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

[Nard_S]

Shoulders rock on putts, shoulders rotate on chips, big difference.

[dpb5031]

More so, lower body is completely static when you putt, but is most definitely engaged in chipping & pitching motions by anyone who is any good.

[bodhi555]

I suspect we have different definitions of pitching and chipping ? for me a chip and run is with no higher lofted club than a PW, more typically an 8 iron for me, and a putting grip / stroke helps the ball roll out in my experience. For me a pitch is when the aerial route bis required, in which case there is more body rotation so you can lunch the ball cleanly and create some spin.

[ALIF]

^^^^^^^This

[dpb5031]

Well I'd suspect that you both have a one-dimensional type philosophy when it comes to chipping.

I often play courses where it's best to carry the ball to the surface of the green due to rough that you cannot bump/run through, and grainy fringes that are unpredictable.

When practicable, I'll run a chip to the hole with a stronger lofted club, gap wedge thru 6 iron, but that's more of a specialty shot that I do not encounter often.

Even still, lower body is not static for those shots. They still require a mini-pivot and some leg action. Your lower body should be completely still while putting unless perhaps it's over 50' or some ridiculous distance from off the green.

[CarloGolfer]

I love the combo. The c taper was a revelation for me years ago.

I haven't played many rounds with the clubs bc I'm still easing back into the game.

Blades/muscle backs are a simple proposition. You can either hit them or you can't. You either like them or you don't.

When a man goes to the range all by himself, and there's no one around to lie to, he knows.

[Clael415]

 

Received the VR TW's. Three days from order to recieving them from Japan!

[ALIF]

Well, you suspect incorrectly.

[bodhi555]

No, I'd suspect that is the difference in approach in growing up playing golf in Florida vs growing up playing golf on the East Coast of Scotland :)

[dpb5031]

That'll likely do it...lol! ?

[Nard_S]

I suspect we have different definitions of pitching and chipping ?

 

Fair enough. LOl, I did put a rant warning on it.

Question is, at what point does a long chip and a short pitch utilize two completely different techniques? When do you"rock" when do you "rotate". Where's that Maginot LIne and adding to ball position, setup and maybe hand disposition, does one also say, I rock here or rotate there. Putting is clearly different from other swipes, pretty good point break is there.

 

 

[dpb5031]

It mostly depends on the shot, then secondly the club of choice. I generally open it up to expose the bounce, whether it's a lob, sand, or gap wedge. For low runners I'll "toe down" a 9, 8 or 7 iron, but that's an entirely different technique. All have their place depending on the course and conditions.

[mahonie]

For me it firstly depends on the lie and then the distance to the putting green and I’m also impacted in that the most lofted club I played for the first few years was an 8-iron. If it is tight and scrubby, like it is for 70-80% of shots around the greens at the courses in my area, I’ll typically take 8-iron and play a chip and run. Within 4-5 yards of the green, I’m looking to get it within 3 feet with that approach. Trying to play a high pitch from those lies means that the contact has to be spot on and my pitching skills are too inconsistent for that...it’s a chunk or thin the majority of the time. The 8-iron lets me get away with less than perfect contact...unless it’s an absolute chunk...because the swing length is more akin to a long putt, the ball tends to travel pin high. If the lie is fluffy and there’s plenty of grass under the ball, I might get the 58* out and fly it most of the way but more often than not I’ll stick with the 8-iron. Put me behind a bunker on a tight lie and I’m dead 9 times out of 10.

[ALIF]

Maybe a new thread about chipping styles is in order so we can talk about the gear in this one??

[dpb5031]

678 pages and counting. I think it'll come back around...lol

[ALIF]

So do you prefer chipping with a blade that has little bounce or GI club with more bounce? If so, why?

[nzio]

These look lovely. Did you get them on the Bay and for how much?

Let me know how they play.

[mahonie]

8-iron blade with minimal bounce is my weapon of choice for chipping. Level of feel is paramount...I don’t get the same level of distance control even on chips with my cast wedges.

[Nard_S]

For context of where I am coming from, I use a 56* wedge for everything from 80 yards in and every type of shot around green. I get trajectory and ball release by blend of setup position, amplitude of swing, amplitude of hand load/release. Not against adding a short iron for low runners, but see little need considering that the greens I play are on average 30 yards max (w/undulation) and even at that distance taking out some of that in the air is most often more controllable.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

played 9 today with the new-to-me Mizuno MP4s with the graphite shafts...well, let's just say my swing is a work of progress right now. Irons were actually OK, though I did have a funny one on the first par 3.

I'm playing with my little daughter and trying to get round fast with her. We arrive on the tee of the par 3 fourth, which is a shot over water, and the cart says "130 yards". OK, I think, and grab my PW. Tee it up, and hit it spot on. It's on the flag and I'm thinking "this could be good" when suddenly SPLASH! It's not just a bit short, it's 25~30 yards short of the flag.I look at the club in my hand; it's the PW I meant to take, so I think WTF? Then I look at the distance marker on the tee. The course has two greens for each hole, A green and B green. A green on the right, the one I was playing to, is marked at 156 yards. B green, on the left, is 130.

Anyhow, I've been following the talk about chipping and pitch, and thought I' better chip in myself. Here's my pitch on the whole thing.

For me, like bodhi555, a chip is not that far off a putt. It's more about running the ball than flying it. I don't consciously try to keep the lower body quiet, but at the same time, I don't even think about the lower body. It's mostly hands if I'm popping a 6i up for 2 yards of carry and 60-foot of run, or mostly a rock and turn with the left shoulder for everything else.

Pitching is more like a normal swing. Which brings me on to rocking or rotating with the shoulders. I think this is down to the distance we're hitting it, or if you prefer, how hard we're hitting it. dpb5031 acknowledged that on longer putts the body may start to rotate, and I think that's a key point to remember. The further or harder you have to hit the ball, the more you need to bring your body into it. I'm off the opinion that the "rock" of the shoulders in putting is really how the initial shoulder rotation in a normal swing feels. It's up and around, rather than up-up-up or round-round-round.

I hope that makes sense, but I doubt it does.

 

 

 

[NRJyzr]

 

I like having bounce, regardless of the club in hand. The MP-37 and MS-11 are great in that regard, being moderately higher bounce blades. I also prefer some bounce in my wedges, was using a 14* bounce Ram 58* wedge from the 80s or 90s, until I misplaced it this past summer. &%$#&@%

[Nard_S]

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlMcg9zoHigNot to beat a dead horse or for proof, or to be "right" but they are rocking the chip shot by rotating. Two of the best all time. I'll leave it there. Cheers.

 

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

I think there's less disagreement here than we think! Looking at the Jordan Spieth video in particular, I'd call that shot a small pitch! Clubhead goes back beyond his waist = definitely a pitch.

No?

[Nard_S]

Video is promoted as him chipping, honestly did not access the distance thing or what not. But he uses same technique. He does alter position and wrist action for desired bite and trajectory but in the end shoulder rotation is dominant engine. So basically, I stand by my rant.

[bodhi555]

I would definitely say that shot is a pitch, as if I took an 8 iron round the green and swung it that far I'd hit it 110 yards :)

For me the difference between the two is how you want the ball to behave when it lands - if I want it to check up I will "pitch" it, so one of my wedges, longer swing, rotate the shoulders and move the lower body to get it to check. If OTOH I have 40 - 50 feet of green between me and the flag, and I want the ball to roll out, I'll chip it with an 8 iron and use a stroke very similar to how I use a putter. So a bump and run basically. I find if the more I rotate the more spin I put on the ball, and there is nothing more annoying than landing a chip on exactly the spot you wanted and watching it check up :)

These haven't been massively effective when I've played in the US as they don't roll out the same way they do over here, but on a Links course they are deadly - especially in high winds on heavily contoured greens.

 

[mahonie]

One thing to add on the chipping comments. As a kid I had a Halley ‘Jigger’...basically a 4-iron blade on a wedge-length shaft and obviously designed in the olden day’s for links golf which was great for bump and runs and punching out from trees.

[dpb5031]

Ok. Explain...

[DinoD90]

I bought myself a Callaway Apex '18 MB 7iron and absolutely love it.

I'm considering doing a combo set but curious to know how much more difficult it is to hit a 4iron blade. I noticed a trend of people doing combo sets and only doing 7-PW in blades.

[mahonie]

Just been ‘forced’ down the combo route. My 18 year-old son has just started playing and taken a real shine to my MP4s!! Saw a set of Cobra King MBs on close out and thought they would be the ideal replacement set. When I got to the store, a 2 hour drive away, it was the last set they had in stock and it was the 2016 model (still in wrappers). Also, it was the ‘Flow’ set, 4-6 iron are CBs. Still I can’t turn down a bargain, so once they had bent them to my specs, I walked out with them.

I have tested them extensively back-to-back with the MP4s and I can categorically say that I can’t find any difference in the difficulty of hitting the MP4 4-iron blade vs the Cobra 4-iron CB.

[DinoD90]

Great to know, thanks for the info. I hit my P790 4iron fairly well so perhaps I will fill out a full set.