Sole Width - Help or Hurt?

[boogielicious]

I want to get folks opinions on the width of the sole in irons. My Wilson set has medium width soles. My old Ram set from the 70s were very thin. I've seen extremes like Ping.

Do you feel they help or hinder technique improvement in good ball striking and taking a proper divot? I understand the engineering behind them in terms of lower the center of gravity.

Thanks,

Scott

[James_Black]

It depends on what you call a "proper divot" a thin soles with a steep swing means you'll take a huge chunk of turf out of the ground.

All soles will allow you to take a divot.

[jamo]

I learned the game using cut-down thin sole irons, and then junior clubs which had (surprisingly) very thin soles. Then i went to irons with very thick soles, which i think were detrimental to my ability to hit different types if shots. I couldn't hit the really high ones, and couldn't hit the low ones.
This year i upgraded to the MP-57s with pretty thin soles and love them. I chunk the ball much less with the new ones.

[GaijinGolfer]

It really depends upon the skill level of the person using them. For a beginer or a high-handicapper, who typical hits shots fat; a wider sole helps to prevent the clubhead from digging into the turf, so they wont hit shots as fat.
However, for a more advances golfer, who hits a lot of open-faced wedge shots around the green and out of the bunker, a wider sole can be a hinderance to shots like that.
There really is no right or wrong answer to this question. Different clubs for different golfers.
Personally, Im not a fan of wide soles because they are a hinderance to the open-faced shots and I think they just make the clubs look clunky and ugly but I can also see why some people like these clubs.