Finally moving on from my MP53’s. How much better would the P790’s be?

[Armypilot84]

So I have owned my beloved MP53’s since they came out in 2010. I haven’t played another iron since. It’s time to move on though. The grooves on my 7-P are all but gone and I really just don’t get to practice as much as I used too. So I am really looking for something more forgiving, but still need an iron that I can shape at my very narrow home course. I am still a decent ball striker. My miss has always been catching the ball a little low on the face of my irons. 
 

I am very intrigued by the new P790’s. I know because of the lower lofts they P790’s will be much longer than my 53’s, I was wondering if anyone could tell me how much more forgiving they might be? I would greatly appreciate it.

[erikro]

Much more forgiving but also a much different iron. Definitely give them a try. I have I210 but my son plays P790. They feel good off the face and the added distance is  nice too. 

[Nixhex524]

Hard to say.  On paper they should be much more forgiving, but it all depends on you.  The soles will be wider and the lower spin could provide a much different dispersion pattern.  I have been playing player CB for a long time and anytime I have tried to go to a "more forgiving iron" it just hasn't worked out for me.  Not to say it won't for you, but just going by what SHOULD be more forgiving doesn't always pan out that way.  

 

My buddy was playing Honma 737v, then went to the P790 but had a lot of trouble in the long irons.  He has since been fit for some Gen 4 0311T and is hitting them MUCH better than the 790s.  Flight is higher and distances are more predictable.  If you hit the MP53 well, you may benefit from a more modern players CB packed with a little more tech than the 53s, too, so don't rule anything else out!

[falken19150]

Depends on what generation 790s. The 3rd gen 790s are incredible.  TM did a fantastic job this time around.

[Armypilot84]

3 hours ago, falken19150 said:

Depends on what generation 790s. The 3rd gen 790s are incredible.  TM did a fantastic job this time around.

Thanks man.  I went and hit the 3rd gen today and was blown away by their performance.  I think I am going to take the dive and get them.  

[Armypilot84]

3 hours ago, Nixhex524 said:

Hard to say.  On paper they should be much more forgiving, but it all depends on you.  The soles will be wider and the lower spin could provide a much different dispersion pattern.  I have been playing player CB for a long time and anytime I have tried to go to a "more forgiving iron" it just hasn't worked out for me.  Not to say it won't for you, but just going by what SHOULD be more forgiving doesn't always pan out that way.  

 

My buddy was playing Honma 737v, then went to the P790 but had a lot of trouble in the long irons.  He has since been fit for some Gen 4 0311T and is hitting them MUCH better than the 790s.  Flight is higher and distances are more predictable.  If you hit the MP53 well, you may benefit from a more modern players CB packed with a little more tech than the 53s, too, so don't rule anything else out!

Thanks for the advice.  You make some really good points.  I actually went and got a proper iron fitting over the weekend.  I was a bit worried about the sole width on the 790's myself.  The 53's have a very narrow sold and always seemed to suit my "picker" type swing.  I was totally expecting to get fit into a combo set of 790 long irons and either PCB or 770 short irons, but my spin numbers were fantastic with the 790's through the set and I was getting much more forgiveness from them on my low face strikes, so I think I am going to get the 790's 5-AW.  I will probably need to get new wedges to adjust my new gaps as I hit my current PW from the MP53's about 130 and was hitting the 790 PW 145 yards on average.  They didn't have a AW available from the 790 set for me to demo but I am going to assume I will hit that about 125-130.  That is going to leave a large yardage gap in-between that and my beloved Kirkland SW that I hit about 90 yards full swing. 

[bvanlieu]

OP, sounds like your miss fits this iron fairly well from your first test drive. Especially in the 7 and longer irons, low strikes retain good ball speed with the 790. I use 5-7 blended with CB's 8-W (just weakend them to blend). 

 

Given your traditional lofts from the MPs: did you also try the P770? I know they are very back ordered but bit thinner top line, sole and similar tech to big brother.

 

- b

[Armypilot84]

21 hours ago, bvanlieu said:

OP, sounds like your miss fits this iron fairly well from your first test drive. Especially in the 7 and longer irons, low strikes retain good ball speed with the 790. I use 5-7 blended with CB's 8-W (just weakend them to blend). 

 

Given your traditional lofts from the MPs: did you also try the P770? I know they are very back ordered but bit thinner top line, sole and similar tech to big brother.

 

- b

I was interested in trying out the 770's but the fitter did not have any to demo.  The combo set was a real consideration for me, but I was hitting the short irons in the 790's so well that I didn't see a legitimate reason to get the 770's in 8-PW other than just wanting to see a thinner topline.  The topline of the 790's is definitely chunkier than my MP53's, but at this point in my life I don't get to practice much anymore and I need a little more confidence over the ball.  

 

To be completely honest time played just a little bit of a factor in my decision also.  Several of my MP's are borderline unusable due to old grips and worn out grooves.  I don't want to invest another $100 or so into new grips in clubs that I am only going to have for 1-2 more rounds.  Right now Taylormade is saying it will be a MINIMUM of 8 weeks for any custom order.  My specs are all standard lie/loft/length.  If I ordered the set of complete P790s I will have them in less than 4 days.  

[Tree Levino]

5 hours ago, Armypilot84 said:

I was interested in trying out the 770's but the fitter did not have any to demo.  The combo set was a real consideration for me, but I was hitting the short irons in the 790's so well that I didn't see a legitimate reason to get the 770's in 8-PW other than just wanting to see a thinner topline.  The topline of the 790's is definitely chunkier than my MP53's, but at this point in my life I don't get to practice much anymore and I need a little more confidence over the ball.  

 

To be completely honest time played just a little bit of a factor in my decision also.  Several of my MP's are borderline unusable due to old grips and worn out grooves.  I don't want to invest another $100 or so into new grips in clubs that I am only going to have for 1-2 more rounds.  Right now Taylormade is saying it will be a MINIMUM of 8 weeks for any custom order.  My specs are all standard lie/loft/length.  If I ordered the set of complete P790s I will have them in less than 4 days.  

 

How were the spin numbers? You have to be careful because they can be cannons. I'd honestly play them if I was on Munis all the time because our greens around here on public courses are so soft. I play blades right now because my home course has firmer greens than most PGA courses I've been on. A couple of scratch guys I play with tried P790s and couldn't stop the ball with them.

[Armypilot84]

10 hours ago, TigerInTheWoods said:

 

How were the spin numbers? You have to be careful because they can be cannons. I'd honestly play them if I was on Munis all the time because our greens around here on public courses are so soft. I play blades right now because my home course has firmer greens than most PGA courses I've been on. A couple of scratch guys I play with tried P790s and couldn't stop the ball with them.

So to set a baseline my average spin with my MP53 7 iron was almost 8,000 RPM.  I know that is a little high considering I am more of a picker than a digger, but older Mizzy's usually tend spin a little higher than other irons.  

 

I fully expected my spin numbers to drop drastically with the P790 7 iron because its loft is actually somewhere in between what my 53's 6 and 5 iron is.  I was pleasantly surprised to see my average spin with the P790 7 iron was 6200 RPM.  Most of the courses I play on in Central PA have pretty soft greens, so getting shots to stop on them has never been an issue for me.  As a matter of fact having shots spin back off the front of elevated greens has been much more of an issue for me, so a little less spin would be a welcome sight to be honest.  I live in the Susquehanna Valley in PA and the courses here are all about elevation changes, so my biggest concern about the P790's was actually the launch angle being too low.  Being a picker my average launch angle is a bit lower to begin with so I didn't want to drop into something too extreme.  The P790's surprised me again with my launch angle being at an average of 19 degrees with the 7 iron.  That was only 2 degrees lower than the angle I was getting with my 53's.  

[Tree Levino]

3 minutes ago, Armypilot84 said:

So to set a baseline my average spin with my MP53 7 iron was almost 8,000 RPM.  I know that is a little high considering I am more of a picker than a digger, but older Mizzy's usually tend spin a little higher than other irons.  

 

I fully expected my spin numbers to drop drastically with the P790 7 iron because its loft is actually somewhere in between what my 53's 6 and 5 iron is.  I was pleasantly surprised to see my average spin with the P790 7 iron was 6200 RPM.  Most of the courses I play on in Central PA have pretty soft greens, so getting shots to stop on them has never been an issue for me.  As a matter of fact having shots spin back off the front of elevated greens has been much more of an issue for me, so a little less spin would be a welcome sight to be honest.  I live in the Susquehanna Valley in PA and the courses here are all about elevation changes, so my biggest concern about the P790's was actually the launch angle being too low.  Being a picker my average launch angle is a bit lower to begin with so I didn't want to drop into something too extreme.  The P790's surprised me again with my launch angle being at an average of 19 degrees with the 7 iron.  That was only 2 degrees lower than the angle I was getting with my 53's.  

 

Yeah I'm not surprised they kept launch up for you. Lots of us ams have a tiny (or large) flip at the bottom which is a normal compensation and for certain players this type of iron is a godsend. I have no doubt that you'll notice a huge improvement in your game with the P790. Also, even though the 770 do look a bit nicer, they aren't particularly forgiving if you miss toeside. My dad plays them and his miss is toey or thin. Thin is absolutely fine with them, in fact his distances are incredibly consistent. The toe miss destroys him though. He is around 85mph with a 7i at 64 years old and I'd bet you he loses 30 yards on a toe with those clubs no joke. It's crazy. The P790 are much higher MOI. You're going to be a happy camper!

[VCGolfer79]

Going from a Mizuno iron to a Taylormade? Why? Thats crazy talk.  

[R5Two]

Hope it works out! 

 

I tried to go away from blades and had to go back. Very, very tough transition to make. If you are dedicated to the change a couple years you won't even remember. TM makes great irons! (I switched back from ZX7s to Taylormade P7MBs). 

 

You will have to fight off missing those Mizunos though! Also congrats on the long commitment to those irons! I can't even go a full season SMH... 

Edited November 18, 2021 by R5Two

[SteelieD]

FWIW - my son went to get fit and was hell bent on getting the 790s. Long story short, he ended up ordering the 770s (yes, there’s a wait).
 

The 790s ended up being too much of a leap from the smaller irons he was playing. The 770s were a very nice middle ground and provided pretty much the same tech. 

[larryd3]

Hope you enjoy the 790s.  Really nice irons.  

[bcbaric]

I ended up with 4-5 790 and 6-PW 770. I went to fitting thinking 790s, but hit the 770 and really like it. The lofts on the 770 might help out if you think the distance is too much on the stronger 790s, that helped me decide. Hitting them side by side, pretty similar to me. FWIW I also ended up with Project X LS shafts, not convinced they are "low spin" but they matched my swing well and I love how they play. I would at least try and hit the 770 before you make decision.

 

790 7 Iron 30.5°

770 7 Iron 33.0°

 

Edited November 18, 2021 by bcbaric

[RainShadow]

On 11/15/2021 at 9:24 AM, falken19150 said:

Depends on what generation 790s. The 3rd gen 790s are incredible.  TM did a fantastic job this time around.

 Well, I'm not loving mine. Probably me, but I hit my Cobra Forged Tec Blacks just as far and more consistently.

 I'll be trading mine for Apex 21/ Better feel to me.

[DixieD]

I have done the opposite, found a mint set of 53s last week, just waiting for some AMT shafts to pair them up with for a bit more help than the old s300's. Always loved the 53's!

[Armypilot84]

16 hours ago, R5Two said:

Hope it works out! 

 

I tried to go away from blades and had to go back. Very, very tough transition to make. If you are dedicated to the change a couple years you won't even remember. TM makes great irons! (I switched back from ZX7s to Taylormade P7MBs). 

 

You will have to fight off missing those Mizunos though! Also congrats on the long commitment to those irons! I can't even go a full season SMH... 

I am definitely not the typical Golf Wrxer switching clubs every time I see something on that meets my fancy on the BST forum. I am also a cheap bastxxx. Haha. I was close to switching about 3 years ago to the Cobra Forged Pro’s. My buddy is a Cobra rep and had a set that a client had returned. He let me game them for a week and I really thought I might buy them, but there really wasn’t enough of a difference between them and the 53’s to justify the switch. Glad I didn’t because the old lady wouldn’t have been as keen about letting me spend $1,300 on the P790’s. 

[Armypilot84]

18 hours ago, VCGolfer79 said:

Going from a Mizuno iron to a Taylormade? Why? Thats crazy talk.  

Haha. Trust me it wasn’t an easy decision. I have been as about a big of a Mizzy fan boy as possible the last couple years. I even have a Mizuno staff stand bag. I was a Taylormade hater for quite some too, but TM really caught my attention with the P line of irons. I tested the P790’s against the JPX Tours and Forged. The P790’s just provided me with the best numbers. They didn’t feel quite as nice as the Mizzy’s but the feel wasn’t so much better to negate the difference in the numbers