question about blades

[mirv]

i got a set of ben hogan apex blade irons for christmas, and i tried them out today, and i noticed immediately what everyone says about getting feedback loud and clear from blade clubs - the first few swings felt like i was hitting rocks. my accuracy wasn't terrible, in fact i was hitting the blades a lot more accurately than i had been my ping i5 irons, but i lost a LOT of distance. i mean, like 2 full clubs worth. i was having to hit a 5 iron from where i would normally hit a 7, and sometimes even then i'd fall short. my question is, is this something that's common to blades? if you don't pure them you lose a buttload of distance?

[Andyonfire]

This is sometimes the common dosage of moving into new irons, but since yours are blades, it is true you lsoe distance. The sweet spot on a blade is a very small dot, and you will know exactly when you hit that sweet spot, as im sure its with your other clubs, it feels like you hit air. Your ball is hitting the centre of the face, but is still not quite on the sweet spot. Play aroudn with them. Blades are meant for shaping your ball accurately, and made for great players.

[RC]

You are spot on. A blade not hit in the sweet spot will come up short and you will feel a much larger difference in any shot that is not pured. There is another factor as well. Many game improvement irons have stronger lofts than traditional blades.

[glebert]

According to ironfinder.com the i5 7 iron is 34*, Apex 7 iron is typically 36*, so about 1/2 - 2/3 club weaker loft. Are the Apex new? If they aren't you should have the lofts checked, the lofts on forged clubs tend to change with use, I think usually to the weak side.

Apex blades are awesome. Even though I'm not a good golfer, I really enjoyed the set I had, and didn't find that my scores were any worse when I played them. I'm a believer that blades will make you a better ballstriker.

[Sir Hack a-lot]

According to ironfinder.com the i5 7 iron is 34*, Apex 7 iron is typically 36*, so about 1/2 - 2/3 club weaker loft. Are the Apex new? If they aren't you should have the lofts checked, the lofts on forged clubs tend to change with use, I think usually to the weak side.

+1 to that. Stick with the blades they will make you a better ball striker. I had a set of MP67's I just absolutely loved and started to hit 'pure' on every shot. I had to go and screw things up and get a set of AP2's (still a tremendous club...but not a blade). I feel I lost a little of my striking ability by switching. I just recently bought a set of Titleist ZM's....I love the feeling of hitting a pure shot with a blade. I also crave the feedback of a piss poor or a great swing. Just my .03

[DaveLeeNC]

i got a set of ben hogan apex blade irons for christmas, and i tried them out today, and i noticed immediately what everyone says about getting feedback loud and clear from blade clubs - the first few swings felt like i was hitting rocks. my accuracy wasn't terrible, in fact i was hitting the blades a lot more accurately than i had been my ping i5 irons, but i lost a LOT of distance. i mean, like 2 full clubs worth. i was having to hit a 5 iron from where i would normally hit a 7, and sometimes even then i'd fall short. my question is, is this something that's common to blades? if you don't pure them you lose a buttload of distance?

This isn't typically a blade problem (assuming a good hit) exactly. But when you get down in the 5i range you can start seeing 'distance compression' due to lowering trajectories. GI-type irons will typically have a significantly lower center of gravity (and higher trajectory) so you are much more likely to see a significant distance difference in the longer irons.

You might find the carry distance differences to be smaller in the shorter irons. Also the shaft lengths and weights can make a difference. I once bought an old set of Hogan blades (1980'ish Directors) just as practice clubs. I loved them and even played them on the course for a while, but they were in HORRIBLE shape (paid $20 for the set) and ended up playng 1994 Hogan Apex Channelbacks for a while. I did some informal experiments with these clubs vs. a set of Tommy Armour Silver Scot 845 cavity backs. For me the Hogans and TA's hit the ball about the same distance. While the TA's felt worse on poor hits, the actual difference in carry was not that great. Of course the TA 845's are not the most forgiving cavity backs out there. dave ps. There are a few GI-type irons out there that have a bit of a "spring-like effect" (re: the COR limit of 0.83). The Wishon 770CFE's are one example - there may be others

[golfmonke]

As already mentioned, your old clubs have stronger lofts which will account for some of the distance.

Also, blades will have a lower ball speed off of shots struck in the center of the club face vs a shot hit with a cavity back with the same swing speed. I've tested this on launch monitors.

Then factor in that blades are much less forgiving on mishits and this will account for the loss of distance you are experiencing.

I'm a big fan of mixing in practicing with blades on the range, and then play with something more forgiving on the course.

[mirv]

I'm a big fan of mixing in practicing with blades on the range, and then play with something more forgiving on the course.

this is exactly what i've decided to do - thanks for the help everyone!

[CBob]

IMHO if the lofts and lengths are the same the blades when hit in the sweet spot are about one club longer that cavity backs. The mass is more concentrated behind the sweet spot. Forged clubs have more feedback. When I was younger I really like either my Hogan Apex Twos or Wilson Fg17s. If I was going to use blades now it would probably be Mizunos, when I get to be a real Geezer I will take my 1953 Silver Scots down from the wall and play with them and persimmon woods.