A Controversial Topic!

[dbelles1]

Blades, cavities, and game improvement irons with all variables the same (loft, lie, length, shaft, etc.) will behave very similar according to TXG. So this brings in the question of where to split an iron set or should I go full player’s cavity or full player’s blade? I say this because I broke my 7 iron and need new clubs. 

Edited January 25, 2021 by dbelles1

[kiwihacker]

Blades 1-SW. 

[bvanlieu]

2-3 SGI 4-5 GI 6-7 CB 8-9 MC Wedges nothin' but blades.

 

Its up to the player where they feel they are not confident/accurate and want some help. Maybe its the 150 in clubs for you, or 165 or 140.  Industry experts who measure MOI and other items will state the more loft the less help a club can offer but that doesn't take into consideration how the golfer feels.

 

No right or wrong answer. I split my main set at the 5/6 but I could see myself doing it at the 7 next time perhaps which is a 160-165 club for me at 33/34deg. For example if I did a new P770/7MC I would go to 7i on the 770s but that's me 😄 

 

 

[extrastiff]

3 hours ago, dbelles1 said:

Blades, cavities, and game improvement irons with all variables the same (loft, lie, length, shaft, etc.) will behave very similar according to TXG. So this brings in the question of where to split an iron set or should I go full player’s cavity or full player’s blade? I say this because I broke my 7 iron and need new clubs. 

U must be trolling. 
 

Broke your 7 iron? Get a new shaft. 
 

Shouldn’t go “players” anything.  If u have to ask, go with sgi 🙂

[jplroper]

   I think the follow up question would be, did your shaft just break or did it happen on purpose?

[GL3]

Save your money and learn how to control your 6 and 8 to mend the gap!  
 

I’m also in the market and it comes down to what I feel comfortable with when I’m getting ready to hit.  A 6i blade makes me cringe. 

[Myherobobhope]

Go sub70 and order a set of the 639 cavity backs and muscle backs... 2 sets for around $1000. Figure out your blend from there!

 

toss in a set of 699s if you want to go really wild... still less than most oem full sets.

[dmartin]

broke my 7 iron. need some new clubs.

can't slide THAT past WRX'ERS.

[TheDeanAbides]

🍿

[MtlJeff]

I go blades 2 through 4 irons, GI clubs 6-7 and than SGI's for 8-PW. For wedges i use 3 different putters, one lofted 3 degrees, the other 4 degrees , and the 3rd one 5 degrees. I do most of my chipping with the one that is 4 degrees for obvious reasons. 

 

Again, for reasons i don't need to explain, i do not use a 5 iron

[bladehunter]

It’s crazy how this will get a guy flamed and “ help me swing fast like Bryson “  posts go along untouched.    Very interesting. 

[MtlJeff]

1 minute ago, bladehunter said:

It’s crazy how this will get a guy flamed and “ help me swing fast like Bryson “  posts go along untouched.    Very interesting. 

 

Someone posting literally anything in the swing instruction forum and not getting flamed is indeed weird

[GHIN n Juice]

1 hour ago, MtlJeff said:

 

Someone posting literally anything in the swing instruction forum and not getting flamed is indeed weird

A GolfWRX swing instruction forum?...sounds like a blind orgy.

[SugarLandGolfer]

7 hours ago, dbelles1 said:

Blades, cavities, and game improvement irons with all variables the same (loft, lie, length, shaft, etc.) will behave very similar according to TXG. So this brings in the question of where to split an iron set or should I go full player’s cavity or full player’s blade? I say this because I broke my 7 iron and need new clubs. 

If you broke your 7 iron on purpose, I’d lean more towards game improvement or super game improvement irons. 
 

What the TXG (and others who argue this) really mean is that on good strikes (of which they are both good ball strikers) the clubs will perform similarly for comparable lofts. For most amateur golfers, we aren’t the same level of ball strikers  those guys and need some help.
 

Are the 15+ handicap guys that are excellent strikers? Of course. Are there 5 handicaps that aren’t great strikers? Some that are great at recovery shots. But on the whole, most players would do better to play the most forgiving irons available to them until it has a negative impact on their game (ie they hit game improvement irons too far and it hurts gapping).

[TheDeanAbides]

53 minutes ago, GHIN n Juice said:

A GolfWRX swing instruction forum?...sounds like a blind orgy.

I'd imagine a pretty homoerotic and ugly one too. 

[Unplayablelies]

2 hours ago, dmartin said:

broke my 7 iron. need some new clubs.

can't slide THAT past WRX'ERS.

Well, it seems like the only reasonable option

[vmann]

2 hours ago, SugarLandGolfer said:

If you broke your 7 iron on purpose, I’d lean more towards game improvement or super game improvement irons. 
 

What the TXG (and others who argue this) really mean is that on good strikes (of which they are both good ball strikers) the clubs will perform similarly for comparable lofts. For most amateur golfers, we aren’t the same level of ball strikers  those guys and need some help.
 

Are the 15+ handicap guys that are excellent strikers? Of course. Are there 5 handicaps that aren’t great strikers? Some that are great at recovery shots. But on the whole, most players would do better to play the most forgiving irons available to them until it has a negative impact on their game (ie they hit game improvement irons too far and it hurts gapping).

No.  I think what they really mean is what they said. You disagree with that. Which is ok.  But, I think Ian may have more data to back up his position. 

[dbelles1]

2 hours ago, SugarLandGolfer said:

10 hours ago, dbelles1 said:

 

If you broke your 7 iron on purpose, I’d lean more towards game improvement or super game improvement irons.

Why do you say that? Are you assuming i broke it out of frustration? Admittedly the shaft snapped in half while doing the rory split grip drill. More of a shaft issue but I need new clubs that fit better and would like help with narrowing down reasonable choices.

Edited January 25, 2021 by dbelles1

[dbelles1]

4 hours ago, jplroper said:

   I think the follow up question would be, did your shaft just break or did it happen on purpose?

It happened while doing a swing drill. Completely accidental and the reason i come to ask this as I actually need new clubs through the bag but irons are a top priority since they are 9 years old (half my age).

[SugarLandGolfer]

36 minutes ago, dbelles1 said:

Why do you say that? Are you assuming i broke it out of frustration? Admittedly the shaft snapped in half while doing the rory split grip drill. More of a shaft issue but I need new clubs that fit better and would like help with narrowing down reasonable choices.

It was actually more tongue in cheek. I’ve seen people break an iron over their knee in frustration. In that case, extra forgiveness may be helpful. Even pros use some GI irons in the long irons, and they’re the best ball strikers in the world. There’s nothing wrong with help.

[SugarLandGolfer]

50 minutes ago, vmann said:

No.  I think what they really mean is what they said. You disagree with that. Which is ok.  But, I think Ian may have more data to back up his position. 

I mean, if you want to go into statistics, Today’s Golfer did a study and looked at dropoff on off center strikes and tried to categorize irons based on that. They placed irons into 1 of 5 categories and blades do have a larger drop off on off center strikes than hybrid irons. They are different.

 

https://Not allowed Per Todaysgolfer's UK request/features/equipment-features/2020/april/the-most-forgiving-irons/

 

Plugged in Golf looked at the other side of the argument where people say game improvement irons aren’t workable. Based on their research, on good strikes, GI irons are still workable, though they may not curve as far right or left because of the way the club is designed and the different CG.

 

https://pluggedingolf.com/game-improvement-irons-arent-workable-golf-myths-unplugged/

[GLF4EVR]

OK, I will take the serious road.  You need to look at where your problems are with irons.  Which part of the irons do you struggle with the most.  Long iron shots, mid irons or the shorter (scoring), irons?  After deciding that, thinking the shape of your shots might be the next avenue to look into.  There are tons of articles for researching if desired.

 

Once you kind of have an idea in the direction you might want to go, look in WRX or eBay to pick-up a used set.  Or a set of CB & MB irons to experiment with.  The set I play is not quite as old as you are, Titleist 735cm's.  Love this set to no end. The 3-6 are a cavity back with the 7-PW being in the MB type of design.

 

I am about in shock no one has gone the "get fitted" route yet. 

[dbelles1]

8 minutes ago, SugarLandGolfer said:

It was actually more tongue in cheek. I’ve seen people break an iron over their knee in frustration. In that case, extra forgiveness may be helpful. Even pros use some GI irons in the long irons, and they’re the best ball strikers in the world. There’s nothing wrong with help.

Ahh my bad. My current irons are Taylormade Rocketballz HL so game improvement i believe. I found a late 70s titleist 3 iron blade that i can hit very well for my skills so I figured it’s time to upgrade to a better players iron. And that brings me back to my first question which where does the forgiveness not matter? I believe that in callaway apex pros the cup face is 3-7 irons so 8 iron down it doesn’t matter. 

 

So ideally my bag would look like driver, 3 wood, 5w/3h/3 utility iron, 4-5/6 irons player’s performance/cavity back, 6/7-PW cavity back/blade then wedges. 

[dbelles1]

3 minutes ago, GLF4EVR said:

OK, I will take the serious road.  You need to look at where your problems are with irons.  Which part of the irons do you struggle with the most.  Long iron shots, mid irons or the shorter (scoring), irons?  After deciding that, thinking the shape of your shots might be the next avenue to look into.  There are tons of articles for researching if desired.

 

Once you kind of have an idea in the direction you might want to go, look in WRX or eBay to pick-up a used set.  Or a set of CB & MB irons to experiment with.  The set I play is not quite as old as you are, Titleist 735cm's.  Love this set to no end. The 3-6 are a cavity back with the 7-PW being in the MB type of design.

 

I am about in shock no one has gone the "get fitted" route yet. 

I would say irons in general are my strength but I am working on it. So if my long irons are a strength of mine I could probably be able to have blades up to the 4 iron? 

 

In all honestly this is probably the answer i was looking for and needed reassurance that i’m going the right way about this. 

[GLF4EVR]

21 minutes ago, dbelles1 said:

I would say irons in general are my strength but I am working on it. So if my long irons are a strength of mine I could probably be able to have blades up to the 4 iron? 

 

In all honestly this is probably the answer i was looking for and needed reassurance that i’m going the right way about this. 

Long irons have been kind of my staple also.  Tried hybrids & I could not get along with them.  Now it is just the driver & 3 wood.  Then 2-PW & two wedges.

 

For the cutoff on the blade question..... at what iron do you begin to lose a little confidence in the accuracy of the shot?  That would be the point where you might want to make the switch.

[SugarLandGolfer]

23 minutes ago, dbelles1 said:

I would say irons in general are my strength but I am working on it. So if my long irons are a strength of mine I could probably be able to have blades up to the 4 iron? 

 

In all honestly this is probably the answer i was looking for and needed reassurance that i’m going the right way about this. 

Kevin Na when talking about what irons he uses.

 

https://golf.com/gear/irons/what-you-can-learn-iron-setups-pga-tour-pros/amp/

 

PGA Tour winner Kevin Na, however, doesn’t see the appeal.

 

“I can’t play a blade,” Na says. “It’s too difficult, and I’m a pro golfer. I think a blade goes shorter. Off-center hits aren’t going to perform as well as cavity-backs. I don’t see a reason why you’d want to play a blade. I really don’t. I played blades in my early 20s, maybe one year—when I was dumb. But I’m wiser now and play a cavity-back.”

 

 

[dbelles1]

37 minutes ago, GLF4EVR said:

Long irons have been kind of my staple also.  Tried hybrids & I could not get along with them.  Now it is just the driver & 3 wood.  Then 2-PW & two wedges.

 

For the cutoff on the blade question..... at what iron do you begin to lose a little confidence in the accuracy of the shot?  That would be the point where you might want to make the switch.

Okay that makes sense. So my idea was to get a set of players distance/performance irons (p770), players cb’s (p7mc), or mb’s (p7mb) and go from there. Do I start with cavities or blades or all of the above if i can afford it? 

[Pepperturbo]

12 hours ago, dbelles1 said:

Blades, cavities, and game improvement irons with all variables the same (loft, lie, length, shaft, etc.) will behave very similar according to TXG. So this brings in the question of where to split an iron set or should I go full player’s cavity or full player’s blade? I say this because I broke my 7 iron and need new clubs. 

That may or may not be true.  Those three "3" categories of irons don't normally come with the same specs or shafts, and most people can't benefit from all of them equally.  So, maybe saying they behave similarly is an overstatement. 

 

Where to split a set depends on your skill and what you see as scoring clubs, plus what your game goals are.   Do you feel the Burn?  He's in the chair next to you.

 

 

[GLF4EVR]

Me...I'm too cheap to do either one!  But not my money, so I might just get both.  That way you can mix & match.  However. this is really a question only you can answer. 

 

Glad Pepperturbo posted in on this.  I would have never thought of the spec differences that the different models would likely have due to the way clubs are made now.  So it might boil down actually going to a fitter to find what works best for you.  Sounds like your ball striking is good enough that you actually know what you want the clubs performance & feel to be like.  My thinking is this puts you ahead of many of the people that do go to fitters in the first place.  Even though you might feel in a hurry to do this since you have a broken club to replace, take you time.  Especially if you go to a fitter.  You don't want to be second guessing yourself come June/July of this year.

 

 

[dbelles1]

40 minutes ago, Pepperturbo said:

That may or may not be true.  Those three "3" categories of irons don't normally come with the same specs or shafts, and most people can't benefit from all of them equally.  So, maybe saying they behave similarly is an overstatement. 

 

Where to split a set depends on your skill and what you see as scoring clubs, plus what your game goals are.   Do you feel the Burn?  He's in the chair next to you.

 

 

That is true. They do mention that they only get similar results when everything is equal so you do have to keep that in mind, which average golfers not on wrx would not know about but most of us know the differences.

 

I let him inside he seemed cold so he’s by the fire.