why blades?

[mikelaw]

isn't the answer kinda ovbious? i mean the mojority of golfers that play blades shouldn't, and the only reason they do is so they can try and look macho stepping up to the first tee, with blade irons.

thats a ridiculous post...

here is why i play blades -feel -topline view -feedback -weight -workability -distance control there are almost too many reasons for me to list. and by the way, when people point my blades out i usually shy away from that. i have blades because it is what I like and what I grew up with. In fact, in high school when i played I used to get made fun of for playing blades...but i stuck with them because its what i like.

[hamletsdead]

I only use true "blades" for 8-9-PW-GW-SW, and use MP-57s for 4-7 (which are blade-like) but here are my reasons:

1) I hit them better than I used to hit my cavity backs. My handicap has dropped 10 strokes since I switched from my old Cally Fusions to my MP-57/MP-67 combo.

2) Even though I lost a little distance, I gained a lot of accuracy. A side benefit is that my swing became better because it had to in order to hit the ball.

3) They look great

4) They sound and feel great when you hit it just right. When you hit it wrong, you feel and hear it. Instant feedback on bad and good shots is a great way to train your swing.

[wedge player]

i would like to know why you guys out there that play blades do i say why not take the forgivness of a cavity back or even a half cavity like the mx 25 forged irons?

bcause thier awesome and im stubborn lol

[pshizz]

thats a ridiculous post...

My post was not ridiculous, its a fact, many people play blades to look tough. Honestly you can get a pair of players cb irons now that look like blades at adress, and offer all of the same benefits. Some examples would be the ap2's, mizuno mp 62's and cobra pro cb's. Sure there are more, but these are some of the ones that came to mind.

[Laxplayer201092]

And what baout those of us who dont play blades to "look tough" Half the guys i play with dont even look in my bag.

People play blades, at least i do, because i dig teh control. I played yesterday and it was way windy. I loved the control, can you say that you drawed an 8 from 190 to work with the wind with your cavity backs? can you say that you hit a 7 from, yes, 120 yards into the wind? No, ( yea, my knock down shot sucks) i hit a 4 iron punch from 210 under a tree to a par 5. None of these shots could i have pulled off with my old R7 TP. People will play the clubs they want. I play better with blades, but i have been beaten by guys who play G5's, r7 XD, etc. its whatever gets you around the course in the fewest amount of strokes.

[Spackler-esque]

My post was not ridiculous, its a fact, many people play blades to look tough.

It

is still a ridiculous statement... Okay. Let's see the data. Back that claim up. Or, better yet, stay on topic. Why do you or why don't you play blades?

Honestly you can get a pair of players cb irons now that look like blades at adress, and offer all of the same benefits. Some examples would be the ap2's, mizuno mp 62's and cobra pro cb's. Sure there are more, but these are some of the ones that came to mind.

Aesthetics on the 62s are different from, say, the 67s or the Titleist 695MBs or the Taylor Made TP MBs. Same with the AP2s. They don't look the same and they don't feel the same.

I've said it before and I will say it again, the mental part of hitting a pretty set of clubs, something you like to look down at, is huge. As long as I am physically able, I will not hit anything but blades from my eight-iron on down. The rest I'll mix-and-match, but the low end is non-negotiable (except maybe for the 62s. Still undecided on them or the 67s...). They look better. They feel better. They respond to my swing better. Simple enough.

[GolferDot]

I brought a set of MacGregor V-foil 1025M a few weeks ago second hand.
These are the reasons why I chose blades in order of importance to me.

COST (Only a few years old and nearly being given away)

Look (They are just so damn good looking, how can I not have confidence in them)

Alignment (I personally find the lower offset easier to align)

Weight (They are heavier then most others, which gives me more control although less
distance)

Poor Lies (they are so much easier to hit out of deep rough again this is personal)


The downsides I have discovered :-

Poor shots are now REALLY embarrasing

They chew golf balls like crazy

They take more looking after, I cringe when I hear them rattle together


These are MY PERSONAL reasons for using them.

[RC]

For me, the key factor is feel and forged clubs provide the feel I am used to. Next comes ball flight and workability. (notice: so far nothing said about blades or GI clubs.)

The look of a traditional iron is important to me because that is what I have looked down at for so many years. The eye is important. I am uncomfotable seeing anything sticking out behind the club face and a thick top line is just too radical for me. Real GI irons might as well be hybrids to my eyes -- but to others of you, a GI iron looks normal -- that is fine.

So, as an old blade player, I thought perhaps I should check out the new world of clubs variously labelled as "players clubs" which appeared to have smaller heads than GI irons, semi-normal lofts (meaning not too strong), and that passed the test of being played by players on tour so they had some level of approval. After all, if there are advantages, I wanted to know what they were.

So in another post here, I talked about settling on MP52s. I love these new clubs -- and the best part is the feel. I am beginning to think the feel is better than my previous forged clubs that were blades.

What I did not fully explain was the path through the "TP" type clubs. I first went with J33 CB. In reality these are pretty much blades with a decorative ring around the back perimeter to resemble a cavity back. I hit them and they felt the same as normal blades -- good clubs. But no major difference. So then I went through the "TP" versions of both Callaway and Taylormade --Ugh, the top line look was tough. But, the lofts were not too strong and the clubhead size was not too large (a little funny looking.) But they were multi-material cast type clubs and the feel was harsh or trampoline like -- depending on the purity of the strike. For me anyway, a cast or component club just felt wrong. I went back to the old reliable J33s because they were forged and felt better. But then came an opportunity to hit the MP52s. They were forged, looking down on them did not bother my eyes, and I could feel and work the ball.

This long story does not mean much except I really think it is the forged feel and look that some of us get accustomed to playing -- the feel of forged is what appeals to us. After about 5 rounds with the MP52s, I think differently about pure blades now. I like the way the new clubs play better and would not go back to pure blades. 200+ iron shots feel sweet and easy. Never expected this to happen, but it did. I am now fully converted to the "TP" type forged CB clubs, especially the dual muscle back designs of Mizuno, Titliest, Bridgestone and others of this style.

Today, dual muscle back designs, whether with or without cavity elements, are so much easier to play than many years ago when Wilson Staff and MT clubs ruled. Top Flight also used to make a good a player's blade -- in the old days (I know, some younger guys might find this hard to believe.) Today, better forging, better dual muscle design and soles, and better shafts make all the clubs easier to hit. Yea, one could get an old 1950's vintage Wilson Staff or MT (or later a Ben Hogan blade) set out and hit it on the range but I don't see many still playing these when the game is on -- these are true blades in the traditional sense. The two iron looks like something to shave with.

So, play what you like and what feels and looks the best to you. The score card does not know what club you hit, what loft your wedge might be, nor even how well you hit it. If you did not grow up hitting forged clubs and are used to GI clubs, then a true blade might even look wrong to you, and you have already adapted to a cast club feel. Change might or might not appeal to you. Try stuff and see what works well for you -- otherwise there is no real answer to this question.

[VardonFlyer]

This has been my first season playing blades and its definitaly going to take some getting used to. What ive found so far, for me, is that blades have a definate advantage in my scoring irons, ie 6,7,8,9,pw. To have an advantage with these 5 clubs in definitaly worth it.
Bottom line great players play blades. Tiger, AK, Garcia...

[Bump-n-MI]

isn't the answer kinda ovbious? i mean the mojority of golfers that play blades shouldn't, and the only reason they do is so they can try and look macho stepping up to the first tee, with blade irons.

Clunky, fat, meaty game improvement heads are cumbersome and more difficult to control then blades….that is the absolute truth (for me anyway). I could give 2 s**ts what you or anybody else says about what I carry in my bag. I am WAY past the point in my life where I feel the need to impress people, especially with golf equipment! Sure there are some that carry blades to look cool but honestly who cares? It is way easier to become a better ball striker by playing blades then to mask your mishits with game improvement irons. Sure you might struggle for a while but you will be better off in the long run. The couple of shots a round that a game improvement iron may help does not come close to offsetting the advantages a blade offers.

[TommyD69]

Clunky, fat, meaty game improvement heads are cumbersome and more difficult to control then blades….that is the absolute truth (for me anyway). I could give 2 s**ts what you or anybody else says about what I carry in my bag. I am WAY past the point in my life where I feel the need to impress people, especially with golf equipment! Sure there are some that carry blades to look cool but honestly who cares? It is way easier to become a better ball striker by playing blades then to mask your mishits with game improvement irons. Sure you might struggle for a while but you will be better off in the long run. The couple of shots a round that a game improvement iron may help does not come close to offsetting the advantages a blade offers.

+10

I have been playing golf a LONG time! When I started, the only choices I had were Wilson, Spaulding, or North Western (remember those?). There were only blades, and some had soles as thick as the "top line" of your game improvement clubs. The WORSE thing in the world FOR ME is to hold up an iron, and see an offset so big that the club face is an inch behind the clubs shaft! I love the small forged club heads. They make you "aim small, and miss small"...

[Fourputt]

When I bought my first set of clubs, blades are all you could get. It was at least 10 years later that I first got a set of CB irons. Played CB's ever since, but now I'm leaning back the other way. Not going to a full blade, but just started using a new set of forged Titleist AP2's, and I like them a lot. The feel is quite similar to a forged blade, buttery on a good hit and clanky and almost painful on a poor one.

I've only used them a couple of times so far, and I'm still getting used to them, but I feel that the distance penalty and feedback from a bad swing is already starting to inspire me to focus more and to work harder on making better swings. When there is no significant penalty for a bad swing, why worry? Now that there is a serious downside, I'm really starting to think about my play more, and I think I'm already starting to see some changes.

So I can definitely see why a player might go with a blade, even though his game might not seem quite up to the job, although I'd be more inclined to recommend something more like the dual cavity AP2 or the TM Tour Preferred as a marginally more forgiving alternative.

[RocketSauce]

i grew up playing blades because thats all that was available to me, and i got used to them. then in 1996 i went to the DCI 962's, which were called "a players club", and i really liked them, but i missed the forged feel. so i found a similar type iron with the Precept Tour Premium Forged CB's. they play like blades (very workable, extremely thin topline), yet they have some forgiveness as well due to the shallow cavity back. ive played these for years and just recently picked up another brand new set. and another thing is i just cant stand looking at the oversized irons of today with the thick toplines. i like a more traditional look since thats what i grew up playing (Wilson forged blades). even though im not using a true blade anymore, it does look like it from address. but i wouldnt even hesitate to play with a set of MP33's, Scratch or the new Nike VR blades. i hear they are sweeet!

[dmas]

This is a great thread. In fact I registered to this forum just to post on this topic. The thing is that everybody is different and has a different game. I am basically a chop. At one point I had my index down to about a 6 but in my book I am still a wanabee. The strengths of my game is driving and short-mid iron play. I would say that I'm a have a below average short game relative to my index level. I am (or was before I had a family) a range rat. I am long off the tee so I normally don't have many long irons into greens on the courses I play. I rarely if ever miss out on the toe of the club with my iorns. I hit a high ball with my irons with lots of spin.

For about 6 or 7 years I played with a set of MP-33's and played the best golf of my life. I dropped the 3 and 4 iron from the set and replaced them with hybrids. I did this not because of better forgivenes but I found that the hybrids offered a higher softer ball flight for me. I don't believe that I generate enough clubhead speed to play a 3 or 4 iron in a blade (my driver speed is 105-109). Anyway's the MP-33's offered me instant feedback on the range, they let me lower my trajectory slightly relative to most game improvement heads, they felt perfectly balanced, and when you pured one it was magic. I never felt like I lost anything playing them. My wear mark on the seven iron was pretty tight...although I'm sure nobody will ever confuse me with Hogan. But unless I toed one, which was rare, I never felt like I lost anything.

Well, 2 years ago I felt it was time to go back to a game improvement iron. So I sold my MP33's and bought a set of X-20 tours. I figured I wasn't playing enough to continue using the blades and a also big reason for me was that I was always self conscious that I was such a chop and had blades in the bag. I always kept head covers on them and whenever I played with people I didn't know would really wish I wasn't playing blades. After all, everyone on the internet will tell you a 6-8 handicap has no business playing blades. Worst golf related mistake ever for me. The X-20's are nice clubs but now I get this super high trajectory on my shorter irons, I have no idea what is going on with my misses, and worst of all I don't get that buttery feedback from a pure shot...just this dull thud.


Bottom line is that I could care less that the only players who should be playing blades are on the tour. I sold mine, in part because I was repeatedly told that I shouldn't be playing them. Now the game is less fun to me and isn't having fun is what it is really all about for us amatures? At this point I could care less what everyone else says. At some point I'll go back tom blades. Hope Mizuno re-issues the 33's some day

[ks8829]

This is a great thread. In fact I registered to this forum just to post on this topic. The thing is that everybody is different and has a different game. I am basically a chop. At one point I had my index down to about a 6 but in my book I am still a wanabee. The strengths of my game is driving and short-mid iron play. I would say that I'm a have a below average short game relative to my index level. I am (or was before I had a family) a range rat. I am long off the tee so I normally don't have many long irons into greens on the courses I play. I rarely if ever miss out on the toe of the club with my iorns. I hit a high ball with my irons with lots of spin.

used set of 33's for $299 in relatively good condition.

I love mine too! http://cgi.ebay.com/USED-SET-MIZUNO-...3A1%7C294%3A50

[dmas]

THX KS...yeah I could get some used ones...prolly will at some point. Would rather have new however. Almost bought Mp-100's but couldn't justify the cost. Just wish I didn't sell my originals. They had the usual face wear but the heads were in excellent condition as I always used head covers.

[flanagan]

The biggest jump in improvement I made in golf was when I went from my Wilson Staff Tour Blades to Ping Eye 2s, about 15 years ago. Looking back, I think the improvement was a combination of getting shafts/clubs that fit me and starting seriously to take lessons and practicing. Still, I wouldn't play those Tour Blades today, even with a better swing.

Eventually, I found the huge offset in the Pings and what I felt was a lack of feel an issue, so I went with some I3+ blades, and liked the smaller heads, etc.

I demo'd some of the new Pings last year and confirmed I didn't see any need to switch to different Pings, but then I demo'd and played a lot with the AP1s and AP2s and am glad I switched. I will say the biggest noticeable difference is in the Vokey wedges I got at the same time vs. the Ping MBs I had been playing. They have been a revelation and really helped me from 100 yards in.

I've hit a few of the super game improvement irons, also, and I just prefer the "almost" blades that I have now, especially in the mid and shorter irons. I discovered with others were saying about "feedback", and I like having some "workability", although I don't claim to have any command of that at any particular time (!).

[Crafty]

I've always been extremely torn on this issue. Some will argue that a player's cavity back offers nearly the same workability as a blade with more forgiveness. This is completely valid. Some will argue and say that player's cb's lack the feedback of a traditional muscle back. This is also valid.

But what about when the two worlds collide? I currently play a set of Mp-30's. They are great clubs, and my game has made leaps and bounds thanks to them. However, I always noticed that they were not the easiest iron to hit for me. For this very reason I was extremely reluctant to demo any blade in fear of the fact that I would not be able to strike it worth a darn. During the demo day at my home course, the Cleveland rep convinced me to take a few swings with the Cleveland CG Tour. I was extremely skeptical, and even more so when i looked down at the paper thin topline. But as I hit them, I couldn't help but notice that these irons felt far more forgiving than the Mizuno's i've been playing for so long. I didn't want to believe it, but the CG Tour's (a blade) offered more playability than the 30's (a so-called players cb)

So I guess what I am trying to get at is this..... What makes a blade a blade? Is it it's looks (the Mp-30's are certainly as small as many blades on the market)? Is it the lack of a cavity (which i've determined doesn't necessarily mean less forgiveness)? What characteristics does a blade have that a player's cb doesn't?

Not trying to spur any arguments, but I'm interested in what everyone else thinks.