Moving to Player's Irons.....

Another advise/opinion thread.....

Currently I'm playing with a set of G10s and growing increasingly frustrated with them.  I have worked on my game a ton over the last two years and it's resulted in a dramatically better swing.  I'm finding myself ballooning my current clubs and my misses are starting to become hooks, which I believe are exagerated due to the large offset.  Also, I know this is more of a mental issue, but I'm finding myself wanting to scoop the ball when using these just because they look like they are meant to slide under the ball.  However, most importantly, I'm just tried of looking at these clubs at address.

Ok, my rant is over... I have played a few rounds with AP2 and absolutely love them.  I haven't had any trouble hitting them, still I think $1200 is a bit much to pay for clubs at this stage in my game.  I have my eyes on a few others and I'm wondering what you good people think.

Ping I20

Callaway Razr X Forged

AP2

Adams CB3

The Razr X Forged really caught my eye, but I've never hit them.  Are they any more difficult to hit than the AP2s?  I found a used set 3-GW for $450.  I hit the CB3 yesterday and thought they were pretty good.  The I20s are also a great club, but I think I want to try something other than ping for now.

Any opinions on forgiveness/feel/ anything else will be great.

Thanks.

Of that lot, I'd go with the Pings or the Titleist clubs.

Before you make the big purchase you might want to get your swing looked at and make sure there isn't an issue there.  I play Callaway shovels and I can still drive them low enough.

I played with the first gen AP2 when I was a 15 handicap despite being labeled as "player's irons." I had a slight learning curve coming from SGI irons but smaller club head actually made me focus a little more on hitting it square on the face.

I'm not sure if there's any big differences between the 2nd gen and the newest AP2, but you can probably get a good deal on the 2nd gen model at a local golf store or online. The best thing for you is to try out each iron itself. Performance and forgiveness is one thing, but the look at address can also have an effect on how well you hit it.

Thanks for the replies.  As far as keeping the ball low, I do not think it's so much my swing as it is the clubs doing what they are designed to do.  Yesterday I played a round with my golf instructor and he agreed that it was more so the club.  Also, played with AP2 for my second round yesterday ;) and when comparing ball flight, the AP2 has a much more penetrating flight.  However, I'm sure there are some things I can do with my swing to bring the flight down as I'm no where near tour status obviously.

I actually had a chance about a month ago to buy my instructors AP2 710s for a steal of a price, but convinced myself I was gonna stick with the G10s for one more season (FAIL).  As far as sheer looks of the club at address, I really like the way the Razr X Forged looks, but it just doesn't seem to be anyone's club of choice and there has to be a reason behind that.  I'm getting off work today and heading straight to Golf Galaxy to swing a few clubs and hopefully narrow down or broaden my club selection.

Make sure you ask about different shaft options.

If you're looking for a forged players iron, you have to give Mizuno's a swing.  I don't think the Ping i20 are forged.  Callaway Xforged look nice, I like the look of the Adams CB irons too, kinda like the old cleveland black pearl irons.

The hooks may or may not be the fault of your clubs and the fact that your shots are ballooning could be a lot of different things (shafts, for one).  Just keep in mind with players' irons that your misses will be much worse and you will need to work on your swing more in order to maintain your swing.

Not trying to bum you out, just sayin'.

You are right, I10s aren't forged, its just one of the clubs I'm considering.  Which Mizuno's would you suggest trying?

I understand that with a players iron I'm going to have to work on my swing routinely to stay consistent, however, I have no problem with that as I already spend 1-2 hrs 5 days a week just on the range.  Now, if I can just get that practice time to carry over to the course, lol.

The Mizuno MP-53, MP-59, MP-63, and the MP-69 (blades) are their players irons. I would recommend going to a fitting (whether sponsored by Mizuno or a third-party) and hitting all of them. They also have a shaft optimizer that will help you pick the right shaft.

the Mizuno vendor at my course suggested a combo of MP 53 and 59 for me. Both of these are great clubs that would fit your need, a little help in the long irons and playability in the short irons. You should also look at Taylormade MC. These clubs were so easy to hit and felt very soft, the only negative is that the long irons might be tougher to hit. Also Nike Pro Combo should be looked at. I just ordered these yesterday.

I'll check them out... heading to GG now.

Last year I picked up the Callaway Diablo Forged irons (I haven't tried the Razr X forged) and I absolutely LOVE these irons.  Soft as butter on a solid hit and good feedback on off center hits.  I imagine Titleist or Mizuno would feel just as nice, so take your time and pick the one that feels best.

No matter what you buy, in this price range you should be fitting the clubs and shafts to your needs: don't buy them off the rack!  I had to order mine, 2degrees flat with TruTemper Gold S300 shafts. I had to wait about 2 weeks, but they came delivered from the factory to my specs.

What does that matter?

Did the guy explain why? I thought the mp-53 were a bit of a combo set (no pocket in the 8+) already and that the mp-63 would have been the "natural choice" if your replacing a couple of high clubs.

My experience as a mid/high capper is that hitting the 8-pw is pretty easy even if you go with a true blade. A 4 or 5 iron on the other hand is a different story and I would lose a ton of shots if I tried to play a round with the. The 7 & 6 depend on the day.

Good question. I have a couple sets of forged irons that'll rattle your bones when hit poorly.

On the weekend I went to the range with my daughter and took a 1/2 set of random Clevelands. The TA1s and TA3s felt pretty good on good swings, but the TA7s (2 iron and 6-iron) which are investment cast but apparently have Cleveland's "Vibration Absorbing System" (that acronym probably rings a bell) felt 100% awesome on every swing. It felt like cheating. They're all sorts of ugly and game improvement as heck, but man they're just so easy to hit.

I'm with ya. I have the G10's and my real big issue with them is they look huge at address and it's hard to keep them down into the wind. I'm going to go with the Titleist over any other brand because they're the best deal for me. I'm going with the AP2's and hit the demo yesterday and absolutely love the new AP2's (have tired the originals). I'd say try to hit all the irons you're looking at. My boss played the AP2's up until this year. He switched to the Ping i20s and said he loves them so much more and said he gained distance with them. Food for thought.

I guess i never thought about the blade for the 8-pw, and i am sure they would be perfectly fine too. I just really like the 59 but not for the long irons.

So I went and hit several clubs at GG.  I absolutely love the Callway Razr X Forged, but the guy at GG thinks they are too much club and the stiffness is too much at 6.0 for my swing speed.  My swing speed was 78 mph with a 6i, however, I have to keep in mind I was completely cold so it has to increase a bit as I get warmed up.  I hit several irons including: Ping Answer, Ping S56, Mizuno JP 800 Pro, AP2, and a muscle back from Mizuno that I cant remember, all of which were 6i.  My dispertion, according to the monitor was 15-20 yds right of the target line and an average carry of 173 yds.  Keep in mind that the clubs would need to be bent upright, as they were standard so my shots are definately going to be right of my target.  I mishit one ball out of about 40 and my grouping was all within 5-8 yards of one another, no matter what club I hit.

I don't know if I should listen to the guy and not get the Razr or go with it because I like it, even though I realize it's too stiff.  I figure as my swing gets better, speed will increase or maybe that's just me trying to justify it.

From a financial standpoint, I can get the entire set, 3-AW for $450, which means if it turns out I cant hit them consistently, I can sell them and should very well be able to recoup my loss.  The JP 800 Pro was nice, but didnt like the look at address, it still feels like a SGI to me for some reason, even though I guess it technically isn't.

Please offer up opinions as I really want to make a purchase as early as tomorrow before someone over bids on the Razr X Forged before I can get them at the $450 price.

Thanks Folks.

BTW, after hitting those shots I went to the range and hit my G10s like absolute sh!t, wasn't getting the distance I normally get, but that could have been because the flags were farther than I thought due to the practice zone being moved back and a slightly windy day, BUT STILL, I look down at my clubs pre-swing and hated them!