Practice with blades?

[mdbuschsr]

My father has an old set of dunlop blades that are just sitting in a closet. He no longer plays the game so they will continue to sit there until they get thrown out.

Would it be beneficial for me to practice with blades? I'm not good enough to play them yet, but my thought is that with the instant feedback from blades, I will know absolutely when I mis-hit the ball slightly. Where as with my X18r-s mis-hits are somewhat forgiven.

Any thoughts?

[FlopScotty]

See your point, but I think it could put your tempo off since the clubs will not have the same swingweight and flex.

You should try impact tape on your x-18s, those will give you a nice feedback on where you hit it on the face.

[Blades4me]

Not a bad idea, however there are a couple of things. One, if the irons are per 1980 the sweet spot is closer to the hosel than post 1980 irons, which is out more towards the toe of the club, and 2) I don't think it will influence your learning curve that much, but I could be wrong. I wouldn't worry about the possible difference in swing wt. that much, unless you have zero "feel" and if that is the case, golf isn't for you.

The tour striker is also very good to help with good ball striking. If you want to go with the old irons I'd go with the lowest loft you can hit. Once you hit that pretty consistently drop down to the next iron. I say this b/c it will do 2 things, may be more, but the 2 that happened to me were, it made me focus more and it made me slow down my swing which helped with my tempo. I'd also take your "gamers" to the range with you cuz its no fun getting beat up all the time. That is to say, when you get tired of hitting the old irons you can hit your gamers which should be noticablly easier to hit and help your ego. Be perpared for frustration cuz that is just part of the game and practice; it may happen less, but it doesn't go away. So good luck and enjoy the journey.

[The Recreational Golfer]

Depends on how old the Dunlops are. If you want to practice with blades, buy a modern set off eBay so you get the benefit of modern design. Personally, I think you are good enough to play with blades as long as you don't go lower than 5-iron. They're not as hard to hit well as so many people think.

[sean_miller]

See your point, but I think it could put your tempo off since the clubs will not have the same swingweight and flex.

I do that with my woods - it's a very good learning tool!