Its funny when chops play blades.

[Corgidog]

If someone has problems breaking 100, IMHO they should concentrate on learning and practicing the swing principles and watch the flight of each shot for feedback on the quality of the swing and get some game improvement clubs to give you some confidence.

[glebert]

Isn't this the point in the thread where someone says "you guys are all to young to remember real blades, back when muscle backs were 'game improvement'."

[Terrier]

Isn't this the point in the thread where someone says "you guys are all to young to remember real blades, back when muscle backs were 'game improvement'."

Perhaps.

Remember to tip the bag drop guy, Mr. Player.

[Caddyshack]

Nope. i watched him hit a few balls here and there throughout the night. One shot seemed worse than the next. Even if I didn't watch him hit 1 ball, I could tell he was a hack because: a). his grip was atrocious and b). hi posture was horrible also. Once he hit a ball, my thoughts were confirmed.

Hey here is an idea, why dont you concentrate on your own game and your own bucket of balls rather than judging other people, we cant all be superstars... who cares if he has expensive equipment and cant play very well!!

[RX Phoenix]

Having a great set of blades in the bag is a rush, it's a challenge to apply yourself to the task at hand.

I tend to use cavity backs in the winter/spring and blades in the summer/fall.

If someone is playing badly they would do so with any clubs, so if someone wants to go out with some real sharp equipment why not, maybe the only time they will look good is at the bag drop and loading it back in the car after the round, or having the bag sit outside at the 19th hole with those beautiful blades.

[Ceej]

Well, hopefully he realizes starting out with blades isn't that bad of an idea

[tourblade]

I have a buddy that plays old used 695mb's, he finally broke 90 for the first time since he started playing 3 years ago (shot a 84 on a flat wide open track), most of the time he is in the mid/high nineties - low hundreds.
If you could look at his swing, setup & posture you would swear that he was a 10 handicapper.
I have tried forever to get him to reconsider his sticks, his excuse is that he is 6'3" and his titleist are 1.25" over and he doesnt want to drop the cash on new, ordered sticks.
Let alone it makes it difficult to try-out other brands to find a set-up he would prefer more than his current set-up. I know he could shave 10 strokes off of his score every round with a more forgiving set-up.

**He tries to give me the bulls**t excuse that the blades will make him better.....How can you get better when you dont practice?
I offered to buy him a set and if he didnt like them i would sell them on ebay, I also told him to go to a titleist or nike fitting/demo day at a nearby range but his response usually comes down to money.

[blurry]

at least he was at the range , imagine if you saw him on the first tee

irons-forged tour premiums
driver-ping isi (old trusty)
wedges-nike
putter-scotty

[shinujk1]

N = a lot more than 1. I never said N = everyone, but it's a heckuva lot more than 1.

So what is your recommendation IACAS???

Are you honestly saying that it's ok for hacks to play with blades over cavity backs; I am not talking about the hack that eventually becomes a low handi player over time (like yourself) but the typical hack that you see on a golf course...most people don't achieve the golf nirvana you do whether it's from talent or practice; Why do you think most people play cavity backs over blades???

[iacas]

So what is your recommendation IACAS???

My thoughts on this have been posted before. The executive summary, "SHINUJK1" is simply:

1) Golfers who are looking to improve may benefit from playing musclebacks. "May" being an operative word. They have to want to work at it, too. 2) Golfers who don't play often enough to really "work at" improving or who just want to be "helped" in shooting the best scores right now should probably stick with game improvement clubs. That's all. I'd obviously never recommend musclebacks to everyone just as I wouldn't recommend cavity-backs or GI irons to everyone. There's no one-size-fits-all. Those who play musclebacks are (rightfully) in the minority, but that doesn't mean nobody should play them.

[BASHERBAKER69]

Titleist and Mizuno make some nice traditional looking blades that are on the market at the moment. I think a lot of ball striking is psychological. When you look down at what is essentially a bread knife it is easy to think ' I can't hit this'..but, if you relax, it gets easier. But with todays obsession with swing speed and distance, peole are encouraged to swing harder, taking them out of their comfort zone, and that is one of the reasons why 'game improvement' clubs are becoming more popular, as they are easier to hit.

[wolverine318]

Really in the end who cares what anyone does and why does it bother you. Dude I work with has RAC MBs and we played tuesday and he shot 69. For 9. So if he takes a set of GI clubs he shoots what, 68? If you are toping the ball and blading it and chunking it then it doesnt raelly matter what you are swinging with. I play blades and shot a 43, I played awfull, so what. I should switch? Really would a set of Cavity backs take 2-3 shots off of my game? I just dont buy it. I've tested this theory and saw no improvement in my scores.

[SiamGolfer]

those guys need to spend there money on golf lessons instead of new clubs

OK .. i will be honest i have not read through every single post here but... its not straight-forward to judge every person on the driving range.

I, myself, try some different techniques on the range, and i guess the people adjacent to me think that i could not get around a mid-handicapped course !(not true at all!) . but also maybe those persons on the range you speak about were 'borrowing'/'trying-out' the blades in question? .. its very difficult to ascertain. i have let my friends borrow my Mizuno MP-60s (not full blades) and the people around them have thought they were complete beginners (not true). Edit:: I think I understand your sentiment (try to walk-before-you-can-run) but maybe they were just trying out blades.. (?)

[DDBowdoin]

even with my handicap I wasnt sure if I could make the transition into blades but came into a employee referall bonus and said what the heck and ordered up my prom's

literally one range session and the next round I shot my best round of the season 73

its all confidence, and yes... I agree with a lot of people here who have mentioned that their handicap is comprised of more than just iron shots, some people just have zero short game and struggle off the tee

I'm sort of that way as well, if my driver is on and I'm in the fairway all day then I'm good for the day but if its going right who knows what the day will end with.

edit: I think what some people are saying is if you see a high handicapper with blades he could have walked into them - a great deal from a friend, hand me down from a family member etc etc ebay steal

but when you see someone talking on the range about the new irons they just picked up and they are brand spanking new 695mb's I can sort of see the stupidity on that... if my brother (a 25handi) spent 900 on brand new blades that fine because its his money but he'd really struggle with them

[jrode]

I didn't read this whole topic and obviously this guy was indeed playing clubs that weren't suited for him, but that's no reason to come here and poke fun at him.

I'm not a great player myself and if there's one thing I can't stand, it's people who are better, making it known. Just go out and play golf. Worry about your game.

I was out once with my friend and we got paired with two other guys. One of them was real friendly and a good player. I was having trouble topping my drives early in the round and then was struggling with my slice. This guy was helpful and told me to slow down on my backswing. The other guy was an ass. I could hear him talking behind my back to my buddy after every poor drive I hit. He was acting like he was some sort of pro the entire round. Well, finally, on the last 4 holes or so I started putting beautiful swings on my drives and hit 4 fairways in a row I believe and he started thinning shots, hitting poor drives, etc. Needless to say I was laughing my ass off on the inside. Karma bites.

[Eore]

if i see somebody with blades i think that they must be good golfers. if they aren't, so be it. i mean, i like my cavity backs. if they like the feels of blades so be it. who am i to judge?

[CoolBreeze20]

I couldnt care less what someone else spends on their sticks, or how good they are at the range. I dont judge people by the range. I have seen guys look like a tour pro on the range, then go out and shoot in the 90's. Different strokes for different folks......there is no cure-all club. If you shank and top blades, you will most likely shank and top cavity backs as well until you fix your swing.

[b-squared]

I don't think there's anything wrong when someone starts playing blades as a beginner, since I started playing blades as a beginner when I knew nothing about the game. My father got me to play blades since that was what he got used to playing as he grew up. There may be arguments about why a beginner starts the game using blades, but I've got no problem with the decision at all. Do you think golf greats before our day started with cavity backs? Back in the day, blades were considered irons and they got along fine, if not better than the average golfer of today.

What I do have a problem with, is how some experienced golfer who's a 20+ handicapper can be rude, and disrespectful to beginners just because they started the game with blades. They should know better. If it gives confidence to a complete beginner by playing blades, power to them. So if an absolute beginner plays using blades while not knowing the situation, I believe there should be nothing wrong with that at all.