Blades for Practicing and Improving Iron Play, any experience?

[RobertBaron]

I had the same idea a few years back and I guess it kinda worked because my blades feel so much nicer than my old cast cavity backs that I could never go back. 
 

I tried the same thing with persimmons but really can’t stand how they feel even with solid strikes. I never hit persimmons before so I just don’t get that nostalgic appeal. 

 

[BB28403]

Ping pong will improve your iron play 🏓 

[WoodBeGoodGolfer]

Great question!  Many interesting responses.  A lot of people on this site that are talented and generous with their knowledge.

 

I happen to play cavity backs and also have a set of PXG 0211 st.  

 

I don't know, it's just fun to hit a blade and pretend I'm a "real golfer"  

 

Have fun!

 

 

[Nickc]

Just get a set of blades.. secondhand would do e.g Mp 32s.

Using game improvement irons will only get you into bad habits and a false sense of security 😄

Edited May 23, 2023 by Nickc

[MelloYello]

On 1/9/2022 at 7:20 AM, DCCarpenter said:

I've read a few posts referencing using blades for practicing iron play. Has anyone actually done this? Did it benefit them? Those PXG 0211STs are so cheap I could grab 2 different short irons with the right length and graphite shaft for short money.

 

I'm a newer player, 7 months in, I've broken 90 a few times from the standard men's tees usually shooting in the low-90s. 41 years old, no health issues though not the most flexible guy in the world. 

 

I've been lucky enough to join a country club nearby so I get to play 18 2 to 4 times a week weather permitting and practice once or twice on other days.
 

I'm still using the half set of hand me down irons I was gifted when I started playing so I could alternately purchase a cavity back set that fits my skill level for on course and range use. I believe in the 'It's not the arrow it's the indian' but I'm relatively tall and the irons I have were fitted to a 5'9 guy, I've done the floor to wrist measurement and I need to be +1/2 or +3/4" and what I have are - 3/4". Plus I am on WRX,  so obviously I like buying clubs.

 

I started playing golf in my early 20's back at the end of college which was around 2009. I went through several sets of blades and player's CBs. 

 

In my experience, there's no correlation between good ball-strikers and those who play blades. The best ball-strikers I've seen are young guys with speed and skill. 

[bakere]

Being fairly new to golf and also a bit of a tinkerer i've had several different sets of blades in between GI, players distance and CB. The blades definitely provided more feedback to me. After playing and practicing with them for a bit I can now accurately tell if I heel'd it, toe'd it, thinned it or hit it high on the face. When I first started playing with a Cobra GI I could only tell if i shanked or thinned it. It wasn't until I played more golf and acquired some Taylormade P730s that i started to feel a toe or heel strike, or high on the face. Would've I learned it through time and practice with the GI? Maybe, but I think I learned it much quicker with the blades. Now I'm in a players iron with more tech and I can feel and understand my strike and I credit that to playing blades for 6-9 months.

 

I will say my scores suffered and I was frequently frustrated when playing blades because I am not very good at golf. I understand and agree with the idea that you should practice with what you play with so you can learn your clubs to the highest degree possible, I also think it could be helpful to get a few blade irons to occasionally practice with to develop feel for the clubface if someone didn't have that awareness like I didn't.