Why are forged irons easier to control?

[kleraudio]

So I know that its easier to control shot shapes with a forged blade, but why?

Why can you fade a ball or draw a ball 15 yards with ease with a forged blade but not so on a cavity back?

Does it have something to do with the offset?

Thanks!

Jim

[wedge player]

So I know that its easier to control shot shapes with a forged blade, but why?

its not easier to shape a shot with blades imo,a blade just has no forgiveness on mishits.

[kleraudio]

its not easier to shape a shot with blades imo,a blade just has no forgiveness on mishits.

Thanks for the reply, so why would someone choose a blade over G.I. irons, if no serious advantages are present?

Been wondering this for some while now. Thanks! Jim

[tjy355]

So I know that its easier to control shot shapes with a forged blade...

Jim, where do you get your information?

[wedge player]

Thanks for the reply, so why would someone choose a blade over G.I. irons, if no serious advantages are present?

because forged clubs have better feel and feedback.

[RocketSauce]

Thanks for the reply, so why would someone choose a blade over G.I. irons, if no serious advantages are present?

there ARE advantages of using blades: shot-shaping for starters, better

feel (for the better ball strikers).....

[kleraudio]

Jim, where do you get your information?

Thats what the guy at Golfsmith was telling me when I asked him why should I switch to blades... He said much better shot shaping ability....

I hit my irons really really well, its my putting and chipping and driving that causes me to have a 26 handicap. But I can hit my irons really well, which is why I was asking him about blades.... So since you can shape shots just as well with a cavity back iron as you can with a blade, the advantage is basically feel and feedback?? So what kind of feel are we talking? I hit the mp 52 and mp 60, and while they felt nice, center shots felt just as nice on a cavity back...... Now I definitely felt the mis hits on the blades, but not so much on the cavity, and the cavity mis hits still had trajectory to them while the blades did not.... So why get the blades, just for that buttery feel on well hit shots?? Im not downing blades at all, just playing devil's advocate to see if I should take the plunge or not... Thanks again everyone! Jim

[RocketSauce]

was this the Golfsmith on North Dale Mabry?

[kleraudio]

Nah, it was the one in Clearwater on 19 and 60

[tatertot]

Forged•are softer than cast, therefore the difference in feel, not workability.

GI irons -- cavity backs -- tend to correct spin to make shots straighter, making it harder to turn them over.

Blades will not•make any corrections to spin, therefore, you get what you hit without a correction towards the middle.

[RC]

Something to think about : Blades tend to teach you to hit the sweet spot because when you do not, you know it (or notice it more.) GI irons allow for a larger sweet spot, so you do not get quite the feedback of dead center hits. In other words, if you teach yourself to hit blades well, your swing might be a little more precise. Offset is another topic entirely... I think offset makes it harder to shape shots, but again, you can learn to do about any shot shape with any club if you work at it. I could never hit the original Ping Eye and Eye 2 irons well, but others learned quickly how to play them very well. So, play with what gives you the best results and don't worry about it. It is unlikely many of us could still play well the standards of 50 years ago such as the MacGregor Tourney or Wilson staff blades. Equipment has improved a lot and most golfers should take advantage of that. Just my opinion.

Finally, I tried playing some GI irons called "tour versions" from both Callaway and Taylormade (slightly smaller heads but blade like lofts.) They felt fine, but my distance control was not as reliable and I would get occasional "hot" shots that seemed to trampoline off the face. Felt very solid, but over the green is not good.

[kleraudio]

Thanks for the informative replies guys!

So there is no offset in blades then? What exactly is offset, I mean I know what it looks like but what does it try to accomplish?

Still torn if I should pick up a used set of blades to try out, not sure if its worth it....

So the only advantage is feedback, but the cons are mis hits dont feel good and dont go very far, harder to hit the sweet spot, workability is about the same as cavities??

Thanks!

Jim

[Kingfisher]

So I know that its easier to control shot shapes with a forged blade, but why?

Actually, it'd be easier to

control shot shape with a game improvement club, because most of the time it'd just want to go straight. A highly skilled player may even find it difficult to work a game improvement club! With a more blade club head / less offset, yes you are able to shape the ball a little more, but this requires a certain level of ability to control it. In the hands of a relatively unskilled player, you will have less control over shot shape with a blade and may get shot shapes you don't want!

[Jcp907]

Thanks for the informative replies guys!

Jim,

As I understand it, with less offset your hands must turn more quickly in order to square the face at impact, as compared to a club with more offset. This is because the face of the club with more offset will not meet the ball as soon as it would if the club has less offset.

[pinhigh27]

I think from my experience that it is easier to control shot height with blades, a least a lot easier than with a CB than it is to shape shots, I find I can hook a blade as much as a CB and I can also hit a 5 yard cut just as easy with both. Try hitting a low spinner with a SGI club though, can be tricky.

[Iowa Hawkeye]

It's not the "forged" part, it's the "blade" part. The weighting is behind the sweet spot, and not out around the edges. I guess you could compare it to a tennis racquet vs a baseball bat. With a bat, a little change in position is going to change the direction a lot, with a racquet, not so much. It's because of the concentration of the weight.

Or bouncing a ball off of a curb. If you hit the right spot it will come back, but if you're off, it's going somewhere else.

[kleraudio]

It's not the "forged" part, it's the "blade" part. The weighting is behind the sweet spot, and not out around the edges. I guess you could compare it to a tennis racquet vs a baseball bat. With a bat, a little change in position is going to change the direction a lot, with a racquet, not so much. It's because of the concentration of the weight.

Great analogy there. And thanks to the other responders, so with that said in the quoted thread, why would you want to get a blade?

What are its true advantages, and what makes someone want them over GI irons, when you have to hit just the right spot to get the ball to do what you want? Sorry but I still havent figured out a concise answer. I now know all the cons, but it seems all the pros can be had with a GI iron as well. What separates a blade so far from a GI iron, that all the low handicappers play them? I'd love to play em, I dunno what it is, I just really love the look of them! But if the bad outweighs the good then I dunno... Thanks a million guys! Jim

[patriot07]

That's a really good comparison Iowa. The location of the weight on a blade means that you don't have to change your swing much to produce a draw or fade.

For high handicappers, that's not good, because your swing probably changes a little bit every time accidentally. The advantage in GI irons is that your swing changes still result in a straight shot.

For scratch golfers, the advantage in blades is that they don't have to change their swing as much to produce a draw or fade. If a pro hits it half an inch off the sweet spot, or turns the club over just a bit, he probably meant to do that, and he wants the ball to turn one way or the other. For a high-handicapper, they generally just try to hit the straight shots and GI irons are designed to hit the ball straight.

All that being said, there are plenty of pro's who play GI irons, just because the extra work-ability doesn't always outweigh the help that GI irons provide on mis-hits. Personally, my limit is scratch. In my book, if you're not a scratch golfer (or can play your irons like one), then you're not going to help your game by looking at blades. But that's just my $.02. Whatever gets the ball in the hole the fastest is what you should go with.