Are bridgestone j40 pocket cavities outdated?

[landshark]

I was watching txg video on a fitting and they say older clubs past 5 years old are using old technology. I currently have j40 pocket cavities .I was wondering if I am missing anything with the newer clubs? I am digging the srixon 585 though. What am I missing with my older set? Is it mostly just the Springer hotter faces of new?

[grm24]

No they are not.

[RogerinNewZealand]

J40 are a Classic.

I sold J33cb and missed them. J40 are all you need,Only Strong

Lofts on newer are the difference.J200MB are out soon !

[kencanuck]

Funny you mentioned these clubs...literally took the 5 and 7 iron to the range with me today...still feel great and very playable...no noticeable difference in distance...turf interaction was the only difference from my 765’s...matched up against my Srixon’s very well!

[Floris]

I love TXG, but you do have to know a bit about what they’re talking about already and take it with a grain of salt. As advances in the last 10 years or so haven’t been that big for irons, playing with or shopping for 5 year old clubs should not be that big of an issue, as long as the grooves and grips are still good :)

[Tommyj]

I don't think you are missing anything with your J40's. You have slightly weaker lofts, but do you really want a 44* PW? I like the Z785 but not a huge fan of the feel and sound of the hotter face on then Z585. You'll probably gain a bit of distance with the Srixons, but is that something you are looking for and what's the tradeoff in terms of spin and accuracy? May as well give them a hit and see if its worth making the change.

[Aucaveman]

In a word, no. I switched to them last year and they are still an amazing club set. I have no desire to change yet.

[driveandputtmachine]

If you are a low spin or even a medium spin player, you are better off playing the J40's and staying there. There are a few irons out there that may be just as good as the J40 DPC, but unless you spin the ball like crazy, there isn't a ton of improvement to be found. Fred Couples still plays his DPC's,

The hollow bodied irons increase ball speed and reduce spin. That is a recipe for disaster for low spin and some medium spin players. All it takes is a little grass or dew or dirt in your grooves and the already lower spin iron comes off a bit lower and with less spin and you get the "flyer" that everyone seems to think is a hot spot. I have seen good medium and lower spin players see the shiny new distance they lost over the years with their irons cause them to play these newer technology irons. They all end up changing. I know of two better than scratch players that went to hollow bodied irons, and after 5 or so rounds dropped them. They went from shooting 68 - 75 and hitting 13 or more GIR to shooting 72-77 and hitting 10 GIR.

[CAT GOLFER]

I regret sometimes “upgrading” to the J15 line, sometimes newer is not always better. I had the J40 CB for a while and a half, managed to grab a set of the DPC cheap and loved them, but sold them in a cull of the inventory because I knew I could net......have regretted it ever since.

to answer your question, if you want hot faces and longer distances then you may be missing out. If you want solid irons that feel great and perform well, then keep on with them.

[cgasucks]

Bottom line, not. Loft for loft, length for length, shaft for shaft, the ball will go the same distance when on the sweet spot regardless of the year of iron. If you played a lot of USGA sanctioned tournaments and the grooves weren't 2010 compliant then it would be outdated just because of that.

[Myherobobhope]

It depends on what you are looking for out of new clubs. Are you chasing more distance? Then the new clubs will help you with that... Everything else, spin, turf interaction and forgiveness is pretty much trade off in ever iron. I'm currently playing Adams CMBs from 2012. They do everything I need them to do. I've played solid golf with them when I'm swinging well... and honestly, when I was swinging poorly, there isn't enough technology to fix what was wrong.

Go demo some modern stuff and see how it feels... I can't stand the "hot faced" irons. They feel hollow to me... I also don't need the distance the give.

It's always fun to try new things, but don't get it in your head you HAVE to replace what is working for you.

[GSDriver]

Nope, those are modern to be classics.....

Of course club companies are going to say similar to 'if over X years, you're outdated and costing yourself yards, scoring, etc'

I just realized last Sunday while playing my irons are going on 7th season (longest I've played a set in dunno how long) and I still enjoy them. I've looked at other irons, but since I play mine (what I consider) well, no reason to change. If what you have is working for you, stay with them.

[ProjectX]

If they work for you and the grooves aren't worn out you won't see any performance gains on center strikes, just forgiveness gains from newer irons. The stuff that sits in the Pocket Cavity category these days has tungsten in the toe or tungsten in the heel and toe to increase MOI. That would be the main difference from your J40s.

[SoCalTitleist]

remeber they are in business to sell clubs

[lcdzombie]

I often go back to my mid-90's DCI's and can honestly say that the #'s on the scorecard don't really change. If you go from modern "distance" irons you will see a difference with club distance but you will just be hitting a 7 iron with the old clubs and an 8 with the new. As long as you know "your" distances with each set of clubs, the game is the same.

[Barfolomew]

TXG has also said that tech has advanced more with drivers in last handful of years then irons..... but even that is taken with a grain of salt cause only thing that really improves is the size of the sweet spot as they dont hit any further as the legal COR hasn't increased..... so if you really like your older gear keep it for sure

[Ivyguy]

J40 DPC are kinda cult classics.

 

I have a set and they are nice. I like the longer blade length. Are there newer options that would be similar... sure. technology wise, don’t be looking for huge gains by switching (outside of fit).

[Bobb3rdown]

Definitely not. I still play my j36 pocket cavities from time to time. I just wish I didn't let the shafts get rusty when I was younger. The shape is perfect on the to my eye.

[dmeeksDC]

iMO, the J40 DPC is one of the all-time greats and I also liked the J38 version. Great clubs. One of the best soles ever. Lofts are slightly weaker with a 47 degree PW, but it makes no difference. You still only get 14 clubs to cover all the distances. There is enough bounce in the J40 DPC that I think you could strengthen them a degree or two to gain 5 yards, but not really the point with irons. If you love the feel at impact of a J40 DPC, which I do, I can tell you the 585 feels much different. Powerful and hot, but to me doesn’t feel addictive. Bridgestone irons .... something about them.

[Mr. Grumpy]

I loved my set but went OL.. I still wish I had the DPC's fantastic set and I would play them for sure..

[Nessism]

 

J40 Dual Pocket Cavity irons

[dmeeksDC]

Ah yes, 1 degree off as it is a 46 degree wedge in that head. I was thinking of the J40CB, which is my overall favorite in the J40 lineup because the short irons are smaller. Its wedge is 1 degree weaker than the DPC.

Still, neither viewed as strong these days but I don’t notice it while playing. My PW is always in the area of 46-47 degrees and my irons have the weakest loft of any of the guys I play with! They are all into the Mavrik Pro, T200, SIM Max, etc.

[sm_watts]

Alright, I'll be "that guy". I played the J40 DPC's for a while with a couple different shafts and while I liked them, I definitely see much better results on mis-hits with my Hot Metal Pro's. Someone else said the key phrase, "it depends on what you're looking for from an iron." If you don't need much help getting the ball flight you are looking for and are a consistent ball-striker, they're probably just as good as anything newer. On days that I was hitting them well, they were great!

However, on days that my swing is not on, I'm glad that I moved on to something else.

[spring70]

Played them on and off for years, loved the blade length, sole and feel, I always wanted more offset. I have Steelfibers in mine and they now play too stiff and too short, plus with the low bounce i cant bend them any stronger.

[ChipNRun]

These are GI classics, along with the Callaway X20 Tours and the TaylorMade SLDRs.

If the grooves are good and you have a shaft that matches your swing, they will work.

I rented a J40 DPC test kit back in 2013. Came with 5i and 9i, one pair shafted in NS Pro 950 and the other in DG R300 SL. While they had a good solid feel, I ended up keeping my X20 Tours.

[scooterhd2]

dont bet against guys with 40 DPCs, 15 CBs, 745s, several older Mizuno lines.

when you see those Mavrik Pros, thats when you throw the money down.

[spring70]

lol, true. But do you bet against the guy with regular Mavrik with X100's?

 

[fortheloveofthegame]

How similar are J38 DPCs to J40 DPCs?

I have J38 DPCs and was planning to sell them as I just got Ping Raptures, but this thread is making me think I should just keep both.

I am now a 17 handicap fwiw.

[Valtiel]

Not only are they not outdated, I don't think there has been anything made since that matches them for all the boxes they tick. High MOI and low, more rearward CG in a forged, low offset, thinner soled, thin topline package with leading edge relief is VERY hard to find. You might find another iron with maybe two thirds of these elements, but it is all of them together that make it a modern classic and a bit of a unicorn. Not really being "that guy" at all as you're talking about a much different style of iron. The Hot Metal Pro is a multi-material thinner faced cast distance style iron, completely different category.

[nitram]

And Freddie played 'em for years after the newer 'stones were introduced and that made 'em auto-cool...