At what handicap should you change your irons?

[Ash1974]

As said it is when you feel you’re ready (want an excuse to buy new)

I am a 17 handicap and decided that where I wanted to go was actually trying to improve my ball striking, I felt that for me the GI Irons were becoming more and more clunky and I needed a iron more towards the "players" iron they talk about, for me I hit the i10s/Nike Split cavity/Mizuno MX200 and the i10's won, then the i15's came out with that bit more forgiveness in the 4-6 so went with these, it has taken me a few months of shooting higher scores but my ball striking is getting better and the scores are coming back down again 

I know mid handicappers that use forged VR Blades and Mizuno MP57's and my playing partner is a 8 handicap and uses Callaway X Forged, but only recently he switched from Ping K-ISI's which he has played with from a 18 down to an 8 and only changed as they were old and battered 

KJ Choi is using G15's which are bigger than the G10's sole wise, but he hits them sweet enough and is on tour...with current form.

So I don't think there is any handicap to iron matching as long as you are willing to put in the time and practice, prepared for your handicap to go up and down to hit a less forgiving club, or stick with a GI iron and be happy that you’re a 6 regardless of how GI your irons look in your bag 

[playfromthetips11]

Dont do it. I thought my irons (Cobra Gravity Back) were holding me back last year and got a set of Nike CCI Forged thinking a more players iron would get me out of the mid 80's rut. I went backwards. Sure when i hit the new irons flush they felt better and performed flawlessly, but how often did i hit them perfectly flush. About 1 out of 8. Until you try it, you wont see the benefit the extra forgiveness actually gives you. I would work on chipping and putting. Especially if you are hitting your current irons well.