Bridgestone J40 Pay It Forward Review Thread

[tyno]

Ok, I'll admit that I have a been 50% busy and 50% slacker, but I was finally able to sit down and get a video up for the Bridgestone J40 Split Cavity irons, for the Pay It Forward review. But maybe my typical procrastination was a good thing after all...With all the excitement surrounding the Morgan Cup 2.0 Video Viewing Party, hopefully this thread will not be overshadowed by that, but who can blame it? I'm super pumped as well and this week every THP member will be in a tizzy as the selection committee announces the participants, 2 per day, all this week...
But anyway, back to the J40's...
I did receive these on Thursday and was very impressed when unboxing these for the first time. 3 iron still wrapped in plastic, 9 iron very pristine, oh but the 6 iron looked like it had already had a range session or two??? Hmmm, very interesting. Maybe JB or GG had a little pre-review, review! lol But as nice as these irons look and feel, I pass no judgement.
As the weekend warmed up to a crisp 45 to 50 degrees here in the usually blistery, barren, snow-laden, icy, frozen tundra that is the northwestern Pennsylvania snow belt in early December, I took to my back lawn with 6 iron in hand and about 4 or 5 range balls. All were well struck for not having played in almost 3+ months and as each one sailed into the wooded forest behind my house, I can only imagine that they traveled my normal 6 iron distance, as the ball flight on all were nothing to scoff at. I can say that the 6 was a lot easier to hit than I thought, being a forged iron and a much smaller topline and cavity than what I'm used to. I can honestly say that I was a little scared to hit these, in that I might not have liked the results, but I'm very optimistic now about hitting the mats for a full session, now that I've gotten in a few strikes.
So just a quick teaser, as I'll be heading to the indoor mats this week for a few testing/comparison/review sessions that I'm sincerely looking forward to for a number of reasons. I'm anxious to hit both the 6 and 9 iron and get better feedback on feel, flight and distance. The 3 iron though...scares me a little. This thing is intimidating at address and looks much like the old Fuzzy Zoeller 1 iron that I used to dink around with when I worked at the golf course during college. I don't game a 3 iron...tried it once and it wasn't for me. I skip the gap from 2 hybrid, straight to 4 iron...which I can honestly say that I don't hit that too well either and have been thinking about benching it for another hybrid possibly, but that's another story....

So until next time, I'll leave you with this....

[video=youtube;tzy-8nK3vvw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzy-8nK3vvw[/video]

 

[Nate]

Very nice.... So how many roof tops did you bang with those 6 shots?

 

[Damaikis]

Great start to the review tnolan! The video is great and you provide a bunch of info! Thanks for the awesome initial review!

 

[tyno]

Very nice.... So how many roof tops did you bang with those 6 shots?

lol, none thankfully! just many acres of wooded pines.
but there was this one time....

 

[Griff]

Nice initial thoughts Tnolan. Feel your pain about the weather.

After seeing these once again, I must hit them. Don't care if we are buried in snow I know 2 places that are open year round around here. If they are even slightly more forgiving than I anticipate they could be a shoe in for a combo set with the SCORs.

 

[tyno]

Nice initial thoughts Tnolan. Feel your pain about the weather.

After seeing these once again, I must hit them. Don't care if we are buried in snow I know 2 places that are open year round around here. If they are even slightly more forgiving than I anticipate they could be a shoe in for a combo set with the SCORs.

yea man it's rough. but i do frequent one indoor range all winter to stay fresh.
well, hopefully you put your name in the hat and get selected sometime down the road...
initially i wasn't going to opt-in because of the weather, but i thought "couldn't hurt" and maybe i get picked 6 months from now and i'll get my chance to hit them during our season....and here i am, clubs in hand on Dec. 1st!
no worries though...with it just being the 3/6/9 iron and only for a weeks' time, i don't feel as bad as i would if i was testing a full set, and wasn't able to get some on course or outdoor range time.

 

[Griff]

I threw my name in the hat. Once you get into a controlled setting wondering if you could let us know where the sweet spot resides? Sometimes these types of clubs can have a sweet spot that is closer to the heel. Anyway, looking forward to your thoughts moving forward.

 

[#Cookie]

Nice update tnolan - looking forward to your thoughts when you get to hit more balls, especially on that 3 iron.

Must admit, hard to see you in front of that webcam and not want to go watch your MC videos again.


Tappin' from my iPad!

 

[thedue]

Nice job on the update, really enjoyed the video. Those are certainly beautiful, could be above my skill set, but only time will tell on that end.

 

[Tadashi70]

Nothing worse than wanting to play and the weather does cooperate. You mention the ball flight was similar to your current irons with your 5 swings with the dual pocket cavity J40s. How far do you hit your TM 6 iron?

 

[Ole Gray]

Good stuff tnolan! I like the good honest point about the 3 - iron not being your comfort type club so it will provide some good feedback for the rest of us.

 

[Hawk]

Thanks for the thoughts and video, tnolan! I like to hear that they were easier to hit than you expected. I can't wait to get these in my hands.

 

[sharkwrestler]

tnolan Nice mini review with the video to add. It's a bummer that the timing with the weather and the arrival didn't mesh well. But some mat time should give you a chance to get a feel of those gorgeous irons. Waiting to hear more from you.

 

[tyno]

Nice update tnolan - looking forward to your thoughts when you get to hit more balls, especially on that 3 iron.

Must admit, hard to see you in front of that webcam and not want to go watch your MC videos again.


Tappin' from my iPad!

LOL. thanks cookie. i don't think i formally informed you of how much i enjoyed your entry videos. the bag bench press and super speed track run was hilarious!

Nothing worse than wanting to play and the weather does cooperate. You mention the ball flight was similar to your current irons with your 5 swings with the dual pocket cavity J40s. How far do you hit your TM 6 iron?

Tad...the ball flight was good, in the 5 or so balls that i hit. not sure if it was exactly the same as my TM Tour Burners, as i haven't compared yet. ball flight actually seemed a little higher, but i can't say 100%...the mat session will yield more quality info.

I threw my name in the hat. Once you get into a controlled setting wondering if you could let us know where the sweet spot resides? Sometimes these types of clubs can have a sweet spot that is closer to the heel. Anyway, looking forward to your thoughts moving forward.

good! glad you got in. i hope you get a shot at these griff.
will def. inform you of the sweet spot locale, as it's one of the many factors on my list to check off for the mat session.

 

[Puttin4Bird]

Good start buddy, I hope you can get out and hit more balls with them very soon, they're such good irons that I couldn't stop hitting them at the range my first couple times out with them. Get out there and get some shots in bro, can't wait to hear what you think!

 

[GolferGal]

I look forward to reading more feedback!

 

[omikey]

tnolan thanks for the feedback on the J40's !

they are some awesome nice looking clubs .... I'm like you I guess, in so far as how they look compared to what I know about my skill level .... they certainly APPEAR to be less forgiving than what I think I need ..... I'm sure it was a nice surprise to you when you got that first hit in, to see that ball flight looking like what you're used to ....

could you tell if the club 'felt softer' than your TM ?

gonna be interesting to see what you think of the 3 iron .... that just sounds scary to me

 

[Tmex]

I love this. I think the 3i is seriously going to be a good test. I'm really curious as the ballflight of the 3i with the flighted shaft. It's an adjustment for me seeing the lower ballflight on my long irons when I've been used to a higher one because of the flighted shafts in my Razr X's.

 

[Dr. Teeth]

I am liking the feedback so far. Keep it up! I am really intrigued by these irons!

 

[tyno]

couldn't tell if they were "softer" than my TM's but definitely softer than expected.
again with the dreaded 3iron though...i hope that i am pleasantly surprised and maybe that sucker will be like butter, whereas most older 3irons are like rock on rock contact.

one thing i am excited about is hitting the ProjectX 5.5 Flighted Rifle shafts. i've never been custom fit for shafts (or even clubs for that matter!) so while we won't know if these are the right shafts for me, it will be nice to get to try out something different...where i am simply accustom to your standard DG S300's or TM's stock Burner 105S. so i will definitely have to report back (for better or for worse, if i can tell) on how i feel about the ProjectX.

quick update: these J40s came to my door at a pretty busy time of the month and again with the weather, i can't "quick hit the range" over lunch. so i will be taking them to the mats soon, but i will need the full 10 days. but fear not, ye olde loyal members of THP! a full review will be done, i will not let you down!
THP has never let me down, so I cannot let THP down. so just a little patience....yeah.....(GNR)

 

[royalwulff]

Great first initial impressions, looking forward to reading about more from everyone.

 

[tyno]

Nothing is ever easy. That's a motto I have learned to live by since starting my adult life. When it rains, it pours...Misery loves company...and so on. I've made it obvious that I reside in a "non-golf-friendly" area and that we're lucky to get 6 good months of golf, let alone 5. I also live in a very rural area, shall we say...where opportunities are not abound and good times are normally improvised instead of planned. But I am within 30 miles of Erie, PA...where more is readily available and where I frequent an indoor golf range/dome, which happens to close at 2pm or 3pm each weekday and is entirely closed this weekend. At work, I'm fresh out of vacation days and the next closest indoor range must be 2 hours away. Oh, and did I mention it's high school basketball season? 12/1-scrimmage, 12/3-scrimmage & Corp. XMas Party, 12/5-BBall Meeting, 12/6-scrimmage, 12/7-Wife's XMas Party, 12/9-Varsity game, 12/10-JV game & Varsity game. By the way, can you test the J40's for THP? :bulgy-eyes:
So it's been a pretty stressful week...I thought for sure my reputation at THP would be forever tarnished, kicked out for good, banned for life, and deleted! I've let all the members down. Soon I would be receiving hate mail, nasty PM's, and wake up to find my house spray painted with graffiti, my tires flat and my dog stolen. But enter Dick's Sporting Goods and their brand new, state of the art, $150,000 Foresight Golf Simulator and Launch Monitor! Fantastic! Now I don't have to commit golf hara-kiri with a pitching wedge.

For around $30 I was able to spend about an hour going back and forth between the two machines. The simulator was nice, but the techs were unsure if we could pull data off of it (I'm sure you could, but this is all new equipment and Dick's isn't really a club fitting station, per-say). I did notice that I was getting quite a bit more distance than usual. I figured this to be normal for a simulator but then we found the elevation set to 5,300ft! Alrighty then...mean elevation of PA is about 1,100ft and 5,300ft is more like Denver. This would explain the 40yd increase in distance! But enough about geography...let's get to some details:

Simulator

6-iron:
I hit the 6i first and this yielded some nice results. I hit 5 balls with the J40 and 5 more with my TM. The ball flight was a nice small fade, which is my goto shot, with the J40 being about 5-10ft right of center, where the TM was practically dead on center. Immediately you could tell with the tracer, that the J40 was just a bit higher, which I expected and have heard/read from many others because of the flighted shafts. Mishits came off the toe and lost the normal amount of distance you could expect to lose out of a toed shot. Without knowing, I'd say that the sweet spot might be smaller on the J40 than the TM, but the TM is obviously a bigger head and has a bigger cavity, so it's tough to say for sure. I can say this though...you can definitely tell when you hit one "on the screws" with the J40 because it feels great.

9-iron:
The 9i I thought was the biggest difference when comparing the two clubs. Again, fairly similar results in all areas...but after hitting the J40 and then switching back to my TM, my TM felt hugemongous! Like it was an OS club, when in all actuality, the TM Tour Burner is quite small when compared other clubs in today's market. The J40 felt more like a wedge but was very easy to hit. It looked so thin and ready to attack next to the ball at address, that I didn't have any issues hitting it at all. I was throwing darts with both clubs...I had a great group of 8-10 balls on the simulator.

3-iron:
The dreaded 3i. Not good. As previously mentioned, I do not carry a 3i in my bag...and there's a good reason why. I'm not saying I can't hit it, but I would just rather not. You have to take into consideration the the simulator is not 100% accurate when judging lefts and rights (and this is why I will have no "workability" stats for you) but I sliced this horribly. It was ugly. I had to compare this to my TM 4i and the results were close to being better in every category with the 4i, distance and all. This is not the club for me and I knew that going in, but now have some data to back it up. I will say this though...when I moved over to the launch monitor, I switched up my backswing for more of a sweeping motion with the 3i and 4i, and did catch a few on the nuts and they felt good. So the 3i is not impossible to hit, just not as easy.

I then moved over to the Launch Monitor so we could actually get some data and do a side-by-side comparison of the clubs. This would yield some surprising results, but good data...where the Simulator was more for feel and fun. I do want to mention something first, because it's yet another "nothing is ever easy" situation. The PC that is hooked up to the Launch Monitor is locked down and limited, so we couldn't just email the data results, as it had no internet connection although, we were able to save the results to PDF. I am an IT Support Technician by occupation. I carry a USB thumb drive around on my keys at all times...except for last night. I had taken it off so my keys wouldn't be bulky. The one time I actually need it and I don't have it. You've got to be kidding me...So I had to go buy one.

Launch Monitor

6-iron:

6i results were very similar between clubs, but two things that stick out were ball speed was 6mph higher with the TM and I was averaging 10yds more in total distance with the TM as well.

9-iron:

Again with the 9i, generating just a little more clubhead and ball speed with the TM but not much. More spin with the TM and about 4-5yds more for total distance.

3-iron:

This was J40 3i vs. TM 4i...You can see that I generated just about the small clubhead and ball speed with my TM 4i as I did with the J40 3i. And an obvious 10yd advantage with the 3i...but that's not enough to make me go out and want one in my bag.

Overall

All in all, I can say that these results were pretty accurate in terms of distance and how I hit both clubs. The odd thing to all of us there, was that the peak height was higher on all clubs with the TM's rather than the J40s and the launch angles were almost the same as well.
I thought that with the ProjectX 5.5 Flighted shafts, that I might see an increase in distance and continue to see that higher ball flight that I saw when I actually hit them in my backyard, on the simulator and even after a number of people have reported the same. The only thing that we could come up with is that possibly due to the TM's being bigger and me being accustom to hitting them, was the cause of this. Or maybe, the J40s just aren't the exact right clubs specs for me but there's no way of telling that...as I've never been properly fit for clubs or shafts. But on a side note, I did compare my clubs and the R11's to the Burner 2.0's while I was there (couldn't pass that up!) as they did have a mini TM Fitting Station which yielded some interesting data...but that belongs in another thread.
These irons are a players' iron without a doubt. Easier to hit than I originally thought, consistency was difficult but the sweet spot was sweet. You can definitely tell when you "nut" one and let out a big "oh yeah". Top-line is thin as well as the sole, but in no way are these blades. I like to think that the J40 splits are Bridgestone's answer to the TM R11's. The clubs are simple but stunning in terms of looks and I think that Bridgestone has taken a step in the right direction with its' journey into the club/iron market.

Stay tuned and I'll post up some comparison photos, as well as a conclusion/thank you video where I'll also announce the next recipient!

 

[TripleBogieTim]

Nothing is ever easy. That's a motto I have learned to live by since starting my adult life. When it rains, it pours...Misery loves company...and so on. I've made it obvious that I reside in a "non-golf-friendly" area and that we're lucky to get 6 good months of golf, let alone 5. I also live in a very rural area, shall we say...where opportunities are not abound and good times are normally improvised instead of planned. But I am within 30 miles of Erie, PA...where more is readily available and where I frequent an indoor golf range/dome, which happens to close at 2pm or 3pm each weekday and is entirely closed this weekend. At work, I'm fresh out of vacation days and the next closest indoor range must be 2 hours away. Oh, and did I mention it's high school basketball season? 12/1-scrimmage, 12/3-scrimmage & Corp. XMas Party, 12/5-BBall Meeting, 12/6-scrimmage, 12/7-Wife's XMas Party, 12/9-Varsity game, 12/10-JV game & Varsity game. By the way, can you test the J40's for THP? :bulgy-eyes:
So it's been a pretty stressful week...I thought for sure my reputation at THP would be forever tarnished, kicked out for good, banned for life, and deleted! I've let all the members down. Soon I would be receiving hate mail, nasty PM's, and wake up to find my house spray painted with graffiti, my tires flat and my dog stolen. But enter Dick's Sporting Goods and their brand new, state of the art, $150,000 Foresight Golf Simulator and Launch Monitor! Fantastic! Now I don't have to commit golf hara-kiri with a pitching wedge.

For around $30 I was able to spend about an hour going back and forth between the two machines. The simulator was nice, but the techs were unsure if we could pull data off of it (I'm sure you could, but this is all new equipment and Dick's isn't really a club fitting station, per-say). I did notice that I was getting quite a bit more distance than usual. I figured this to be normal for a simulator but then we found the elevation set to 5,300ft! Alrighty then...mean elevation of PA is about 1,100ft and 5,300ft is more like Denver. This would explain the 40yd increase in distance! But enough about geography...let's get to some details:

Simulator

6-iron:
I hit the 6i first and this yielded some nice results. I hit 5 balls with the J40 and 5 more with my TM. The ball flight was a nice small fade, which is my goto shot, with the J40 being about 5-10ft right of center, where the TM was practically dead on center. Immediately you could tell with the tracer, that the J40 was just a bit higher, which I expected and have heard/read from many others because of the flighted shafts. Mishits came off the toe and lost the normal amount of distance you could expect to lose out of a toed shot. Without knowing, I'd say that the sweet spot might be smaller on the J40 than the TM, but the TM is obviously a bigger head and has a bigger cavity, so it's tough to say for sure. I can say this though...you can definitely tell when you hit one "on the screws" with the J40 because it feels great.

9-iron:
The 9i I thought was the biggest difference when comparing the two clubs. Again, fairly similar results in all areas...but after hitting the J40 and then switching back to my TM, my TM felt hugemongous! Like it was an OS club, when in all actuality, the TM Tour Burner is quite small when compared other clubs in today's market. The J40 felt more like a wedge but was very easy to hit. It looked so thin and ready to attack next to the ball at address, that I didn't have any issues hitting it at all. I was throwing darts with both clubs...I had a great group of 8-10 balls on the simulator.

3-iron:
The dreaded 3i. Not good. As previously mentioned, I do not carry a 3i in my bag...and there's a good reason why. I'm not saying I can't hit it, but I would just rather not. You have to take into consideration the the simulator is not 100% accurate when judging lefts and rights (and this is why I will have no "workability" stats for you) but I sliced this horribly. It was ugly. I had to compare this to my TM 4i and the results were close to being better in every category with the 4i, distance and all. This is not the club for me and I knew that going in, but now have some data to back it up. I will say this though...when I moved over to the launch monitor, I switched up my backswing for more of a sweeping motion with the 3i and 4i, and did catch a few on the nuts and they felt good. So the 3i is not impossible to hit, just not as easy.

I then moved over to the Launch Monitor so we could actually get some data and do a side-by-side comparison of the clubs. This would yield some surprising results, but good data...where the Simulator was more for feel and fun. I do want to mention something first, because it's yet another "nothing is ever easy" situation. The PC that is hooked up to the Launch Monitor is locked down and limited, so we couldn't just email the data results, as it had no internet connection although, we were able to save the results to PDF. I am an IT Support Technician by occupation. I carry a USB thumb drive around on my keys at all times...except for last night. I had taken it off so my keys wouldn't be bulky. The one time I actually need it and I don't have it. You've got to be kidding me...So I had to go buy one.

Launch Monitor

6-iron:

6i results were very similar between clubs, but two things that stick out were ball speed was 6mph higher with the TM and I was averaging 10yds more in total distance with the TM as well.

9-iron:

Again with the 9i, generating just a little more clubhead and ball speed with the TM but not much. More spin with the TM and about 4-5yds more for total distance.

3-iron:

This was J40 3i vs. TM 4i...You can see that I generated just about the small clubhead and ball speed with my TM 4i as I did with the J40 3i. And an obvious 10yd advantage with the 3i...but that's not enough to make me go out and want one in my bag.

Overall

All in all, I can say that these results were pretty accurate in terms of distance and how I hit both clubs. The odd thing to all of us there, was that the peak height was higher on all clubs with the TM's rather than the J40s and the launch angles were almost the same as well.
I thought that with the ProjectX 5.5 Flighted shafts, that I might see an increase in distance and continue to see that higher ball flight that I saw when I actually hit them in my backyard, on the simulator and even after a number of people have reported the same. The only thing that we could come up with is that possibly due to the TM's being bigger and me being accustom to hitting them, was the cause of this. Or maybe, the J40s just aren't the exact right clubs specs for me but there's no way of telling that...as I've never been properly fit for clubs or shafts. But on a side note, I did compare my clubs and the R11's to the Burner 2.0's while I was there (couldn't pass that up!) as they did have a mini TM Fitting Station which yielded some interesting data...but that belongs in another thread.
These irons are a players' iron without a doubt. Easier to hit than I originally thought, consistency was difficult but the sweet spot was sweet. You can definitely tell when you "nut" one and let out a big "oh yeah". Top-line is thin as well as the sole, but in no way are these blades. I like to think that the J40 splits are Bridgestone's answer to the TM R11's. The clubs are simple but stunning in terms of looks and I think that Bridgestone has taken a step in the right direction with its' journey into the club/iron market.

Stay tuned and I'll post up some comparison photos, as well as a conclusion/thank you video where I'll also announce the next recipient!

Great job, and I am glad you were able to get LM data!

 

[Hawk]

Great job, tnolan. Very-very good!

 

[bhilln]

Nice write up, I like seeing your data and being able to compare your clubs!! Can't wait to see who's next on the list!!