Taylormade P7MB?

[wlittle1274]

3 hours ago, Rich Douglas said:

Play what you want, and I'm not interested in changing anyone's mind, nor denigrating anyone's choice of club. But....

 

Playing blades makes no sense.

 

Technology has completely passed them by. They offer absolutely no advantage over perimeter-weighted clubs. None. But they offer plenty of disadvantages.

 

Do you still play tennis with a wooden racket? Play softball with a wooden bat? Hit a persimmon driver with a steel shaft? Of course not. These are inefficient tools that have been universally replaced. No one uses any of those things anymore. Yet, the myth about blades continues.

 

But, wait a minute. Blades are more "workable," right? Wrong. Assuming by workable you mean being easier to fade and draw the ball, then no. A fade or a draw is a function of swing path and face direction, not perimeter weighting (or a lack thereof). You can fade or draw a perimeter-weighted club just as well as a blade. Where people get confused is the very real fact that golfers hitting blades are more susceptible to slices and hooks. In other words, their mis-hits curve more. Well, yeah, but who wants that? 

 

(It's said that perimeter-weighted clubs have a bigger "sweet spot," but this is technically not true. The sweet spot is the same as in a blade: tiny. What perimeter-weighted clubs do, however, is minimize the effect of off-center hits, so you can still get a good result from a slight mis-hit. This is why people talk about a larger sweet spot, when they really mean the club is more forgiving.)

 

"But what about the pros?" some will ask. Well, first, a lot of pros won't touch blades, so there's that. Second, those guys hit everything dead-center almost every time, so it doesn't really matter. Finally, a lot of them grew up on blades and they're not going to switch during a successful and lucrative career.

 

"But I get feedback on my misses" others will say. Yeah, I love to be criticized harshly for a small mistake, too. 

 

There are two potential advantages to playing blades. Some players report better feel with them. This doesn't affect ball flight, of course, and you will "feel" a lot when you mis-hit them--but that "feel" will not please you. Bad vibes, man. Blades' "feel" comes from the soft metal used for forging, not from the blade shape. There are plenty of perimeter-weighted clubs that are either forged or use forged faces, so this difference can be eliminated. The other potential advantage: because your misses with blades will fly so much shorter, you'll have to go less distance into the woods to find your unplayable ball. Shots that a perimeter-weighted iron might have kept on the golf course.

 

Again, I don't want to cast aspersions on any individual's club choice, nor speculate about anyone's motivations for that choice. C'mon. You know.

 

This discussion has been had so many times I hesitate to even respond to this, but I have a hard time letting this sort of nonsense go.  Blade irons actually have several advantages, namely higher CG, higher spin, and thinner soles than any other iron type.  Shallower swingers of the golf club benefit from this type of performance.  Happens to be that the best players in the world have the shallowest golf swings because shallow swings lead to greater club face control.  I do not play blade irons because I'm steep into the ball and cast my hands which leads to high spin and big negative angle of attack.  I need a wider sole and an iron that spins less for my best performance due to the negatives in my golf swing.  Most amateurs are steep into the ball, dont rotate and shallow the club (like me) thus most amateurs do not need to play blade irons.  Pros also need spin to attack firm greens.  Shallow swings don't produce a ton of spin, so they use their equipment to help them produce that spin which is why you see the blade and X100 combo of many great iron players because that combo creates a ton of spin and optimal launch conditions to attack PGA Tour golf courses.  Pros use Arm Lock putters, Autoflex shafts, they optimize literally everything, thinking they play blades because its just what they are used to is the ultimate in short sightedness.  Comparing a blade iron to a persimmon wood is also crazy talk.  Sorry to contribute to the derailing of this thread.  If any other discussion is necessary I will take it elsewhere

Edited April 23, 2021 by wlittle1274
Typos.. Shouldn’t post lengthy reponses from phone

[Kylekoz17]

10 hours ago, Rich Douglas said:

Play what you want, and I'm not interested in changing anyone's mind, nor denigrating anyone's choice of club. But....

 

Playing blades makes no sense.

 

Technology has completely passed them by. They offer absolutely no advantage over perimeter-weighted clubs. None. But they offer plenty of disadvantages.

 

Do you still play tennis with a wooden racket? Play softball with a wooden bat? Hit a persimmon driver with a steel shaft? Of course not. These are inefficient tools that have been universally replaced. No one uses any of those things anymore. Yet, the myth about blades continues.

 

But, wait a minute. Blades are more "workable," right? Wrong. Assuming by workable you mean being easier to fade and draw the ball, then no. A fade or a draw is a function of swing path and face direction, not perimeter weighting (or a lack thereof). You can fade or draw a perimeter-weighted club just as well as a blade. Where people get confused is the very real fact that golfers hitting blades are more susceptible to slices and hooks. In other words, their mis-hits curve more. Well, yeah, but who wants that? 

 

(It's said that perimeter-weighted clubs have a bigger "sweet spot," but this is technically not true. The sweet spot is the same as in a blade: tiny. What perimeter-weighted clubs do, however, is minimize the effect of off-center hits, so you can still get a good result from a slight mis-hit. This is why people talk about a larger sweet spot, when they really mean the club is more forgiving.)

 

"But what about the pros?" some will ask. Well, first, a lot of pros won't touch blades, so there's that. Second, those guys hit everything dead-center almost every time, so it doesn't really matter. Finally, a lot of them grew up on blades and they're not going to switch during a successful and lucrative career.

 

"But I get feedback on my misses" others will say. Yeah, I love to be criticized harshly for a small mistake, too. 

 

There are two potential advantages to playing blades. Some players report better feel with them. This doesn't affect ball flight, of course, and you will "feel" a lot when you mis-hit them--but that "feel" will not please you. Bad vibes, man. Blades' "feel" comes from the soft metal used for forging, not from the blade shape. There are plenty of perimeter-weighted clubs that are either forged or use forged faces, so this difference can be eliminated. The other potential advantage: because your misses with blades will fly so much shorter, you'll have to go less distance into the woods to find your unplayable ball. Shots that a perimeter-weighted iron might have kept on the golf course.

 

Again, I don't want to cast aspersions on any individual's club choice, nor speculate about anyone's motivations for that choice. C'mon. You know.

“Play what you want....but” and then you write an essay on why someone shouldn’t play something in a thread that hasn’t been updated in 7+ months?  Most of which is wrong about why people use blades.  
 

one of the worst posts I’ve seen on here in a while.  But your shoes in your signature tell me all I need to know!

[Rich Douglas]

16 minutes ago, Kylekoz17 said:

“Play what you want....but” and then you write an essay on why someone shouldn’t play something in a thread that hasn’t been updated in 7+ months?  Most of which is wrong about why people use blades.  
 

one of the worst posts I’ve seen on here in a while.  But your shoes in your signature tell me all I need to know!

Manners, please.

 

I wrote my opinions--my assertions and assessments. Obviously, others might disagree. I notice, however, that you posted nothing substantive along those lines in your post. Perhaps you will at some point.

 

As for the thread itself, I simply followed the link on the homepage and posted what I thought. 

 

As for the shoes, perhaps if you read what I posted about them on that thread, you would not be so rash--and so wrong--about them.

 

Thank you so much for your input!

[Rich Douglas]

10 hours ago, wfrogge1 said:

Playing this kind of club makes no sense... for you.  

 

Thank you for the response!

[Rich Douglas]

9 hours ago, wlittle1274 said:

 

This discussion has been had so many times I hesitate to even respond to this, but I have a hard time letting this sort of nonsense go.  Blade irons actually have several advantages, namely higher CG, higher spin, and thinner soles than any other iron type.  Shallower swingers of the golf club benefit from this type of performance.  Happens to be that the best players in the world have the shallowest golf swings because shallow swings lead to greater club face control.  I do not play blade irons because I'm steep into the ball and cast my hands which leads to high spin and big negative angle of attack.  I need a wider sole and an iron that spins less for my best performance due to the negatives in my golf swing.  Most amateurs are steep into the ball, dont rotate and shallow the club (like me) thus most amateurs do not need to play blade irons.  Pros also need spin to attack firm greens.  Shallow swings don't produce a ton of spin, so they use their equipment to help them produce that spin which is why you see the blade and X100 combo of many great iron players because that combo creates a ton of spin and optimal launch conditions to attack PGA Tour golf courses.  Pros use Arm Lock putters, Autoflex shafts, they optimize literally everything, thinking they play blades because its just what they are used to is the ultimate in short sightedness.  Comparing a blade iron to a persimmon wood is also crazy talk.  Sorry to contribute to the derailing of this thread.  If any other discussion is necessary I will take it elsewhere

Very nice post. Thanks for the information. You shouldn't worry about the typos; it's just a discussion thread!