find there was no difference in distance.

Jeez, I've so many sets I like. I've got over 20 sets of irons, and of those there are 6 or 7 I really can't part with, and another 5 I wouldn't like to let go of.

 

[wmblake2000]

> @No_Catchy_Nickname said:

> Hit the range today with my Mac 20ths and a couple of MP14s (5i and 8i). The 20ths are one of my favourites, but the 14s look like being right up there alongside them. Very different feel to the Macs, softer for sure. Lofts and shafts are the same, so it was no surprise to find there was no difference in distance.

> Jeez, I've so many sets I like. I've got over 20 sets of irons, and of those there are 6 or 7 I really can't part with, and another 5 I wouldn't like to let go of.

>

 

What’s your favorite?

 

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Of my modern sets, I am tempted to choose the FG62s over the MP4s. I like the MP4s better for feel, but the FG62s are crisp, and I prefer them a touch at address, especially the short irons. But there's really nothing in it.

Of my older sets, probably the Mac 20ths, but they face strong competition from my 1972 Apexes, and FG-J8s (FG-17s for the Japanese market). Also in close contention are the MP14s, RAM Tour Grinds, and OG Nike blades. If the Mac r58s had FM6.0s shafts instead of 6.5s, they'd also be up there.

The only ones I don't like are my Maxflie Aussie Blades, and that's because I was using them when I went into my slump last year (my fault, not the clubs', but I feel they are jinxed now), and my Mac VIP cavity backs, but that's partly because they are too flat and I haven't got around to adjusting the lie angles! Oh, and my Golfcraft Joe Kirkwood signature irons aren't great, but that's because I don't like the aluminium shafts much.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Just realized my little daughter has a more JDM bag than me. She has an Ignio driver and utility (both JDM), a Mizuno junior 9i (blade, of course, and Japanese market only I think), and a lovely brass Daiwa bullseye putter. My only JDM is a RomaRo ibrid utility.

 

I'm wondering if I should post her WITB in the JDM thread... :)

[revanant]

So, I hit the Ping Blueprint yesterday. My initial reaction is that it's ok, but not better than my MP-4 or the Apex MB.

Blade length is not too large, topline is thin-ish. The face has a bit of milling, and the finish is matte (which I don't personally care for--makes the iron seem bigger than it is). It does have the fun feature of clearly registering impacts, so you can see exactly how well/poorly you're striking.

 

Feel was on the softer side. One thing that stood out is that I was getting very high spin and lots of height, at the expense of distance. E.g., 24 degrees of launch on a 7 iron, where I normally get about 18-19. Would probably have to play around with shafts and strengthening lofts a little to bring the height down, but I'm obviously not in the market for new irons and they didn't feel as good as the best blades I've tested.

[craz-e]

> @revanant said:

> So, I hit the Ping Blueprint yesterday. My initial reaction is that it's ok, but not better than my MP-4 or the Apex MB.

> Blade length is not too large, topline is thin-ish. The face has a bit of milling, and the finish is matte (which I don't personally care for--makes the iron seem bigger than it is). It does have the fun feature of clearly registering impacts, so you can see exactly how well/poorly you're striking.

>

> Feel was on the softer side. One thing that stood out is that I was getting very high spin and lots of height, at the expense of distance. E.g., 24 degrees of launch on a 7 iron, where I normally get about 18-19. Would probably have to play around with shafts and strengthening lofts a little to bring the height down, but I'm obviously not in the market for new irons and they didn't feel as good as the best blades I've tested.

 

I have a huge demo day coming up next week and the blueprint is something I am looking forward to testing. I have not had the chance to hit the Apex MB's off grass either so I will see how those go as well. Not really got the urge to splash the cash on any new irons at the moment very happy with what I have

[Christen_The_Sloop]

With the demise of the Tour Ad MJ 6X in my 915 D3, I was just going to leave the driver slot empty. But, I think I'll get another game in this month. I thought, what better way to play within myself than only taking 3-wood as my primary tee club. Though I hit it just fine, there's some bad juju built up with it, so I bought a new (old) driver.

 

I saw a Bridgestone Tour B XD-5 in the shop near my house with a shaft I've had an eye on - Speeder Evolution II 661 X. Hit it a few times against a new Ping 410 with Speeder V 661 S. It performed decently enough, so I pulled the trigger. Hopefully get to see how it flies at the range this weekend. I have to say Bridgestone is one of the most underrated companies going. Love the look of their Tour B irons and I've had a lot of good games with their Tourstage CBs (one of my biggest regrets is leaving a set of 701cbs and two J15 wedges back in Canada to gather dust).

 

I expect this driver to a stop gap, I'd like to get fit, but, for all the shops in the area, none carry X flex shafts. There's just so little market for them here, I guess... I'm planning a trip to the big smoke to find a driver, 3-wood and 5-wood (or just a 4 wood) at one of the premium shops or at the Ping Fitter this fall.

 

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

C_T_S

I've noticed fewer and fewer X-flex shafts in woods AND irons around me as well. Lots more light-weight shafts in the drivers (i.e. under 60g). I think it's just further proof of the ageing of Japan's golfing population.

[Christen_The_Sloop]

> @No_Catchy_Nickname said:

> C_T_S

> I've noticed fewer and fewer X-flex shafts in woods AND irons around me as well. Lots more light-weight shafts in the drivers (i.e. under 60g). I think it's just further proof of the ageing of Japan's golfing population.

 

That is a good point. A really really good point. You can actually find some decent deals on drivers with X shafts, from time to time. Unfortunately that wasn't the case for me with this one. Still a reasonable price, so now it's it in the bag.

 

I actually went to try the Ping 410 at one of the shops nearby and they didn't have a demo 661. Only 569 or something... Felt like swinging a ladies club.

 

I can still say that right?

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

> @Christen_The_Sloop said:

> > @No_Catchy_Nickname said:

> > C_T_S

> > I've noticed fewer and fewer X-flex shafts in woods AND irons around me as well. Lots more light-weight shafts in the drivers (i.e. under 60g). I think it's just further proof of the ageing of Japan's golfing population.

>

> That is a good point. A really really good point. You can actually find some decent deals on drivers with X shafts, from time to time. Unfortunately that wasn't the case for me with this one. Still a reasonable price, so now it's it in the bag.

>

> I actually went to try the Ping 410 at one of the shops nearby and they didn't have a demo 661. Only 569 or something... Felt like swinging a ladies club.

>

> I can still say that right?

 

Same here. The local shop has some Honma, TM, and other demonstration clubs in, and the drivers, woods, and hybrids are all SR or R flex. Not much help for a demo hitting.

[Nard_S]

> @Christen_The_Sloop said:

 

> I saw a Bridgestone Tour B XD-5 in the shop near my house with a shaft I've had an eye on - Speeder Evolution II 661 X.................I have to say Bridgestone is one of the most underrated companies going.

>

Completely agree. They make really nice stuff. I have a 909 Driver, low spin bomber and not easy to hit but the finished product is excellent in it's quality of build. Their golf balls are first rate.

 

[charlokim]

Just picked these bad boys up. Need to get some lofts and lie checked and should be good to go for a test run!