Why Blades?

[JPsuff]

I'm going back to my blades.

I tried the cavity back clubs for a couple of seasons and though I hit them about the same, I don't get the same feedback and that's what's been missing. With blades, I'll know not only whether or not I hit a good shot, but I'll be able to tell before I even lift my head to watch it and if it's a bad shot, I'll know exactly why.

With the cavity backs (and the ones I used were forged, just like my blades), after hitting a poor shot, I too often found myself wondering exactly why. I got a decent feedback from them - what I thought was "just as good" as my blades, but that wasn't the case. After a poor shot, I'd too often find myself looking at the ball, the divot, the club face and I'm scratching my head wondering what went wrong because the shot felt OK but it obviously wasn't.

With the instant feedback from the blades, I can identify a mistake or even just a small miscue and then be able to work on a minor problem long before it becomes a full-blown problem. With the cavity backs, things too often got out of control before I realized that I was doing something differently and then it seemed as if it took at least as long to correct it.

I grew up playing blades and played them for over 30 years and they are definitely temperamental and indeed an acquired taste. But in my opinion, the feedback they offer is worth their weight in strokes and I end up playing better overall because that feedback allows me to recognize problems quickly and to be able to stay on top of things and to be able to make minor corrections along the way instead of allowing bad habits to become ingrained before even realizing they exist.

Lastly, there's a definite ego boost in playing well with blades because I'll know that good play is the result of my skill rather than the forgiveness of technology. That has a very satisfying aspect to it as it lets me know that whatever I'm doing at the time is correct and that the results I'm getting are because I'm striking the ball purely and that all of the work I've put into my game is paying dividends.


-JP

 

[bumpnrun]

Blades for practice, CB's for play

Blades for practice, CB's for play

I picked up a Titleist ZM demo 6 iron for $10 at my clubs pro shop and use it regularly for practice. It provides a lot more information about the quality of my ballstriking than the clubs I play with. The only other advantage I can see with a balde is that I find it easier to keep the ball low with a blade as compared to a cavity back.

 

[INgolfer]

I remember watching a video once after the Nike VR line came out. Tiger Woods said that if he could play the full cavity irons he would, but he needed the shot shaping ability of the blades, which you just don't get with full cavities. A mid-cavity iron can give you some shot shaping ability and still provide you with some forgiveness on off center hits. I switched from GI irons to the Nike split cavities last year because I felt my ball striking was good enough, but I wanted to be able to shape my shots better, and it worked out perfectly. If I do mis-hit the ball at all I still get decent distance, but I can shape my ball more than I could before. I tried out some full blades and while I did OK hitting them on center, I am not confident enough in my long irons yet to get a set of blades. The split cavities give me a little bit of forgiveness on those longer irons and I can still shape my shot. I think a "blade" person is one who wants to be able to shape their shots a lot more, which is only acheiveable with some blades.

 

[All4's]

JB's original point still stands I think. If tour players and clubmakers say there is no real discernible difference in feel or workability, then how much of the perceived difference amateurs expound is just "placebo effect" I wonder. How much of that is rooted in decades of there being a difference and now the mind is just carrying that perception over time.

I can only think of 1 actual advantage there would be to playing a blade and that is aesthetics. They tend to be gorgeous and borderline art.

 

[One-T]

JB's original point still stands I think. If tour players and clubmakers say there is no real discernible difference in feel or workability, then how much of the perceived difference amateurs expound is just "placebo effect" I wonder. How much of that is rooted in decades of there being a difference and now the mind is just carrying that perception over time.

I can only think of 1 actual advantage there would be to playing a blade and that is aesthetics. They tend to be gorgeous and borderline art.

Whats this workability word you speak of?

 

[CharlieMoy]

Whats this workability word you speak of?

I workabilitied my irons all over the place at Broadmoor.


From the iPhone.

 

[One-T]

I workabilitied my irons all over the place at Broadmoor.


From the iPhone.

that was awesome by the way...he games blades and workabilitiitieied the ball around a tree and into the water. It was special

 

[TC]

that was awesome by the way...he games blades and workabilitiitieied the ball around a tree and into the water. It was special

ah, so that's workability? I was wondering what that was called. I took my big ol' shovels, my cast, cavity back'd clunkers and hit high, straight balls, and ironically, took hundy to the woodshed.

 

[JB]

took hundy to the woodshed.

But did you beat him at golf? I think the woodshed is where he found a lock of your hair to carry around and got the picture of you for under his mattress.

 

[CharlieMoy]

Lets clarify for all so people dont think Im weird. It was a lock of his beard hair that could go with his picture that I drew with a green crayon.

But did you beat him at golf? I think the woodshed is where he found a lock of your hair to carry around and got the picture of you for under his mattress.

 

[One-T]

Lets clarify for all so people dont think Im weird. It was a lock of his beard hair that could go with his picture that I drew with a green crayon.

LMAO!!!!

 

[Joshzilla]

This is a great thread, guys. I feel like my VR Full Cavity irons don't always glide through the turf the way that I want them to. It is fully possible that this is completely in my head, but difference in turf interaction of my VR's versus that of my blade wedges is pretty clear (of course iron to wedge comparison isn't really fair, either).

I have no delusions as to wanting to ever play blades throughout my bag, but I think a combo set would be nice. Get that wedge feel in my 8 and 9 irons.

So that's a lot of words to say I want my pin-seeker clubs to be blades so I can really go for appropriate distance and spin.

 

[Joshzilla]

that was awesome by the way...he games blades and workabilitiitieied the ball around a tree and into the water. It was special

That is classic!!!

 

[edbh]

IMO there are four possible reasons; ego, looks/appearance, confidence - which does translate into scoring because we all know how the mental side is key, or ability to better self diagnose where the miss was on clubface. workability and feel vs other forged clubs seems less of a reason to me.

 

[blugold]

ah, so that's workability? I was wondering what that was called. I took my big ol' shovels, my cast, cavity back'd clunkers and hit high, straight balls, and ironically, took hundy to the woodshed.

But did you beat him at golf? I think the woodshed is where he found a lock of your hair to carry around and got the picture of you for under his mattress.

Lets clarify for all so people dont think Im weird. It was a lock of his beard hair that could go with his picture that I drew with a green crayon.

That may be the oddest string of posts in the history of forever.

Thainer, I like how you clarified where the hair came from so people wouldn't think you're weird. It didn't help.

 

[CharlieMoy]

That may be the oddest string of posts in the history of forever.

Thainer, I like how you clarified where the hair came from so people wouldn't think you're weird. It didn't help.

I thought you might like that blugold

From the iPhone.

 

[blugold]

I thought you might like that blugold

I love green crayon pictures.

 

[JRod]

You shoulda seen me carve up the executive length course hawk and I played the other day. I workabilitied the ball all over that biotch. thank god i have blades?

 

[Griff]

My old Titleists gave the sweetest feedback imaginable. Shaping shots was a snap. But, todays irons simply blow em away for consistency on mishits. Golf is about managing your errors more than trying to hit the perfect shot every time. I choose GI irons for that purpose.

 

[Oregon Golfer]

Not sure why. I currently play Hogan Aplex Plus. I guess these are Players Cavity? I have only ever played these and a SGI iron. I play much better and feel much better with the Hogan's. I plan on getting fit for and buying new irons this fall, I presume I will get a cavity back type, maybe Adams CB2, TaylorMade CB/MC combo, VR Pro Cavity, etc....

Current iron:

 

[jnug]

I do think the guys that comment that todays blades are much easier to hit than blades of yesteryear get totally ignored in threads like this for some reason. They are much more forgiving than people who do not hit them think they are.

Why blades? Why players CB's? Why anything? We all play what we want to play for our own reasons. However I doubt ego has more or less to do with playing blades than it has to do with playing anything else. You can just as easily make the argument that the amateur player that has enough game to play blades but instead plays CBs' does so because he is less interested in honing his game further and more interested in shaving a couple of extra shots off his scorecard because of his ego. In truth I think ego has little to do with a guy playing CB's or blades.

The question itself is bound up in the simple fact that we are not all out there on the golf course with the same goals and aspirations. I suspect that touring pros have the same or very similar goals and aspirations. However we amateurs are all over the map both with regard to what we consider satisfying about the game of golf and what it is we want to get out of the game.

Regardless of the fact that today's blades are easier to hit than my dad's blades (which I still have) they do force you to focus and concentrate. You have to maintain good tempo and be on plane to do anything with them or at least I do. That is in fact what I like about them. Doing something that is inherently difficult to do has some value in and of itself. I like being forced to focus and concentrate. I like how much I learn from each swing of the club. I like the fact that it is easier to screw up with them. I love the feel of a perfect shot not so much for the feel itself but for the fact that I know I have executed that swing as perfectly as I can. I like being rattled by a bad swing. I should be rattled by a bad swing. No, I don't want the ball to just go flying out there like I hit it pure when I did not and if that is how I feel about the question of club type what value does a set of CB's have to me? I am a much better ball striker today than I was the day I picked the clubs up again after having given the game up for sixteen years and I doubt that would be the case if the clubs I picked were not blades. I might have been able to accomplish the same thing with CB's but then at best I would have been splitting hairs. I knew I would get want I wanted from the blades and I have.

Sure on a given day CB's might be easier for me to hit but ultimately they are not as good for my game as blades are and they will limit my ability to continue to improve. As for what I play, I practice with a full set of blades and I game a mixed set.

 

[One-T]

Not sure why. I currently play Hogan Aplex Plus. I guess these are Players Cavity? I have only ever played these and a SGI iron. I play much better and feel much better with the Hogan's. I plan on getting fit for and buying new irons this fall, I presume I will get a cavity back type, maybe Adams CB2, TaylorMade CB/MC combo, VR Pro Cavity, etc....

Current iron:

Is your HDCP truly a 22?

 

[Tmex]

T, I can say that I play a blade 6i. So much more forgiving that my machspeeds. I'd play the whole set but I'm looking hardcore at some blades that don't even have a sweetspot.

On a serious note, I don't get how some people don't feel like you have to concentrate to hit the GI style of irons. If you miss it may not be as punishing but sometimes they are. What if I smack my Machspeeds but slice it with water to the right of the hole? I'm out a stroke or two most likely. If I hit the same miss with my 6i blade, I may still slice the crap out of the ball but I may only go 40 yards keeping me out of the water. I guess my point is its all relative. I joke alot about practicing with a blade but I really couldn't care what anyone bagged as long as they have fun. Just don't tell me a blade is more forgiving lol. My wrists say otherwise.

Is your HDCP truly a 22?

 

[the_paulo]

I wouldn't stand up for the forgiveness of blades vs cavities, it's not even an argument. But I would say that, just as bad as the blade player with the superiority complex, is the cavity player with the superiority complex. Blade players aren't all masochists who don't know what's good for them.

(that's just me)

 

[Fairway2Green]

I bought them because I was an idiot and listening to my buddy who's "that guy", but he's a PGA teaching pro so I thought he was helping me out. Can't wait to switch to some cavity backs.