Toooo demanding clubs ....

I have played Blades for a while. Really like them to. The reason I play to a 6 index is not due to my iron play. My iron play is the strongest part of my game. If I could find the fairway off the tee more often I am sure I could drop my index by about 3 shots at least.
 
I guess i am opposite of most people my index droped going from GI to players irons
 
I have been playing (semi) blades for at least 30 yrs - I actually still have my Wilson Staff Fluid Feel irons that I bought new about 28 yrs ago and still use them in the practice area to keep my iron play focussed. But on the course I must admit I very much prefer to use a GI set, for me it is a difference between breaking 80 and play some wonderful blade shots and coming home in the mid 80's or even worse .......

Most people carry the nicest equipment in their signatures, but whenever I see midcappers playing musscle blades, I fully understand why, but wonder how much better they would be off playing a "players" GI set .....

Not hoping to step on too many toes .....

OP, I've been there. When I began, I played with some old blades from my cousin who let me borrow them. They were hard to hit but they helped me concentrate on ball striking and making sure that I hit ball first before taking a divot. As I get older and I dont have much time to hit the range or play, I find myself going to a more GI set. I've gone back and forth between GI and Blades and to be honest, I shot the same. At least for me, tee shots/driver was my biggest weakness. I didnt have trouble getting the ball in the air with blades. For the longest time, I was more confident with blades because from the start, that's what I was used to. It's a mental game and if you're not comfortable with what you're looking at, you wont be fully confident. Lately, I've begun to not care how the club looks and picked up a set of S3 irons. With lack of time and practice, I do notice they helped me because the looks didnt bother me. My bad shots were still bad shots.

In the end, its the player's preference and if they want to play blades, so be it. They may enjoy the game playing a harder to hit set of irons than an SGI/GI set.

-Boogs
 
I guess i am opposite of most people my index droped going from GI to players irons

That was the point of my earlier post. The players irons you went to were better for you than the GI irons you were playing. But does that mean that you'd play better with any blades over any GI or SGI irons? I think most of us fall into the trap of categorizing clubs instead of being open to all the possibilities.
 
You said in your first post the true measure is handicap. My handicap has gone down almost 3 points since switching to a larger club head from a players iron. If the measure of GI irons not working is that the index has not improved on average (your example), than in my experience it has worked since mine has. 3 points is a larger margin at where mine was and where it is.

I said average handicap. Last average score for men I saw was 97, putting the average handicap in the 20-22 area. A GHIN of 3.7 is far, far above average (in the top 5% of players statistically I think). I said the distinction is actually learning good ball striking, the handicap stuff just seemed to relate (in my addled brain). Being single digits that doesn't apply so much as you have already learned good ball striking. The 3 stroke drop (I know its significant at that level) could definitely come from the help you get from a GI club in cleaning up the 3 or 4 strokes a round that may have left you short sided or in a bunker but are now on the fringe or whatever. However the average golfer will more than likely not see the same results because they are more dependent on the club to overcome faults in their ball striking.
 
I said average handicap. Last average score for men I saw was 97, putting the average handicap in the 20-22 area. A GHIN of 3.7 is far, far above average (in the top 5% of players statistically I think). I said the distinction is actually learning good ball striking, the handicap stuff just seemed to relate (in my addled brain). Being single digits that doesn't apply so much as you have already learned good ball striking. The 3 stroke drop (I know its significant at that level) could definitely come from the help you get from a GI club in cleaning up the 3 or 4 strokes a round that may have left you short sided or in a bunker but are now on the fringe or whatever. However the average golfer will more than likely not see the same results because they are more dependent on the club to overcome faults in their ball striking.

But that is a generalization. The goal of the game is to lower scores. It does not matter how pretty a swing is, or how the score is lowered, as long as the lower scores happen. Outside of that the goal is to enjoy ones self. If a person were to get enjoyment and lower scores, it makes no difference how it was accomplished.

15 years ago hybrids were not around. Then it was only viewed as something for old people. Now they are in the bags of more than 72% (April Survey) of the best players in the world. A hybrid is nothing more than a super game improvement club wrapped up in a nifty title.

People should play what they want to play. But the idea that one cannot tell faults based on feedback in a larger club head is completely false.
 
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Its funny that some people seem to view GI clubs as these huge clunky things that only allow the ball to go straight with zero feedback :what:
 
We should just create a subforum for these threads.

I agree. This topic has been done to death. Worry about what is YOUR bag, and not what is in other's.....
 
Its funny that some people seem to view GI clubs as these huge clunky things that only allow the ball to go straight with zero feedback :what:

It honestly depends on which clubs they are coming from and which GI clubs they are looking at. For myself, coming from playing Nike Blades, a lot of clubs such as the X-Hot's, G25's, J40 DPC's, etc. do look like huge clunky clubs (aka shovels). I've been playing a blade sized head for over 11 years now and I have become accustom to that size of head. I'm sure if I did switch to one of those types of clubs, that over time I would become used to the size of the club heads, but I do think it'd take quite a bit of time for me.
 
I agree. This topic has been done to death. Worry about what is YOUR bag, and not what is in other's.....

You have to remember though, there are new people coming to the site every day that want to get in on conversations, not just read through page after page of older threads. What's done to death for some is new and exciting for others. If we quit talking about things just because some of us are bored with the topic, the forum would just become a big FAQ page.
 
It honestly depends on which clubs they are coming from and which GI clubs they are looking at. For myself, coming from playing Nike Blades, a lot of clubs such as the X-Hot's, G25's, J40 DPC's, etc. do look like huge clunky clubs (aka shovels). I've been playing a blade sized head for over 11 years now and I have become accustom to that size of head. I'm sure if I did switch to one of those types of clubs, that over time I would become used to the size of the club heads, but I do think it'd take quite a bit of time for me.

My shovel in the garage has a really thin top line and the sole is crazy thin. :D
 
My shovel in the garage has a really thin top line and the sole is crazy thin. :D

Does it conform to USGA rules for clubs? If so I might be a buyer, haha!
 
My shovel in the garage has a really thin top line and the sole is crazy thin. :D

Garage? I have 8 shovels in my bag.

#ohwait

Nike VR Pro's are beastly....way too much club for me. But I'm not a serious golfer so I can play shovels.
 
Amazing that you've improved over the last two years Cookie.

#doingtheimpossible
 
Those two tags under your name say otherwise.

I play better when just laughing and having fun.

I warned everyone I played with last weekend....we will laugh....and we will have fun.
 
I play better when just laughing and having fun.

I warned everyone I played with last weekend....we will laugh....and we will have fun.


Thats when I play my best. No expectations, and just play each hole at the present.
 
I think what helps a player learn to strike the ball better is clubs that match their swing the best.

I used to play burner plus irons and being a bit of a sweeper those didn't help me one bit as I hit the sole way too much!

Playing the Ci11's I don't have that early turf interaction, and sacrificed some forgiveness that hurt my scores initially.

But a buddy of mine can't seem to hit my Wilson's but hit my TM's fine.

I hit the Altidudes and was rocky the at the Ohio Invitational and hit the MT & TT just as well on good shots. The difference was on bad swings where I catch the ball on the toe I saw better distance and the ball stayed closer to my intended line and i new i hit it on the toe before i ever looked up keep the ball closer to your line and getting more distance out of a miss is far better than shorter and farther off line

This game is so mentally based and what ever fits and suits the mental aspect for you is what you should play.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
 
My shovel in the garage has a really thin top line and the sole is crazy thin. :D

I love the "shovel" reference. Rarely see than one here at THP. That is normally reserved for another golf forum......

Our current club champion (3 years in a row) won using Ping G10 irons. I'd take the 68 & 70 he shot last year with those shovels.....

JB is right though in this debate.
 
I'm of the school that says the best "game improvement" irons are blades or a "players" cavity back. Learning solid ball striking will improve your game more than whatever "help" you get from a GI or SGI iron. This is why, despite huge advances in technology over the past 20 years or so, that the average golfer's handicap hasn't improved at all. The GI and SGI clubs let you slop it around the course without learning how to propel the ball to a target with any consistency. Also I think it has lead to the conception that working the ball is difficult to do as most modern SGI and GI clubs are designed to produce a straight or anti-slice biased flight.

The only reason I can see for using a GI or SGI club is if you a player (junior, lady or senior) that has a low swing speed that doesn't allow for you to flight the ball high enough.
If I didn't play GI irons I would lose about 10 strokes per round
 
Garage? I have 8 shovels in my bag.

#ohwait

Nike VR Pro's are beastly....way too much club for me. But I'm not a serious golfer so I can play shovels.

#warningsandbaggerapproaching
 
I have played Blades for a while. Really like them to. The reason I play to a 6 index is not due to my iron play. My iron play is the strongest part of my game. If I could find the fairway off the tee more often I am sure I could drop my index by about 3 shots at least.

Your D3 is a great driver and will maybe allow you to work the ball, but if your concern is finding the fairway more often, it might help to try a driver that helps you finding the more often.....
 
I play a 430cc driver and players irons because I want to. For no other reason than that. And I'm ok with that.
 
It's all about preferences. Handicap isn't solely based on what type irons you play. I've seen my fair share of scratch golfers who are not very strong iron players, but yet they can still get around the course at par or better. Vice versa, I've seen some players who you would think are scratch golfers based on how they hit their irons, but they can't even sniff par because they can't chip and putt.

Have a friend like this. One of the best ball-strikers I've played with but isn't good on the short chips and just can't putt. It's borderline humorous. He had 43 putts one round this season. If he had my short game he'd be a scratch golfer. BTW: He uses R11 irons.
 
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