Game Improvement vs Players irons

[ccjimmy2001]

I consider myself to be a pretty decent golfer. I hit plenty of good shots throughout a round, I am capable of a birdie at any time (though usually it ends up being a bogey) — what hurts my scoring, like many others, is the lack of consistency. 2 tee shots sliced OB, thinking or chunking 3 shots a round, a handful of “good misses”…

I’m playing the Callaway Apex 21 irons. They’re a step “above” Game Improvement, but they aren’t the Apex Pros for the really good golfers. I love my irons and have no issue with them, but randomly wondered today: should I be playing Game Improvements?

I wanted so badly to “graduate” from those, but if I’m not a golfer who can shape my shot — and I’m playing the same fade on every shot — would GI irons help mitigate those 3 chunk/skulls each round? Make other mis-hits more forgiving? Said another way: at my skill level, is there any downside to GIs?

I don’t plan on replacing my irons regardless of the feedback I see to this post, but more so I was just wondering if perhaps, I let my ego get in the way of what might help me score best.

 

[zengineer]

Good players consistently contact the center of the club face, with the face square to the target, with a swing path in line with the target. Thin shots, fat shots, slices and hooks happen when you fail to do all three. Game improvement clubs penalize you less for those failures. No club will fix an absolute chunk, top or hosel hit....but thin, fat, toe shots will be better.

Player's clubs are for those who are way beyond frequent tops, chunks, hooks hosel rockets and banana balls.

 

[Bosco...]

like many others, is the lack of consistency. 2 tee shots sliced OB, thinking or chunking 3 shots a round, a handful of “good misses”…

2 tee shots OB sounds like driver and a chunk is a chunk. It’s not your clubs.

Coupla weeks ago I watched a 15 year girl beat the dog snot out of those irons and was so jealous. You’ve got good ones.

 

[russtopher]

Is there a downside to GI irons? No, probably not.

Will they prevent you from thinning, hitting fat, or coming over the top? No, probably not. There's a chance they'll help make those bad shots slightly less penal, but they're not going to suddenly drop your scores.

If you love those irons and they make you happy when you hit them, then keep on going.

 

[Styles]

I‘m currently off 10.1.
I don’t chunk and thin much, but I do miss the center.
I am playing GI and can hit fades and draws no problem. In fact, it’s easier to hit “baby” draws and fades, where you can’t over cook it.
There are a lot of low single to scratch golfers playing GI. A lot of players, even pros, just aren’t that into equipment.

 

[4hourrule]

More on zengineers post. When I got back into Golf, without realizing it, I was swinging Over The Top. My then set of Zings helped soften the blow only loosing 10-15 yards, then the ZX5s reduced those #s even more. Still, I wasn't getting ball flight or feel that I remembered from "back in the day". Then I saw a vid of my OTT from my Son. Mostly have fixed it and very rarely hit OTT unless my Back is bugging me. Better Clubs help... Better but it's time to figure out why you have so many different miss hits.
Good Luck and have some fun relearning.

 

[Canadan]

One of the many things I love about the Apex irons is how fair they are in both styling and forgiveness - and definitely sound.

I think they are the perfect 'tweener' for the way you describe your game Jimbo. You're getting forgiveness in a package that presents like a players iron. They aren't built purely on distance like many of the hollow body styles out there that will kill spin and cause some flyers as a miss, but they also aren't built purely for control which allows you to get a little wild on the face haha

In short, I think Apex accomplish exactly what you're talking about. A great tweener before making the jump.

 

[Bosco...]

and definitely sound.

Good grief yes.

 

[captaincaution]

You can shoot under par with Apex in the bag. Apex pro might be easier to work on purpose, but you can still work the ball with regular Apex.

Look at what is in Rose Zhang's bag. All Apex.

If you've got a day job, forgiveness isn't something you need to shy away from to play excellent golf.

 

[Desmond]

Not the clubs ... improve club path, maintain spine angle, weight on lead foot ... those are attributes that stop chunks and thins.

The other day I was working on why I was so weird about taking the club back ... people say start with your hands -- No -- Start that lead shoulder back first. Works for me.

I play i230's and am developing a nice center contact spot. Thought about G430s but no.

Good luck.

 

[1860VS]

I was always a "players" club player. Forged blades, forged CB's.. Then my back went south and I lost a lot of speed. I got a set of T300's. They were easy as pie to launch high and straight, and could be worked, but it seemed I had to want to turn it hard, gently working the ball just wasnt them. Knockdowns were almost impossible. My wrist got to the point that it hurt like heck hitting steel shafts, I picked up the blended set I have now dirt cheap ($499.00) at Carls Golfland just to try graphite, with the intention to upgrade to a "better" club and give these away to charity if I liked the graphite. But the CB Scoring irons in this set and I are getting along so well I am just going to keep playing them. The set fits somewhere between a GI set and a players CB set in my opinion. And the lofts aren't jacked to the point of ridiculous.. The set also has wedge style milled grooves throughout, so spin is very consistent from any lie, flier lies dont disrupt gapping nearly as much. The groove enhancement is something that should be carried into all sets by all manufacturers.

I think the Apex 21's fits in about the same slot, not a "players" club, but not a SGI iron either...

 

[ddec]

One of the many things I love about the Apex irons is how fair they are in both styling and forgiveness - and definitely sound.

I think they are the perfect 'tweener' for the way you describe your game Jimbo. You're getting forgiveness in a package that presents like a players iron. They aren't built purely on distance like many of the hollow body styles out there that will kill spin and cause some flyers as a miss, but they also aren't built purely for control which allows you to get a little wild on the face haha

In short, I think Apex accomplish exactly what you're talking about. A great tweener before making the jump.

i feel like that category of iron has come a long way in the last 5ish years. Much more consistency than what we used to see.

 

[Browndog]

Last year I switched from traditionally lofted and very minimalistic looking Muscle back blades to a more forgiving and slightly stronger lofted Players iron.

The players irons performed well for me and were more forgiving on slight mishits. On larger mishits they were unable to save me from myself and did about as well as the blades. Same shafts in both.

But I missed the feel, look and turf interaction of the blades. The blades also have better dispersion and consistency of carry distance.

So, at the beginning of the year I put the blades back in the bag and I’m very happy with my decision. They give me more joy despite demanding more from me.

 

[Duffer Seamus]

... what hurts my scoring, like many others, is the lack of consistency. 2 tee shots sliced OB, thinking or chunking 3 shots a round, a handful of “good misses”…

Every golfer suffers from a degree of inconsistency--from rank amateur to pro. The goals should be to minimize both degree and frequency of inconsistency.

By "good misses" I presume you mean playable misses that will, at worst, turn a birdie into a par or a par into a bogie. (Assuming good course management.) That's the kind of thing with with GI irons might help. Likewise: They may help turn some big misses into playable misses. E.g.: I can feel my MAV Max driver turn what would would otherwise be slices into fades. But, the really bad misses such as the chunks and tops? Unless your current clubs are really wrong for you I think not.

When I recently thought to buy a new putter my club guy told me, in no uncertain terms, I needed to fix my swing before thinking about a new putter. (I'm thinking about buying a new putter, anyway, but, I'm not entirely sane ) Same thing here, I think. A whole new set of irons is a significant investment. I'd address the major swing consistency flaws, first.

Unless, as I said, your current clubs are just wrong for you. E.g.: I could never hit out of a bunker to save my soul. I was pretty sure the problem was mostly mental--that my brain simply could not wrap itself around opening the club face like you need to do and swinging "heel forward," as it were. Enter the Cleveland Smart Sole 4 sand wedge, designed such that you don't have to open the face like that. Problem solved.

 

[hedley_lamarr08]

I just went through this. I went from i230 into Apex. You can fade and draw anything with proper mechanics and face angles. I’ve been guilty of making the game to hard. I wouldn’t suggest you do it that way.

 

[Bosco...]

I just went through this. I went from i230 into Apex. You can fade and draw anything with proper mechanics and face angles. I’ve been guilty of making the game to hard. I wouldn’t suggest you do it that way.

I believe I’m guilty of the same thing.

 

[hackitup]

Chunking, thinning, and slicing are more of a swing problem. I’ve done all of that with SGI irons. Will GI help with that? A little. But if you like the look of the irons and it’s playing good when you put a decent but not perfect swing on it what’s the upside to switching?

Are there downsides to GI irons? Depends on so many things. There can be downsides. They’re not my preferred iron. I’ve played some of my worst golf playing GI irons. I’ve played some of my best golf playing GI irons. I’ve played my most consistent golf with the current Apex 21 irons. But I wonder the same thing. Usually after a bad round.

 

[GolfFest]

Having played the Apex pro the last 3 seasons they are pretty forgiving. I’ve tried some more GI irons before and they didn’t improve things.

Really it is more a matter of finding the right fit for you.

 

[Sean]

I think forgiveness can be overrated. I once demo'ed a set of ultra game improvement irons, and a set of Nike VR Pro blades. I hit the Nike's better than the UGI's.

Besides, if you take a look at the clubs they played 100 years ago, today's blades look like game improvement irons, lol.