your opinion is appreciated....seeking an iron set that fits my game

Hello All - I'm in a unique spot as both sets of irons that I currently have do not really fit my game currently.  I've been playing for what will be 3 years come this June.  My current hc is officially at 5.4 and I hit balls a few times a week at the range and play when I can and when the weather permits.  I have a set of TM Speedblades and Bridgestone J40 combo (3-6 dpc, 7-pw cb).

I feel like I’m in a bit of a tough spot. I love the looks and feel of the Bridgestone J40 irons that I have, however the issue is that while I’m fine to play them in the summer usually, it’s hard to play them in the winter.  They are much smaller and have much less room for forgiveness.  The lofts are also very weak as well and trying to hit a players iron off frozen ground in the winter is basically impossible for me at this time.  In summer time and warm conditions I am able to play them but it’s still probably a bit of a stretch for me to play them and shoot my best.  I can get by with them, but where I’m at in my golf game is probably something with a bit more forgiveness.  I am a huge fan of the Project X 5.0 flighted shafts.  My favorite shafts for sure, but they are also tapered. I bought J40 irons in 2013 but they had the Nippon NS Pro 1050 shafts and I did not like them at all.  I also was not good enough to play those irons then either.

I would recommend Taylormade Speedblade irons to anyone that is a 10-12 handicap or higher. I hit the snot out of those things.  How do I know I hit the snot out of them?  A friend’s joke that he always says to me mocks what I find myself frequently saying on the course….”I can’t believe that went long of the green”.  Fact is that I’m still gaining distance as my ball striking and strength improves which is good but like many things in life, it can be too much of a good thing.  Last night I was at the range and it was below 32 degrees out.  I was hitting the 6 iron into a very slight breeze 175+ yards.  Granted this was from a mat, it was still with Pinnacle range balls, yes Pinnacle range balls.

The speedblades are great irons and I enjoyed them a lot in 2014. After all it was with those irons that I had what I consider a successful year in going from 8 and change to 5 and change for my handicap.  They are cast clubs though.  While I don’t want to sound like a snob or someone that is not humble, I can really tell the difference even hitting range balls.  The distances while tremendous with the speedblades, are not always consistent enough and the ball flies too high and balloons sometimes.  Other times I hit a boring high gentle drawing bullet that goes many yards past the green.  They are game improvement irons and they do what they say they will do.

I’ve come to the realization that I’m in a unique spot. My own opinion is that I am probably not quite as good as my handicap suggests, all things being equal.  It’s close but I’d say I’m mid to high 6’s instead of low to mid 5’s.  I benefit because I play MCC a lot and know it so well and my short game has improved so much that it gives me an extra benefit.  While my ballstriking has improved and continues to, I’m at a point in my golf game where I’m not quite enough of a “big boy” to play the Bridgestone J40 irons and I’ve outgrown the Speedblades and don’t need more distance from irons, I need more consistency and ability to shape the ball differently.

You know what sucks about this? There is almost nothing out there for someone in my skill/experience range.  Most people with similar handicaps have been playing for so much longer that they are comfortable using a forged players iron.  By this summer I will be okay I think, but I still think I could benefit from something in between.  Unfortunately there is almost nothing in between.  The speedblades while great clubs and irons that I would be happy to use in weather like we’ve had lately because the conditions are so bad they don’t hurt me, are just not good enough if I want to improve further.  I can’t be hitting back to back shots where one goes one distance and the next one flies several yards further from the same lie.  And this is the case with the speedblades.  Furthermore even the speedblades have too much offset for my liking now.  I need a mid-trajectory flight instead of the skyscraping heights I hit with the speedblades, which by the way is not a good thing in windy winter conditions.

I don’t HAVE TO have forged clubs. I just need clubs that are more consistent, are smaller, have less offset, yet still provide a level of forgiveness.  I looked at Titleist irons and the 712 and 714 AP1 irons are cast and are very good irons but they are too much like the speedblades in how much offset.  The AP2 irons from Titleist are similar to the J40’s, and it’s too much of a jump for me.  Same thing with Ping.  I can’t believe that there is not something out there that is more of an in between between the game improvement and players irons that the manufacturers offer.  For what it’s worth, the J40’s that I have are cavity back and dual pocket cavity’s.  It’s not like they are actual muscle back irons.  It’s just that they are probably a bit too small and don’t have quite enough forgiveness for me right now and also the lofts are very very weak.  The 7 iron in the J40’s is the same loft as the 8 iron in the speedblades.  Loft for loft I hit the J40’s almost if not just as far as the speedblades.  For example, the speedblade 8 iron (34.5 loft) carries 145+ while the J40 7 iron (35.0 loft) carries roughly the same distance.

Ideally I’d like to find something in between that I’m comfortable with but there does not seem to be that much out there. Any suggestions?  So far I’ve found the following that may be candidates:

The Mizuno MP-54 irons seem like a candidate. So do the TM SLDR irons. Mizuno JPX EZ Forged Irons? Mizuno JPX 850?  TM RSI2 irons?

FYI, I will probably trade in/sell the speedblades once/if I find something in between. I plan to keep the J40 combo set because I would only get under a $100 for trading them in and they are in great shape and are something that I can grow into in the future as I continue to improve.

I have played j40 cb's and they are more forgiving than you think. If you want a step up from there in forgiveness but don't like tons of offset i'd recommend these . In my experience the MP 54's are the same forgiveness if not less than the j40 cb's. They are certainly a thinner club.

Mizuno MP h5's

Nike covert forged  (this one surprises people)

Srixon 545

I think you are over thinking your bag far too much. Tons of pros play game improvement irons and there are plenty of 10+ handicaps using blades doing just fine.

Regarding distance control. Hot spots in cast irons pretty much a myth. Like anyone who isn't a pro, your swing speed is going to vary between swings. Every so often you are going to get more synced and catch the sweet spot and that extra 10,15+ yards will come out of nowhere. You said yourself you improved a good deal over the past year; you are likely coming closer to realizing your full swing speed potential.

The Speedblades have an SGI clubhead. In the J40 line, the DPC have a GI head, and the CB are GI/Players. With your HDCP, you will benefit from the smaller heads.

If you have the swing for them, which you do, you will get less distance dispersion with the GI/Players heads.

Like Savvy said, give your J40 mix another season so you really learn how to use them. If you chart your game next year and find patterns where you suffer from an equipment mismatch, you can correct it. But, if you keep switching out equipment on vague hunches, you'll never exploit the learning curve from using a familiar set of irons.

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PS - I did a "test drive" with the J40 DPC irons last spring. One 5i + 9i pair had DG R300 SLs (104 grams), and the other pair had the NS Pro 950.GH R-flex (about 100 grams).  The NS Pro pair really felt good, but I ended up reshafting my current irons in NS Pro 8950.

Thank you all.  I think you are right in that I am putting too much thought in this and should stick with the J40's.  I went to the range last night and had them in my bag and I remember thinking I'm hitting these fine and that I'm not supposed to hit them as far as other irons and the whole point is that they should be more consistent and more workable.