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Nike VR combo vs blades


seaver9
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Im looking to get a set of new clubs for this coming year.  I have about a 12 handicap and many posts ive read says that blades are too hard to hit for this high of a handicap.  I was wondering if the VR blades would be ok or if i should go with the VR combo irons instead.  Any help would be appreciated.

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Don't let people scare you away from blades. I'm about a 15 handicap and started using the Mizuno MP58's this year and I love them. Go and try hitting the blades and see how they feel. If you can't hit them well, don't buy them.

What's in my sunmountain.gif C-130 Bag:
callaway.gif -Razr X Black irons

 RBZ 3 Hybrid

 -Burner 2.0 3 wood

- Burner Driver 9.5*

SCOR Golf- 41* 45* 49* 53* 57* wedges

 odyssey.gif White Ice 2 Ball Putter

-Pro V1X balls

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The thing with blades is there is not that much forgiveness. If you miss the sweet spot on the clubs you can lose anywhere from 10 yards to like 75 yards off the miss shot. Why they are recommened for lower handicapped players is because they have a repetative swing. They rarely ever miss the sweet spot. I've always played bladed clubs, with 7-pw i was on rarely missed the sweet spot. With 3-6 every once in awhile i would hit on the toe it and lose a significant amount of yards. So i recently got rid of my blades and picked up some Nike Pro Combos and i love them. I would highly recommend the VR Combo.

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Quote:
Originally Posted by seaver9

Im looking to get a set of new clubs for this coming year.  I have about a 12 handicap and many posts ive read says that blades are too hard to hit for this high of a handicap.  I was wondering if the VR blades would be ok or if i should go with the VR combo irons instead.  Any help would be appreciated.

Funny you should ask this.  I would suggest getting as many clubs in the blades as you are comfortable -- I only have PW at the moment, but am replacing my MP-57s with blades at some point in the not-too-distant future.  I went this morning to try to order last year's VR Blades (which I prefer), but the store told me that Nike can't sell them to stores anymore due to the groove rule.   I'm not as fond of this year's offering as I was of last year's, but have the money now.

-- Michael | My swing! 

"You think you're Jim Furyk. That's why your phone is never charged." - message from my mother

Driver:  Titleist 915D2.  4-wood:  Titleist 917F2.  Titleist TS2 19 degree hybrid.  Another hybrid in here too.  Irons 5-U, Ping G400.  Wedges negotiable (currently 54 degree Cleveland, 58 degree Titleist) Edel putter. 

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Originally Posted by Ron Stewart

Don't let people scare you away from blades. I'm about a 15 handicap and started using the Mizuno MP58's this year and I love them. Go and try hitting the blades and see how they feel. If you can't hit them well, don't buy them.



the mp58s arent blades.

Colin P.

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My recommendation would be to try out the combos and see what you think.  I use a combo set of irons and love them.  Especially if you are looking at the VR line only.  It isn't going to hurt you at all to get the combos.  It will only help you on the slight mishit in the longer irons, which are the harder ones to hit.  Proper shaft selection is the bigger question mark than the club heads.

That being said, I am a big on encouraging people to play whatever they want, regardless of what they are told they 'should' play.  If you take a look at clubs themselves, there isn't that big a difference, a few MMs maybe.  Thing is, if you hit the ball along the proper swing path, in the center of the clubface, the ball will do what you want.  If you don't, it won't.  It is as simple as that.  Some clubs mask the mistakes better than others.  Personally, if I am 138 yards out, I expect to hit the ball 138 yards and on target, provided I have the proper swing path and swing speed.  If the swing path is slightly off and I miss the sweet spot a little, I really don't care if I come up 5 yards short, 10 yards short, or 20.  It doesn't matter, I didn't execute shot properly so either way I take the medicine.  NO club will cover you for a swing fault.

Get what you want.  The club that looks the best, that is the best price, that feels good when hold it and swing it, the one that sounds good when you make contact.  If you are not truly happy with what you get, you will never get over it and your game will suffer for it.

I will judge my rounds much more by the quality of my best shots than the acceptability of my worse ones.

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If you can hit them and like them then go for it!  Some people like to look down and see a butter knife, and others like to see a big mac at the end of the shaft.  I use a bladed 1 iron...does it have a purpose?...nope!  But it's a lot of fun!  And I enjoy the reactions I get from people when they see it.

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if you're a tall guy, i'd recommend getting all blades if you can hit them. i'm 6'5'', so for me swinging a 3i blade is no problem, but i imagine it could be an issue for someone who is significantly shorter. i've been hitting blades my whole life so i can't remember the last time i hit one off the toe, but if that's a problem i'd suggest getting a used 3i blade and practicing with it until you can hit it like a 7i.

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Originally Posted by Ron Stewart

Don't let people scare you away from blades. I'm about a 15 handicap and started using the Mizuno MP58's this year and I love them. Go and try hitting the blades and see how they feel. If you can't hit them well, don't buy them.

Totally agree, I'll probably catch grief over this statement but ball striking and handicap have very little in common.  Just because you are an 11 or 12 or 15 handicap doesn't mean you don't hit the ball well with your irons.  Hitting the ball in the sweet spot of your irons has nothing to do with handicap, so if you can do that give blades a try, there is nothing finer than puring a shot with a forged blade!

Craig 

Yeah, wanna make 14 dollars the hard way?

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Originally Posted by colin007

the mp58s arent blades.

Thanks for clearing that up. They aren't a true blade perhaps, but they are a "players" iron designed for a lower handicap golfer, and not as an easy to hit, game improvement iron.

What's in my sunmountain.gif C-130 Bag:
callaway.gif -Razr X Black irons

 RBZ 3 Hybrid

 -Burner 2.0 3 wood

- Burner Driver 9.5*

SCOR Golf- 41* 45* 49* 53* 57* wedges

 odyssey.gif White Ice 2 Ball Putter

-Pro V1X balls

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See which ones you hit best. I went for the in between set with my Ci9s. I get punished still for not hitting center compared to my old Slingshots, but it's buttery when you hit them center, and feels more rewarding.

:tmade: SLDR X-Stiff 12.5°
:nike:VRS Covert 3 Wood Stiff
:nike:VRS Covert 3 Hybrid Stiff
:nike:VR Pro Combo CB 4 - PW Stiff 2° Flat
:cleveland:588RTX CB 50.10 GW
:cleveland:588RTX CB 54.10 SW
:nike:VR V-Rev 60.8 LW
:nike:Method 002 Putter

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Originally Posted by seaver9

Im looking to get a set of new clubs for this coming year.  I have about a 12 handicap and many posts ive read says that blades are too hard to hit for this high of a handicap.  I was wondering if the VR blades would be ok or if i should go with the VR combo irons instead.  Any help would be appreciated.



My suggestion is to pick the combo set. Nothing feels better than striping a blade long iron, but hitting fairways and greens is pretty rewarding too. Of course it's possible to get blade long and mid-irons on the green, but people who can do that don't start threads asking for advice.

Mizuno MP600 driver, Cleveland '09 Launcher 3-wood, Callaway FTiz 18 degree hybrid, Cleveland TA1 3-9, Scratch SS8620 47, 53, 58, Cleveland Classic 2 mid-mallet, Bridgestone B330S, Sun Mountain four5.

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Originally Posted by sean_miller

My suggestion is to pick the combo set. Nothing feels better than striping a blade long iron, but hitting fairways and greens is pretty rewarding too. Of course it's possible to get blade long and mid-irons on the green, but people who can do that don't start threads asking for advice.



I agree with that statement "Nothing feels better than striping a blade long iron". Which is why its going to be a tough decision between blades and semi cavity (mp 63 style) for my next set.

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Originally Posted by lumpuckeroo

Totally agree, I'll probably catch grief over this statement but ball striking and handicap have very little in common.  Just because you are an 11 or 12 or 15 handicap doesn't mean you don't hit the ball well with your irons.  Hitting the ball in the sweet spot of your irons has nothing to do with handicap, so if you can do that give blades a try, there is nothing finer than puring a shot with a forged blade!



Well, I'm not going to give you grief, but there seems to be a fairly strong correlation between a player's ballstriking ability and their respective handicap.  Listed below is a post from another thread:

Prof. Mark Broadie (who helped come up with the strokes gained/putts gained methodology now being used to analyze PGA Tour shotlink data) also has a very interesting paper based on a database he created by tracking pro and amateur golfers of all abilities over thousands of rounds of golf. This allowed him to measure the contribution of individual shots to the golfer's overall score, and express this as a "shot value" -- which basically defines the quality of each shot relative to a scratch golfer's average result from that particular situation. Long story short -- you get a good view of where different groups of golfers gain and lose shots. The table below shows top pros, journeymen pros, and then low, middle and high handicap amateurs.

Screen shot 2011-05-02 at 2.02.34 PM.png

What jumps out is the overwhelming importance of the long game (shots from over 100 yards) in differentiating scores. For example, if a low-handicap am had a top pro do all his putting and scrambling, he could expect to save 4.3 (2.2 putts + 1.4 shots around the green + 0.7 sand shots) strokes a round. But having the pro hit his drives and longer iron shots instead would reduce his average score by 9.3 strokes. The same holds for the different groups of amateurs -- the mid cappers give up 11.5 shots to the low cappers and 7.1 of these (62 percent) are in the long game. Putting is an important differentiator among the pros, but less so for average golfers, since everyone is going to have 12 or more tap-ins a round. So the guy shooting 66 and below is only 6.5 strokes better on the greens than the guy shooting over 100, but he's almost 25 strokes better from the tee box up to 100 yards out!

Fun stuff to think about.

Here's the link to the thread/original post:

http://thesandtrap.com/forum/thread/852/keep-stats/144

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:titleist: :scotty_cameron:
915D3 / 712 AP2 / SC Mont 1.5

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Originally Posted by motteler621

I agree with that statement "Nothing feels better than striping a blade long iron". Which is why its going to be a tough decision between blades and semi cavity (mp 63 style) for my next set.



I could give you a list of blade irons that feel fantastic that can all be found for next to nothing on ebay or at a local thrift store, but I suspect those MP-63s feel and sound pretty awesome. They sure look good in the store. I think my Cleveland TA3 ("form forged" CBs) feel almost exactly the same as my TA1s (form forged MBs). I'd like to believe I can tell the difference, but a solid strike (no twisting, compressed ball, pin high) feels good with any iron. What might be different is that less than perfect shots feel a little better with the CBs.

Mizuno MP600 driver, Cleveland '09 Launcher 3-wood, Callaway FTiz 18 degree hybrid, Cleveland TA1 3-9, Scratch SS8620 47, 53, 58, Cleveland Classic 2 mid-mallet, Bridgestone B330S, Sun Mountain four5.

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Originally Posted by colin007

the mp58s arent blades.


Bingo.  The MP67s or 68s are true bades.

In response ot the OP, I really like any brand that comes out with a progressive mix of cavity to blades.  The VR Pro Combo 3-7i's are perfect and IMO, you should be ok to hit the 8-PW blades.  The 3-7 Pro blades may be a bit to much to hit and unnecessary IMO, when you have a perfect pro combo set that progresses perfectly.

Deryck Griffith

Titleist 910 D3: 9.5deg GD Tour AD DI7x | Nike Dymo 3W: 15deg, UST S-flex | Mizuno MP CLK Hybrid: 20deg, Project X Tour Issue 6.5, HC1 Shaft | Mizuno MP-57 4-PW, DG X100 Shaft, 1deg upright | Cleveland CG15 Wedges: 52, 56, 60deg | Scotty Cameron California Del Mar | TaylorMade Penta, TP Black LDP, Nike 20XI-X

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Originally Posted by sean_miller

I could give you a list of blade irons that feel fantastic that can all be found for next to nothing on ebay or at a local thrift store, but I suspect those MP-63s feel and sound pretty awesome. They sure look good in the store. I think my Cleveland TA3 ("form forged" CBs) feel almost exactly the same as my TA1s (form forged MBs). I'd like to believe I can tell the difference, but a solid strike (no twisting, compressed ball, pin high) feels good with any iron. What might be different is that less than perfect shots feel a little better with the CBs.


yea, I think Im a blade guy now though after having these mp-32's. Have to play with some other blades and see. Only problem with buying those blades that are older is they have been used, some guys like that look but I prefer brand new irons.

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