Old blades for a "New" Golfer

[Lihu]

My test will be tomorrow and Sunday. Ping I20 versus MP32.

[MissouriHack]

I'm still deciding if I am going to take the butter knife with me. 2i lol

[Valleygolfer]

I'm still deciding if I am going to take the butter knife with me. 2i lol

I actually like my 2 iron quite a bit, enough to pull my equally nice 4 wood out of the bag. The 2 is definitely one that will let you know when you have screwed the pooch.

[notsohard]

Having fun is all that matters. Hitting a blade well just one or two times a round might be just as satisfying as a low score.

dont fool yourself

[David in FL]

dont fool yourself

Yeah. That's a really interesting perspective on the game. I guess if I felt like that, I'd just stay on the range. No need to venture out on the course at all! :-\

[Valleygolfer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

Having fun is all that matters. Hitting a blade well just one or two times a round might be just as satisfying as a low score.

dont fool yourself

Yea a whole round of crappy iron shots cept for one or two is like eating a bowl of poop and drinking your favorite beer..... You're still left with a bad taste in your mouth....

[Dave2512]

LOL I was thinking more along the lines of unnecessarily difficult like eating soup with chopsticks. But then I remembered I eat pho all the time. Still definitely falls into why bother territory. A well struck shot is a well struck shot regardless of what club is used. There is no magic enlightenment in blades. It's not like blades are impossible to hit. The biggest difference I notice is a mishit is usually much shorter and so-so hits also short but with less predictability. On the course that is a recipe for torture. I'm guessing the reason it doesn't bother the higher handicap folks is they are accustomed to hitting bad shots anyway.

[Lihu]

All right guys, enough of the not fooling myself part with blades :-P I just played a round with my new Ping I20s. Keep in mind that I never hit these clubs before playing my round today. Let's just say the irons weren't the problem today. ;-) I hit a 4 iron 210 yards carry and roll on a par 3 193 yards by over hitting the flag by 17 yards. The irons were really amazingly forgiving. Okay, so I put myself in a time warp with 10 year old blades, and Cleveland blades that are self admittedly the most unforgiving clubs ever made. All my irons were 10 yards longer, and totally reliable. I need to work on my aim a bit, but my iron approaches were within 5 to 10 yard easy chips. Yes, my round sucked because for some reason I was totally mishitting driver and woods. Only 1 par on a 540 yard par 5 followed by the same score on a 125 yard par 3. My son and I bailed after 9 holes then hit the range. Just saying, the I20 clubs are awesome. I will still train with the MP32.

[David in FL]

All right guys, enough of the not fooling myself part with blades :-P I just played a round with my new Ping I20s. Keep in mind that I never hit these clubs before playing my round today. Let's just say the irons weren't the problem today. ;-) I hit a 4 iron 210 yards carry and roll on a par 3 193 yards by over hitting the flag by 17 yards. The irons were really amazingly forgiving. Okay, so I put myself in a time warp with 10 year old blades, and Cleveland blades that are self admittedly the most unforgiving clubs ever made. All my irons were 10 yards longer, and totally reliable. I need to work on my aim a bit, but my iron approaches were within 5 to 10 yard easy chips. Yes, my round sucked because for some reason I was totally mishitting driver and woods. Only 1 par on a 540 yard par 5 followed by the same score on a 125 yard par 3. My son and I bailed after 9 holes then hit the range. Just saying, the I20 clubs are awesome. I will still train with the MP32.

Technology is a wonderful thing! :beer:

[David L Yskes]

Mizzuhack,

jmo, if you are happy with the blades then that is really all that matters..  I kind of did the same thing this year..   I started playing golf again, well i was using my brother's hand me down Wilson Deep Reds, and then i went out and bought a new set of Adams Tight Lie's GI irons..   Well one night i was having issues sleeping and so @ 4am i see a set of Titleist 735 cm irons, with a buy it now @ 195$ , well i did a search of them and did a quick read and instantly bought them.... about a week or so later i picked up a set of R7's too..  well after a ton of time on the driving range and even a golf lesson, i finally get to play a round of golf..  And sucked!!!!!    I mean it was awful...    And honestly had shelved my Titleists for the r7s...   which ended up changing a few days later after doing a comparison on the driving range..

What i found was, with a 4 iron, i would have several good hits and your not so good hits.. didnt matter which iron i was using R7 or titleist..   And it was basically the same with all of the irons... if you hit a bad shot with a GI iron, its still going to go left or right and short or low... the GI irons dont magically make you a awesome golfer who smokes everything 50 yards farther and straight...

now, i've had those so called OMG moments on the course when I smoke my 3 iron 200+ yards and straight... and it does feel good when you hit these types of irons really good, the feeling is almost like you didnt hit anything and the ball just goes!!!!!!

I have a good story about blades too... so back in 2000, i stopped at a garage sale and see this OLD set of golf clubs and they wanted 20$ for them, and i snag them, like serious BLADES and wood drivers..   So i give them to my brother so we can go golfing together lol... Well fast forward a few years and he had broke the 7iron or something idk, and is in at a golfing store over by Detroit..  And just wanted a replacement club, well after talking to the guy who was working, he brings in the set of irons and the guy starts to laugh.. cuz he hadnt seen a set of irons that old in forever..  Well my brother ends up buying the Wilson Deep Reds, and calls it good...    after the first two rounds with the Wilson's he tells me how much easier it is to hit the ball and how much farther the ball goes lol...

So starting out with blades isnt always bad...   as my brother now uses Titleist AP2 710's and love them...

[Lihu]

I think without the blade experience, there is no appreciation for GI clubs. It's important to train hitting the sweet spot. I guess hitting blades against a net is fine for that. I have always planned to start using SGI or GI clubs for playing scoring rounds. Just did not think my new swing (working with Mvmac) was ready for the prime time. I did not expect to see such improvrments so quickly. Now if I could hit my woods better.

[David L Yskes]

very true....

in a sadistic world, i'd secretly wish for everyone to have to use blades for 1 season lol......   and then you'd be able to go back to your old set of irons..  LOL      I'm sure a lot of people would actually hit the ball better, with their SGI's or GI's clubs.

I mean could you imagine going back to the 70's and 80's and using old school blades and balata balls???

[Always an 80]

Taught myself how to play as a kid. Had my brothers old blades. Some fiberglass shafts some steel some wood. Later on I got a set of cavity backs that a friend had used on tour for a year. As mentioned earlier the cavity backs are much more forgiving but you lose the feel. I went back to blades cause its what I learned on. Blades feel great on a good shot. That is why I keep them. They are a barometer so to speak. Ill probably keep playing the blades to keep my swing honest. Good Luck and have fun!!

[Jakester23]

How much different is the feel and workability of a AP2 compared to a true blade? I was hoping to upgrade to a set of clubs that were forged but with a little forgiveness. I know the AP's aren't blades but to me they seem to be in between a blade and my G15's. Id love some feedback from someone who has them or has hit them.

[Lihu]

The feel part is very pronounced. Full swing heel/toe hits actually hurt the fingers with a blade. As I do not "work" balls yet, can't say how much different. I've read and heard that any club can be worked.

[GaijinGolfer]

I highly recommend you ditch the blades and get a nice set of cavity back irons.  Its going to make the game much easier and much less frustrating.  When you considering that even the pros have given up their blades, it makes you wonder why the rest of us would think that we have the swing to play them.

[MissouriHack]

I had a lot of fun today. 5 greens 6 fairways and 40 putts. So I broke 100 but not buy much. A buddy and I played at a course that we never played before and it was really nice. The slope rating was higher than the place we normally play at. I liked they way the blades played and only chunked one shot. I did lose some distance but nothing too crazy. If I had to be honest I played way too aggressive off the tee. It was a course mismanagement day. But there was a couple of times that I was laughing so hard that I was almost crying, and the weather here was perfect. I would have to chalk it up as a great day.

[Jakester23]

How much different did you think your ball striking was compared to your cb set?