Curious thoughts lol..... practicing with a less forgiving iron set

[David L Yskes]

So, i sometimes get to brainstorming about how i can improve my game more... Lessons are already in the works....

And was thinking of this today on my way home...

If i bought a set of Irons like the Rocketbladez ( not the Tour ones )  and used them for practicing on the driving range, to improve my ball striking abilities...  And then go to the irons i normally use, which are more forgiving....

Or would if i had the Rocketbladez, to just use them all the time?????

[Shorty]

The Rocketbladez irons are extremely forgiving.

[David L Yskes]

really???   i would of thought they are like one step down from a Blade ???  but not a full on cavity back ??

my thoughts was it went something like Rocketballz, Bladezs, then the bladez tour...

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by David L Yskes

really???   i would of thought they are like one step down from a Blade ???  but not a full on cavity back ??

my thoughts was it went something like Rocketballz, Bladezs, then the bladez tour...

They are a game improvement iron.

The "blade" thing is just typical TM marketing.

The order you have them in is essentially correct, but the Bladez and Bladez Tour have almost nothing in common at address.

[edindallas]

Interesting thread. Was wondering the same. If I practiced with blades, would my ball striking improve even though I am only a beginner? Of course I would play with GI irons. The blades would only be a training tool.

[BostonBrew]

I wouldn't recommend it. Play with what you practice with. If you're striking the ball well, it doesn't matter what club you're using. The most probable result from you practicing with true blades is that you become incredibly frustrated and stressed out because you are hitting the ball so poorly.

[WUTiger]

Practice with the iron set you use.

Want to check your precision? Once a month, place impact decals on the face of your 7i, 5i and Driver. See how close to the sweet spot you are on your hits. Use the impact patterns to guide your swing-building drills.

[rehmwa]

Originally Posted by BostonBrew

The most probable result from you practicing with true blades is that you become incredibly frustrated and stressed out because you are hitting the ball so poorly.

Oh, you mean that thing we call "golfing"

[Dave2512]

Play and practice with what works for you. There are plenty of low handicap golfers out there using GI irons. Struggling to play with unforgiving clubs isn't going to make you a better ball striker.

[David in FL]

There's a school of thought that says that by playing unforgiving clubs, a poor ball-striker will become a much better ball-striker.

There's also a school of thought that recommends banging your face into a brick wall for hours on end, because it will feel so good when you finally stop.

The only thing I'll tell you about both of them is that in each case, you're gonna be miserable......

[cipher]

Originally Posted by David in FL

There's a school of thought that says that by playing unforgiving clubs, a poor ball-striker will become a much better ball-striker.

There's also a school of thought that recommends banging your face into a brick wall for hours on end, because it will feel so good when you finally stop.

The only thing I'll tell you about both of them is that in each case, you're gonna be miserable......

LOL, great take.  I will say though that I had a harder time hitting the center of the face with my big G20 3 iron than I do with my new Callaway.  I have no idea why but it is probably just placebo effect through liking the appearance better.  I don't know, I just swing em'.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by David L Yskes

If i bought a set of Irons like the Rocketbladez ( not the Tour ones )  and used them for practicing on the driving range, to improve my ball striking abilities...  And then go to the irons i normally use, which are more forgiving....

I get the theory behind the idea of practicing with harder to hit clubs, but I don't subscribe to it.  The idea is that you will force yourself to become a better ball striker if your bad hits aren't "masked" by the forgiveness of the club, correct?  The problem with that theory, though, is that there are way more differences between different irons than simply the size of the sweetspot.  Even if the clubs are custom fit (or at least have the exact same lie and length specs of the clubs you actually use), they're still going to have a different trajectory, and the ball is going to go a different distance.  That seems like it's going to bring about more confusion than anything else.

I would highly recommend simply always practicing with the clubs you play with.  If you want to torture yourself unnecessarily, then by all means, get a set of blades and practice (and play) with them.  Of, if you just want to try and do drills that help your ballstriking, then just get one of those "tourstriker" thingies.

[iacas]

I get the theory behind the idea of practicing with harder to hit clubs, but I don't subscribe to it.  The idea is that you will force yourself to become a better ball striker if your bad hits aren't "masked" by the forgiveness of the club, correct?  The problem with that theory, though, is that there are way more differences between different irons than simply the size of the sweetspot.  Even if the clubs are custom fit (or at least have the exact same lie and length specs of the clubs you actually use), they're still going to have a different trajectory, and the ball is going to go a different distance.  That seems like it's going to bring about more confusion than anything else. I would highly recommend simply always practicing with the clubs you play with.  If you want to torture yourself unnecessarily, then by all means, get a set of blades and practice (and play) with them.  Of, if you just want to try and do drills that help your ballstriking, then just get one of those "tourstriker" thingies.

Questions for those who are against practice clubs: 1. Do you practice full swings with the same golf balls you normally use? 2. Do you honestly believe that for relatively similar flex/length/weight clubs, you swing differently? 3. Do you practice properly to begin with? Most of you if you were being honest will say no to all three. FWIW, I grab whatever club is handy to practice. Often lately I will use a cavity back to practice just because the range can be sandy and I don't want to scratch up my "gamer" blades.

[Hacker James]

I seem to play better with my forged Hogan's, (compared with the last set of Adams Tight Lies). I don't think it is because they are forged however, but just different clubs as already mentioned.  I do appreciate the fact that they will give me instant (sometimes painful) feedback, if miss-hit.  If that feed back actually helps, the jury is still out on that one.

[Jakester23]

Erik Im sure I dont practice correctly. Do you have any suggestions on what hackers like me should be practicing or how to make my range time more useful? I think I would go to the range more often if I had a purpose. I usually only go if Im struggling with a particular club.

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by Jakester23

Erik Im sure I dont practice correctly. Do you have any suggestions on what hackers like me should be practicing or how to make my range time more useful? I think I would go to the range more often if I had a purpose. I usually only go if Im struggling with a particular club.

There are endless examples of advice for effective practice on this, and every other golfing site.

I really do think it is unreasonable to ask the administrator to give you personal advice when the information is already out there.

How much time do you think he should devote to outlining this information for you, personally?

I suggest you do some Google searches along the lines of "effective golf practice" or "best way to practice", or better still, perhaps, search this site.

But in short, you'll find that you need to treat each shot properly, go through your routine, aim for targets, check your alignment and not just swing away endlessly.

[cipher]

Originally Posted by iacas

Questions for those who are against practice clubs:

1. Do you practice full swings with the same golf balls you normally use? NO

2. Do you honestly believe that for relatively similar flex/length/weight clubs, you swing differently? NO

3. Do you practice properly to begin with? YES...maybe.

Most of you if you were being honest will say no to all three.

FWIW, I grab whatever club is handy to practice. Often lately I will use a cavity back to practice just because the range can be sandy and I don't want to scratch up my "gamer" blades.

Originally Posted by Jakester23

Erik Im sure I dont practice correctly. Do you have any suggestions on what hackers like me should be practicing or how to make my range time more useful? I think I would go to the range more often if I had a purpose. I usually only go if Im struggling with a particular club.

Jakester, let me answer you this way.  In order to practice properly you either need to be a kinesthetic genius or you need someone to tell you what you need to practice.  The only way to do that is have an instructor be a family member or to pay for lessons.  Otherwise the only thing you can really do is go to the range and hit the hell out of some dirt.

[Hacker James]

Originally Posted by Jakester23

Erik Im sure I dont practice correctly. Do you have any suggestions on what hackers like me should be practicing or how to make my range time more useful? I think I would go to the range more often if I had a purpose. I usually only go if Im struggling with a particular club.

Here is one for starters.....(thought I would save the administrator a little time)...I found this by typing "Best Practice" in the search forum dialogue box at the very top of the screen:

http://thesandtrap.com/t/58816/65-25-10-practice-ratios-where-to-devote-your-practice-time