Its funny when chops play blades.

[ks8829]

I am going to play my blades as long as I can hit them. I even switched to a blade putter on Monday and had 6 birdies, 4 in a row.

I remember starting golf with my brother-in-laws wilson staff blades, maybe he borrowed someone elses clubs?

[JYB]

i got my blades as soon as i started golfing and even though they've hurt my scoring, they're taught me to hit the ball the right way. now, whenever i hit cavity clubs, i smash the ball.

for example...

on Doral Arrowwoods' par 3, 140 yards over water with 3 huge bunkers surrounding on a 40 foot green, i shot one of the guys i was playing with's 9 iron. He uses +1 inch, +1 degree upright clubs with a midsize grip...nike pro combo. Usually, i barely make it with a 9 unless i pure it but, i decided to use his clubs and guess what happened? I hit it PURE, 160 over the green. The next hole, same situation. Short par 4, i hit a 3 iron with a cavity...bang, 225 yards down the center. My 3 iron? i can barely get it off the ground.

Blades help to learn on, i gurantee it.

[maycam10]

so if you are a beginner it is a bad to have sgi irons if your goal is to hit it straighter and better. well i guess I'm screwed then

[tonyy]

I started off with blades. Yes, it was a steeper learning curve but it has helped me become a great ball striker. If I started out with game improvement irons, I would've had to learn that, THEN move onto blades.

So to me, I actually saved myself time and money by going straight to players' clubs. I'm glad I did.

Like they say, sometimes you gotta run before you can walk.

[CG031]

Like they say, sometimes you gotta run before you can walk.

Am I the only one who never heard that, AND don't even understand the saying? lol.

[Cheez-It]

Well reading through this thread has made me realize that getting my new Walter Hagen blades was a bad idea. Honestly the reason I switched was because of the price. They are $600 clubs (well back in 2004) and I got the for $89!! Pretty good steal if you ask me.

They are a HUGE difference from what I was hitting, which were Taylor Made Bubble shafts with Oversized Burner heads. Now I'm hitting Walter Hagen Forged XI blade irons cavity back (which I believe makes the a little more forgivable) with 6.0 Rifle Shafts. BIG DIFFERENCE.

Overall they are much more stiff and way heavier then may old Taylormade's. I do feel comfortable hitting them though. I think in time they should help my game.

Any suggestions on how I could get used to them quicker?

[joshtpa]

I too started with blades. Hogans. It was the best thing I ever did. Yeah, it was hard, but in the end it helped my swing. Ironically as I am getting older, I have switched to cavity backs because of the forgiveness. But I dont think I would be where I am today had I not started with blades.

[joshtpa]

Am I the only one who never heard that, AND don't even understand the saying? lol.

The saying is Crawl before you walk.

[tonyy]

The saying is Crawl before you walk.

Yeah that definitely sounds better than what I said. haha.

[Cody]

Yeah that definitely sounds better than what I said. haha.

I thought you had it backwards? You've got to walk before you can run.

[tonyy]

lol yeah I did. That's why I said his wording was better. :p

[ApocG10]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iacas

None

I started with blades. MacGregor/Nicklaus blades. I consider it one of the best things I could have done. I take no credit, because I did it unknowingly, but I'm glad those were the clubs I got.

I learned quickly that striking the center of the clubface was important. And I'd played all of one or two rounds of golf prior to getting them, so I was about as "noob" as it gets.

Just out of curiosity, how old were you when you took up the game? I do not disagree that starting with blades is not a horrible idea, but the younger most people are, the easier they find it to take up something new and get good at it. Thats not because adults dont have the skill or learning ability, and I wont go into details why u8nless others want to hear them, aside from generally, after high school people start letting them selves go, and stop using alot of muscles that were used everyday as children and teens. Strengthening the proper muscles is imperitive in golf, or you will never have a repeating swing.

I know i'll get the 'what about out of shape guys like Daly, or even els. Those guys have been playing so long, that it is second nature to them.

[badbeatj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iacas

None

I started with blades. MacGregor/Nicklaus blades. I consider it one of the best things I could have done. I take no credit, because I did it unknowingly, but I'm glad those were the clubs I got.

I learned quickly that striking the center of the clubface was important. And I'd played all of one or two rounds of golf prior to getting them, so I was about as "noob" as it gets.

Same here. Father in law (great golfer) bought me (complete noob) Ben Hogan Apex Blades. I REALLY struggled the 1st season but my ball striking got really good. I got used to playing with them (learned to shape shots etc) and hit bogey game. After that, I rewarded myself by getting TaylorMade R7 TPs and instantly added another 10-15 yards to my irons while getting a bigger sweet spot)

Main thing is, once I learned how to hit blades, I could pretty much hit any club.

[Goonsidious]

What's the difference between blades and whatever else is out there? Just so I know. And know what to look out for or look towards.

Why are blades harder to hit?

[newtogolf]

True blades lack the forgiveness of other irons like cavity backs.  The lack of perimeter weighting and cavity makes the iron more difficult to hit because in penalizes the golfer for shots that are not hit in the sweet spot.  Ralph Maltby reviews different irons and rates them based on "Playability Factors".  If you're interested you can see Maltby's ratings for different irons and how he determines his ratings here; http://www.ralphmaltby.com/home

Originally Posted by Goonsidious

What's the difference between blades and whatever else is out there? Just so I know. And know what to look out for or look towards.

Why are blades harder to hit?

[Goonsidious]

Oh, thanks a lot. Looks like blades bring you back to the old-school days without all the new technology and development to make hitting much easier.

Do all pros use blades?

[newtogolf]

Some do, pretty sure Phil and Ernie Els play either the old X proto's or Razr Muscle's, some are playing Titleist MB's and Mizuno MP-69's.  At the other end of the spectrum there are pro's that play what Maltby consider GI irons such as the Titlleist AP2 and SGI irons like the Ping G15's.  Some guys like Rory play mixed sets, his 3 and 4 iron are Titleist AP2's and 5i-9i are blades 712 MB's.   Even pro's want a bit of forgiveness in their irons.

Originally Posted by Goonsidious

Oh, thanks a lot. Looks like blades bring you back to the old-school days without all the new technology and development to make hitting much easier.

Do all pros use blades?

[Righty to Lefty]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iacas

None

I started with blades. MacGregor/Nicklaus blades. I consider it one of the best things I could have done. I take no credit, because I did it unknowingly, but I'm glad those were the clubs I got.

I learned quickly that striking the center of the clubface was important. And I'd played all of one or two rounds of golf prior to getting them, so I was about as "noob" as it gets.

Ding Ding Ding....you are the winner!!!!  I practice with blades all the time because "blades talk to you" and you learn how to hit the middle of the face or pay the price.  Nothing makes the learning curve steeper than practicing with something that teaches you the right way from day one.

SGI clubs lead you to believe that you are doing things correctly and you could be way of base.  If the golfer has body problems and flaws in his/her technique it doesn't matter what club they are swingin cause it is goin to have bad results.  Blades are a very good teacher because they make you figure out  the problem longhand and don't give you the quick formula or a calculator to make it easy on you right away.