time to upgrade?

[imtomtomim]

I've only been playing for one season but I've managed to get my swing pretty sound and shoot some pretty good scores, not yet under 80, but close. I've been using the game improvement irons by nickent and they've been treating me well but I'm wondering if it's time to move on. I learned how to work these clubs even though you're not supposed to. I only have trouble hitting low and mid fades but that's common with all my clubs so just need to work on it.

What I'm not happy with is that there is a generous amount of offset where I actually hold the club weaker and line up a bit more forward of the ball. The clubhead is also a bit larger so I get a lot of turf interaction and on days where the ground is soft enough to take a divot, I end up dragging my follow through and tweaks my already injured trap. I was looking at those new taylormade tour preferred irons. I only hear good things about those irons including a large sweetspot, small head, workability.

so I've come to 2 questions:

1. Do you think I should move away from these GI clubs or duke it out with them for another season until I break 80?

2. Has anyone hit these taylormade tp irons? I know it's extremely similar to the r7 tp but I've got my heart set on this new model. if it helps, I don't chip with any clubs except my sw and lw, everything from GW up is for full swings.

Thanks for your suggestions.

PS - I gotta convince the wife I need new irons so that factors into if it's worth it.

[PiKapp23]

New clubs often become an obsession once you start to even think about it. At that point every bad shot with current club become more apparent as obviously either because of the club or made worse by club. If you shot 80 with your Nickent irons, you would be thinking you could have shot 78 with new clubs. Honestly, at that point getting new clubs almost becomes a necessity because you start thinking about it too much and it throws your game off. I know this all to well...

I'm not sure about the model of Nickent clubs you have, but most of the Nickent clubs are less forgiving than other brand GI or SGI irons. I can understand the point with the offset because I can't stand much offset. As for the size of the head, there are a few shots where this comes into play as well (especially in rough). Of course, going to more of a players iron will mean a more narrow sole as well and the potential for taking deeper divots is more likely, and thus possibly 'treaking' your trap even more than your current irons. Big question to ask yourself (and answer honestly) is "Do I hit the sweet spot 90% of the time?" If the answer is no, then maybe a little more time with the Nickents or consider something a little more forgiving than the TP's.

Like you, I am playing a GI set and hit the ball very well with them (as of today my handicap is back to single digits for at least 1 round). I really would like to get club that is a little more of a 'players club', but I'm just not sure yet. I love the Mizuno MX-200 (which is GI, but on the players side of that) and the MX-52 (which is a players club, but on the GI side of that). I have tried the TM TP on simulator at Golf Galaxy and they felt OK, but definitely have smaller sweet spot. I like a little softer feel than they have, but that's just me. If you're considering getting new irons, check into the Mizuno (and others in category I would consider PI - Player Improvement - I just thought that up).

As for convincing the wife, good luck with that.

[Guest]

i wouldnt get the new tp's yet. i would get the r7 tp's first is you really think your upto it.the tour preferred irons were geared towards players shooting under par, hit them about a week ago and i thought they were sweet,actually getting a set but i play titleist blades at the moment so im used to the difficulty of playing blades. tour preferred irons also incourage a fade bias on club. they are harder to hit than titleist blades but when you do hit them they are as good as the tp mbs

[st0wgolf08]

i wouldnt get the new tp's yet. i would get the r7 tp's first is you really think your upto it.the tour preferred irons were geared towards players shooting under par, hit them about a week ago and i thought they were sweet,actually getting a set but i play titleist blades at the moment so im used to the difficulty of playing blades. tour preferred irons also incourage a fade bias on club. they are harder to hit than titleist blades but when you do hit them they are as good as the tp mbs

I don't get your post, you say he shouldn't get the TPs because they're for under parred people, yet your getting them at a higher HDCP than him, it doesn't matter if he plays blades or CBs now.

I would say go for them, I hit them, and might be getting them tonight at golf galaxy if they have the right shaft. They're nice, just prepared to lose some distance possibly, as they are probably weaker lofted that your nickents. Btw the r7 tps and the tour preffered are pretty much the same iron, different looks. I wouldn't say they are geared for different players, no clubs are geared for players that are under par. I would say both clubs are geared for solid ball strikers or people with a handicap under 10, but if your a solid ball striker, then you could still help them, and reap the benefits of the workability.

[imtomtomim]

i wouldnt get the new tp's yet. i would get the r7 tp's first is you really think your upto it.the tour preferred irons were geared towards players shooting under par, hit them about a week ago and i thought they were sweet,actually getting a set but i play titleist blades at the moment so im used to the difficulty of playing blades. tour preferred irons also incourage a fade bias on club. they are harder to hit than titleist blades but when you do hit them they are as good as the tp mbs

yeah, your writing doesn't make much sense, but I think you're talking about the muscleback irons. I'm talking about the new tp irons which are cavityback. It seems like a set that would stick with me for a long time due to it's abilities as well as durability. They're cast so if taylormade managed to make it feel good, it could take a good long beating and I'd be happy as a clam.