Workability of TM Burner 2.0 and Cobra S3 (NOT S3 Max)?

Just got back into golf after a long layoff due to back problems.  Used to shoot mid-80s on a good day and could work my Tommy Armour 855s shooting 'em high, low, and a little right to left (left to right came much easier ) especially with tee'd long irons.  When I first started playing in the mid-1990s I quickly went thru a set of Wilson Ultra 45s, Top Flite Tours, and Top Flite OSs, before finding Tiommy Armour 855s.  I've now owned four sets of 855s in both the yellow and the black dots (denotes amount of offset) and still have a couple sets of 2 thru SW and 3 thru W3.  I love 855s.  They're long ... relatively forgiving for its' time ... but can still shape the ball.  However, I'm sure technology has changed a lot in 15 years and I want to catch up and try to something that's maybe a little more forgiving on misses while still allowing a little bit of creativity with shots.

So I'm looking for a new set of clubs and have narrowed it down to the TM Burner 2.0 and the Cobra S3 (not the S3 Max), both of which I hit well into a net and which felt good in my hands.  Anecdotal evidence suggests the S3s and the Burners are biased towards that high/soft and string straight shot but that they can still be bent a little and knocked down a bit.  But I haven't talked to anyone who plays them regularly/daily so I'm not sure.  I have read a lot about them both and hit them into a net, but I haven't hit them on the range and might not be able to.  So I'm trying to find out if they can shape ball flight just a little?  Anyone know?  I have always had decent long and mid iron skills and would have broken 80 if I'd actually practiced my short game (I know ... should be a no-brainer).

So in addition to being very forgiving when I accidentally leave my A-Game at the house, I also kinda' need the S3s or the Burner 2.0s to do this (when my swing is up to it, of course) ...

... hit very high, soft, short-iron shots that land on the green and bounce once ... right back into the same ball mark.

... hit a knock-down with a straight, boring trajectory (I played a set of TM RAC OSs once and it was hard to keep 'em low).

... fire off a high(ish), soft right-to-left shot with the long and mid irons (I never could bend anything more lofted than a 7 iron).

.. hit a low, boring, hard-curving right-to-left off the tee with the 3i and 4i (will be buying a 3i too ... I love long irons and have not warmed to hybrids yet.

Anyone know if the S3 or Burner is capable, as long as the guy swinging the club is capable?  I have played with newer clubs (Callaway and TaylorMade) that would only fire high and string straight.  Wouldn't bend the ball worth a crap and it was even a little difficult to hit knock-downs with them.  That's great for beginners, these hugely forgiving irons are awesome and some days I feel like I need a set, too. But most days I need a little more than that.

It seems like you have the skills to work the ball, so you probably could work any club. Most new forgiving irons are, like you said, built to go long and straight. The shaft is probably more important to getting trajectory you would like. With the skills you have you would be better off getting a players cavity in the short irons (TM MC, AP2, MP 59) and maybe the burners or S3 in the long irons. You would be doing yourself a disservice having the short irons in such a forgiving club. You could look at Nike VR Pro Combo. They have a small cavity in the 3-5 and a "players" cavity in the 6-PW. I can get the long irons up in the air and flight them down when needed and are surprisingly forgiving. The 6-PW are very workable and also surprisingly forgiving (not as much as burners or S3 of course.) If everything you say about your iron skills are true, you should look into better players irons. At least in the short irons.

When I'm playing/practicing regularly I can bend them a little.  I'd just like a little more forgiveness right now, since I'm just starting back.  But I don't want the club to fight me once I'm back in shape and trying to shape shots.  Found info on another forum indicating they are long and straight, but they don't fight shaping left and right.  Sounds perfect.

I also found the Cobra S3 Forged irons while looking around.  Will definitely try a set next year if my back is still holding up.

You can work the basic draw and fade with any irons as long as you know how a golf swing works. Seems you have that knowledge.

Clubfitting is all about tradeoffs. If you select an iron that naturally launches the ball high and soft, it may be a challenge to also hit knockdowns with it.

In Golf Digest earlier this year, a club designer suggested that middle HDCP players going into the wind should avoid trying to hit knockdowns: Take an extra club and swinging smoothly.

Again, it depends in part how much time you have to work on specialty shots.

One of the things I struggled with back when I was playing regularly was getting consistent accuracy with knockdowns.  I started working on them again last week (the 855s do it very well) and I have a ways to go.  I can read wind pretty well - I compete in long range shooting/sniper comps - but a variable crosswind and the hard swirling we get sometimes in the middle of tree-lined fairways (Spring especially) still messes with my long and mid irons hitting into the green.  Trying to figure what a still and variable x-wind will be doing on the way up, at the apex, and when falling on the green can be a challenge and is often a SWAG operation.  Knockdowns were usually a safer bet when I could do them well.

Dick's has the S3 without the smoke black finish (nicer looking to me) and I hit it and the TM Burner 2.0 into their launch monitor today.  The lofts on those things must be very strong or the monitor screen isn't accurate.  With my back issues I can no longer make a full turn, but I still hit an easy 7 iron in both clubs to almost 170 yds, which used to be my 5 iron distance with a full swing on the 855s.  And again, the S3s really felt good and seemed to work better for me than the Burner 2.0s.  Even though the clubs are similar in dimensions, shaft length, etc. for some reason I nailed the S3 every time.  Very sweet little click.  Probably going to go pick up a set at the end of the month, and pick up a sand and lob wedge that works with those strong lofts.