Main reason to play blades?

[aquapig]

The "mentally weak" thing is a bit ridiculous.

 

If you've been playing a certain golf club for over a decade and someone hands to something completely different, and you have a hard time putting a good swing on it, that doesn't make you mentally weak.

 

I've played blades or small player irons for a long time. If I take my 9iron out and my brothers 9iron (looks like a damn hybrid it's so fat). I can concentrate as hard as I want to hitting 3 balls with each and I won't be able to hit his nearly as well. The main reason is the fat sole and turf interaction. The 2nd is having confidence in what I've been used to looking down at for years. And vice versa, if he teued the same thing.

 

It doesn't make either one of us "mentally weak".

[aquapig]

> @lawsonman said:

> Another thing is if you play in a area with firm or hard golf courses I'd play blades all the time.

 

Yep.

 

If I tried play hard pan courses with thick soled GI clubs I would struggle bigtime.

[chippa13]

> @aquapig said:

> The "mentally weak" thing is a bit ridiculous.

>

> If you've been playing a certain golf club for over a decade and someone hands to something completely different, and you have a hard time putting a good swing on it, that doesn't make you mentally weak.

>

> I've played blades or small player irons for a long time. If I take my 9iron out and my brothers 9iron (looks like a **** hybrid it's so fat). I can concentrate as hard as I want to hitting 3 balls with each and I won't be able to hit his nearly as well. The main reason is the fat sole and turf interaction. The 2nd is having confidence in what I've been used to looking down at for years. And vice versa, if he teued the same thing.

>

> It doesn't make either one of us "mentally weak".

 

You aren't comprehending his point. He is saying that putting different levels of effort and focus depending on the type of club in your hand is what makes one mentally weak.

[chuck_schalch]

I have switched to blades after playing cavity for 10 years (1 handicap). My turf interaction and distance control are much better. I found with cavities that my mediocre strikes and good strikes felt the same, but the blades let me know the truth. I never realized that until I made the switch but now it’s obvious that the feedback was never there unless I hit one all the way off of the toe.

[RobotDoctor]

> @chuck_schalch said:

> I have switched to blades after playing cavity for 10 years (1 handicap). My turf interaction and distance control are much better. I found with cavities that my mediocre strikes and good strikes felt the same, but the blades let me know the truth. I never realized that until I made the switch but now it’s obvious that the feedback was never there unless I hit one all the way off of the toe.

 

Bingo!!!

[braincramp52]

> @RobotDoctor said:

> > @chuck_schalch said:

> > I have switched to blades after playing cavity for 10 years (1 handicap). My turf interaction and distance control are much better. I found with cavities that my mediocre strikes and good strikes felt the same, but the blades let me know the truth. I never realized that until I made the switch but now it’s obvious that the feedback was never there unless I hit one all the way off of the toe.

>

> Bingo!!!

 

I can't handle the truth.

[chisag]

> @chippa13 said:

> You aren't comprehending his point. He is saying that putting different levels of effort and focus depending on the type of club in your hand is what makes one mentally weak.

 

 

... Thanks chippa13. Quoting the Rockman from The Point: You see what you want to see and you hear what you want to hear. "I swing recklessly with forgiving irons but I focus and swing under control with MB's" is mentally weak. Hitting one iron better than anther is not what I was talking about.

 

[ChipNRun]

People who _should_ play blades are those who get better shot results with blades than player's distance or GI irons. And you would be surprised who makes the cut sometimes.

 

I couple of years ago I came across a Tom Wishon video on club fittings. By chance, the golfer was getting fitted for blades. I was surprised to see this, as he was about 60 years old and of average height and build with smooth tepmo. But, he had a rather handsy swing - no problem with squaring up - and blade heads with lightweight steel shafts gave him the best performance numbers.

 

Now this guy was clearly an outlier. Most people who can benefit from blades have high clubhead speed (no problem getting ball up) and very clean strikes from shot to shot.

 

Now on a cautionary note, not all blades were created equal. In past I had tried to hit the Callaway XForged offerings from 2007 (below) and 2009, shafted with DG S300 or PX. The shots were consistent: lots of 6i line drives about 10 feet off the ground.

Come the RazrX Forged in 2012, I could actually get shots airborne. The shaft for the RX.Forged was a PX.95 5.5, about 15 grams lighter than the regular PX. Only problem: distance carry was 1.5 clubs shorter than with the RazrX or RazrX Tour.

 

**Final Takeaway:** blades will fly better for you if you have the proper shaft to match your swing. (But as a GolfWRXer, you already know this is true for any club.)

[b2bbirdies]

I think you get good feedback what you're doing wrong with blades. Just watched a clip of TXG Tour Experience where they're fitting Ian for new irons. His once complaint on one set of irons was that he couldn't feel what he was doing wrong.

[slcgolfer]

I am in the process of moving back to blades, but maybe not for the reasons I have seen thus far:

 

* For nostalgia: i am 54 years old and I grew up on blades.

* Because they are different than my current cavity backs and will provide a different experience

* I play for fun and never for money. A negative result due to a bad strike with a blade has zero consequences for me

* Finally scores run a distant 4th to the three reasons above

 

 

I had a Srixon z-forged 4 iron build with a UST recoil 95 f4 shaft to test out. Per the above criteria, the experience was exactly what I was looking for. Completely different at address, different feel, different ball flight and different results based on the quality of my strike..... going to move to a full set now that I have complete confidence in hitting the 4 iron. Looking forward to next season!

[tannyhoban]

I hit blades better, not further. And I've proven it to myself time and again so it isn't for lack of trying. I can consistently find the sweet spot with them, know my distances and work within that.

Hence I score better with blades. I grew up playing them , they suit my eye and nothing else really matters.

 

I do what I want, you do you.

[tsecor]

If anyone wants to try a brand new set of GI Irons (Tommy Armor Atomic) that fly far and straight, let me know. Ill ship em to you for $250. Only hit a few times and are mint

[herbert7890]

> @tsecor said:

> If anyone wants to try a brand new set of GI Irons (Tommy Armor Atomic) that fly far and straight, let me know. Ill ship em to you for $250. Only hit a few times and are mint

 

I think this thread is quite possibly the worst place you could try to market GI irons for sell, lol. We are blade users or ex-users here.

[Nard_S]

Never mind.

[tsecor]

I thought blades were evil and only for PGA pros or arrogant WRX golfers who play to a 1? lol....i say that is jest of course....yea, bad move with my last post > @herbert7890 said:

> > @tsecor said:

> > If anyone wants to try a brand new set of GI Irons (Tommy Armor Atomic) that fly far and straight, let me know. Ill ship em to you for $250. Only hit a few times and are mint

>

> I think this thread is quite possibly the worst place you could try to market GI irons for sell, lol. We are blade users or ex-users here.

 

 

[starrman77]

Main reason....ego.

[Jack Pearsall]

He feels very mentally weak after failing to pick his ball from the sand with his 3 hybrid to a gully guarded pin 203 yards away. Shoulda used a 3 iron blade.

Humiliation abounds.

[OrangeGravy]

> @defyphysics said:

> MB vs CB is like analog vs digital, **manual vs auto transmission car**, some people just prefer the feel of a certain way more than the performance. I play MB for feel and feedback.

 

I rotate through several sets of old 70s/80s blades, older CBs like Eye 2/300 forged and that ^^^^ is the best analogy I've read concerning blades vs not-blades. Some people like to actually drive the car while others just want to steer it, while it takes them to where ever it is they're going.

[MBBG]

For me it just doesn’t really seem to matter what irons I play I score about the same. And one of the best feelings in golf is a well struck shot with a MB iron.

 

I also find that shorter blade lengths are actually MORE forgiving for me because there’s less chance of a negative turf interaction, especially on uneven lies. I also seem to square the face easier perhaps because the CG is closer to the shaft.

 

I’ve noticed in my last two combo sets, a set of 585/785 and now HMB/MP-20s that I have to work harder to square up/turn over the larger more forgiving irons.

[rxk9fan]

> @starrman77 said:

> Main reason....ego.

 

Why do some get so judgmental and emotional about blades being in another players bag? It honestly makes me laugh. If you score better with them (and some certainly do), then they really should be in that players bag. I think if the issue was truly ego, and if they turned in higher scores with blades, then their ego would push them to bag something else.

 

 

 

[BCULAW]

I started playing in 1999. My roommate at the time got me out, and I got hooked immediately. With the exception of my iron play, my game progressed quickly. By 2003-4, my driver, FW, short game and putting would likely put me soundly into middle handicap range, but my iron play was DREADFUL. Rarely broke 90, shanks galore, and almost never hit a solid shot. The club always felt as though it was skipping or twisting at impact. I could absolutely middle every club in the bag except the irons, and I couldn’t find the sweetspot on any of them to save my life.

 

My solution was more and more forgiveness. Callaway x12, Cleveland TA5, TM RAC OS - none improved my iron play. I even went as far as to get those great big Cally Hawk Eye VFTs with graphite shafts in an effort to make the game easy. Nothing helped.

 

Around 2005, my old college roommate came to visit. We played golf for the first time since college. He was a solid scratch player, but I was out driving him and my driver swing looked the part of the player. After several shanks, and no solid iron shots during the round, however, I was on simmer. I busted a drive on the par 5, 5th at my home course and left myself what should be a smooth 5 iron into the green. The club twisted at impact and I hit a squirting, partial shank about 120 yards down the fairway. For the first time in my “golfing life,” I threw the d&$@- five iron as far down the fairway as I could! Might have gone farther than my shot. I was HOT!!

 

My roommate walked over and tried to give me an impromptu lesson in the middle of the fairway. I no longer had a club in my hand, so he game me his, which happened to be a near new titleist 680 MB 5 iron with rifle 5.0 shaft. He game me some tip that I likely ignored because I was so miffed, but I threw down another ball and took a swing. Perfect impact. The iron was so small that I didn’t think there was any way I could hit it, but I did hit it, and I hit it well. I played out of his bag the rest of the round. I hit a number of poor shots, but I hit at least as many really great shots. I was hooked.

 

The next day, I picked up a shiny set of Titleist 690.MBs. My iron game started improving. Within a year, I was playing in the low to mid eighties. After a revelation in my green side wedge play, I found myself breaking 80 fairly regularly. All with blades in the bag. I played them exclusively for years and my iron play ultimately became the strength of my game.

 

In hindsight, I can say that my improvement with blades wasn’t because of improved focus, or anything of that sort. I now understand that my buddy’s titeists were 3* upright, which was likely 4* more upright than anything else I had been playing. The blade’s thinner sole combined with a better fitting lie angle meant I could actually get to the ball without the hinderance of poor turf interaction (the twisting and skipping I had been experiencing). I could actually deliver the sweet spot to the ball before hitting the ground.

 

Regardless of what it actually was, I BELIEVED I was a better player with blades. I don’t play blades anymore for a number of reasons, but I believe I can. In my mind, that is a big key. Some people do hit blades better. However, Many here may not have “the game” to truly benefit from blades, but they want to play them, and believe they can. Belief can go a long way on the course when there are so many factors that play into a score. Belief, IMO, weighs far more than any incremental forgiveness that a more “user friendly” iron might offer. In short, some people hit them better because they believe they will.

 

And, I would also add that there truly is no better feeling in golf than a well struck blade. There are some really great feeling CBs on the market, but none can replicate the feel of a purely struck blade because, for many, there is something soulful about the sensation of knowing you just did something typically reserved for the absolute best players. When you think of the game’s greats - Tiger, Jack, Hogan, and on, you think of the true golfing gods digging their game out of the dirt with a butter knife of forged steel. I’m no golfing god, but, with a blade in hand, I might get to feel like one a few times a round. For a recreational golfer with no competitive aspirations, there’s a lot to be said for the experiential aspect of the game, and hitting blades from time to time, for me, adds to that experience.

[tsecor]

> @rxk9fan said:

> > @starrman77 said:

> > Main reason....ego.

>

> Why do some get so judgmental and emotional about blades being in another players bag? It honestly makes me laugh. If you score better with them (and some certainly do), then they really should be in that players bag. I think if the issue was truly ego, and if they turned in higher scores with blades, then their ego would push them to bag something else.

>

>

>

 

dude, this is Golf wrx.....1000's of guys like that on this forum. its hard to find any thread on here without someone attacking in some form or fashion

[Jimjam651]

> @rxk9fan said:

> > @starrman77 said:

> > Main reason....ego.

>

> Why do some get so judgmental and emotional about blades being in another players bag? It honestly makes me laugh. If you score better with them (and some certainly do), then they really should be in that players bag. I think if the issue was truly ego, and if they turned in higher scores with blades, then their ego would push them to bag something else.

>

>

>

 

I agree with this and find it strange some are so bothered by what others play.

 

I switch between blades and cbs and love playing with both - why should it matter more than the fact I'm having fun playing a game I love

[Signman150]

Play what you like and have fun!

[Makuakane_Bear]

I just purchased my first set of blades this evening. I found a set of Mizuno MP-5s that were too good to pass up. Honestly, I am playing what I like and have the most fun. I really enjoying working the ball and these help me do that. I learned to swing a golf club with my Grandfather's old Wilson blades- these are not those but it's the closest I am going to get at the moment. Part of my decision was nostalgia, part of it was having fun playing different golf shots, and the last is vanity/ego. I have always wanted to play a modern set of my grandfather's irons so why not? I understand my game enough to know that I will get punished every once in a while but I enjoy the challenge of thinking my way around the course. Like others have said, Play what you like and have fun.

[chippa13]

And what makes you think GI CB gamers aren't thinking their way around the course?

[Colonel_Steelhead]

There's 3 types of players I've noticed

 

1. Good players who can play anything

2. Bad players who can't play anything

3. Players who use equipment as a crutch because they are either a bad player or delusional enough to believe they are a good player

 

Me, well I'm a bad player who can't play anything, so I play precisely whatever the fuck I want to play. And I can do it in 2 1/2 hours and shoot the same score no matter the club type. I'm a professional at what I do for a living, and I'll brag all day long about that, but Im playing golf to have fun and kill a few hours. When that day comes where I'm getting paid to play a certain set of clubs, and hell gets a little colder, I'll play exactly what my handicap and swing speed and whoever's paying says to, not the internet.

[Colonel_Steelhead]

> @Signman150 said:

> Play what you like and have fun!

 

This should have been post #2 and the thread locked right there on the spot.

[Tree Levino]

Hit some darts today with my MP20s. Nothing feels better than a well struck blade. Love the control. Nothing long. Lots of greens. Good feels.

[Golfjack]

I like leaving all my shots either short or pin high. Flying greens only happens when I hit the sweet spot, which usually happens when there is water behind the green or a cliff.