Mizuno pro 221

[Joesti]

First post but wanted to hear opinions from other golfers on these irons. This will be my first set of blades ever. I went in for an iron fitting as my swing has changed a lot from last year and the shafts and lie angle on my current p770 irons were not correct for me anymore. I hit a few different models and ended on 2 options. The mizuno pro 221 and the cobra king cb irons. I seemed to hit the 221 the best and I couldn’t get over how great it felt. Here is where I’m having a mental regret possibly after ordering the mizuno. I am an 8 handicap and am wondering if I made a mistake ordering them. I asked my fitter like 4 times if he was sure I was good enough to play them and he didn’t blink every time assuring me I was. I’m a shallow in to out swing path. Irons and wedges are my strong suit in my game. Can you guys give me some insight on what they are like to play? I am pretty consistent on strikes and live generally center to slightly center heel side on strikes. I hit the ball high with my p770s and wanted to bring it down some and the 221 helped out a little bit by bringing the launch down about 2 degrees. The blades were not even on my radar until he handed it to me. I also tried the t100 and for some reason could not get along with it. I hit it horribly. Here are some numbers from the fitting. Any insight would be appreciated. I ordered them last week so if you guys think I made a mistake I might be able to change to the cobra cb. 

[Nard_S]

22 minutes ago, Joesti said:

I ordered them last week so if you guys think I made a mistake I might be able to change to the cobra cb. 

If you have a heel side miss, the buy is okay but be aware, you are dealing with more spin, there's more calculus involved with that on shot selection. 221's are a great choice. Tee ball and that 100 feet in matter more than is ever discussed. So hope you enjoy it.

[Joesti]

16 minutes ago, Nard_S said:

If you have a heel side miss, the buy is okay but be aware, you are dealing with more spin, there's more calculus involved with that on shot selection. 221's are a great choice. Tee ball and that 100 feet in matter more than is ever discussed. So hope you enjoy it.

Thanks for that. Makes me feel better about the purchase. I’m very analytical on my numbers, I have a simulator in my garage with a uneekor eye mini and probably hit over 1000 balls a week. I’ll definitely keep an eye on spin for them and shot shape. We ordered them 1 flat/strong and the numbers from my fitting are standard lie/loft. Hoping the 1 strong and flat help bring it down a hair more in launch and take a little more of the left spin axis off. 

Edited October 18, 2023 by Joesti

[Kale_m]

You will be fine. It’s all in your head. Play what you want, you are not playing for a living 

[Pnwpingi210]

24 minutes ago, Kale_m said:

You will be fine. It’s all in your head. Play what you want, you are not playing for a living 

Agreed.

 

@Joesti - looks like both the cobra and the 221 are giving you the same results.   Either would work.

 

the only nuance is how the soles get through the turf for you.  You won’t know that till you hit them on some grass.

[craz-e]

You mentioned in your write up that you have a shallow angle of attack, irons with a narrower sole could potentially just be a better fit for you.

The 221 is a nice blade with a good level of forgiveness, I see no reason why you can't play them. You might end up enjoying your golf a lot more with those super sweet, satisfying shots that are more addictive than drugs! 

[Joesti]

3 hours ago, craz-e said:

You mentioned in your write up that you have a shallow angle of attack, irons with a narrower sole could potentially just be a better fit for you.

The 221 is a nice blade with a good level of forgiveness, I see no reason why you can't play them. You might end up enjoying your golf a lot more with those super sweet, satisfying shots that are more addictive than drugs! 

You guys are making me feel a lot better about my purchase! I take a very shallow divit. I’m barely down on a 7 iron like 1-2 degrees. I love the look and feel of the 221 but never thought I’d be able to play it. And honestly almost carry it as far as my p770 7 iron. Hopefully it works well on grass. My p770 dispersion is getting kinda out of whack but it’s the shaft. I was playing a dynamic gold 105 stiff and he fit me into a nippon modus 120 x stiff. I felt like I could control the face a ton better with that shaft. 

Edited October 19, 2023 by Joesti

[craz-e]

25 minutes ago, Joesti said:

You guys are making me feel a lot better about my purchase! I take a very shallow divit. I’m barely down on a 7 iron like 1-2 degrees. I love the loom and feel of the 221 but never thought I’d be able to play it. And honestly almost carry it as far as my p770 7 iron. Hopefully it work well on grass. My p770 dispersion is getting kinda out of whack but it’s the shaft. I was playing a dynamic gold 105 stiff and he fit me into a nippon modus 120 x stiff. I felt like I could control the face a ton better with that shaft. 

 

I started my blade journey when I was a 12 HCP and quickly dropped after putting them in the bag. Enjoy your journey

[Avidswampthing66]

Those Mizzy #'s are simply fantastic!  The clubs were clearly working for you.  Strike a lot of times dictates ball speed, and the ball speed with the blades was more consistent and higher.  The cool thing is, if you get on the course and feel they spin up a little, you can always switch to a slightly lower spinning ball.  I'm not suggesting the spin was too high, just saying

[Joesti]

1 hour ago, Avidswampthing66 said:

Those Mizzy #'s are simply fantastic!  The clubs were clearly working for you.  Strike a lot of times dictates ball speed, and the ball speed with the blades was more consistent and higher.  The cool thing is, if you get on the course and feel they spin up a little, you can always switch to a slightly lower spinning ball.  I'm not suggesting the spin was too high, just saying

He fit me using a chrome soft and I typically play a chrome soft x ls so hopefully it puts the spin in a good number. The 221s numbers were a huge surprise to me. I didn’t think It would perform that well for me!

[Pnwpingi210]

1 minute ago, Joesti said:

He fit me using a chrome soft and I typically play a chrome soft x ls so hopefully it puts the spin in a good number. The 221s numbers were a huge surprise to me. I didn’t think It would perform that well for me!

By the looks of it, you delivering the club head well and have some speed (90-ish club head speed with 7 iron). 

 Most of the bad press on mbs and traditional cb is from folks that are on the lower end end of average club head speed or had path/face control issues.   

[RogerinNewZealand]

19 minutes ago, Pnwpingi210 said:

By the looks of it, you delivering the club head well and have some speed (90-ish club head speed with 7 iron). 

 Most of the bad press on mbs and traditional cb is from folks that are on the lower end end of average club head speed or had path/face control issues.   

Great comparison numbers. Now i see why T100 doesnt work for many. So much variation in the results . Best evidence i have seen against them. The Mizunos were clearly most consistent. Cobras a good 2nd place. Welcome to Mizuno🤗

[Canyonaro]

Stop worrying. In a few months you'll be kicking yourself for not buying these sooner. You're more than good enough & more importantly, you have enough speed. The accuracy of the short irons is going to blow you away on the course. 

[Joesti]

These comments have given me faith that I made the correct decision, thanks for the feedback guys! Im typically in the 88mph speed on average for my 7 iron. I got the 221 all the way through the set so I don't know how well ill be able to play the 4 and 5 iron but I like long irons so hopefully the top end work out. I am probably going to have to rework the top of my bag anyways. I was playing p770 4-pw and a 790 3 iron before. I may get the 3 iron in a 223 since I know the shaft in the 790 3 iron isn't the best for me now. Im the type of player that has more confidence in a 3 iron than a hybrid or wood for some reason.

[Tree Levino]

2 minutes ago, Joesti said:

These comments have given me faith that I made the correct decision, thanks for the feedback guys! Im typically in the 88mph speed on average for my 7 iron. I got the 221 all the way through the set so I don't know how well ill be able to play the 4 and 5 iron but I like long irons so hopefully the top end work out. I am probably going to have to rework the top of my bag anyways. I was playing p770 4-pw and a 790 3 iron before. I may get the 3 iron in a 223 since I know the shaft in the 790 3 iron isn't the best for me now. Im the type of player that has more confidence in a 3 iron than a hybrid or wood for some reason.

 

No reason you can't play them. I will say that given the hook spin and launch angle combined with high-ish spin (off of grass that will jump to mid 7000s at least) I'd invest heavily in some swing work and lessons. You will not likely need to refit your irons so definitely go with that set because you hit them best. The spin and launch tell me that you've got a pretty strong in-to-out flip that could cause problems with low bounce irons like the 221 outdoors. I would assume with that motion and the pretty consistent numbers that your miss is more vertical on the face (thin and fat) rather than heel and toe side? 

[Joesti]

10 hours ago, Tree Levino said:

 

No reason you can't play them. I will say that given the hook spin and launch angle combined with high-ish spin (off of grass that will jump to mid 7000s at least) I'd invest heavily in some swing work and lessons. You will not likely need to refit your irons so definitely go with that set because you hit them best. The spin and launch tell me that you've got a pretty strong in-to-out flip that could cause problems with low bounce irons like the 221 outdoors. I would assume with that motion and the pretty consistent numbers that your miss is more vertical on the face (thin and fat) rather than heel and toe side? 

Ya I would say my miss would be a thin shot rather than a toe/heel. I have been taking lessons this season and am going to continue to take more. I would like to increase my shaft lean some to lower my launch angle. I’m a high apex high spin player for sure. 

[SamGreeman13]

I just ordered a set of 221s recently that I’m waiting for and here’s what I will tell you;

I think golf is less fun with more forgiving clubs and actually can make the game harder. I’ve used the 225s for a year and a half now and my iron play is the weakest part of my game (8.5 hcp). A few months ago, I bought a Titleist 620 mb 3 iron. Absolute butter knife. I originally bought it as a training club to help me dial in the strike. Well I hit it at the range a few times and it’s been in the bag for 3 months now. For me, it makes me focus on hitting the middle of the face more, and having it in the bag actually made my iron striking slightly better. I think there’s never a problem with putting clubs that are “hard to hit” in your bag because they will make you better. They make you focus on striking it in the middle more, and distance control is much better

[MattC555]

If your miss is heel or thin you'll have no problem with the blades.  I'd keep the set as is, as long as you can elevate the long irons fine.  I play the previous model and my buddy plays the 221's.  Love 'em both!

Edited October 20, 2023 by MattC555

[Joesti]

They came in super fast like 8 days. Played 18 on my simulator and 18 on course this morning. On course I had the best iron play I have ever had. Firt hole was a par 4 and I put my p790 3 iron just off the fairway in the right rough. I shot it at 178 slightly uphill. Grabbed the 6 iron 221 and put it 5 feet from the pin. It was one of those love at first sight kinda moments. I hit a lot of greens with them today. More than usual with my old p770s. Definitely had a few mishits that told me where I struck it wrong but even then the ball was close to the distance I wanted it to go. I can’t believe how well these things work for me. I was so worried the 5 and 4 iron were going to be so hard to hit but to be honest after playing them I’m kind of wishing I got a 3 iron. I hit the 4 iron multiple times today and was getting a solid 205ish carry on it. It was wet as it’s been raining for the last 3 days so they were sticking where they hit. 

[Pnwpingi210]

4 minutes ago, Joesti said:

They came in super fast like 8 days. Played 18 on my simulator and 18 on course this morning. On course I had the best iron play I have ever had. Firt hole was a par 4 and I put my p790 3 iron just off the fairway in the right rough. I shot it at 178 slightly uphill. Grabbed the 6 iron 221 and put it 5 feet from the pin. It was one of those love at first sight kinda moments. I hit a lot of greens with them today. More than usual with my old p770s. Definitely had a few mishits that told me where I struck it wrong but even then the ball was close to the distance I wanted it to go. I can’t believe how well these things work for me. I was so worried the 5 and 4 iron were going to be so hard to hit but to be honest after playing them I’m kind of wishing I got a 3 iron. I hit the 4 iron multiple times today and was getting a solid 205ish carry on it. It was wet as it’s been raining for the last 3 days so they were sticking where they hit. 

Awesome write up.  Glad these are working well!

[Joesti]

10 minutes ago, Pnwpingi210 said:

Awesome write up.  Glad these are working well!

I have a 2 man scramble even tomorrow so I should be putting them to the test. My partner is roughly the same handicap as me so hopefully we can go decently low. I have a lot of confidence standing over these after today! 

[Joesti]

On 10/20/2023 at 1:39 PM, MattC555 said:

If your miss is heel or thin you'll have no problem with the blades.  I'd keep the set as is, as long as you can elevate the long irons fine.  I play the previous model and my buddy plays the 221's.  Love 'em both!

It definitively low heel haha. Looking at strike on the face of the 9 from the first day it’s middle to middle heel for sure. It’s working very well tho. The p770 didn’t seem to like that strike location. Its distance control was way worse than the 221. 

[PowerCobra98]

Finishing up a build today for a set of 221’s.  Just need to finish the ferrules and then bend for loft/lie.  Looking forward to adding them to my rotation.

[Joesti]

8 hours ago, PowerCobra98 said:

Finishing up a build today for a set of 221’s.  Just need to finish the ferrules and then bend for loft/lie.  Looking forward to adding them to my rotation.

You are going to love them. Second time playing them on course today and turf interaction is great. Much better than my 770s. This probably has a lot to do with the new shafts but I’m finding the center of the face more now. 

[Whatnogarnish]

2 hours ago, Joesti said:

You are going to love them. Second time playing them on course today and turf interaction is great. Much better than my 770s. This probably has a lot to do with the new shafts but I’m finding the center of the face more now. 

Im glad you started this thread. I play at 9 and my club path and miss is pretty much just like you, but I have been so heel side this year, shanks came out randomly.… but this started when I got my 923Ts, and only in the 7-pw. I had MP5s before and never had a problem. I demo’d the 221 back when they originally released, and the fitter said I also hit them well.. ended up with 223s due to confidence at the time. 
 

anyway I wonder if COG in the JPXs are jacking with me. And I think you made the right choice. Great job and enjoy em. 

[Joesti]

15 hours ago, Whatnogarnish said:

Im glad you started this thread. I play at 9 and my club path and miss is pretty much just like you, but I have been so heel side this year, shanks came out randomly.… but this started when I got my 923Ts, and only in the 7-pw. I had MP5s before and never had a problem. I demo’d the 221 back when they originally released, and the fitter said I also hit them well.. ended up with 223s due to confidence at the time. 
 

anyway I wonder if COG in the JPXs are jacking with me. And I think you made the right choice. Great job and enjoy em. 

I think these work so well for me because of the low COG and my low strikes. They are not nearly as unforgiving as I thought they would be. Yesterday I stuck a green into some heavy head wind with a 4 iron from 190. No thought of oh man I might miss hit this as I stood over the ball on the tee.

[RoyalMustang]

I have a blended set and they are fantastic! I am not keeping them though, only as they aren't out-performing my old MP20 MMCs and really can't justify a bunch of different sets laying around. But boy, they are sweet. The impact of the 7-iron when flushed feels significantly better than the MMC 7-iron, and that is already one of the sweetest feeling irons on the market. 

 

I love the profile and thinner sole. They were already working for me but as I've gone from a 6 to a 3 the last couple of months, I've definitely needed the MMC forgiveness less. Granted, I only have them up through 7-iron. I'd want a player's cavity for the 4 and 5 at least. 

 

I haven't detected a difference in scores between these, my MMCs, and my Cally MB21/Apex Pro blended set. All great irons if the shaft setup works for you. I haven't been on a LM with my 7 but my SS is 115 with driver. If anything, I get too much spin with the 221 when greens are soft. My home course isn't an issue but when I play somewhere that is running at 6 or 8, the ball can fire back a crazy amount. 

[Joesti]

22 hours ago, RoyalMustang said:

I have a blended set and they are fantastic! I am not keeping them though, only as they aren't out-performing my old MP20 MMCs and really can't justify a bunch of different sets laying around. But boy, they are sweet. The impact of the 7-iron when flushed feels significantly better than the MMC 7-iron, and that is already one of the sweetest feeling irons on the market. 

 

I love the profile and thinner sole. They were already working for me but as I've gone from a 6 to a 3 the last couple of months, I've definitely needed the MMC forgiveness less. Granted, I only have them up through 7-iron. I'd want a player's cavity for the 4 and 5 at least. 

 

I haven't detected a difference in scores between these, my MMCs, and my Cally MB21/Apex Pro blended set. All great irons if the shaft setup works for you. I haven't been on a LM with my 7 but my SS is 115 with driver. If anything, I get too much spin with the 221 when greens are soft. My home course isn't an issue but when I play somewhere that is running at 6 or 8, the ball can fire back a crazy amount. 

They feel incredible off the center. I play in a monday night topogolf league with my buddies and have always been deadly with a wedge going at the green target but just ok with my mid irons going at the brown, blue, and white. Well this week with the 221's I was on fire. I couldnt miss. I feel these completely transformed my iron game. They definitely spin a good bit but for me the are hitting and sticking near the pitch mark on the greens. My old irons would roll out about 10 feet from the pitch mark.

[RoyalMustang]

12 minutes ago, Joesti said:

They feel incredible off the center. I play in a monday night topogolf league with my buddies and have always been deadly with a wedge going at the green target but just ok with my mid irons going at the brown, blue, and white. Well this week with the 221's I was on fire. I couldnt miss. I feel these completely transformed my iron game. They definitely spin a good bit but for me the are hitting and sticking near the pitch mark on the greens. My old irons would roll out about 10 feet from the pitch mark.

 

That's awesome! You can't go wrong with Mizzy forged iron! 

[Joesti]

Just wanted to follow up and give a more long term feedback on the 221 irons for others thinking about going this route. I was extremely worried that I made a mistake right after ordering them until I had a chance to play the whole set. I consider myself a decent ball striker but had always heard that blades were super unforgiving and basically you had to be super consistent to even think about playing them. I’m here to tell you that is 100% false. Comparing these to the p770s I was playing before I don’t feel like there is a huge difference in forgiveness until the 5 and 4 iron. The 5 and 4 I would say are less forgiving than something like a p770 for sure but still not something I would be overly concerned on. My distances are dead nuts the same as my p770s were (221 irons are 1* strong p770s were stock loft). In terms of consistency these are leaps and bounds better than the 770s. Turf interaction is also much better. My iron play right now is the best it has ever been. I feel these irons have made me more focused. Keep in mind I also swing these 5-6 days a week and have a home simulator. If you play once a week and don’t practice maybe not the right choice. Now take everything I said with a grain of salt as my miss is usually heel side. If you hit these on the toe you will have a bad time. To sum up my 2 month in review… if you are a decent ball striker and you don’t miss towards the toe a lot MAKE THE LEAP! I never thought I would be playing blades but they are definitely a correct fit for me and will be in the bag for the foreseeable future.