Blade vs CB Video...Interesting Results
I was trying to write a response like this but it wasn’t working. @Canadan you put it so eloquent and accurate I just decided to give up and quote you. +1 for you Canadan.
dthrog00
Well-known member
The best player in my work golf league plays G400 irons. His typical round on a relatively easy course for 9 holes is probably +1 or +2 although he does go under par fairly often. I don't know his actual handicap, but based off the home course he'd be in the 0 to 5 handicap range.
You watch him play for a night and wonder if he can score so well and uses such a forgiving club why would anyone else do anything different? I think the answer is because we're all different.
Not everyone would play their best with G400. Not everyone would have their most enjoyment using the G400. Each player should play what brings them their best scores or their most enjoyment. Not everyone should play SGI. Not everyone should not play musclebacks. The one size fit all approach doesn't work.
The guy in the video below needs help. He's not hitting his overly flat Mizunos very well, but hits the bent upright Apexes great. He benefits from the game improvement features. Crossfield does not.
Dave
You watch him play for a night and wonder if he can score so well and uses such a forgiving club why would anyone else do anything different? I think the answer is because we're all different.
Not everyone would play their best with G400. Not everyone would have their most enjoyment using the G400. Each player should play what brings them their best scores or their most enjoyment. Not everyone should play SGI. Not everyone should not play musclebacks. The one size fit all approach doesn't work.
The guy in the video below needs help. He's not hitting his overly flat Mizunos very well, but hits the bent upright Apexes great. He benefits from the game improvement features. Crossfield does not.
Dave
Kinda interesting to look at the WITB for Rory McIlroy (currently the OWGR #1 golfer). His driving iron is a TM P790 UDI (hollow, foam core), and his 3 & 4 irons are P760 (hollow, cavity back player's irons, foam core). He goes to P730 MB blades for his 5-9 irons.
If the #1 player in the world isn't playing a whole bag full of MB blades, that must mean that he sees some kind of advantage in more forgiving irons at the top of his bag. He's doing this for a living, I doubt he'd be playing clubs that weren't optimal for his scoring. Maybe Crossfield could do another 15 minute video to explain that.
If the #1 player in the world isn't playing a whole bag full of MB blades, that must mean that he sees some kind of advantage in more forgiving irons at the top of his bag. He's doing this for a living, I doubt he'd be playing clubs that weren't optimal for his scoring. Maybe Crossfield could do another 15 minute video to explain that.
- Thread starter
- #105
I think the reason many pro's don't use a GI iron is offset. Most amateurs slice, and the offset compensates for that. A professional doesn't need that kind of help.
On another note, while I can hit MBs, I don't have as much success with the long irons...I don't have the club head speed. With my current set, the first iron in my bag is a 7. A young friend of mine has the MP-20s, but he has the CHS to launch that 3-iron of his.
Ahh, the age old question, lol.
I’ll take as much help as I can get. If I found and wore a dime sized contact spot with an regularity I’d play a blade. My now 15 year old plays a MB that has probably half the contact area that my irons do. He strikes the ball consistently. When he finishes HS golf I have no doubt that the irons used most will have that wear pattern to them.
Of note, he can’t hit my shovels worth a crap. He looks down and sees a monstrosity on the end of a stick. He’s better at striking the ball then I am. I beat him for the first time in 18 months a week or two ago. I’m getting better again and he isn’t practicing. I’d have hoped that would motivate him, he used to practice several hours a day. Nope.
Teenagers. He doesn’t understand the gift he has. Averaged 38 per 9 as a 14 year old freshman. Probably will be higher this year as he doesn’t seem to care about how good he could be. @Sean knows that if you average 38 per nine and one of your courses you played 5 times out of 15 is Deer Ridge, you’re pretty damn good.
Quick Edit: 38.something. I forget exactly what.
I’ll take as much help as I can get. If I found and wore a dime sized contact spot with an regularity I’d play a blade. My now 15 year old plays a MB that has probably half the contact area that my irons do. He strikes the ball consistently. When he finishes HS golf I have no doubt that the irons used most will have that wear pattern to them.
Of note, he can’t hit my shovels worth a crap. He looks down and sees a monstrosity on the end of a stick. He’s better at striking the ball then I am. I beat him for the first time in 18 months a week or two ago. I’m getting better again and he isn’t practicing. I’d have hoped that would motivate him, he used to practice several hours a day. Nope.
Teenagers. He doesn’t understand the gift he has. Averaged 38 per 9 as a 14 year old freshman. Probably will be higher this year as he doesn’t seem to care about how good he could be. @Sean knows that if you average 38 per nine and one of your courses you played 5 times out of 15 is Deer Ridge, you’re pretty damn good.
Quick Edit: 38.something. I forget exactly what.
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Dawg 1
Well-known member
Is mark telling golfers to play a full bag of MB’s? I’m confused
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- #108
Genuine question. If its more precise, why would someone not based on that video?
I have no doubt that iron tech has improved and golfers of all abilities and swings can take advantage of the newer tech and save a few strokes per round by matching clubs to there tendencies. I also have no doubt that your average golfer could shave off a bunch of strokes by focusing on their short game whether it’s more practice, lessons, a proper putter fitting or all the above.
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- #110
At my club there are a few sets of old irons on display, and they make today's blades look like GI irons. Perhaps the distinction between a blade/MB and a CB are blurring a bit as today's MB's seem to be a bit more user friendly than those of yesteryear?
Dawg 1
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- #112
No offense, but the only people I am seeing get "butt hurt" are those that seem upset that people disagree with the video. I would assume it was posted for discussion, not preaching as gospel.
If a MB is more precise, and forgiveness doesn't matter it would seem logical to play only MB irons. I would assume. I'm genuinely asking.
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There is no doubt about this IMO. Your brain is doing a lot of stuff throughout a golf swing to try to hit that ball. It does all those things by constantly making calculations based on information it is getting from your senses. The input from your eyes, the input from your hands, from the muscles in your feet all the way to the neck. Most of what we describe as a look we want is because we ingrained a lot of our golf senses when we first started playing. I bet many of us were given an old set of blades or players CB when we started and that is what our brain expects to see. If it sees a bigger head or more offset it will adjust subconsciously. If we make a switch like that we should expect some aggravation when the switch is made and a longer break in period. This explains so much frustration with hybrids IMO. Your brain sees a fairway wood, but the manufacturer made a really forgiving iron. The subconscious overwhelms the conscious until you have made many repetitions and changed the subconscious.
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Depends IMO. The mat should be as close to the turf conditions you play on as possible. If you are hitting off a thin firm mat, but your regular course has Zoyzia fairways you could be disappointed. Same the other direction too. If you get fitted of a fluffy mat, but you play on hard thin turf in places like Texas you could also be disappointed.
To me there is no doubt that a MB is more precise. If you are good enough (such as my kid) to hit the center of the club 98% of the time, MB’s are the way to go. Even MB’s, and I’d classify his MP18’s as MB’s, have some help built into them. They have the same GI built into them as my irons, they’re just smaller. Perimeter weighting, tungsten insert, etc etc.
They aren’t true blades. True blades are just that. You miss the sweet spot by 5mm and they’ll sting your hands. His have enough tech built into them that he can miss by that much and have the results come out ok. Maybe not ideal, but ok. I can miss by twice that before the results become less than ideal.
Heck, last time I played, there was a shot with a 7i that I hit an inch toward the toe. It was dead on line with the flag. My playing partners were yelllong “go in!!” I was just yelling “go!” because the pin was 8 yards clear of the lake. I was within a foot or two of clearing it. Terrible strike but dead online and gave up ten yards of distance. Would have been ok except the lake.
The biggest difference I’ve seen with GI irons versus MB’s when you strike it center, once in a while you’ll get a ball that flys 20 yards further than you’d ever expect. I have never had that playing MB’s, and before I became ill and lost a lot of motor function, I played Callaway RAZR X Forged. About as close to blade as you can get without it being a true blade. It took me a bit to get used to what used to be lofted as a 8i was now a 9i and the incredibly bouncy effect of them. I once had a shot that formerly would have been a 6i and was now a 7i. I hit the ball and struck it well. Nothing special as I already swung as hard as I possibly could. It flew the pin by 30 yards? Flyer? Most likely. But that NEVER happened with MB’s. Much more consistent with distance. If I hit the sweet spot with my 160 club that’s how far it was going, within a yard or two. Now once or twice a round I get these crazy fliers that defy physics.
Dawg 1
Well-known member
I would assume MB irons are more precise for some. Michael Newton has a couple videos on his YouTube channel comparing a MB to a more GI iron. He is much more consistent with the MB which is why I would assume he games them.
I don’t think him or mark is telling golfers to go out and play MB’s based on there results. I don’t think they said forgiveness doesn’t matter in any of there videos. Could be wrong though
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- #117
I didn't say they said that. Again I am genuinely asking here, not asking you to defend them.
The data posted in that video says MBs are more precise and more forgiving than the counterpart.
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Totally random thought but I'm curious how many people that are blade die hards use mallet putters. I would think they would also only use blade putters and would be kind of ironic if they used forgiving mallets.
dthrog00
Well-known member
See my above comment. If you can find the center of the club, they’re better. Due to illness, I lost that ability and now have a set of GI’s that I play. I’d like to move back to the Callaway RAZR X-Forged and so far results this year are trending positive. But I still mishit it enough that I’m not ready to make the switch. I’m finding it 90% of the time but to switch it needs to be 95% plus. The short irons in that set do have an impressive wear pattern in them, lol. I wish I could add to that but I still am not consistent enough.
Vast improvement over last year when there were days I couldn’t find it at all.
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- #122
Totally unnecessary. But the thread veers towards anybody that disagrees is off base. The defense is quite odd actually, considering the same reviewer in the video raves about his hybrid irons and plays them...
Although I would argue its no different than saying anybody that doesn't believe this is just wasting money on marketing. Its why in Range Days, we show impact location and break down every data point where impact is made. Its not hard to see what happens when misses occur on different irons and we want golfers to get this info.
For some reason in todays world, having discussion and discourse and dealing with facts is frowned upon. I will never understand it, but oh well. I will just wait for the answer to the above
Dawg 1
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- #124
See this is what I would love to learn more about. To me, a product is either precise or it isn't (obviously varying levels of precision), because assuming we are speaking about center contact (which he was using), precision shouldn't change. The club doesn't go from high spin to low spin in different hands, right? Musclebacks by design are going to be higher spin. Designed to flight and work the ball. This is where I think I am getting confused. How does that precision change in different hands?
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- #125
This is where you need to accept that perception is different for everyone (and the beauty of a discussion like this on a golf forum).
Nothing about that video, for me, presents like Mark is trying to tell a story purely on his experiences or abilities. Nothing wrong with either of our interpretations.