iBlades.... YUCK!

[marshvegas]

Correct me if I am wrong but these are not distance irons.

[falken19150]

I am coming off both the S55 and the E1 and found the blades to be fantastic.

 

1) With the club head a little longer than S55 I am finding my toe misses aren't as bad

2) The long irons in the E1 are clearly longer. Forgiveness isn't all that different

3) I went Tour Issue DG to lower the spin a little and am getting good results. Had Nippon 120's on the S55 and E1.

4) Blades are better out of the rough than the E1 in my opinion.

5) Also feel the blades are extremely accurate.

 

8 out of 14 Ping PGA staffers went to the iBlades and 4 out of 10 Euros made the switch. That is a pretty good adoption ratio. My only gripe is the name is galactically stupid.

[Ping Meister]

I think they look and feel fantastic!

[tobiasjd]

For me the consistency is the best part about them. Everyone wants more length now, but the problem I tend to notice when testing today's irons with the hotter faces, is the occasional off the charts rocket that comes out of nowhere more often than I'd care to see happen.

 

With these, I know exactly how far it's going every time. If I want 10 more yards, then I'll just use more club.

[teezoid]

Lots of iblades on BST

 

That is wrxers for you.... buy on hype and sell to buy the next hype. I am one of them... and I don't mind being one of these crazy guys! As for the iBlades, I love mine!

I have played a lot of Ping irons, my feeling is that they are one of the best feeling irons they have ever made. Maybe not the MOST forgiving, but they are truly very forgiving for hybrid blade as they truly are.

As for distance, people that try to compare them to the iE1's are on the wrong platform. Surely they are not as long, but they are also not as strong lofted.

They are great irons, feel great, look great. I plan to keep mine... at least till the new I-200's come out... lol

[jstalder1113]

I tried them and was very disappointed. I was hoping for a lot better results cause they look nice but performance is lacking. Very clunky feeling and just overall not worth anything other than a paperweight. With that said I'll be ordering the mizuno 900 forged tour. Now that's how an iron is supposed to feel!

[JumboJack]

I play i series. I hit the iblades and IMO they feel like buttah.

[TMelectric]

I have played 4 rounds with my Iblades and have to say these irons baffle me. It's like every other round they shine. The first round they were money all day. Hit every green and they truly felt great. Then the next round they decided to be harder to hit for some reason. They felt clunky and I dug them in the ground on several swings. Then all of a sudden on round 3, they were money again. But this last round they were harder to hit.

 

These heads are so temperamental. It can't be my swing causing the bad results. I think it's a gremlin inside the head. Lol.. Seriously though,has anyone had their Iblades bent stronger? What were the results? Any excessive digging?

[Kale_m]

I have played 4 rounds with my Iblades and have to say these irons baffle me. It's like every other round they shine. The first round they were money all day. Hit every green and they truly felt great. Then the next round they decided to be harder to hit for some reason. They felt clunky and I dug them in the ground on several swings. Then all of a sudden on round 3, they were money again. But this last round they were harder to hit.

 

These heads are so temperamental. It can't be my swing causing the bad results. I think it's a gremlin inside the head. Lol.. Seriously though,has anyone had their Iblades bent stronger? What were the results? Any excessive digging?

 

If they Are great one round and not the next the heads have nothing to do with it.

 

That's the Beauty of the iblades and s55 itons, more bounce on a players irons for the agressive/steeper guys.

[thomz0_]

They're not too high spinning. You just aren't making a good swing and have the wrong shaft.

 

You can't say they aren't high quality when PXG are literally knock off pings.

 

Everyone on here says they use x100 shafts and I bet 99.99% of y'all couldn't even hit a blade flush.

 

Stop.

[TMelectric]

I have played 4 rounds with my Iblades and have to say these irons baffle me. It's like every other round they shine. The first round they were money all day. Hit every green and they truly felt great. Then the next round they decided to be harder to hit for some reason. They felt clunky and I dug them in the ground on several swings. Then all of a sudden on round 3, they were money again. But this last round they were harder to hit.

 

These heads are so temperamental. It can't be my swing causing the bad results. I think it's a gremlin inside the head. Lol.. Seriously though,has anyone had their Iblades bent stronger? What were the results? Any excessive digging?

 

If they Are great one round and not the next the heads have nothing to do with it.

 

That's the Beauty of the iblades and s55 itons, more bounce on a players irons for the agressive/steeper guys.

 

Lol

[Mtngolfer1]

This may be an anti-WRX statement, but I play the Ping i e1 irons and I don't see myself making a change anytime soon this iron suits my game perfectly.. What I don't understand is the expectation by some here that the i-blade was going to be some kind of Fix-All, Super Iron that was going to be the longest and most forgiving iron that Ping has ever produced. In spite of it's refined look, it's still a traditional iron or blade if you want to categorize it. The lofts aren't jacked up to the point of many of the new offerings and the lengths still fall within traditional specs, As mentioned earlier I was fortunate to have an opportunity play a round with the I-blade, during a pre-round conversation with the club pro I was told to expect distances comparable to my i e1 irons, but not to be surprised if they play a half to a full club shorter. With a two degree difference in the 7 iron for example I would think that would be expected. Where I saw the I-blade shine in my limited sampling was in accuracy as well as better than expected forgiveness, but less forgiving than the i e1. I-blade feel IMHO was very good even on a few mishits I was surprised that the feedback was not harsher than it was. If you fail to see consistent results from the I-bade I would definitely recommend giving the i e1 irons a try or even consider waiting for the next generation of the Ping i e1 coming in February I think I read that they are calling them the I 200. Ping is producing awesome offerings across the board from the G or G-max to the ie1 and the i-blade. I believe it just comes down to selecting the right iron for your game.

[golfzob]

I love mine...different strokes for different folks

[TMelectric]

I was being a little funny earlier with my response but Mtngolfer said it so eloquently. Those that are not getting good results and blaming the irons need to realize that these are meant for lower handicap people. With this said, I am an average golfer and hit these great. I am getting almost the same distances as I was during the summer and it is in the low 70's now. This is very encouraging. I have Steelfibers I95's in mine but am thinking of trying the I110s for some reason.

[Jab3384]

Buy the s55's, remove the paint fill, and BOOM iBlades!!!

[mantan]

e

This may be an anti-WRX statement, but I play the Ping i e1 irons and I don't see myself making a change anytime soon this iron suits my game perfectly.. What I don't understand is the expectation by some here that the i-blade was going to be some kind of Fix-All, Super Iron that was going to be the longest and most forgiving iron that Ping has ever produced. In spite of it's refined look, it's still a traditional iron or blade if you want to categorize it. The lofts aren't jacked up to the point of many of the new offerings and the lengths still fall within traditional specs, As mentioned earlier I was fortunate to have an opportunity play a round with the I-blade, during a pre-round conversation with the club pro I was told to expect distances comparable to my i e1 irons, but not to be surprised if they play a half to a full club shorter. With a two degree difference in the 7 iron for example I would think that would be expected. Where I saw the I-blade shine in my limited sampling was in accuracy as well as better than expected forgiveness, but less forgiving than the i e1. I-blade feel IMHO was very good even on a few mishits I was surprised that the feedback was not harsher than it was. If you fail to see consistent results from the I-bade I would definitely recommend giving the i e1 irons a try or even consider waiting for the next generation of the Ping i e1 coming in February I think I read that they are calling them the I 200. Ping is producing awesome offerings across the board from the G or G-max to the ie1 and the i-blade. I believe it just comes down to selecting the right iron for your game.

 

I wonder if people are comparing it to the S line, not the iE line. The S line got rave reviews across the board....but these seem like they aren't getting the same love.

 

Which falls in line with my experience with the rest of the line. The current G and I models aren't nearly as good as the G30/i25s....which IMO weren't as good as the G25/i20s. Sometimes you make a REALLY good product and you legitimately have a hard time making it better.

[creasy54]

Very much a personal preference. Being more of a traditionalist, I loved the look of them from the outset, especially over the ball. Compact head and hosel, great lines that reminded of classic blade styles but with enough meat for me to believe I'm not going to miss the face! If you hit it on the toe or heel you'll know, as you should with anything called 'blade'. What I have found great (and unexpected) is that the distance variance between good-medium-bad shot is very tight. Compared to other player irons that promise forgiveness&control, but that often results in a hot face, and a purely struck shot flies 10-15yds further than a medium-bad shot. I don't need that in my life. With other irons (here's looking at you TM PSi) I also find that shaping the ball is getting harder and harder, different strokes for different folks but I like hitting fades/draws without feeling like I need to try and hit slices/hooks, wwith the iblade I can hit all 9 shots without feeling like I need to overdo it. In terms of distance, with the same shaft setup&lofts, I hit them the exact same distance as my s-55's. The iblade has given me a much tighter distance variance than any other club, a well struck shot feels pure and they're hands down the best looking club PING ever built. Getting them re-gripped (because nothing compares to a Z-cord) and then they're relegating the S-55's to the cupboard.

[Drudersh]

Very much a personal preference. Being more of a traditionalist, I loved the look of them from the outset, especially over the ball. Compact head and hosel, great lines that reminded of classic blade styles but with enough meat for me to believe I'm not going to miss the face! If you hit it on the toe or heel you'll know, as you should with anything called 'blade'. What I have found great (and unexpected) is that the distance variance between good-medium-bad shot is very tight. Compared to other player irons that promise forgiveness&control, but that often results in a hot face, and a purely struck shot flies 10-15yds further than a medium-bad shot. I don't need that in my life. With other irons (here's looking at you TM PSi) I also find that shaping the ball is getting harder and harder, different strokes for different folks but I like hitting fades/draws without feeling like I need to try and hit slices/hooks, wwith the iblade I can hit all 9 shots without feeling like I need to overdo it. In terms of distance, with the same shaft setup&lofts, I hit them the exact same distance as my s-55's. The iblade has given me a much tighter distance variance than any other club, a well struck shot feels pure and they're hands down the best looking club PING ever built. Getting them re-gripped (because nothing compares to a Z-cord) and then they're relegating the S-55's to the cupboard.

 

Interesting that you say that because I found the exact opposite to be true in my testing of the iBlade. Shots struck off center were severely punished distance wise for me. Shaping the ball was not an issue but distance control certainly was. I found the old Ping Anser forged, especially with the stock Project X 6.0, to be much more consistent distance wise than the iBlades were for me, and just as easy to shape, with less peelers if you overdid it.

[creasy54]

Very much a personal preference. Being more of a traditionalist, I loved the look of them from the outset, especially over the ball. Compact head and hosel, great lines that reminded of classic blade styles but with enough meat for me to believe I'm not going to miss the face! If you hit it on the toe or heel you'll know, as you should with anything called 'blade'. What I have found great (and unexpected) is that the distance variance between good-medium-bad shot is very tight. Compared to other player irons that promise forgiveness&control, but that often results in a hot face, and a purely struck shot flies 10-15yds further than a medium-bad shot. I don't need that in my life. With other irons (here's looking at you TM PSi) I also find that shaping the ball is getting harder and harder, different strokes for different folks but I like hitting fades/draws without feeling like I need to try and hit slices/hooks, wwith the iblade I can hit all 9 shots without feeling like I need to overdo it. In terms of distance, with the same shaft setup&lofts, I hit them the exact same distance as my s-55's. The iblade has given me a much tighter distance variance than any other club, a well struck shot feels pure and they're hands down the best looking club PING ever built. Getting them re-gripped (because nothing compares to a Z-cord) and then they're relegating the S-55's to the cupboard.

 

Interesting that you say that because I found the exact opposite to be true in my testing of the iBlade. Shots struck off center were severely punished distance wise for me. Shaping the ball was not an issue but distance control certainly was. I found the old Ping Anser forged, especially with the stock Project X 6.0, to be much more consistent distance wise than the iBlades were for me, and just as easy to shape, with less peelers if you overdid it.

Could be a swing speed thing or either of us is stretching what an actual 'bad strike' is lol

[justwellsy]

I tried them and was very disappointed. I was hoping for a lot better results cause they look nice but performance is lacking. Very clunky feeling and just overall not worth anything other than a paperweight. With that said I'll be ordering the mizuno 900 forged tour. Now that's how an iron is supposed to feel!

 

This right here shows you how different people's opinion of feel can be! I think the 900 Tours feel like garbage compared to the MP-5! I also think the i-blades feel very good for a non-forged iron. But again, these are just my opinions

[justwellsy]

Buy the s55's, remove the paint fill, and BOOM iBlades!!!

 

The iBlades have a MUCH cleaner look than S55 IMO, even after the paintfill in the S55 is removed. My favorite thing about the look of the iBlade is that they look very similar to the Glide wedges and that really makes for a nice looking set!

[putts4bogey]

They aren't for everyone. Ping didn't intend them to be.

[tobiasjd]

On the range the other day I hit one off the toe half outside the grooves and still landed on the green I was targeting, straight at the pin. Only distance loss you are ever getting with these are on bad fats or shanks. And pure strikes feel sooo solid. I prefer that to the marshmallow Mizunos, but I'm a fanboy I admit.

 

IMO nobody beats Mizuno on looks but these are the best looking irons PING has ever made. I'd put them on par with the 716 CBs which I love.

 

[Mikolar]

As a Mizuno player some years ago, I moved to the S55's five years ago.

This morning, spent an hour getting fitted for the iblades and loved them. The shot variation (left to right) was less than my 55's....but the iblades seemed to offer a much tighter distance control on almost all the shots hit. Distance wise, I hit them just a bit father than the s55's with lower spin on the trackman 4. Tried two different SteelFiber shafts and three different steel shafts and ended up with the Dynamic golf 300's.

 

I also went thru a fitting with the PXG irons two weeks back....liked them a bit but it seemed that the club fitters were trying to sell 95 gram SteelFiber shafts....don't know why, my swing speed is good and my problem shot is a left to left.

[SHIVAN]

I hit them some again yesterday, and they feel better than the S55's I had, and much better than my 710 AP2's. I believe it must be a function of the Modus 105x vs. C-Taper, but wow are they tempting.

[ZPrime]

I flirted for a few months with Black Apex CF16. Liked them but stock shaft too light and didn't love them. Went to get into some 716 CB, Mizuno 900 F Tour, or get my Cobra MB/CB back. Randomly hit the iBLADE. Whoa. Me likey. I tried hard to like the CB but it came down to Mizuno 900 tour and iBLADE and although i like the feel a bit better for mizuno the results were a no brainer. iBlade won hands down. Distance and dispersion. They are def not YUCK. Have had them out on course and they were great. Love the looks, feel, and distance has been great.

 

I do like PING as having played S55 for awhile but like most of you switch often. Somehow TMElectric and I always have a similar bag.

 

Anyway, just some FYI for anyone doing real research before they buy. I really really like the iBLADE

[jjr]

Just had a full fitting at Ping, owned s55's earlier this year but the CFS stiff's didn't work out. First thing I noticed was the I blade was definitely longer heel to toe than the 55 and my current Staff V4's.

Club head felt good, no difference in feel from the S55 if I was looking for new irons it would probably be a set of 55's with the correct shaft.

[Pretzel]

I hit them and my only complaint with them is that they look too long compared to my s55's. They felt a little bit different than the s55, but I'm not sure that I'd say they felt any better or worse honestly. The numbers, with identical shafts, were the same as my s55's so there just wasn't any real reason for me to upgrade.

 

That said, I'd recommend them if you want a brand new set of irons. I'd recommend the s55's that are probably on clearance now even more though, if you can find a good deal on them.

[98rzvr6]

I just got mine recently, i absolutely love them. I previously gamed i25's and i honestly dont notice any difference in forgiveness, i hit some great shots and they went exactly the same distance as the i25's do when i hit it well, when i struck it poorly, they did exactly what my old clubs did. I absolutely love them and i think they are just so beautiful. Im not an amazing player either, im a 12 handicapper so each their own but i love them. They feel absolutely amazing when you hit them correctly

[DevilDog]

Hit the iBlades along with my Mizuno MP 33s with DG S300 shaft. The iblades are 2 degrees stronger in loft than my MP33s. Using a target that lasered at 152 yards where I could clearly see where the ball lands, my MP33 7 iron was flying past the pin there by 8-10 yards and the iblade was consistently short of the pin by about 5 yards or so. I tried several shafts in the iblade and same result. A better test would be on a launch monitor of course but clearly for me the iBlade plays shorter than my MP33s.