To Buy New Irons or Not to Buy New Irons

I've been playing for about 5-6 years now. I'm a low 50 for 9 golfer and a low 100 for 18, my bag is currently a Maxfli Black Max set I purchased from Dicks in 2011. Graphite shafts 5-pw to hybrids I rarely use and 3-5 wood. I don't think I've ever used the 5 wood. I swapped the putter for a Top Flite 1.0 blade putter (I honestly just preferred the style to the Maxfli mallet putter) I play 9 at least once a week and 18 once or twice a month. My goal is to shoot in the 90s by the end of summer.

The last few times out with my brother in law he's let me use his Taylormade Rocketballz Recovery 3 which hit beautifully off the fairway and I was crushing the ball a hair over 200 yards and the accuracy was worlds better then my fairway woods and hybrid clubs. I ended up finding a good condition used one at a local pro shop and added it to my bag and ditched my other hybrids and 5 wood.

Now finally to the point, I've been looking at other products by Taylormade because of that club and I regularly purchase Rocketballz balls to play with and I thought about whether or not I would benefit from upgrading my irons to a TaylorMade set. I was looking at the local golf galaxy at the Rocketballz HL, The Rocketbladz HP, The RBZ Pro as well as the Cobra Baffler Xl's. Which quickly overwhelmed me as to what HL, HP Pro Irons and all the other annotations that determine what the clubs are.

Basically I'm hoping to start a discussion as to what would be best for my game. Do I keep plugging away with my current set up until I achieve my goal or something breaks, would I benefit from some newer more name brand sticks. Thanks for reading and for everyone's input

If you've got the cash, do it. There are several good reasons to get new irons especially irons fit to you. Some real nice technology out there. I wouldn't focus too much on "game improvement" irons. If you like the feel and the look then go for it. You could also find a respectable seller on eBay and probably score a nice set and save some cash. You may even be able to find a set that fits your fitting specifications. But in the least, it's just damn fun to iron shop and getting a new set can bring out the child in all of us.

TM has some good stuff, but they market pro type clubs to the masses ... so you've got to watch what you buy and avoid what you can't hit.

Who the heck knows? I've found TM to be the biggest carnival barkers ... just my experience.

At least other major OEMs are more direct about segmenting the market and informing you.

I enjoyed piecing my current bag together over a 5+ years... I started with a putter and then irons. Found the right putter within an hour of putting at a golf shop. I demo'd several brands and models of irons over a 1-2 year period and narrowed it down to 3 sets I was interested in. After picking up the irons, then I started with wedges (needed the irons first, to make sure the wedge gaps were appropriate). Recently I just got a couple new woods. Point is, there is a lot out there and the choices can be overwhelming as you stated. You don't need to pick the new clubs out immediately, unless it's something that just feels right and you want to go for it. Take your time, have fun with it. If you like the TM equipment your bro-in-law has, that might be a good place to start as far as demoing their different irons. But don't limit yourself to TM, there are a lot of nice options out there for the average weekend warrior (Cobra also being one you mentioned)

Hi @TopBub. I think your process will take you down the path of TM, based on your recent positive experiences. I like TM, and Titliest, Calloway, and Mizuno. I tested all over a year period then went with the TM RocketBladez Tour with KBS shaft set ups. Was a good fit for me at the time. Acquired online new at a great price. The head is mill finished, a design feature I like. Actually like the solid irons more than the speed slot ones in the set. I've since fit several other shafts in some heads using my club fitter due to leg surgeries. Mix of KBS Tour 90, TT Project X Flighted, and DG Spinner+. My fitter could have built me from scratch great playing clubs but playing through some conditions dictated changes. Enjoy your search and hit a few different clubs and shafts.

So I went over to golf galaxy and tried out all the listed irons and a few others. At this point in my game I didn't notice a huge difference in either of the clubs, and the employee helping me said that's not uncommon for the type of clubs and price point I was, so I then started thinking with my wallet and purchased a set of TaylorMade RBZ Pro steel shafts. Original price was $499 for the clubs on sale for $349 with 25% off clearance items, ended up being $260, so I bought the wife a few new shirts that were on sale to make my $300 rewards and got an extra $10 off. So for $250 I'm excited as hell, he taped them up for me and I swing on them and was hitting all the right marks so no adjustment was necessary at this time. Hopefully I'll be going out this afternoon to shoot 9. Thanks everyone for the feedback

EDIT: The guy working there also guaranteed my game would improve, so I have that going for me lol

TopBub, glad you got a good deal and are happy with your new irons. Now, I would suggest you spend more time on the range than you do on the course.

Focus on striking the ball consistently, start with your short irons. I can't stress enough how important time on the range is, but the range time must be used well...with a purpose.

Find some drills that will get you dialed in with your new clubs. My opinion, the clubs are only 5% of your game, the rest is you. This game takes time.

This might sound crazy to some, but take one club to the range and hit 100 balls, I'd suggest a PW.

If you really want to improve, put in some good practice time...you can't spend your way to a better game.

Enjoy.

I couldn't agree more, I've been getting a lot of range time in. By far the AW, PW and 7,8,9 have been fantastic for me my shots are carrying way more loft and much better accuracy. I'm 4-6 are giving me trouble can't seem to get them off the ground. I'm also having issues with my driver. I'm usually at the range once a week and hit maybe 200 balls. I've also been playing at least 9 holes a week as well.

That's a great deal and more importantly you bought irons that make you feel more confident with them in your hands.  Good luck with them!