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Bridgestone J40 Cavity Back Irons Review

SuperStroke
Hanks that was a great read, thanks for making my ride home more enjoyable.
What are the lofts on the J40s. Are they weaker than the other clubs you hit? Is the weight of the club in the shaft, head or a combo of both?


Kongfrontation
 
That's what I thought I was seeing.

Are you hitting all of the J40's (low, mid, scoring irons) higher than the CG16, Hanks?
 
Tadashi70 said:
Hanks that was a great read, thanks for making my ride home more enjoyable.
What are the lofts on the J40s. Are they weaker than the other clubs you hit? Is the weight of the club in the shaft, head or a combo of both?


Kongfrontation
Click to expand...

I don't have the loft info in front of me at the moment but I'll check that out tomorrow. I believe they are slightly weaker than the other sets but my memory may be a bit fuzzy.

I think the weight is primarily in the shaft but the club head has some weight to it as well. It almost feels to me like the weighting is similar to the higher balance point found in the Heavy Irons.


^^^^^^ I Tapped That ^^^^^^
 
Hawk said:
That's what I thought I was seeing.

Are you hitting all of the J40's (low, mid, scoring irons) higher than the CG16, Hanks?
Click to expand...

Yeah, all of the J40's are flying generally higher. I have a little issue consistently getting the 5 iron off the ground which I think is where the forgiveness starts to wane in the set a bit


^^^^^^ I Tapped That ^^^^^^
 
Thanks hanks, preciate the response.


Kongfrontation
 
Tadashi- here are the loft specs for the J40's vs. the CG16's. I also pulled the R11's specs for giggles too.

As you can see there's a quite a bit of difference between the J40 lofts and the CG16's and R11's. The latter two are very similar in fact.

J40 CG16 R11

5 27* 24* 24*
6 31* 27* 28*
7 35* 31* 32*
8 39* 35* 36*
9 43* 39* 40*
PW 47* 44* 45*


Tadashi70 said:
Hanks that was a great read, thanks for making my ride home more enjoyable.
What are the lofts on the J40s. Are they weaker than the other clubs you hit? Is the weight of the club in the shaft, head or a combo of both?


Kongfrontation
Click to expand...
 
I really like the way the J40 looks from the topline. Seeing it compared to the other irons puts it in perspective. Thanks for the reports on the irons Buck and Hanks, I enjoyed reading that.
 
The lofts might explain some of that height
 
no doubt about it
 
taking these out on the course tomorrow....forecast is looking like it's going to be damp and windy conditions so this may be a complete round of knockdown shots, 1/2 shots, and constantly clubbing up
 
Had these In play today in less than stellar conditions (wind, soggy course, leaf/twig littered greens) but managed to take some notes on the goods and bads of these irons

Goods- I really like the accuracy of these irons. When you get a good swing on these and if your alignment is right these will go where you're aiming. I saw generally consistent forgiveness with these in all sort of conditions and lies. The ball gets in the air quick and easy with almost a straight up and down ball flight that doesn't waiver from the target line much. Today was the first time I really got to see how these interacted with the turf as well. Even with the wet conditions, on the few occasions where I took a small divot the club cruised through the turf with out digging thanks to the narrow sole. The shaft feels great from takeaway to contact to follow through. Any iron is great to chip or pitch with due to its thinner top line and narrow sole. Even the 5i feels like a wedge when executing these type of shots. Punch shots are great with the 5i and 6i in that you seem to have a lot of control and the trajectory is very predictable.

Bads- I don't find these irons to be very long as compared to my current irons. The lofts are higher throughout the set which helps get the ball in the air easier but I think this helps contribute to the loss in distance. They're at least a club shorter. In windy conditions like I played in today this is a hindrance and on occasion had to club up 3 clubs worth which I felt was a lot even with the wind I played in. I wish the club head had a little more oomph or mass to it to match what solid feeling the shaft has. Extreme toe misses are very short and weak shots and it's be nice to see a little more forgiveness out there.


^^^^^^ I Tapped That ^^^^^^
 
Wow three clubs, that is a great deal of club to compensate for the wind. I know these are pretty soft so you could bend the lofts to stronger loft to gain that distance back. Are they too short for you to play with current set up or could you get used to playing an accurate shorter club?
 
Wow these are really weak by comparison. I would have to adjust the lofts on these by at leat 2* Thanks for getting this info my man, I appreciate it!
Hanks said:
Tadashi- here are the loft specs for the J40's vs. the CG16's. I also pulled the R11's specs for giggles too.

As you can see there's a quite a bit of difference between the J40 lofts and the CG16's and R11's. The latter two are very similar in fact.

J40 CG16 R11

5 27* 24* 24*
6 31* 27* 28*
7 35* 31* 32*
8 39* 35* 36*
9 43* 39* 40*
PW 47* 44* 45*
Click to expand...
 
Tadashi70 said:
Wow these are really weak by comparison. I would have to adjust the lofts on these by at leat 2* Thanks for getting this info my man, I appreciate it!
Click to expand...

Same here. I think 2* could make a big difference without messing with what the club offers


^^^^^^ I Tapped That ^^^^^^
 
Tadashi70 said:
Wow three clubs, that is a great deal of club to compensate for the wind. I know these are pretty soft so you could bend the lofts to stronger loft to gain that distance back. Are they too short for you to play with current set up or could you get used to playing an accurate shorter club?
Click to expand...

Good question. I don't think I'd be able to give up too much distance anymore now that I've played sets that give me both distance and accuracy. These would need to be bent to a stronger setting if they were to be in my bag. Plus as forgiving as these are I think I'd still need a little more for my game


^^^^^^ I Tapped That ^^^^^^
 
they sure do....and welcome to THP

These will be getting 2 straight days of course work as well as other forum member's input this weekend followed by a range session or two....then it's review time.

golflover4ever said:
These things look great!
Click to expand...
 
Hanks -- I would think the narrow soles would actually dig more through the wet mushy stuff? I tend to play with clubs with more bounce (especially wedges in the winter months) to help reduce hitting chunky type shots. The loss of distance is also something that would concern me especially with winter months coming and distance goes down in cold weather. Interesting tidbits to consider.
 
Yeah, three club difference would be a killer once you have your distances down. These are lofted the same as my older Nickents, yet sound like higher fliers. Nice review Hanks!
 
Nice write up Hanks. That's quite a difference in loft comparison. Makes me wonder what Bridgestone was thinking. It'll be great to get a chance to swing them this weekend.
 
sharkwrestler said:
Nice write up Hanks. That's quite a difference in loft comparison. Makes me wonder what Bridgestone was thinking. It'll be great to get a chance to swing them this weekend.
Click to expand...

Eh? Those are pretty standard lofts for "players" irons. They're the same as my Nike Pro combo's, Razr X Forged, AP2's, etc.

Hanks: I'd be willing to bet that after more practice flighting the ball lower and a shaft fitting to get the shots down (PX flighted flings them up there) as well would make a big difference. When testing the Cobra S3 Pro's and the Pro combo's the biggest performance difference I found in distance was very dependant on the iron shaft paired with it.
 
Thanks for the heads up Super Tuna with the loft standards for player Irons. , I was commenting on what numbers Hanks had put up side by side. I'm still in the learning phase of what is standard for the different type of Irons. That's what I like about THP always something to learn.

J40 CG16 R11

5 27* 24* 24*
6 31* 27* 28*
7 35* 31* 32*
8 39* 35* 36*
9 43* 39* 40*
PW 47* 44* 45*
 
I had a chance to hit this club yesterday with a 5.5 project X shaft and 6 iron head. I actually was able to compare this with Bridgestones other J40 offering (dual pocket cavity) and the two clubs are complete different in many was and similar in a few.
The Cavity is a smaller head, sleek, compact, great finish and sets up well behind the ball. It's has that great triangular setup of weighting on the back of the club that is not visible at address so the club has a bit of girth behind it but maintains the look of a blade.
It's has great weight and feels good in your hands. I feel that it's evenly weighted through out the club but you can feel the head of the club through out the swing.
I hit about ten balls and 50% where solid, three pulls and something that resembled a shank and for good measure a fatty mcbutter. The forgiveness of this club is not same as its perimeter weight counter part. A severe miss hit will cost you a shot or two on the course. But the pure shots are high, penetrating and standard length. Do you remember what standard length is? It's 10 to 15 yards shooter than all these new stronger lofted clubs. This club is 10yds shorter than my current set. Performance wise it's a solid club for an everyday player that has complete control of his game. This is not to say that anyone could play the club but I would think most players would enjoy a little more forgiveness.
All together Bridgestone has moved to the top of my wish list. This J40 line is top notch from the Big stick to the wedges.
 
they're all shined up and ready to go man....

sharkwrestler said:
Nice write up Hanks. That's quite a difference in loft comparison. Makes me wonder what Bridgestone was thinking. It'll be great to get a chance to swing them this weekend.
Click to expand...

You may be right, ST...I really like the feel of the PX shafts but I think the flighted combo witht he higher lofts just saps all the distance out of these things. I'm really curious as to how these would react to being bent 2* stronger to get more in line with the stronger lofts now seen in other irons

Super Tuna said:
Eh? Those are pretty standard lofts for "players" irons. They're the same as my Nike Pro combo's, Razr X Forged, AP2's, etc.

Hanks: I'd be willing to bet that after more practice flighting the ball lower and a shaft fitting to get the shots down (PX flighted flings them up there) as well would make a big difference. When testing the Cobra S3 Pro's and the Pro combo's the biggest performance difference I found in distance was very dependant on the iron shaft paired with it.
Click to expand...

I see this as well

Tadashi70 said:
I had a chance to hit this club yesterday with a 5.5 project X shaft and 6 iron head. I actually was able to compare this with Bridgestones other J40 offering (dual pocket cavity) and the two clubs are complete different in many was and similar in a few.
The Cavity is a smaller head, sleek, compact, great finish and sets up well behind the ball. It's has that great triangular setup of weighting on the back of the club that is not visible at address so the club has a bit of girth behind it but maintains the look of a blade.
It's has great weight and feels good in your hands. I feel that it's evenly weighted through out the club but you can feel the head of the club through out the swing.
I hit about ten balls and 50% where solid, three pulls and something that resembled a shank and for good measure a fatty mcbutter. The forgiveness of this club is not same as its perimeter weight counter part. A severe miss hit will cost you a shot or two on the course. But the pure shots are high, penetrating and standard length. Do you remember what standard length is? It's 10 to 15 yards shooter than all these new stronger lofted clubs. This club is 10yds shorter than my current set. Performance wise it's a solid club for an everyday player that has complete control of his game. This is not to say that anyone could play the club but I would think most players would enjoy a little more forgiveness.
All together Bridgestone has moved to the top of my wish list. This J40 line is top notch from the Big stick to the wedges.
Click to expand...
 
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