Are larger game improvement irons actually harder to hit solid?

[chippa13]

2 hours ago, 2bGood said:

Get ready for an eye roll.

 

I am pretty competent golfer (Had a cup of coffee as a + cap and play to 4 these days). Despite being a low capper, my iron game is more like that of 8-10 capper and not my strong suit so at one stage I moved to SGI irons - the Calloway X-18 or 20. When I first got them it felt like cheating. It was so easy to hit them and make great shots, but after about a year I found my swing degrading as there was a wide range of misses that felt the like centre hits but weren't. Eventually I really lost my iron swing and went back to more of player iron to try to find it again. 

 

Maybe I need to practice with blades and play with SGI's? But for me I did find the larger SGI clubs did not give sufficient feedback to keep my swing in tune. 

My Rocketbladez tell me just fine when I miss the center. The only difference between me playing those and blades is that I get to say, "I got away with that one......" instead of, "Now I'm f#$%ed....." My focus is the same no matter what I'm swinging.

[chipa]

On 10/18/2020 at 4:02 PM, Socrates said:

Long time player of shovels and I have no problem hitting the center. 

 

I object to your insinuation that you are better because you can hit the center with shovels!!!   😉

[2bGood]

1 minute ago, chippa13 said:

My Rocketbladez tell me just fine when I miss the center. The only difference between me playing those and blades is that I get to say, "I got away with that one......" instead of, "Now I'm f#$%ed....." My focus is the same no matter what I'm swinging.

Yes it was never focus that was the issue, it was that I thought I was making good contact, but was not. I found I needed more feedback. Sample size of one person, with one set of SGI's, so take it for what it is worth. Having said that it not all that of unusual experience for better players to feel SGI's lack feedback.

[chippa13]

If you're going from blades to SGIs then it will "feel" to you that the SGIs lack feedback but for someone like me who has had only the 3 sets of GI/SGI irons in the last 32 years (Wilson 2400, Armour 845U, Rocketbladez) there is plenty of feedback. It is all in what one is used to feeling in their hands.

[chipa]

41 minutes ago, 2bGood said:

Yes it was never focus that was the issue, it was that I thought I was making good contact, but was not. I found I needed more feedback. Sample size of one person, with one set of SGI's, so take it for what it is worth. Having said that it not all that of unusual experience for better players to feel SGI's lack feedback.

 

I'm not a better player and I need the feedback because it helps me make a disciplined swing. When I was younger it didn't matter but now that I'm older my problematic back does a lot better with a disciplined swing instead of trying to "muscle" it.

[geesecougar2]

The most forgiving irons I've had are the TM RAC LT, Ping i25, and Mizuno HMB. Could never hit them as well as more compact players cavities. I always felt like the sweet spot was disconnected from the shaft and therefore my hands, further away somehow. Like it wasn't as intuitive, like it required me to make an extra adjustment in my brain to make it work. Something about the way the scoring lines are just a tad further away from the hosel throws me off. 

 

With modern tech they are starting to pack way more forgiveness into a traditionally sized package, which is exciting. The MP-20 MMCs are the best irons I've ever had, but I'm really curious about the JPX 921 Forged and the P770. 

 

[nsxguy]

5 hours ago, 2bGood said:

Get ready for an eye roll.

 

I am pretty competent golfer (Had a cup of coffee as a + cap and play to 4 these days). Despite being a low capper, my iron game is more like that of 8-10 capper and not my strong suit so at one stage I moved to SGI irons - the Calloway X-18 or 20. When I first got them it felt like cheating. It was so easy to hit them and make great shots, but after about a year I found my swing degrading as there was a wide range of misses that felt the like centre hits but weren't. Eventually I really lost my iron swing and went back to more of player iron to try to find it again. 

 

Maybe I need to practice with blades and play with SGI's? But for me I did find the larger SGI clubs did not give sufficient feedback to keep my swing in tune. 

 

I can understand the "losing my swing" thing. Been there, done that.

 

But I can pretty easily tell what quadrant I've missed the SS with my shovels. Maybe not if the strike is really close to center - but other than that, sure.

 

Hard to believe a player who's touched + can't. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Nessism]

It's amazing how some many threads of this ilk devolve into blades vs. CB's.  I blame the blade crowd for this by the way.;)

 

The answer as to "what to play" is always the same: play what gives you the most enjoyment.  Just don't try to rationalize where there is no rational reason.

[harpua728]

14 hours ago, geesecougar2 said:

The most forgiving irons I've had are the TM RAC LT, Ping i25, and Mizuno HMB. Could never hit them as well as more compact players cavities. I always felt like the sweet spot was disconnected from the shaft and therefore my hands, further away somehow. Like it wasn't as intuitive, like it required me to make an extra adjustment in my brain to make it work. Something about the way the scoring lines are just a tad further away from the hosel throws me off. 

 

 

 

 

Interesting comment here.  I started this thread after noticing that I hit a few 5 irons towards the toe on my new Hot Metals the first time using them on the range.  The shots felt fine, but I could see the dimple marks on the face to tell me exactly where I hit them.  I then made an effort to hit the ball with a more centered strike, and it actually didn't feel great.  Felt like a clicky shot off the heel even though it was basically a center strike. 

 

Bear in mind, these were with some crappy range balls so the feel could be attributed more to the ball than the strike.

[2bGood]

On 10/19/2020 at 4:31 PM, nsxguy said:

 

I can understand the "losing my swing" thing. Been there, done that.

 

But I can pretty easily tell what quadrant I've missed the SS with my shovels. Maybe not if the strike is really close to center - but other than that, sure.

 

Hard to believe a player who's touched + can't. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

There is one sweet spot and 8 misses on a club face, I could only feel a difference on the more extreme misses. Like I say, one guy, one set of clubs so a pretty weak sample size and given this was a dozen years ago the details are fuzzy - just recall them be stupid easy to hit until they were not.

[CROUSE99]

Well, I can give you the perspective of a really lousy ball striker🙂  I play with Callaway Mavrik Max irons and they are far and away the most forgiving irons I have played (and I've played a bunch).  The only complaint I have, other than the looks, is that I can only tell where I made contact on the face on near-whiffs, otherwise the sound tells me I didn't hit it dead solid but the feel through the big heads and graphite shafts is pretty much the same on almost all strikes.  I love occasionally playing blades, but the misses are much worse.  If an average hacker finds blades easier to hit, I suspect it is because the specs of those blades fit him better (shaft, length, lie, swing weight, etc).