blade for beginner?

[StuartRS]

[b]Play whatever you want to play. [/b]The advice on these forums is good, but it is all too easy to see a thread about 'G15s' or 'you should not use blades' and letting it influence your decision.

I started playing at the age of 13 and back then pretty much everyone I played with had blades (Mizuno, Maruman, Ben Hogan) or ping eye 2.

I started with blades (Excel Forged, whoever they were), then moved on to Titleist Tour Model both with DG R300. I went from a 30hcp to 11hcp in about 3 yrs. Low round at that time was 76 (Par 72, 6700 yrds), and had many nine holes of +1,2,3 as I got lower. But it wasn't always about the score, I loved the feeling of hitting it pure, something that has stayed with me for 21 years.

My bag back then consisted of a Mizuno TP15 4 wood DG R300, 3-SW, putter. No extra wedges, no driver or multiple fairways/hybrids, and since then the only irons that have come close are Mizuno MP60s. I would certainly say that using GI or SGI didnt make me enjoy the game any more.

Tomorrow I am picking up a new set of Mizuno MP-68 Nickel finish 3-Pw, putting them into a bag with my old 4w, a Sand wedge and a putter, then going out for 18 and having some fun.

Golf is not always about your score, golf is about getting out in the fresh air, enjoying the tranquility, a round with your mates, having fun, remembering your best shots, the banter, the feel when you pure one or draw one 30 yards around a tree.

Lastly, I hit plenty of tops, fats, thins when I was learning to play the game, but never once have I regreted learning with blades.

[sgniwder99]

Sorry if someone else has already mentioned this, but have you considered a combo set? You're obviously pretty enamored of blades--which I can totally identify with, because I am, too--but make no mistake: a small, thin blade with minimal offset will almost certainly be more difficult for a beginner to hit when you get up into the long irons (there may be exceptions to this, but I'd guess that there aren't a lot of them).

There are plenty of combo sets out there that would give you blades for the 7 or 8i through PW, and a player's CB for the 4-6i (and 3i, if there is one in the set), that would at least offer you some forgiveness without even really sacrificing much feel. And there are plenty that you could get relatively cheaply:
Hogan Apex FTX
older Nike Pro Forged Combos (I played these up until this week; very good clubs)
Cobra Pro CB/MB combo set (just got a beautiful set wicked cheap off BST)
Titleist ZB
Probably others...

You could also put together a combo set. If you've got the money, you could even get two sets from the same manufacturer, and start with CBs in the bag for several of the longer irons, then swap them out for the blades as you become a more consistent ballstriker.

Just a thought.

[Desert Golf]

It is your money to spend on what you like but a 30+ handicap will most likely regret playing blades.
I'm a 10HC and I am not close to being a good enough ballstriker to switch to blades. Buy a GI set with a couuple of hybrids and go get some lessons!

[snowmen10]

At the end I bought Callaway X-Prototype... Somebody said it's not really a blade but I think the feel is good enough for me.

I also borrow a set of AP1. While others being the same, I find out the lowest score is made with X-Prototype!

I'm totally confident hitting X-Prototype 7i, 8i, and 9i. Even if I miss-hit I'm still around the area of what I think is acceptable. I can cover PW's distance with my 53 wedge so I didn't use PW. 6i from X-Prototype is a little bit shaky sometimes and that's when AP1 comes in handy. I can't hit anything with 5i and 4i X-Prototype, but a miss-hit on AP1 doesn't help neither. So overall I do see AP1's beneficial, but I think I have more problem with my driver, fairway wood, and hybrid. I can lower my score if I fix those problem. I think I'll stick with X-Prototype until those problem has been fixed. By that time if I still can't lower my score, I'll probably give GI another try.

[-o0DanKNesS0o-]

I went from Walmart clubes for a month or two.. to taylormade burners. They are a sleek muscle/cavity back i got for cheap. They aren't big and bulky and not a lot of offsets. Optically the offset of a big game improvement iron makes me not even want to try to hit a ball, same reason most hybrids look atrocious to me.

After six months or so I went w a new set of fg17s. Kicked my butt at first but ultimately made me a better player, now that could also just have been my natural progression in the sport. I enjoy the butter feel sleek looks and immediate response a blade offers. I also imply a multitude of shots w each iron from high draw to low hook so the blade for me is easier to work.

I gamed those for probably two or three years until tearing.my ACL. When I got back into golf a friend of mine was selling some bridgestone j33bs. These had a little stronger lofts but still more traditional than todays standards, bigger heads especially in the long irons, and still felt great when pured. So I retired the old wilsons and play the ish out of these.

For ME a blade or similar forged muscle was the best thing to look down at and helped me learn all the different shots I have. Go with what you like, in golf it means a lot more to like your club then most anything. Good luck

[bushy007]

Don't listen to anyone except a good honest fitter. I was going to get a highly rated cavity set until I tried plenty of sets of blades at the behest of my pro. You see during testing the impact tape was showing that I'm actually a pretty good ball striker, better than I ever thought. End result, blades are in the bag,GIR are up, scOres are down, hc down. If the op can hit them regardless of hc then get them. They are much more beneficial to a player than gi or sgi irons but only if you can hit them well enough to enjoy yourself.

[bushy007]

Chances are the people prophecising disaster have never played blades in their life.

[tourhopefull]

I say buy what you hit best and what feels and looks best to [b][u]YOU[/u][/b]. Like some others have said, you could always buy a mixed set[b] ie:[/b] 3-5 iron= players cavity or GI's. 6-pw= blades. Like some others have said tho, you can always get a set of players cavity irons that will give you that feel and workability that you want with the benefit of having a little extra forgiveness. I personally am a pretty decent ball striker but I play players cavity clubs (mizuno mp 59s to be exact). But to each their own so I would say go to a demo day or a local shop that has demo clubs and hit every thing you possibly can and figure out what feels the best and gives you the best numbers. If you can find a place with a trackman or better yet a place with a trackman that has an outdoor range too, you can see what the ball is really doing and have the data to confirm it. But I think its more important to be hitting outdoors to see what your ball is really doing if you cant find somewhere with both. Lastly, get fit by a true fitter that knows what the hell they are doing! and no most dicks, golf galaxy and other big box stores dont have fitters that know what they are doing......not to say none of them do but very few at best. do your reseach on fitters in your area....custom fitting is one of the single most important things you should have done when buying clubs.

[jcwooddt]

I started golf by playing blades (Titleist 690MB) when I was about 13. I will say that they are harder to hit than other irons, but if you are willing to put a lot of time into golf, they will give you great results. Almost like practicing putting on a smaller hole will make you a better putter, it is the same thing with blades. You will learn quickly not to miss the sweet spot. Ball striking now is the best and most solid part of my game

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

Doesn't matter that it ain't a blade. Those X-Proto irons are great clubs! Best not to let silly labels rule your life (in golf and otherwise).

[cheeks]

Cracks me up how some people....and some OEM marketing departments for that matter....act like a recreational golfer playing blades is equivalent to a 2 year old walking around with a loaded gun. For the love of God, don't do it !!! (they say).

Wonder what happened to beginners in the 1970s whose only choice was blades? Not only did they never get good at golf, I guess they killed themselves in the process.

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

From my couple of months playing a set of 1951 blades and persimmon woods my observation is this. Your really bad swings will make just laughably bad results. if you hit one seriously fat or come into impact with a wide-open clubface or just chop down on the ball like splitting wood with an axe it's going to hurt your hands, the ball ain't going nowhere and you might dig a ditch that needs heavy machinery to backfill.

But here's the thing. Those shots weren't going to be on the green anyway. Or anywhere near the green. With any club ever made. A modern hacker's club might not sting as bad or might bounce through the turf easier or might turn a whiff into a bladed toe-jam. But it's a wasted stroke no matter what.

You're still going to score by following each really bad shot with a better one and by getting the ball in the hole expediently when you do finally whack it up around the green. That hasn't changed since 1951 and it's no different playing Mizuno blades, Callaway X-Prototypes or the latest whiz-bang SGI wonder from Ping.