Nike VR Pro Combo Irons - Forum Testing Review

Matty you will not be sorry. I'm pretty sure I'm completely done with steel. Nike should be applauded for offering a high quality no upcharge graphite option:nike:

I think anyone with the ability to play graphite shafts should relish the experience.. The feel has to be second to none. Cutting through the turf.. Wow..

I find that interesting Dan because the Nike grips and I didn't get along at all with our wet weather. I've switched all my Nike clubs over to VDR's and I won't go back to anything else. I really enjoy how the plushy top and then firm underneath of the VDR's reminds me to take a lighter grip with these irons. I've found that nearly all my problems regarding over drawing the ball with these irons is due to gripping to hard or having the ball above my feet. I'm avoiding the former with the VDR's and I don't always have a say over the later.

In fairness, wet weather and Ohio have not really gone hand in hand this summer, so it may be just a lack of experience with it.. Glad to hear you've found a solid combination for your game though!!
 
I'm a freaking motivated tester right now!! I found GG's post to be a perfect push forward. Lets make this the example for future testers guys. You guys have done a good job and I will get my rear end in gear. I think for me it is going to be concentrating on one aspect for a period of time. This week it is going to be the 3/4 irons. If Nike says they should fly higher I am going to hit a 1000 balls and see if that is correct. Lets kill it in here!!:nike:
 
I'm a freaking motivated tester right now!! I found GG's post to be a perfect push forward. Lets make this the example for future testers guys. You guys have done a good job and I will get my rear end in gear. I think for me it is going to be concentrating on one aspect for a period of time. This week it is going to be the 3/4 irons. If Nike says they should fly higher I am going to hit a 1000 balls and see if that is correct. Lets kill it in here!!:nike:

Chunky, you are the man! I love your attitude.
 
In fairness, wet weather and Ohio have not really gone hand in hand this summer, so it may be just a lack of experience with it.. Glad to hear you've found a solid combination for your game though!!

My agreeing with Dan was based on sweat and not rain. Feels like it has not rained in TX in 4 months....so the jury is still out on how the grips work in the rain from my perspective. Although there is a 20% chance of T-storms on Saturday during my round.

I'm a freaking motivated tester right now!! I found GG's post to be a perfect push forward. Lets make this the example for future testers guys. You guys have done a good job and I will get my rear end in gear. I think for me it is going to be concentrating on one aspect for a period of time. This week it is going to be the 3/4 irons. If Nike says they should fly higher I am going to hit a 1000 balls and see if that is correct. Lets kill it in here!!:nike:

I am with you buddy; I felt terrible being essentially out of commission for 3 weeks with back issues but am 90% now and feel the need to pick up the pace. Range session will be had tomorrow night with video in tow. Already got some ideas for the video relating to the sounds of these irons but open to additional ideas from anyone!!
 
Nike blades and combo are a great looking club! Similar to a mizuno look at address
 
My agreeing with Dan was based on sweat and not rain. Feels like it has not rained in TX in 4 months....so the jury is still out on how the grips work in the rain from my perspective. Although there is a 20% chance of T-storms on Saturday during my round.



I am with you buddy; I felt terrible being essentially out of commission for 3 weeks with back issues but am 90% now and feel the need to pick up the pace. Range session will be had tomorrow night with video in tow. Already got some ideas for the video relating to the sounds of these irons but open to additional ideas from anyone!!

The video part is going to be the toughest for me. I hate seeing myself on video but time to get over that. This thread will rival the original Burner 2.0 thread which was insane. Guys also lets remember to hit up Facebook and Twitter. Definitely not calling anyone out on that as I've been guilty of not going all social media with this. Just do it!:nike:
 
Nike blades and combo are a great looking club! Similar to a mizuno look at address

IMO they are the nicest set out right now Stormin. After having them for a few months now I still think they are the nicest set out. Nike's design team hit a grand slam with this set
 
IMO they are the nicest set out right now Stormin. After having them for a few months now I still think they are the nicest set out. Nike's design team hit a grand slam with this set

Looks wise - top notch with anything you want to compare them against. They are extremely versatile and I hope that golfers at least give them a chance even though they see blades and it scares them away. I was very apprehensive at first when I got selected regarding my ability to hit blades but 2 range sessions in I was adapting very nicely and now I can't imagine ever owning another set that does not have blades in the scoring irons. They are very predictable and reliable. Only issue I am having now regarding adapting to the set is the pocket cavities (3 & 4 irons) but like Chunky said I need to get to the range and really focus specifically on them and not do the standard through the bag range session.

I will also say this: I would be SHOCKED if other OEM's do not implement a player's combo set into their lineup in 2012.
 
IMO they are the nicest set out right now Stormin. After having them for a few months now I still think they are the nicest set out. Nike's design team hit a grand slam with this set

Indeed, except for the 3 iron (these iron's have made me a snob in the looks department. I now don't like seeing the cavity poking out the back of the iron and the 3 is the only one where I can. It's not really a bad thing but it's enough to throw me off at address).
 
I've been steadily working through the reviews over the past few days and I finally made it through all of them. These are great reviews. You guys have really covered just about every aspect of this iron. I had the chance to hit the 6 out of this set and I was as impressed as you guys seem to be with them.


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- I wish golf was as easy as Tapatalk.
 
I will also say this: I would be SHOCKED if other OEM's do not implement a player's combo set into their lineup in 2012.

I do agree that the likelihood of mixed sets flooding the market may get better and better, but I am not entirely convinced that 3 club styles will be the norm.. You can see with the way some companies are going about building that great progression between sets, and frankly Nike has a good foundation set to offer three different sets here if they want to.

I would just personally anticipate the success of a two club combo set more than anything else.
 
I hit the range. I struggled. I took some video. It was awful out there tonight. Just couldn't find my swing. I took about 5 shots with wedges just to warm up and fired away with 3/4 iron. Trying to learn how to edit the video so I'm not posting 12 minutes of me shanking and worm burning. I'm going to try and do a cohesive writeup, but the long and short of it is that I struggle with the long irons. I hit the 4I alright but the drop to the 3I is just sickening. I'll be working on ball placement a lot this week with these PC's. Not a good start. What program do you guys use to edit the videos?:question:
 
I use iMovie.. Which is only a useful factoid if you have a Mac haha! Sorry about your rough night Chunky!

How rough can it be Canadan. I was at a range whacking golf balls. I grounded a few and I just laughed. I was a little mortified about the shank though. I thought that you would not be able to see the ball flight so I was pointing after the shot to tell you how the shot went. Came home and you could see the ball flying away perfectly. The shank was bad lol!!:beat-up:
 
I just got my set of 3-pw VR blades this morning. Hit 100 balls this afternoon, played a round, and then 100 balls before coming home. I LOVE THEM! I gamed R9s previously and struggled with a push. These clubs feel more balanced at the top of my swing. I have never hit straighter and higher shots more consistently than now. I have to hone my distance with each club, but no complaints as of now.

I'll try to post my thoughts on the 8-pw in here as well.
 
I just got my set of 3-pw VR blades this morning. Hit 100 balls this afternoon, played a round, and then 100 balls before coming home. I LOVE THEM! I gamed R9s previously and struggled with a push. These clubs feel more balanced at the top of my swing. I have never hit straighter and higher shots more consistently than now. I have to hone my distance with each club, but no complaints as of now.

I'll try to post my thoughts on the 8-pw in here as well.

That is awesome dtak. I would love to hear your thoughts on the 8-PW:nike:
 
I will also say this: I would be SHOCKED if other OEM's do not implement a player's combo set into their lineup in 2012.

I do agree that the likelihood of mixed sets flooding the market may get better and better, but I am not entirely convinced that 3 club styles will be the norm.. You can see with the way some companies are going about building that great progression between sets, and frankly Nike has a good foundation set to offer three different sets here if they want to.

I would just personally anticipate the success of a two club combo set more than anything else.

I was under the impression that these came from the blending of 3 earlier Nike sets. The cavity backs, VR split cavity, and of course the blades.

Since I apparently am in iron pondering mode again, these are back on the radar. Chunky when you're having a night like tonight, how much of it do you credit to the clubs properties vs your golf swing?

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tapatalk
 
I played 9 holes tonight, and I shot well, but my wedges let me down. Fortunately, the VR Pro Combo's were firing pretty well! Finished with a 37 (+1) thanks to a 9th hole birdie.

First hole I hooked my drive all the way over onto the 9th fairway.. Had to hit a 7 iron completely blind for what I thought was about 165 but apparently was more like 190.. It had solid flight, but landed well short of the green.

The second hole put a PW in my hands after a solid tee shot, with the pin at the back of the green. I was extremely happy with the strike and ball flight, but I guess I put too much on it as it sailed over the flag and onto the back apron.

3rd hole is a par three that put an 8 iron in my hands. I decided to go after the pin but put a small draw on the shot and it missed the green to the left unfortunately. It was perfectly pin high though, so I'll mark it down as a great shot overall.

4th hole is a par 5 that I always lay up on. The only VR Pro that ended up being used was my 7 iron which was a beauty. Struck well, great flight, and landed exactly where I had hoped it would.

5th hole went unused.

6th hole put another pitching wedge in my hands. This time my shot was on big time. Straight flight, pin high, about 10 feet to the left of the hole. I could not have asked for a better shot.

7th hole was an 8 iron approach that ended up drawing (thanks wind) onto the fringe, but again entirely pin high so there isn't much to be said about it. Another well struck blade!

8th hole was a wedge.

9th hole is a par 5 which I go for in 2 when the wind favours the tee shot, and today it did not. I put a 3wood out into the middle and punched a 9 iron down to 100 yards and wedged in. I love the blades for punching. So much control can be had as long as your not lazy with your swing. Loved it.

Very little to be said about the clubs themselves aside from the fact that I need to get my hips releasing to avoid the draws I have been getting. If I can get over that hump I think I am really going to start shooting low with these clubs. Only a couple shots were missed in terms of length and all misses were left. While I recognize that the club style will not help my draw, I believe myself to be a good enough golfer to blame myself and not the clubs.

Should have lots more in the next couple days followed by a lame labour day trip break.
 
How rough can it be Canadan. I was at a range whacking golf balls. I grounded a few and I just laughed. I was a little mortified about the shank though. I thought that you would not be able to see the ball flight so I was pointing after the shot to tell you how the shot went. Came home and you could see the ball flying away perfectly. The shank was bad lol!!:beat-up:

I know when I upload movie the quality drops a lot, so I bet if you DO upload it to YouTube or whatever, your gestures will be the only thing we are able to see.

Good call though. Hard to be mad about a night of golfing. When i get the shanks, I get more aggressive with my swing, and step away a little bit.. Seems to help me a ton!
 
I just got my set of 3-pw VR blades this morning. Hit 100 balls this afternoon, played a round, and then 100 balls before coming home. I LOVE THEM! I gamed R9s previously and struggled with a push. These clubs feel more balanced at the top of my swing. I have never hit straighter and higher shots more consistently than now. I have to hone my distance with each club, but no complaints as of now.

I'll try to post my thoughts on the 8-pw in here as well.

That's awesome man!! I used the R9s for about a week and pushed just about everything!! I'm sure it was a swing flaw, but I wasn't about to wait around to find out haha!

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts about the full blade set. I bet they are absolutely gorgeous in your bag!
 
I was under the impression that these came from the blending of 3 earlier Nike sets. The cavity backs, VR split cavity, and of course the blades.

Since I apparently am in iron pondering mode again, these are back on the radar. Chunky when you're having a night like tonight, how much of it do you credit to the clubs properties vs your golf swing?

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tapatalk

It is not the club. My swing needs to get a lot of reps otherwise I get out of rhythm. Since collapsing the other night I took it easy and the reps have not happened. What I will say is this. With a GI set of clubs my shots would not have looked as bad as they did tonight. If my swing is not on, I am not going low with these irons. They do not mask a bad swing. I'm not saying you need to have a dime sized wear mark on your irons to be able to play these but I'm not hitting the greens if I'm all the way out on the toe.
 
I was under the impression that these came from the blending of 3 earlier Nike sets. The cavity backs, VR split cavity, and of course the blades.

Since I apparently am in iron pondering mode again, these are back on the radar. Chunky when you're having a night like tonight, how much of it do you credit to the clubs properties vs your golf swing?

--
tapatalk

I think you will like them if you get a chance to try them out for yourself

It is not the club. My swing needs to get a lot of reps otherwise I get out of rhythm. Since collapsing the other night I took it easy and the reps have not happened. What I will say is this. With a GI set of clubs my shots would not have looked as bad as they did tonight. If my swing is not on, I am not going low with these irons. They do not mask a bad swing. I'm not saying you need to have a dime sized wear mark on your irons to be able to play these but I'm not hitting the greens if I'm all the way out on the toe.

Agree with this, when my swing is off these I can't hit these out of the middle for toffee.
 
Guys, I think I'm starting to understand these irons.

I have to admit to struggling for a while with them. There's more of a transition than I expected with them, but that said, I don't think I ever 'transitioned' properly to the Wilson blades...so it's perhaps just a knock-on process to these.

Thought I was hitting these a lot further. I still think I am hitting them a bit further when conditions allow, due to better launch conditions, but it's not the big jump I thought I saw. This isn't unexpected, since the lofts are the same from the Wilson fg59s to these.

My struggles recently. I've struggled to dial in my distances. My swing has changed slightly this year, which hasn't helped in this respect. This isn't a problem of the irons, there's no unusual distance gaps between clubs that I've noticed, and this is something I hope to touch on later. I'd like to get the distance gaps documented between the 4 and 5i, the 7 and 8i particularly. Just to see if the different styles of club (with the correct loft gaps) are consistent. This would really be something if Nike has managed to dial this in. Like, if I pick up any cavity 4i, then a split cavity 5i from different manufacturers, I'd expect to see some differences. DOES THIS MAKE ANY SENSE? :D

The second struggle. The left pull. I've really struggled with this in particular, and I had it in my head that the 1 degree upright club, coupled with a few of you guys saying you saw a draw with them, were contributing to this. Bit of practice and I can confirm it's mostly nonsense. I'm coming way inside on the downswing. Following through straight to my target now produces the smallest of draws. I was seeing a few blocks, but I'm sure these will iron themselves out.

So, as I say, I'm starting to understand the irons, and hoping that they're starting to understand me! (different accent probably throws them)
 
Paulo - yes, that does make sense. My experience has been a bit different as I was coming from SGI irons to these. From a loft perspective (the 44 degree club in my previous set to the 44 degree club in this set), I am seeing an increase in distance of between 5-10 yards. The shaft (regular graphite to PX 5.0) is probably a factor in that also. All of my testing thus far has been in very dry and hot Texas weather - basically guaranteed 100 degree weather and little to no wind. The good thing is that I can confirm it is all carry because I am basing the distance gains on shots into greens and these clubs provide enough spin that it is rare for any iron that I hit into a green for the ball to be more than 5 feet from the divot. 80% of the time the ball is within a foot forward of the divot.

Initially, I was also experiencing the pulls and a pretty good draw. Through more time with the clubs and changing ball position some, etc I see pretty much a dead straight ball flight. I do not try to work the ball at all....but still on a rare occasion see a small draw or fade. Back to the range tonight to work on some stuff!
 
Since my last update I have played 45 holes and have had two range sessions. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the Nike VR Pro Combo irons have made a remarkable difference in my game. I want to take a few minutes and try to spell out exactly how these clubs have performed in various circumstances and conditions that I have encountered.
Craftsmanship – As has been stated numerous times, these clubs are very pleasing to the eye. Probably the best looking club I have ever had the pleasure of swinging. The profile at address is confidence building and easily makes targeting a simple task. This is consistent across the array of clubs regardless of whether they are blades, splits, or cavities. They are built solid and completed with a beautiful finish that is aesthetically pleasing. After a half season of golf, there is virtually no wear on these clubs aside from some minute bag chatter. There was some discussion of the difficulty in cleaning the smaller grooves that Nike uses on these sticks, but I have had no issues with that at all.
Ball Striking – When I first began testing these clubs, there appeared to be an issue with the long irons or cavity backs. Most of this was the “Indian not the arrow.” I say most because there is a distinct difference in both sound and feel of these irons at impact. When struck well these irons perform splendidly and I have no issues at all. But I do not always strike them perfect and any mishit is, to me, punishing. There is a reverberation that can actually be painful on my elbows and wrists. On difficult shots, this can and does affect my confidence. There is a slight trepidation to attempting a shot when one knows that it may result in pain.
The remainder of the set is solid and consistent throughout and the blades are truly the sweetest irons in the set. Truly the easiest hitting blades I have used.

Ball Flight – Though this is partly attributed to shaft, I find the loft of these clubs suit my game very well. A mid to high ball flight that can be easily adjusted through grip and stance is crucial in an area that is subject to breezy or windy conditions. Being able to send a stinger down range, or pop one over a tree is a wonderful tool set to have and these club heads allow for either of those with ease and confidence.

Consistency – I have played a wide variety of clubs over the years. I finally settled on Mizuno irons because my shot consistency with the mizzies was nothing short of spectacular. The VR Pro Combos are every bit as consistent as the mizzies, perhaps even more so. I say that because as others have mentioned before, mishits off the toe result in very little lost distance. Being right of target is one thing, but being right and short is completely different. That doesn’t happen with these clubs, at least not a significant amount.

Playability – I can say that these clubs possess a workability that is not only expected by “forged” players, but is easily accomplished with proper mechanics. This may fit into the craftsmanship category, but there is a consistent “feel” when trying to shape shots. You know the second you hit the ball what is going to happen. The transference of energy is once again, nothing short of spectacular.

Affordability – This is something that some may see as inappropriate to discuss. As I did not pay for these clubs is it really OK for me to remark on the price of these clubs? I have to say that I would have a hard time shelling out the MSRP for these clubs if I had not been able to play a couple of rounds with them first. But when I look at other premium clubs of similar make up, I find these a true bargain. I will gladly recommend these clubs to anyone looking to “up” their game.

IN conclusion, the only negative I find in these clubs is in the cavity clubs on mishits. Perhaps some of this can be attributed to my grip, but the sound makes me think it is in the club.

Thank you Nike for allowing me the opportunity with this wonderful set of irons. And a huge thank you to THP for choosing me to do this. I am having a blast, and I am lowering my HDCP. Woo Hoo!
 
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