Need Unbiased Opinions--Settle my confusion

[over7par]

Hey all. First post here, so I hope this is the right place for it.

 

I need some unbiased advice. I know what I think I should do, but my golf buddies are pulling me in different directions and I thought this would be a better way to help decide. I'm currently a 7.4 handicap and went from a 13 to the 7.4 last year, but that was generally off the strength of a putter and wedge fitting and switching my putting grip to crosshanded.

 

I've got two sets of irons I'm deciding between. I got a set of Titleist T200s back in October and I really, really like them. Coming off playing P790 for a year, they're what I wanted with being less "clicky", having a thinner topline, and not being quite as hot. I did get the lofts weakened a degree in the T200, so they're not standard, but they've been working really well. I ordered a combo set of Srixon ZX5/ZX7 (ZX5: 5, 6 irons-ZX7: 7-GW) in January and I've played two rounds with them. Obviously there's a difference in the ZX7 to the T200 with a little less forgiveness, but from everything I've read, someone of my playing caliber should be able to handle them. I've hit just about every ZX7 I've hit on the course fat. I'm hitting it dead center of the club face, but definitely a groove/groove and a half high. I'm sure that's ball position and I'm going to try and fix that next range session and see what comes of that.

 

But am I overthinking it? I feel like the ZX7 may be the better play for the long run, because it'll theoretically cause me to become a better ball striker, because I HAVE to do that to be able to play them. But in the interest of playing the best golf I possibly can, I think the T200s are the obvious play. I've tested both on the course switching out and the performance of the T200 vastly outweighs the ZX7. Basically, my heart says ZX7 because I want to be able to hit a more players iron, but my brain and literally almost all of the data says T200, because it's yielding the best results now. I've also got a set of i210s on order, but there's no telling when they'll be in and even so, I'm wondering if I haven't bitten off more than I can chew with the ZX7s and the i210s coming.

 

My buddies aren't helping because half are in the corner of "Play the ZX7 because after a couple more rounds, your ball striking will be better" and the other half (and myself to an extent) are "What are you even doing? You're hitting more greens than ever, you enjoy the looks and feel of the clubs, and the flight and spin are consistent and work."

 

Sorry for the novel, I just want some thoughts. I know thoughts will be varying here, but I really enjoy reading what everyone thinks and I think unbiased is what I need right now.

[larryd3]

So I'm a 7 right now and have been playing T200s for over a year.  I recently changed to some Apex 21s to get a different shaft that the trackman numbers say is better for me.  I've only had them a couple weeks so jury is still out.  For me, no reason to change from the T200s just because someone is telling you to.  They took you to a much lower handicap, just like they did for me.  Ultimately I'd say play what you want to and what you feel most confident in.  But on the other hand, you came to the right place for constantly changing clubs to something newer or supposedly better!  I'd just say pick 1 set and stay with it.  

[over7par]

Thanks Larry! I don't disagree. I'm leaning towards sticking with T200. Again, my heart says Srixon, because I feel like I can play them and I think I deserve to play more of a players iron because of the hard work I've put in, but my brain and everything else says T200.

 

Thanks sir!

[Myherobobhope]

18 minutes ago, over7par said:

But am I overthinking it?

Yes. Why did you replace irons you were hitting well in October? Your location says Nasvhille, so I'm assuming you haven't gotten many rounds in... so why replace something that was working for you?

 

Are the shafts in the Srixons different? Weight, flex, length? When you say fat, are you hitting the ground behind the ball or just taking a deeper divot? 

 

Sometimes clubs just don't suit us well, but you should be able to adjust to them and hit them flush... that doesn't mean they are a good fit, it just means we are adaptable. If you are willing to spend time fighting the Srixons until you hit them well, why not just put that same amount of time into the T200s? 

 

Either set will reward better ball striking... 

 

Completely unrelated, but since you are in Nashville, I'd highly recommend going to SeeMore and getting fit for a putter.. $150 for the fitting and then 200-400 for a putter and it's money well spent... Also, stay off those flatbeds that haul drunks downtown... also, Monell's in Germantown is delicious. 

 

I miss Nashville.

[lefthack]

When I bought my first upgrade it was a stretch and I did it on purpose for the similar reason as you. I went with the combo iron to force work on the shorter sticks. My focus is to be "good enough" for my muscle backs in May.

 

I say go with your gut and get what you feel like playing. I could give a damn what my buddies think, but they know that, too.

[Myherobobhope]

3 minutes ago, lefthack said:

When I bought my first upgrade it was a stretch and I did it on purpose for the similar reason as you. I went with the combo iron to force work on the shorter sticks. My focus is to be "good enough" for my muscle backs in May.

 

I say go with your gut and get what you feel like playing. I could give a damn what my buddies think, but they know that, too.

I 100% agree with play what you want to play, but I'm not confident playing less forgiving irons will make you a better ball striker... The two biggest positives I can see are immediate negative feedback and "oh shiny" making you practice more... 

 

Negative feedback is great and all, but it's just going to get you into a swing that finds the middle of the club face more. Obviously that's great, but it won't necessarily build a BETTER swing. You might end up at a 75% swing just to make sure your contact is good. With the right tools (a can of Dr. Scholl's) you can still get the negative feedback and build a good swing with any set of irons... In my mind, my irons should be what give me the tightest dispersion... they aren't a training aid to improve my ball striking, they are a tool I use to hit greens. 

 

I'm 100% on board with anything that makes you practice more... my new putter has made me spend hours upon hours on the practice green... Drills from the fitting have helped me tremendously... but I have actionable stuff to work on, and a new putter to make it more fun. You don't need the new equipment as much as you need a good routine that encourages you to get better.

[spring70]

41 minutes ago, over7par said:

Hey all. First post here, so I hope this is the right place for it.

 

I need some unbiased advice. I know what I think I should do, but my golf buddies are pulling me in different directions and I thought this would be a better way to help decide. I'm currently a 7.4 handicap and went from a 13 to the 7.4 last year, but that was generally off the strength of a putter and wedge fitting and switching my putting grip to crosshanded.

 

I've got two sets of irons I'm deciding between. I got a set of Titleist T200s back in October and I really, really like them. Coming off playing P790 for a year, they're what I wanted with being less "clicky", having a thinner topline, and not being quite as hot. I did get the lofts weakened a degree in the T200, so they're not standard, but they've been working really well. I ordered a combo set of Srixon ZX5/ZX7 (ZX5: 5, 6 irons-ZX7: 7-GW) in January and I've played two rounds with them. Obviously there's a difference in the ZX7 to the T200 with a little less forgiveness, but from everything I've read, someone of my playing caliber should be able to handle them. I've hit just about every ZX7 I've hit on the course fat. I'm hitting it dead center of the club face, but definitely a groove/groove and a half high. I'm sure that's ball position and I'm going to try and fix that next range session and see what comes of that.

 

But am I overthinking it? I feel like the ZX7 may be the better play for the long run, because it'll theoretically cause me to become a better ball striker, because I HAVE to do that to be able to play them. But in the interest of playing the best golf I possibly can, I think the T200s are the obvious play. I've tested both on the course switching out and the performance of the T200 vastly outweighs the ZX7. Basically, my heart says ZX7 because I want to be able to hit a more players iron, but my brain and literally almost all of the data says T200, because it's yielding the best results now. I've also got a set of i210s on order, but there's no telling when they'll be in and even so, I'm wondering if I haven't bitten off more than I can chew with the ZX7s and the i210s coming.

 

My buddies aren't helping because half are in the corner of "Play the ZX7 because after a couple more rounds, your ball striking will be better" and the other half (and myself to an extent) are "What are you even doing? You're hitting more greens than ever, you enjoy the looks and feel of the clubs, and the flight and spin are consistent and work."

 

Sorry for the novel, I just want some thoughts. I know thoughts will be varying here, but I really enjoy reading what everyone thinks and I think unbiased is what I need right now.

As much as want to, I cannot play the Srixon sole - move on

[tbone18]

best thing to do is play the irons that give you the best chance to make the best score on each hole you play.  Whichever irons those be GI, SGI, PDI, CB or MB, just get them fit and have fun.

[Celebros]

Based on your post, I wouldn't stress about it and play what strikes your fancy.  It sounds like even if you pick a set and hit them great, you'll likely have another iron set on-order within months anyway.

[BirdieBob]

When you said.....

" I got a set of Titleist T200s back in October and I really, really like them."........and then

"I ordered a combo set of Srixon ZX5/ZX7 (ZX5: 5, 6 irons-ZX7: 7-GW) in January and I've played two rounds with them."

 

You have arrived at the right place........

Well, you need some guidance and we here at the GolfWRX are able and willing to get you what you need...... 😉

 

..stay tuned!
 

[Cwebb]

I'd always play what consistently produces the best results.  The game is hard enough as it is, so trying to "force" something to work that doesn't really work as well, is probably not the best idea.

 

It can be difficult to find a good fitting club design.  Stick with it, when you have it.  Force something else to actually prove better performance, before considering a switch

[RogerinNewZealand]

Comfy

What are you comfy with.Some clubs just fit well ( T ) vs Zx, thats golf.The old CG16 irons were a great example...so popular,jacked lofts in 2010? !

[FatThinShank]

If you’ve only played two rounds with them you can give it a little more time but it sounds like performance wise the T200 is a clear winner for you. But there is nothing about the club head that would cause you to hit it fat, are they the same specs (shaft, length, and lie)? If so, might just be a case of getting used to a different look down at the ball, can cause you to do funky stuff when you first get them. 

Edited March 11, 2021 by FatThinShank

[PEI_Golfer]

I'm in the camp of giving it a bit more time.  You say you are centering the Srixon, but just missing it a bit, shouldn't be hard to make the adjustment to get things sorted after a good range session.  If it is a set that I am trying to give serious consideration to being my main gamers, I give them time.  If not, then I will flip them quickly and move on to something else.

 

I had a set of the vaunted 745's last year to try out and see what the hype was all about, but they did nothing for me and I sold them after about a month and went back to my Pings.

 

Will be interesting to see how you like the I210's if/when they finally arrive.  I'm a huge fan of them and they will likely be my main set after the ferrules arrive and I can re-shaft them.  Got to hit balls for the first time today since last October and was quite happy with how the 718 MB's performed that I picked up over the winter, but they will have their work cut out for them to actually earn the spot against my I210's and TVD wedges.

[jomatty]

How would you describe your swing?  Perhaps the srixon sole is just not allowing you to get away with the strikes the t200’s did. I’ve heard the srixon soles are better for steeper players (although I’ve read some say they are fine for shallow players).  Maybe give them another round or two but personally I’m not gonna go past that, especially if I have another new set that I know I like and that I don’t even have to buy.  If you are shallow and that causing the srixon problems then play the t200’s until ping puts out the i210 replacement and get them!

[over7par]

This is exactly why I knew I was coming to the right place. I sincerely appreciate all the posts and thoughts. It makes me feel slightly better knowing I'm not alone in all this. I just love golf and the equipment stuff is part of the fun of it. I know I'm not going to make massive distance gains and I know I'm not going to find some magic club that helps me hit it to 3 feet either.

 

A little more backstory. I bought the P790s back in October 2019 without a fitting. I hit them vs the MP-20 HMBs in a Golf Galaxy and found I liked the Nippon NS Pro 950GH Neo shaft in stiff. Definitely helped my distance consistency over the next year, but I was severely lacking in left to right dispersion patterns. They were all over the place. After a putter and wedge fitting at Club Champion in February 2020, I knew I needed a solid iron fitting. And I could've reshafted the P790 and been fine I think, but I'd also grown wary of the "clickiness" and the thicker topline.

 

I actually ended up at Club Champion and was fitted for a JPX 921 HMP/Forged combo set with KBS TGI 80g stiff shafts. At over $2100 for that set and not feeling entirely comfortable with the results, I went to a smaller independent shop in Nashville. Didn't mind that, because his assessment was adjusting the lie angle to 2° upright, because he'd noticed that in my dynamic loft. Did that, played a couple rounds and dispersion was just still all over. I had a couple of PXG clubs (driver, 3W, hybrid) at this point and was doing a spec check with them and their fitter helped me with the final piece. Said he thought the TGI 80g was too light. He had one there and after an iron fitting with him, we landed on the Project X LZ 5.5 115g shaft and an extra 0.5" to add the 2° upright effect and give me a little more distance. It was magic. And ever since then, I've had that shaft installed with those specs and I've been firing at flags. The T200 has been my best performer and I think the consensus is what I was coming to. Maybe I'm just destined to be in that players-distance category and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm more of a sweeper and I hit the ball really high anyway (since been lowered to a beautiful flight with these LZ 5.5s), but I think the thinner soles are what's throwing me. I've got the ZX5 in the 5 and 6 irons and hit them just as well as the T200. I'd tried the MP-20 MMCs as well and had similar results to the ZX7. I just hoped that the V-sole on the ZX7 would be the ticket to not hitting fat. Pretty sure I just need to stick with something that has a little wider sole.

 

Again, I sincerely appreciate everyone's thoughts here. The majority of my friends have been giving me static because I can't stand pat with one set of irons. They're not wrong, because it sometimes takes time to get used to a set and everything about them and if you never truly get used to them, it's hard to play to your potential. That being said, it's just the tinkering we need to do sometimes to satisfy our curiosity. I do feel much better about going back to the T200 after everyone's thoughts here.

 

Thanks all!

[Valtiel]

The thing about irons is that they are all about comfort. If it weren't for equipment contracts you would see a lot more pros playing older irons, and we still even see that to a certain extent anyway. The absolute best in the world that can have literally anything they want and you get many of them sticking with older models. Tiger has basically had the same iron made for him over and over again from the early Mizuno days all the way to the current P7TW, and many one off prototypes in between. Steve Stricker plays Titleist's from 2006, Daniel Berger playing Taylormades from 2011. It is all about what produces results, and without meaning to offend at all, you said your improvements have been largely centered around your short game and putting, so the idea that you "should be able to handle" a more "player's" iron might not actually be true in the sense that you're thinking. Plus, that "should be able to handle it" idea is based on assumptions about relative skill in relation to handicap. If I was a lights out bomber off the tee with a red hot putter that got me down to scratch despite having a mediocre iron game, I sure as hell wouldn't be trying to play blades just because some misguided wisdom said I should. I would be working on my iron game and catering to its need, which is really the whole point. Your game, your needs, and the results you get dictate what you should be playing, not some loose arbitrary rule of thumb. 

From a technical standpoint as well, you said you're more of a sweeper. Sweeper's tend to benefit from very low CG irons, which the T200's are. The ONLY reason you should switch away from them is if your needs change or the T200's stop performing, or some other model offers you something that they don't. Right now the Srixon's are only offering you misery and the worthless approval of a couple golf buddies who may not know a thing about equipment outside of something they read online. Stick with what works, because what works makes the game a helluva lot more fun. 

Edited March 11, 2021 by Valtiel

[ddherman]

They could be just a bit too long.  Have you compared the two sets length wise?  Try choking up a bit and see if that helps.  If it does just have them shortened a half inch or so.  Just my .02

[8thehardway]

Congrats on a massive improvement!  Improving on a 7.4 index takes some work and there's gotta be a better use of your golf time than fighting the Srixons. Best equipment suggestion I could make to solve the T200 'clickiness' and your golf biddies' conflicting advice is some quality earplugs. 

[rxk9fan]

A little tongue in cheek but honestly, put the Srixon's to the side and play what you were hitting well.  I change irons a lot, but I always do it when I am in a slump. I don't try to fix what is really working.  Amazing how a different set of irons can re-focus you to simplify swing and just make good contact.

I know when I am playing well, I start getting a little cute with things the longer I am on a hot streak.  I start moving the ball this way and that way and working trajectory, etc..  Before long I have taken myself out of my good swing groove.  I usually slump for a few weeks, and sometimes I can jump-start my recovery with a few lessons and a different set of irons.  I then go back to the basics of just hitting the ball and stop thinking.

My handicap is much like yours, but that does not prevent 3 or 4 or 8 rounds of crap golf at any time.  I like a second set around for those times.  Also, that proves to myself it is always the clubs fault and not my swing :-).

 

Edited March 12, 2021 by rxk9fan

[BigVolGolfFan]

I’m going to repeat most of the people here, but you’ve lowered your handicap using irons you really like.   Irons don’t have a “handicap range”, just like you don’t have to get a Scotty Cameron putter once you become a single digit.   I get the “I’m better now, so I can play better irons” thought process.  I’ve been there.  I know how it can drive you to purchase something new when you didn’t need it.   You’ve got great irons in the T200’s and I highly doubt they’re keeping you from scoring better.   Keep paying the ones that give you confidence.   That’s what’ll make you score better 

[pingplayer]

Check the length of the Srixon irons, swing weight and ball position. You should be fine.