Do Blades negatively impact performance? Or is it all in our heads?

[ChipNRun]

13 hours ago, RoyalMustang said:

My question for those of you who play them or don't play them: do they negatively impact your performance?  Could you shoot a lower score if you had played a GI or SGI iron? 

 

It's all in our club heads, not our human heads. Let's discuss...

 

RM, how old are you?

 

I played blades in my 20s - about all we had, but swapped out once I got into my 40s. From my blade days with MacGregor MT flatsole forged blades (1971 model): in seasons when I could play six times a month and practice a couple of times a week, I shot in the low- to mid-80s. In seasons when I only played a couple of times a month, I shot in the 90s. Just couldn't keep my swing blade-ready with casual play. With blades, bad shots were - and are -  really bad!

A big thing in post-2000s is that blades and musclebacks often come with very robust shafts. No Callaway 2018 MB test clubs come with XP85 R-flex shafts.

Even when I still swung stiff shafts, the Callaway XForged irons never launched as well as the X20s or X20 Tours.

 

In 1994 I dropped the beloved MTs and went to Pro Tour Black irons - basically clones of Ping Eye2 heads. I went from shooting 92 to shooting 85 or so in just a couple of weeks. The PTBs were more forgiving, plus the perimeter + enhanced grooves gave me a lot more bit on approach shots.

 

@RoyalMustang, I would bet you have very high clubhead speed. I don't... I have an arthritic right hip, and driver CHS can vary from 82 - 89 MPH on a given day. High clubhead speed makes playing blades or MBs cavity a more viable option. For high CHS players, too much forgiveness in the clubhead (mostly in higher launch) leads to ballooned shots. As mentioned earlier, the Calla XForged blades (three different models) never launched well for me. 

 

A case from the PGA Tour is Matt Kuchar. His WITB 2021 includes...

Bridgestone J15CB (5-PW, KBS Tour V 110S shafts)

 

The J15 family has a muscleback/blade model, but Kuchar

chose the J15CB.

 

RM, it comes down to what works. For me, GI irons lead to lower scores (through shots that launch well) than Blade irons (that launch 10-foot high bullets).

 

Edited January 18, 2022 by ChipNRun

[MtlJeff]

Just my opinion but i wouldn't use blades unless you are a really good ballstriker. I would guess it does hurt people who don't make really consistent contact. Not a massive amount, maybe a couple of strokes in a round, but it will hurt you

 

I'm hitting the ball better than i ever have, as a 0, and play blades. But even on "off" days, i can tell where i'm losing yards here or there.

 

I don't think the average player should be using them. It won't make you better and will just make golf harder

[jubilee_links]

Comparing mortals bags to the pros can also be confusing -
When your earnings are dependent on what you score any increase in performance/forgiveness can make a huge difference...... I totally get the Kuchar/Na/Simpson type bags saying 'if I need to compete with the top 125 in the world I need all the help I can get'.

Being 30ft away on the green as opposed to plugged in bunker might mean a difference of 50K at the end of the week.

 

For most ams, our bad strikes are way worse than a pros bad strike (infact our good ones are probably worse than a pros misshit) - and our scrambling/recovery game is way worse -

 

Again it goes back to what makes an ams score poor  - our driving isnt as good, our ball striking is more variable, our short games are not as tight and our putting is poor. Its easier to make inroads to your handicap by tightening up on short game/putting or driving better as opposed to buying different irons.
 

[morgan1819]

While I see more and more pros going to combo sets and hybrids ...

 

there will always be insecure internet golf guy who gets some strange satisfaction by posting that he plays a full set of blades.  seems to be a staple of this site in particular.

 

just be aware there a lots of guys out there that will beat you by 8 shots or more playing i210's and g425 hybrids.

 

 

 

 

[coloradogolf]

For context I played Mizuno MP-60s (2i-PW) for 10+ years and switched to blades (Miura MB-101) this year. I did not experience any decline in my ball striking. In fact I think my dispersion and distance consistency has improved. I still hit bad shoots, just as I did with MP-60s.

 

I even picked up a 1-iron (2-iron was my longest club with MP-60). I have to say that I always read and heard things like no one can hit a 1-iron or the only purpose of a 1-iron is to hold it in a thunderstorm because even god can't strike one etc. and I was totally prepared to embarrass  myself but turns out its no different than a 3-iron or a 2-iron, which I enjoy hitting the most. 

 

The notion that we need "forgiveness" in our clubs and that no one not named Tiger or Mickelson should play blades or muscle backs is non-sense, in my opinion. I am not playing golf to make a living, so might as well enjoy the feeling of a well hit blade. 

 

 

Edited January 18, 2022 by coloradogolf

[R5Two]

40 minutes ago, ChipNRun said:

 

It's all in our club heads, not our human heads. Let's discuss...

 

RM, how old are you?

 

I played blades in my 20s - about all we had, but swapped out once I got into my 40s. From my blade days with MacGregor MT flatsole forged blades (1971 model): in seasons when I could play six times a month and practice a couple of times a week, I shot in the low- to mid-80s. In seasons when I only played a couple of times a month, I shot in the 90s. Just couldn't keep my swing blade-ready with casual play. With blades, bad shots were - and are -  really bad!

A big thing in post-2000s is that blades and musclebacks often come with very robust shafts. No Callaway 2018 MB test clubs come with XP85 R-flex shafts.

Even when I still swung stiff shafts, the Callaway XForged irons never launched as well as the X20s or X20 Tours.

 

In 1994 I dropped the beloved MTs and went to Pro Tour Black irons - basically clones of Ping Eye2 heads. I went from shooting 92 to shooting 85 or so in just a couple of weeks. The PTBs were more forgiving, plus the perimeter + enhanced grooves gave me a lot more bit on approach shots.

 

@RoyalMustang, I would bet you have very high clubhead speed. I don't... I have an arthritic right hip, and driver CHS can vary from 82 - 89 MPH on a given day. High clubhead speed makes playing blades or MBs cavity a more viable option. For high CHS players, too much forgiveness in the clubhead (mostly in higher launch) leads to ballooned shots. As mentioned earlier, the Calla XForged blades (three different models) never launched well for me. 

 

A case from the PGA Tour is Matt Kuchar. His WITB 2021 includes...

Bridgestone J15CB (5-PW, KBS Tour V 110S shafts)

 

The J15 family has a muscleback/blade model, but Kuchar

chose the J15CB.

 

RM, it comes down to what works. For me, GI irons lead to lower scores (through shots that launch well) than Blade irons (that launch 10-foot high bullets).

 

Good post and actually I agree a perimeter weighted blade or forged CB is a really good option. I am going to put my 695 CB back in play very similiar to what you listed. 

 

However... I would still argue golf is a game of confidence, played on a 5" course between your ears. I'm team it's all in your head and whatever gives you confidence!

[Ri_Redneck]

To say a "Blade" is difficult to play is a simple generalization of a complex topic. This is because all "Blades" are not the same. Some are harder to use than others! IMHO, The three clubhead specifications that play most important roles in "ease of use" are:

 

cdim - Distance of HCoG from shaft CL. This spec relates to how close the "sweetspot" is to the hosel. The closer it is, the more likely the chance of shanking. The cdim of some blades are very close to 1" leaving less than .2" room for error. However some range out to 1.2" which is similar to some GI /SGI clubheads.

 

MOI - Clubheads resistance to twisting. We're all familiar with this term, but many don't realize how much it can vary between "Blade" designs. "Blade" designs exist with an MOI higher than some Players CB irons, even nearing that of GI designs. The lowest are around 1950 gsqcm and some get as high as 2340 gsqcm.

 

VCoG - Vertical CoG influences the ease of elevation on shots. A high VCoG is what causes that sting on thin shots to be worse with "Blades". However, there are some "Blade" designs with a VCoG lower than that of SGI irons. The much applauded Mizuno MP series iron heads traditionally have aVCoG between .79" & .77" (EXCEPT for the MP18, which was .85"). Most traditional "Blade" designs have the VCoG in the .85" to .90"+ range which makes them more punishing on low hits.

 

So, there are "blades" that are punishing and some that are not so punishing. Knowing the specs of the club BEFORE trying/buying them can save one a lot of time and frustration.

 

BT

Edited January 18, 2022 by Ri_Redneck

[Hickory4ever]

I would say play what you want. Personally, I play blades or CB forged and I am now an old guy getting close to 70. The most important thing for me was to play the right shaft for my swing which has slowed. I will never play a “GI” iron because of the offset. I think forgiveness is overrated and many people settle for mediocrity instead of hitting it properly.

 

Three years ago I got fitted into a great set of Taylormade P790 players distance irons which I hit very well. I started playing a lot of hickory golf the same year and found I was just as straight with the forged blades. I found the forged blades more predictable and went back to a CB forged in my “modern” set of Mizunos (MP52). I can still hit up to the 4 iron (24 degrees) well and have a couple players hybrids in the bag.

 

I started playing historic clubs four years ago for the fun of it. I expected that my score would suffer, it didn’t. In fact I am playing better despite playing different sets of clubs several times a week. 
 

Everyone is entitled to play what they feel works best for them. But I do believe that saying that only scratch players should be playing blades is a myth.
 

 

[me05501]

It obviously depends on what you're comparing the "blades*" to in the first place.

 

Generally speaking, I think most players could adjust to the left-to-right dispersion of a given set of irons, but the distance dispersion is where less-forgiving irons are likely to hurt you. 

 

 

 

* I put "blades" in quotes because no one makes blades any more...they're all muscle-backs, which are the original game improvement irons FWIW. 

[jomatty]

5 hours ago, lefthack said:

Forgiveness is a myth, play blades. 

That’s what you’ve seen on launch monitors? You have seen there is no difference in a mishit between a blade and something like the Haywood irons that I think you had at one point.  I’m not anti-blade at all but it surprises me when people say they get the same number on Miss hits with blades and something like a pingi210 or TM p770/790

Edited January 18, 2022 by jomatty

[lefthack]

3 minutes ago, jomatty said:

That’s what you’ve seen on launch monitors? You have seen there is no difference in a mishit between a blade and something like the Haywood irons that I think you had at one point.  I’m not anti-blade at all but it surprises me when people say they get the same number on Miss hits with blades and something like a pingi210 or TM p770/790

 

My Haywood's get here next month. I haven't really hit on a launch monitor, I play golf on a course. What I have seen is I can hit a green with a blade, or a split cavity, or a good filled shovel. I can also miss them with all of them as well. 🤣 

 

But I have the ability to put it damn close to where I want it with a blade if I can hit the shot I'm looking for. The others can put it in the general area I'm looking for, but my chances of actually hitting a flag are reduced.

[jomatty]

1 hour ago, lefthack said:

 

My Haywood's get here next month. I haven't really hit on a launch monitor, I play golf on a course. What I have seen is I can hit a green with a blade, or a split cavity, or a good filled shovel. I can also miss them with all of them as well. 🤣 

 

But I have the ability to put it damn close to where I want it with a blade if I can hit the shot I'm looking for. The others can put it in the general area I'm looking for, but my chances of actually hitting a flag are reduced.

That’s a very good reason to play a blade.  But it’s not the same thing as forgiveness being fictional.  

[MelloYello]

I don't think it's a lack offorgiveness that's behind why blades are losing popularity.

 

There's no doubt musclebacks are becoming a thing of the past. It's not just that they're barely put on the shelves, they're virtually non-existent in the lower age-brackets. And yet I think good ball-striking is probably better understood and more effectively taught now than ever in the history of golf.

 

In theory, players of today are the most capable in history. They should want blades if indeed it's about skill. But nonetheless, fewer and fewer capable players opt for blades. If you didn't come from Tiger's era or pick up golf because of Tiger, you probably don't have any interest in them at all. 

 

But that's the thing, today's power hitters don't opt for player's CBs because they need the "forgiveness." As many have pointed out, there isn't much forgiveness to be found in an iron anyhow.  

 

Sure, there's some difference. Perimeter weighting will help stabilize a club as it impacts the ball. That's science. The increased MOI of a CB will make it a straighter club. No doubt about it. Will you notice in the ball-flight? IDK.

 

But you'll notice the feel and you'll love how it doesn't dig when you're crushing that 8-iron 180-yds!

 

That's where players CBs earn their value IMHO--the consistency of feel from shot to shot regardless of whether a strike is slightly less than perfect. And they definitely don't feel as harsh and nasty on the occasional poor strike, either.

 

What's more, blades don't really have any selling point now that players CBs exist in all sorts of sizes and we're no longer coaching kids to curve the ball but rather to smash it high and straight.

 

There's no benefit to a "pure muscleback" anymore. It's an ancient artifact TBH. They aren't any more workable than the smaller players CBs and no one's advising that kids build their games purely on shot-making anyway. Today's greats were power hitters that learned touch, creativity and shot-making as they needed it.  

 

Plus, I've never been to a grass driving range where I've seen someone and thought--that guy needs a sharper leading edge, less bounce and a more narrow sole. That's just not really someone you ever run into, especially with today's elite golfers who are looking to bow that lead wrist and hit their 6-iron 200+ yards. 

 

Edited January 18, 2022 by MelloYello

[lefthack]

13 minutes ago, jomatty said:

That’s a very good reason to play a blade.  But it’s not the same thing as forgiveness being fictional.  

 

If forgiveness is the inability to pinpoint your shot, than I guess it exists. But I've never had a club that turned q bad shot into a good one and that's what I would consider forgiving. 

 

Of course I've only played a hand full of irons, so maybe there is a magic club out there I have yet to hit. But in my experience, forgiveness at least seems like a myth to me. 

[MelloYello]

5 minutes ago, lefthack said:

 

If forgiveness is the inability to pinpoint your shot, than I guess it exists. But I've never had a club that turned q bad shot into a good one and that's what I would consider forgiving. 

 

Of course I've only played a hand full of irons, so maybe there is a magic club out there I have yet to hit. But in my experience, forgiveness at least seems like a myth to me. 

 

 

The problem is that forgiveness as measured by MOI is most directly linked to the simple volume of the object. There's no doubt that a 460cc driver is more stable than a 200cc driver. That's just pure physics. 

 

One key problem with irons is that players often pre-select the general head shape / size and thus basically eliminate any potential for differences in forgiveness between the various irons they might play. 

 

For instance, if the only irons you will play are small player's CB designs...you'll find they are pretty much all the same. Differences are only found when comparing one class to another. And by the time you're comparing player's irons to GI or SGI irons, well, you've got a host of other more important variables driving your decision like turf interaction, offset, etc.  

 

I think it's pretty well acknowledged that simple MOI numbers should not drive your iron selection. There are other more important factors. 

Edited January 18, 2022 by MelloYello

[rt_charger]

5 hours ago, MelloYello said:

You have to remember that feedback is negative information. It's vibration. A flushed shot provides virtually no vibratory feedback. That's why we say it feels "good." So why have a club that maximizes that extra vibration? It's always going to be more unpleasant than the alternative(s).

The problem with this statement is you end up losing the definition of what a centered strike feels like.

 

It's like comparing a race car to a softly sprung sports car. The race car feels harsh and direct, and gives the driver more feedback, allowing him to better feel where the limit of grip is.

 

The same goes for blades, the more feedback, the better you can feel where center is and dial ball striking.

[jomatty]

5 minutes ago, lefthack said:

 

If forgiveness is the inability to pinpoint your shot, than I guess it exists. But I've never had a club that turned q bad shot into a good one and that's what I would consider forgiving. 

 

Of course I've only played a hand full of irons, so maybe there is a magic club out there I have yet to hit. But in my experience, forgiveness at least seems like a myth to me. 

For me, and I’m only speaking from my experience, it does not turn a bad shot into a good shot. It can turn a slightly bad shot into a 20 footer for birdie instead of needing to get up and down out of a bunker.  Nothing will help on a truly terrible shot.  It certainly is no magic bullet.  Just a little help when you catch one skinny or on the toe side.  And just to reiterate, I think anyone who prefers blades should play them.  It’s a game after all.

[MelloYello]

7 minutes ago, rt_charger said:

The problem with this statement is you end up losing the definition of what a centered strike feels like.

 

It's like comparing a race car to a softly sprung sports car. The race car feels harsh and direct, and gives the driver more feedback, allowing him to better feel where the limit of grip is.

 

The same goes for blades, the more feedback, the better you can feel where center is and dial ball striking.

 

That's an exaggeration. I could play with Playskool irons and have all the feedback I need. Unless you're literally playing golf with a shovel, you can tell precisely where the ball is coming off. 

 

I've heard people say what you're saying for as long as I've played golf--and yes, the race car analogy is always in there--but it's never been true.

 

Every club I've ever picked up, appealing or not, is plenty good enough to generate the required feel. 

 

I'm not saying your point isn't logical...it's just not accurate. 

Edited January 18, 2022 by MelloYello

[DCCarpenter]

I just took out my first set of blades today to the range(Wilson FG53 goosenecks) , I bought them to practice ball striking and possibly game them since I don't have a good set of irons anyway.

 

Rt_charger makes a great point, I hit several shots that generally went where they were supposed to at the range but I could feel they were slightly off on the face with the blade. Using my 1990's cavity back as a comparison I didn't get the same feedback on what I did wrong. 

 

The 9 iron hit like a dream and I preferred it to my cavity back but likely just a better shaft/grip match. I'm not hung up on how far I can hit any individual club there's many longer than me , accuracy is all I care about in my irons. I can place my 9 wood better with less roll out on greens  if I'm further than 150+ anyway so I don't plan on carrying anything over a 7 or 8 iron.

[lefthack]

3 minutes ago, MelloYello said:

 

That's an exaggeration. I could play with Playskool irons and have all the feedback I need. Unless you're literally playing golf with a shovel, you can tell precisely where the ball is coming off. 

 

 

Then it could just be me because I had ZERO idea where the ball hit the face on the Takomo 101's. It went straight as an arrow, but I would look at the face to see where it hit because I couldn't tell. Off the toe, off the heel, thin, dead center, it all felt dull. 

[MelloYello]

13 minutes ago, lefthack said:

 

Then it could just be me because I had ZERO idea where the ball hit the face on the Takomo 101's. It went straight as an arrow, but I would look at the face to see where it hit because I couldn't tell. Off the toe, off the heel, thin, dead center, it all felt dull. 

 

This is one place I think the bags of elite golfers are a valuable insight. You wouldn't see perimeter weighting dominating college & pro ranks if it didn't allow players to feel impact. 

 

What I've always found to be vital is the club be a 1-piece forging. I think it's the multi-material / composite construction that actually makes clubs feel bad. It appears the set you're mentioning is a hollow-headed design? Well, there ya go!

 

You take any soft 1-piece forging, perimeter weighting or not, and you can feel that thing just fine hence why they're so popular among the elites. 

 

I played many sets of non-perimeter-weighted blades over the years from Mizuno, Titleist, Nike and others. I'm not ignorant to how they feel, but it's clear they're being left in the past for a reason. 

 

We hardly ever even see a blade thread on this site anymore! Think about that!!!

Edited January 18, 2022 by MelloYello

[MountainKing]

6 hours ago, MelloYello said:

It's probably not what you think...

 

I used to play blades pretty regularly and I switched away for 2 practical reasons:
 

(1) Blades were providing too much unnecessary feedback

(2) I didn't want to be a range rat working on iron strike 24/7

 

I could also include the fact I play on turf that is usually on the softer / wet side. That means erring on the side of clubs that have less tendency to dig or conversely--spending more time at the range to perfect my impact, LOL. 

 

If you're going to be a good player you'll have to spend a ton of your practice time putting, driving and wedging. I just don't have the time nor the perfect swing to carry a full set of blades. I tried a combo set once but I didn't like the discontinuity in setup, feel, performance, etc. 

 

Blades are certainly fun to look at. They're eye-catching. They elicit some nice compliments. They feel great (at least on good days). And they're easy to clean, too! But in the end, I found I was most happy with a stable club that resists sending the ball off-line and enhances launch consistency. I want to practice my iron-play as little as I can get away with so I can focus on clubs more fundamental to my overall game: driver, wedge, putter, etc.

 

I'll always be a bit of a range rat. I love hitting the ball. But blades encouraged me to overdo that tendency. In the end I switched to to a "player's CB" for the sake of consistency and that had as much to do with feel / perception as anything. I'm not ashamed to say that the extra feedback of a blade was something I didn't honestly care for. 

 

You have to remember that feedback is negative information. It's vibration. A flushed shot provides virtually no vibratory feedback. That's why we say it feels "good." So why have a club that maximizes that extra vibration? It's always going to be more unpleasant than the alternative(s). The only option is to hit it increasingly well, which isn't really needed to play solid golf and it may not be possible for most folks with their imperfect swings. 

 

A player's CB is good enough to feel the imperfections in the strike, but it doesn't distract you from playing the game. It was a perfect amount of feel for me. 

 

I find it interesting that a lot of lower single digit handicap golfers that I play with, myself including, have all gone the route of something that offers up more forgiveness.  On the same lines, seen more guys who shoot in the 80's this year who had blades in the bag.  

[Ger21]

I played blades for 20 years before switching to a more forgiving set this year. To be honest, I miss them. My scores are not lower, and I miss the feeling.

My miss is usually thin, and a forged cavity back is not much different from a blade on slightly thin shots. Where I have noticed a difference is out on the toe a little. I lose about 10 yards less with the cavity back vs blade.

I also like the extra distance from the stronger lofts.

Bottom line is I still hit the ball good on the days I'm swinging good, and bad when I'm not swinging good. Doesn't matter what club is in my hands.

I think after this summer, I'm going to get a combo set with 7-PW blades, and 4-6 forged CB's. Best of both worlds.

[jwadds19]

For myself personally, I dont see much of a difference in my scores regardless of what irons i am playing. 

 

How i manage off the tee and how my short game is day to day make a far far bigger impact on my score than the irons I might play. 

 

Being decently long off the tee, i dont find a need for too many iron shots outside of the lower irons (8/9/P) and wedges, so really for those few par 3s where i might hit a diff club, its really not impacting my scores too too much. 

 

Are you punished more when you get off centre strikes with blades vs others, sure you are, but bad shots are bad shots. Biggest, most GI irons around still chunk it, thin it, or toe slap it, and it doesnt go the distance you intended. You pick the club to hit a yardage, and thats generally planned for a good strike. Make a good strike and it will go the yardage, make a bad one and it wont. Dont matter what ya got. 

[nsxguy]

1 hour ago, lefthack said:

 

If forgiveness is the inability to pinpoint your shot, than I guess it exists. But I've never had a club that turned q bad shot into a good one and that's what I would consider forgiving. 

 

Of course I've only played a hand full of irons, so maybe there is a magic club out there I have yet to hit. But in my experience, forgiveness at least seems like a myth to me. 

 

Forgive me for not remembering but what IS your experience ?

 

You're making it sound like you've been playing for 20+ years.

 

Have you ever played GI irons ?

 

If so, you've never had a poorly struck shot with a GI turn out well ?

 

If you haven't played GIs, how would you know a bad bladed shot wouldn't have turned out better with the GI ?

 

How long have you been playing ? What's your handicap ?

 

You know, just so we know where you're coming from.

[nsxguy]

1 hour ago, rt_charger said:

The problem with this statement is you end up losing the definition of what a centered strike feels like.

 

It's like comparing a race car to a softly sprung sports car. The race car feels harsh and direct, and gives the driver more feedback, allowing him to better feel where the limit of grip is.

 

The same goes for blades, the more feedback, the better you can feel where center is and dial ball striking.

 

With all due respect to the late great Colonel Potter, "Horse hockey".

 

FWIW, the most "numb" feeling club head I've hit is the latest and greatest "Hollow" iron heads.

 

Ping's i500 (haven't hit the i59) and TM's P770 and P790.

 

GIs ? I can feel a centered stroke just fine. The absence of twisting of the club head and/or (often) painful vibration of the shaft.

 

And on most of them, including my Ping G20s, I can pretty much tell you exactly where on the face I've hit the ball. 

[vman]

Blade long irons suck on misshits...very badly. Blade short irons are relatively friendly and easy to hit as they have plenty of loft.

[ChipNRun]

7 hours ago, MelloYello said:

A player's CB is good enough to feel the imperfections in the strike, but it doesn't distract you from playing the game. It was a perfect amount of feel for me. 

 

I'm at the other end - I don't always break 90.

 

When I switched away from stiff shafts in 2009, I played SGI Callaway X20 irons for two seasons. Then, I traded them in for X20 Tours which I played for eight seasons. What I found when I struck a shot:

• X20s: I had to catch the ball flight and track it to tell what kind of shot I had hit - unless it was really bad.
• X20 Tours: I could tell at impact what type of shot I had hit: square, thin or fat. Tours had less metal in clubhead, so the impact feel was more intense.

[lefthack]

32 minutes ago, nsxguy said:

 

Forgive me for not remembering but what IS your experience ?

 

You're making it sound like you've been playing for 20+ years.

 

Have you ever played GI irons ?

 

If so, you've never had a poorly struck shot with a GI turn out well ?

 

If you haven't played GIs, how would you know a bad bladed shot wouldn't have turned out better with the GI ?

 

How long have you been playing ? What's your handicap ?

 

You know, just so we know where you're coming from.

 

I guess my only experience with any GI iron is the Takomo's as I wouldn't consider the Nike Combo sets I had as GI. 

 

I have been playing since '88 (played in junior college with a Sears starter set), but I played the same irons from '97 to '20 (Ping Zing 2's), then I got a little hoey with it. I don't keep score generally so I don't have a handicap. If I'm having a good day, I can shoot par or better on an average course and aI usually only play 9 because that's what I have time for. I play 3-5 days a week for the last 18ish months or so. I think the handicap system is a joke, but that's a whole other thread. 🤣 

 

A bad shot with any club is a bad shot. But if I can tell the last shot was off the toe, I know what to change. I couldn't tell that with the Takomos and that's why I moved back to a one piece forged club and ordered 2 more.  

 

<edit> I'm no expert nor do I claim to be. But in my opinion, forgiveness in clubs is mostly in your head and if that works for you, rock on!

Edited January 19, 2022 by lefthack

[dodgyman]

I play blades through 6i, and have made several attempts to compare player's cavity backs and even game improvement irons just to see what I'm missing. I've become convinced of a few things over the years:

 

- Most of this is mental, I know many people who feel more confident with larget clubs, and smaller ones scare them, and they don't play well. Equally, I'm so used to and like small profiles that when I hit GI irons I tend to hit them worse.

- There is a breaking point where your speed/strike start taking effect. 2 years of shots on ShotScope tell me this is at the 6iron mark, and I'll be changing my setup to adjust, but it's a pretty steep falloff, so I subscribe to the "higher lofts, it doesn't matter theory."

- The #1 difference between these clubs are distances and gapping, this is obvious, but doesn't make you better or worse, just different. If I compare a bladed 7i to an GI 8i it's not that different.

- It really is all about you. I switched from SGIs to MBs and was shocked that my scores did not change, and my improvements and lack thereof don't seem to be related much to what I play. Even if I were to accept there's a noticeable difference between the two, I've played long enough to know that that impact vs. my play is so disproportionate that it's laughable. I don't remember a round where I thought I could attribute more than 1-2 shots to the iron, and even that is debatable.

 

The mental aspect cannot be under-stated. If you feel comfortable, if you like the look and the feel, this will have way more impact on things than anything else. I guess I'm "cursed" with always wanting to play smaller bladed irons, but I'm convinced that mentally there's no way I would shoot any better if I settled for something I didn't like. So play what you like and feels good, and don't worry about what it does to your game as it probably doesn't do much.