Making a transition to blades, recommended or not? - Page 2

My MP57's are about as close as I'll ever get to a real blade.  When I bought them, I was a 12hc and practicing 2 or 3 times a week and improving, but I simply don't have the time to practice enough to hit the ball dead center of the clubface every time.  My typical miss is off the toe, which blades punish harshly.  The 57's make me concentrate on the shot, punish mishits, but don't punish my hands like a typical blade on a toe shot.  I'm in the camp of just getting a player's CB, I don't see blades offering any advantage over a player's CB out on the course for the average golfer.  

 

 

I play cavity backed clubs (G15s) but forged wedges (PW through LW). I get the best of both worlds, forgiveness and higher launch of the cavity back but the feel of a forged wedge.

Just to clarify, forging is one process by which the club head is formed. The other is by casting. Any type of iron, whether blade or cavity back may be made by either process.

If you want blades, get blades.  They really arent THAT much less forgiving than CB irons are.  Im a 20 handicap playing Mizuno MP-60s and really dont have that much trouble with them.

But to be fair, MP-60's aren't a blade either.  They're a cut muscle back like my MP-57s that still offer a level of forgiveness that a true blade doesn't.

 

Clubs like the MP-60 are why I said I don't see blades having any advantage over a player's cavity back.

 

I think you're right Gd. Most of my average 8 - 12 strokes over par come from wayward drives/tee shots, chipping, and 3 putting. Out of curiosity I may start tracking the shots that clearly cost me strokes.

Guess I've been around long enough so I don't judge people based on what they play. If they want to play Miuras, Mizunos, Epons, etc., I'm all for it.

 

It's not a competition, it's about enjoying the game. For some, equipment is a large part of the enjoyment.

 

I might cringe at someone with Miura Baby Blades, but if they enjoy them, even if they can't hit them well, it's okay - it's not about me, it's about their enjoyment. Who am I to judge?

 

If you say "poser," that may say more about you than the guy with Miura Baby Blades.

If equipment is a large part of your enjoyment of the game, play with what you enjoy, knowing your limitations. I've played about every major brand of iron over 18 years of ho'ing, from GI to Blades, and some Japanese Domestic, in search of equipment that would provide an answer. I was looking in all the wrong places. But I've come to peace with myself. I like equipment but have put more time into my swing and short game since 2009.

 

My blades were MP-33s. With a longer heel to toe, they were manageable for me from 6-PW. I played them in the late 90's, I think. In October 2011, I was fitted for Miura PP-9003 from 6-PW, a player's GI set (not that I'm a player, but I can handle them). I didn't go for the entire set because my swing was still in transition. Since that time, I added the 5i and will stop there. I've thought about adding  Miura Blades later in 9i and PW. Why? Just for fun - but the lofts don't match well.

 

Quick Advice is buy what you love and what you can play - if you can play blades in 7-PW, get fitted and add mid-irons later as the budget allows. And if you play a set you love, you're less likely to purchase another set of irons - so getting what you like can save you money in the long run. I imagine that I won't purchase another set of irons until I wear these down - maybe another 5-6 years.

 

Have fun with it.

Happy New Year Pasatiempo and everyone else!

I'm a member of an Alister McKenzie course here in Britain---the greens are hell, with vicious slopes, but otherwise it's OK.

I've been playing golf for nearly 60 years and have always played with blades, because they were the only irons available in the 1950s, but I have tried cavity backs.  These always go very well for a short time, but are so forgiving that in a very short time, I start mis-hitting them as there is no real "feed-back".  I return to my blades and instantly get feed back and this automatically improves my striking. I have therefore dumped the cavity backs I experimented with, despite now being 71.

If I were you, I'd certainly go to blades, but get them with plenty of "bounce" in the soles----I use Ben Hogan Apex blades (with 4 (stiff) shafts for this reason---they have a lot of "bounce", and in consequence do not have to be hit absolutely perfectly to get a good strike.  Blades with little or no bounce are extremely difficult to hit well, even for those with a shallow angle of attack.

The Nike VR blades also have very good "bounce".

David Graham designed for McGregor for years when they still made superb irons, and he maintained that ALL irons should have plenty of bounce. He (and I agree) felt that this is really the most important aspect of any iron, as you can hit down with confidence, without fear of "digging".  Indeed, it is possible to hit slightly "fat" shots, and the club will bounce and take the ball with it, without loss of power.   Try it--you'll never look back.   Good golfing in 2013!!

Great point about bounce - about 5-10 years ago, I'd consistently read a lot of complaints about blades or less forgiving cb's --  digging. Not as many complaints these days, or maybe I'm not reviewing the forums as much. I looked at the specs on Nike and Miura Blades, and saw that Miura redesigned his blades in 2007 and they now have 8 degrees of bounce in shorter irons, decreasing to 5-6  in the mid-irons. I think Nike puts an extra degree of bounce. Today's blades are definitely friendlier than previous models.

Edited by Mr. Desmond - 1/2/13 at 10:31am

You can also custom order a set, say from Titleist for example. You could do an AP2 3-6 irons and 7-PW MB or CB irons.

Just make sure you try before you buy.

I have a few sets for irons (Taylormade rac forged cb's and Miura CB-201's to name two); even though I was shooting well with the rac's and the Miuras, I too had a yearning to play blades and recently bought a set.  I told myself, if the blades didn't work out, I could always go back to my old clubs.  As it turns out, the blades are working out great and I'm not having near as much trouble with them as I feared.  In fact, I'm actually striking the blades quite well and shooting some good scores. 

 

I bought the Wilson Staff Fg 59's by the way and I couldnt be more pleased with them.

I really think it depends on the player. In my case, I switched to MP33's shortly shelter I broke 90 for the first time. I was practicing a lot, playing at least twice a week and had pretty good club head speed. Once I got the blades, I started improving rapidly. Still, over the years, I was such a club ho that I kept trying more forgiving sets, then watching as my game tanked. I would switch back to blades and get mu game back pretty quickly. Anything with a big sole and offset was like poison to me. That made me skeptical, and I decided that forgiving irons were a myth. The only benefits I could possibly see were in getting long irons in the air. Dispersion was still terrible in the short irons. A ten-handicapper playing blades isn't going to go buy a set of Ping G-20's and shoot par, or even 7-over. He might pick up a stroke, but real gains will be made by simply playing smarter. Don't try to hit the par-5 green in two and then make an 8. Do punch the ball out of the woods and back into play rather than trying to hit the 5-iron on to the green through a small gap in the trees. Do take 10 minutes and chip before he round, rather than bash a small bucket with the driver.

I think the forged cavities or a progressive set are the best compromises. But I just don't think forgiveness in irons is as important as in the driver or putter.

 

I can't answer your question from my personal experience. But, I played in a scramble with a former small-college golfer who talked about this matter. In college, he played scratch golf using blades/musclebacks, and said these irons helped him get birdies because of their maneuverability.

 

Several years later, he has a full-time job, a wife and two kids and an 8 HDCP. He now uses cavity back irons because he says he can't practice much, and the edge in forgiveness more than makes up for any potential control or trick-shot benefits of blades.

 

You could always do what a fellow 'Trapper suggested:  buy a blade 3.iron, and use it fore "pure hit" drills on the practice range. Then, use GI cavity irons on the course.

 

Or, you could put impact decals on the face of your GI irons every couple of weeks and make sure you're hitting near center face.  

Whether to get blades has been knocked about for as long as cavity backs have been available as an alternative. I am a mid-handicap and do not see a huge difference in scoring switching back and forth between SGI irons and full on forged blades. I do find that I maybe play a bit more conservatively in the type of long iron shots I take on when playing blades. Sometimes my feel and touch seem better around the greens with blades and my distance control and accuracy can seem better too on short and mid irons. Depending on the course I will replace the blade 3 and 4 irons with SGI irons which are as easy to hit high and long as any hybrid. One thing for sure- trying to play a forged blade with a shaft that is too stiff will seriously impact your ability to execute anything resembling a decent iron shot. Maybe that is why most of the late model blade sets that I see traded in for resale or in the local consignment shop have s300 or 6.0 flex shafts. If you want to give the blades a go spend the time hitting different sets and getting fitted before making the investment. Kind of a luxury to have more than one set of irons when I only golf once or twice a week. If I had to keep only one set probably would let the blades go. Having a backup set, it is fun to put something completely different in the bag to change things up.

IMO, it's very difficult to improve by doing nothing.  As the old saying goes; the definition of insanity is doing the same thing expecting different results.  Unless your equipment is totally trashed or totally ill-fitted, the greatest improvement will be realized by improving the swing.  Suffice to say, if you had $5.50 in your pocket, the swing is the dollars and the equipment is the cents, if that makes sense.

 

Therefore, do I recommend a transition to blades (for the OP)?  No.  Primarily because it doesn't sound like he has the time to work on improving his swing, so I don't think he's going to be able to extract any of the performance benefits they offer--other than an occassional "buttery feel", with his current skill set.  Also, with the constant refinement of (players) cavity backs, there's an abundance of high-performing and forgiving equipment on the market today that provide ample feedback on mis-hits, etc.  Does all of this mean he shouldn't buy blades?  Not necessarily.  The reason is because golf means different things to different people.  Sometimes we want what we want and it's not about being logical.  It's about satisfying our desire.  Sure, we all want lower scores.  However, for some, the desire of playing with equipment meant for pros or for those that are very skilled can be every bit as important (to them) as shooting lower scores.  At the end of the day, it's about being happy.  So, if you think playing with blades will make you happy, then I say buy 'em and start a new chapter in your "Golf Story".

go buy a used 3 iron blade and practice with that, while playing your cavity irons...you'll know after a couple of months.

I couldn't hit long irons at all until I bought MP-33's. Once I get them, the 220 yard 3-iron tee shot became a weapon.