Nike VR Pro Combo Irons - Forum Testing Review

[Canadan]

I just wanted to tell you guys that you have been rocking this thread. Great job. Cool vids, nice pics and great reviews! I still haven't hit these, but REALLY want to! I love the look, and the way you guys rave about these bad boys, I am itching to compare them to the 2.0's. Once again, thanks, and great job guys!

I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on that man! I was hitting the R11 irons a bit earlier this week and felt that they were definitely two different clubs, but I didn't hit enough (and didn't hit them on an open range enough) to give a legit variable between the two. I've heard that the Burner's share a lot of the same characteristics as the R11s, but regardless, I would love to hear your thoughts on a comparison between the Nike's and the 2.0's.

 

[tomahawk18]

I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on that man! I was hitting the R11 irons a bit earlier this week and felt that they were definitely two different clubs, but I didn't hit enough (and didn't hit them on an open range enough) to give a legit variable between the two. I've heard that the Burner's share a lot of the same characteristics as the R11s, but regardless, I would love to hear your thoughts on a comparison between the Nike's and the 2.0's.

Well I need to figure out a way to do that then. :act-up: I have never hit a set designed like the VR's. I know I could go to a golf store and do it, but I would like to get out on an open grass range or even the course to get a true sense of ball flight and distance comparisons to the 2.0's.

 

[Canadan]

Looking back I realized that I didn't get a chance to share my Sunday round with you guys and gals, as my last update featured my Golf Galaxy trip instead. It will probably go down as one of my most complete rounds of the year, where all but two shots were basically exactly what I wanted to do. A drive that ran through the fairway OB and a drive that literally disappeared off the Driver (me and 3 playing partners lost it in the clouds -- probably STILL sitting somewhere in the fairway plugged) lead to two double bogeys, however with the VR Pro Combo irons firing well all day, along with a couple pretty awesome saves from close range, I ended with 4 birdies and a 74.

I'm going to attribute that score with the confidence I have with these irons. A key hole is the 18th that always puts me somewhere between 140-190 from the pin. A miss right is bunker bound with a downhill lie, and a miss left is a water hazard. This round, however, I flew the pin by about 3 feet and it rolled out to about 12 feet on my approach from 170. Usually I get a bit nervous about blocking or overdrawing, but these irons give me the confidence to fire at the pin.

Secondary to that, was my approach on the 10th hole. I pulled my drive off the tee into the 11th fairway (the 10th is a dogleg that I doglegged the wrong way) and had about 130 to the pin, which I could really only see the flag. Pulled out the PW and put a great swing on the ball. The guys on the 11th who were joking with me before my shot apparently had a good line on it because they said "nice shot" and I thanked them and moved on. As it turns out, the shot landed about a foot by the hole and rolled out to about 5 feet. Pretty awesome result!!

Since that time, I've been relegated to the range and practice green while my course is being aerated.. (There goes the putting game!!!)

For the most part it's been just working on my quality tempo lately, which is usually how I generate my best swings. With the alignment sticks and hips firing the goal has been to keep it straight, regardless of height characteristics. For the most part it's been successful, with most of my well struck shots holding only a slight draw and easily reaching my anticipated distance. My new attempt this week will be to try and bring back the knock down game for the windy fall quickly approaching.. I had it going pretty well midway through the year and got in trouble with the overdraws and quickly reverted.

Finally, I am thinking about giving a mid-size grip a shot on a couple of my irons... In discussing misses with a pro at Golf Galaxy, he mentioned that my grips appeared to be too small for me as my fingers were definitely overlapping with my palms. He said that it is a great way to limit draws or fades.. It really has me curious.

 

[Canadan]

Well I need to figure out a way to do that then. :act-up: I have never hit a set designed like the VR's. I know I could go to a golf store and do it, but I would like to get out on an open grass range or even the course to get a true sense of ball flight and distance comparisons to the 2.0's.

I hear that buddy.. Wish you were closer, I'd take you out we could cross test haha!

 

[10YardDraw]

Looking back I realized that I didn't get a chance to share my Sunday round with you guys and gals, as my last update featured my Golf Galaxy trip instead. It will probably go down as one of my most complete rounds of the year, where all but two shots were basically exactly what I wanted to do. A drive that ran through the fairway OB and a drive that literally disappeared off the Driver (me and 3 playing partners lost it in the clouds -- probably STILL sitting somewhere in the fairway plugged) lead to two double bogeys, however with the VR Pro Combo irons firing well all day, along with a couple pretty awesome saves from close range, I ended with 4 birdies and a 74.

I'm going to attribute that score with the confidence I have with these irons. A key hole is the 18th that always puts me somewhere between 140-190 from the pin. A miss right is bunker bound with a downhill lie, and a miss left is a water hazard. This round, however, I flew the pin by about 3 feet and it rolled out to about 12 feet on my approach from 170. Usually I get a bit nervous about blocking or overdrawing, but these irons give me the confidence to fire at the pin.

Secondary to that, was my approach on the 10th hole. I pulled my drive off the tee into the 11th fairway (the 10th is a dogleg that I doglegged the wrong way) and had about 130 to the pin, which I could really only see the flag. Pulled out the PW and put a great swing on the ball. The guys on the 11th who were joking with me before my shot apparently had a good line on it because they said "nice shot" and I thanked them and moved on. As it turns out, the shot landed about a foot by the hole and rolled out to about 5 feet. Pretty awesome result!!

Since that time, I've been relegated to the range and practice green while my course is being aerated.. (There goes the putting game!!!)

For the most part it's been just working on my quality tempo lately, which is usually how I generate my best swings. With the alignment sticks and hips firing the goal has been to keep it straight, regardless of height characteristics. For the most part it's been successful, with most of my well struck shots holding only a slight draw and easily reaching my anticipated distance. My new attempt this week will be to try and bring back the knock down game for the windy fall quickly approaching.. I had it going pretty well midway through the year and got in trouble with the overdraws and quickly reverted.

Finally, I am thinking about giving a mid-size grip a shot on a couple of my irons... In discussing misses with a pro at Golf Galaxy, he mentioned that my grips appeared to be too small for me as my fingers were definitely overlapping with my palms. He said that it is a great way to limit draws or fades.. It really has me curious.

Great update Canadan, you know im going to steal one of these irons to hit if your at the 3rd Ohio outing lol, I want to at least try the blade and cavity if you dont mind. I also agree about the midsize grip decreasing the amount of fade or draw, if I use a normal size grip I hook it allot worse for some reason.

 

[tomahawk18]

I hear that buddy.. Wish you were closer, I'd take you out we could cross test haha!

That would be sweet!

 

[Canadan]

Great update Canadan, you know im going to steal one of these irons to hit if your at the 3rd Ohio outing lol, I want to at least try the blade and cavity if you dont mind. I also agree about the midsize grip decreasing the amount of fade or draw, if I use a normal size grip I hook it allot worse for some reason.

Of course man!! The shafts are XS but you're more than welcome to give them a few pops! Hopefully we can get into the same foursome this time.

 

[10YardDraw]

Of course man!! The shafts are XS but you're more than welcome to give them a few pops! Hopefully we can get into the same foursome this time.

The XS shafts wont bother me, I just want to get a feel for the head and look at address, these irons are gorgeous and I would be happy to give them a swing with any shaft lol. Hope we do to man, I wanna see you tear up the course. All the testers have been doing a great job in this thread, thanks for the hard work guys

 

[#Cookie]

Test Date: 09/14/2011
Testing Club: Nike VR Pro Combo irons with PX steel shaft 5.0 flex
Testing Purpose: Range session - contact & ball flight with 9i, 6i, and 4i
My Club: I am using the testing clubs but my prior set was the Cobra S9's
Ball Used: range quality - not good at all
Environment: Texas - 93 degrees, partly sunny, calm winds

Just got home from another range session. Nothing special in mind for today's session; just working on solid contact since I still have a tendency to hit fat/thin shots, etc.

Before I get into the range report, I am not sure if you saw the video that I posted on Monday after a quick 5 hole session but in that video I tried a miraculous 114 yard rope hook shot over water in front of the green and pulled it off. I was very proud of myself. Video here if you want to check it out: Nike VR Pro Combo iron testing. Anyhow, on that shot must club must have hit a tree root or something that I was not aware of as it caused some damage to my 9 iron. Here that is:

I have never done something like that before and think it probably has a good bit to do with the fact that these are forged and a bit softer than some other clubs. Just something to keep in mind when looking at forged clubs. Luckily for me, it was not on the face and will not affect anything. Onto the range session.....

9 iron
I was either picking everything dead clean off the deck or creating a nice divot. What I did notice between these shots is that the ones with a divot were probably 30% higher than the non-divot ones but all traveled about the same distance. I attribute that to actually trapping the ball rather than sweeping it. Ironically enough, I noticed the exact same thing in my 6 iron and 4 iron in this session. With the 9 iron today, I hit about 20 balls and only had one fat shot which traveled about 80 yards compared to everything else about 120 with the range balls. I think I was actually trying to trap one down and just came in way too steep. Can't say enough how much I like the ball flight - it is high without ballooning and stops on a dime into the greens.

9 iron divot pattern after 10 balls. I think 3 shots actually caused all of this while the others were picked clean.

Club face after those 10 shots. Still a tad on the toe side of center with one just way out there.

6 iron
This club treated me pretty well today. Hit 10 shots exactly with it. Almost identical as the 9 iron but did not hit any fat. Shots picked clean (swept) had a lower trajectory and the shots where I trapped (created a divot) got a bit higher with an ideal flight. This leads me to believe that I definitely need to work on trapping a tad more as I really like the flight that I get on approaches into greens with it.

Club face after 10 shots. Not too bad on the toe but a few marks up higher on the club face.

Divot pattern after those 10 shots.

4 iron
The good old pocket cavity......almost a nemesis to me at times it seems. This thing is either great or terrible - not much in between for me. Those results continued today over 10 shots. Of those 10, 6 were nice, high, long beautiful shots with just a slight fade. The other 4 made me feel like I was digging a hole and never got higher than 20 feet or traveled more than 140 yards. The 4 iron almost feels hollow to me at times which I think has to be the pocket cavity. You feel almost nothing on well struck shots and feel everything on poor struck shots.....just wish I could find some middle ground known as forgiveness on these.

Club face after 10 shots with the 4 iron.

Divot pattern after 10 shots with the 4 iron.

Not sure how much you can tell but here is the divots of all 3 clubs. Left to right is 9 iron, 6 iron, and 4 iron.

Hit the majority of the shots really well today. Definitely a move to the hybrid coming for actual rounds specific to the 3 iron but I really am enjoying the splits and blades. Playing Saturday morning and planning on playing my best yet as I can still feel a few things coming together...I am definitely still learning these after 2 months.

 

[10YardDraw]

Very nice job Cooky, those clubs are awesome looking, I really cant wait to give them a swing. I have a chunk like that out of my 6iron from a rock in a fairway bunker(also forged). Even though I have different clubs I see the exact same ball flight your talking about when trapping one compared to picking one. I usually take a nice divot with all my irons so im use to that but when I do pick one its much lower but still goes about the same distance just allot more roll.

 

[the_paulo]

I appreciate that man. I think I wrote it poorly though. IMO these irons are a players iron. A "player" IMO would have a different perspective on the difficulty level of the Pocket Cavs. I think they would find them forgiving since when they miss, they miss by very little as opposed to my miss which is way out on the toe/high or off the heel/shank which kills the distance. Still not sure I'm saying it correctly.

I get what you guys are saying and can really understand it. I guess I could offer that different perspective since my last set had the blade 3 and 4 iron. I find the Nikes more forgiving without a doubt, but the bit I can't really word correctly is that I'm unsure if I was expecting too much forgiveness from the pocket cavities, having never played an iron in this style before.

Completely agree on the feel part. It is insane the difference. Even when hit well, I think the PC's have a weird feel to them. Trampoliney if I can make up a word

Absolutely. It kinda feels like the ball melts into the face just a bit and springs off kinda like the ball was shot from a slingshot. Given Nike runs with the slingshot/power bow tech, I guess that might be the point?

I agree about the feel of these irons being springy or trampoliney (nice!). But I don't find that the feel changes as much as I think on centre hits throughout the set. For me, they all feel that way to a degree out of the sweetspot. I think they feel as if the ball comes off the face very hot!

I'll explain a bit. I originally thought that the pocket cavities felt way different at first, and in my first few testing outings I could almost swear that the feel was just not like the rest of the set. I'm starting to lean towards it being mostly about the sound. The sound that comes from the pocket cavities is different. It's an almost metallic sounding, higher pitched 'ting' compared to the splits and blades. Sure there's a feel difference, but I think the sound of the pocket cavities contributes to this.

All of this is on sweetspot hits though. The feel difference is definitely there on off-centre hits, sound or no sound!

 

[the_paulo]

Test Date: 09/14/2011
Testing Club: Nike VR Pro Combo irons with PX steel shaft 5.0 flex
Testing Purpose: Range session - contact & ball flight with 9i, 6i, and 4i
My Club: I am using the testing clubs but my prior set was the Cobra S9's
Ball Used: range quality - not good at all
Environment: Texas - 93 degrees, partly sunny, calm winds

Nice update Cookie!

Shame about the ding in the 9, but I guess it's in one of those places where you wouldn't notice unless you were looking for it. Won't affect the playability in the slightest.

Got to agree on the bit about trapping the ball. Since I've started playing the ball back in my stance a little, I've been seeing much more consistent results with both the splits and the blades. I've yet to do any great experiment with ball placement with the pockets. The test I did last week on Trackman, with the 3/4 PW shot to 114 yards really brought this home to me. I'd been talking so long about being unable to control the distance with this shot, and attributed it to the 'hot' face of the PW, but a simple change in ball position has showed that the feel of the club doesn't mess with the distance at all, and that's just an adjustment to be made in my head. I was hitting every shot within about 2 yards of each other, in very windy conditions. My confidence has totally turned around with this shot now.

 

[#Cookie]

Thanks 10yard and Paulo - it is nice to know that others see similar things as I do and it's not just in my head!!

I realize that these are not the easiest clubs to hit for a mid handicapper but for those looking at blade sets or other players irons these must be on your short list to hit. I really do believe they offer amazing feel and decent forgiveness given the style of club in everything except the pocket cavities. Would really like to see this set made in 4-GW just because I don't think too many consumers choose to carry a 3 iron much more.

Mentioned before that I have never been a worker of the ball by any means but it was an amazingly cool feeling when I pulled it off in a situation on the course when I had to. Probably just an example of what they can do if I worked on that aspect more.


Tappin' from my iPad!

 

[Chunkylover77]

So I'm gutted. I worked on my review of the Split Cavs. Had video and pics and was going to post after getting home from work. Get home and my computer is frozen. 5 hours later and it is shot. Hard drives are unbootable. Need to order some new drives but probably won't get here until next week. I am so sorry THP & Nike. Working from my wifes crappy computer now.

 

[coolbreeze]

So I'm gutted. I worked on my review of the Split Cavs. Had video and pics and was going to post after getting home from work. Get home and my computer is frozen. 5 hours later and it is shot. Hard drives are unbootable. Need to order some new drives but probably won't get here until next week. I am so sorry THP & Nike. Working from my wifes crappy computer now.

So sorry to hear that CL, if there is anything I can do to help with your PC let me know.

 

[coolbreeze]

mcook, just read and your review and that was a great read man. You guys have me really pondering these irons, as I loved them when i hit them before, and I really want to hit them again.

 

[dway]

So I'm gutted. I worked on my review of the Split Cavs. Had video and pics and was going to post after getting home from work. Get home and my computer is frozen. 5 hours later and it is shot. Hard drives are unbootable. Need to order some new drives but probably won't get here until next week. I am so sorry THP & Nike. Working from my wifes crappy computer now.

Sorry to hear about your computer CL, but I don't think you need to apologize. You guys have been cranking out awesome reviews like crazy and I don't think anyone will hold it against you if it takes a few days to get the video up. Keep up the good work.

 

[JB]

Has anybody heard from tester Beowulf here? It has been 9 days since his last update in this thread. He has been PM'ed twice and still no response.

 

[#Cookie]

Has anybody heard from tester Beowulf here? It has been 9 days since his last update in this thread. He has been PM'ed twice and still no response.

Sorry, I have not.


Tappin' from my iPad!

 

[the_paulo]

So I'm gutted. I worked on my review of the Split Cavs. Had video and pics and was going to post after getting home from work. Get home and my computer is frozen. 5 hours later and it is shot. Hard drives are unbootable. Need to order some new drives but probably won't get here until next week. I am so sorry THP & Nike. Working from my wifes crappy computer now.

Aw Chunky, sorry man. Don't worry about letting anyone down, you've been amazing in this thread - and I'm sure we can wait a few days for you to come back swinging! Nothing you could have done about this.

Has anybody heard from tester Beowulf here? It has been 9 days since his last update in this thread. He has been PM'ed twice and still no response.

Sorry, nothing here either.

 

[DANNY.P]

Nice Pics Nice set

 

[the_paulo]

Test Date: 09/15/2011
Testing Club: Nike VR Pro Combo irons
Testing Purpose: Try to diagnose why I'm hitting the split cavities mostly out of the heel
My Club: Nike VR Pro Combo 7 iron
Ball Used: Range balls in decent condition
Environment: Glasgow, 48 degrees, 5-10 mph wind.

So I made it to the range for a short session last night. On deciding just what I should test, I realised that although I'm really enjoying them, I seem to be hitting the split cavity the least consistent (going by the face of the iron). I'm constantly hitting out towards the heel. My thoughts -

1 - Are the irons too upright?
2 - Am I standing too close?
3 - Is it the club or the swing?

1. This came to mind as I was thinking about why I'm hitting out of the heel, might be a symptom of the clubs being +1 degree upright? But, the more I consider this, the more it confuses me. I'm striking the pocket cavities out of the middle (mostly), and the blades are coming out the centre too. So, I can only assume they're not too upright...can't I?

2. Spent some time last night messing about with how far away I was standing, without changing my stance width or my ball position. I find that if I tried messing with all 3, it would confuse me when trying to diagnose the problem.
I found that, as I was moving away further, I was actually getting more consistent with my heel hits! Confusing! So, back to the comfortable stance and rethink. Leads me to question 3....

3. The answer to question 1 made me concentrate on the swing. The clubs are fine in the pockets and the blades, so just need to get my head around this bit. I experimented with ball position here, moving it a little further forward - big lefts! I tried the baseball field drill to start hitting 'out' on it....even more heel hits! So, took a step back, walked back up to the ball and tried something that my father-in-law suggested. Keep my hands low. No way, thought I. These clubs are upright, they're made for my upright stance and higher hands! I'll try it anyway, can't hurt any more than the previous attempts. Blam! High ball flight, slight draw, that looks like my expected shot shape....check the club....out of the middle! I might be on to something here.

I'm still working at it, but keeping my hands a little lower really did increase the consistency of my shots with the split cavities. I got a high, penetrating ball flight with maybe a 2 yard draw on the 7 iron. Most of my shots were out of the very middle too, which is encouraging.

To get back on about the clubs and less about me, the feel from these split cavities is something I'm really enjoying. They feel just about as pure as any blade I've hit, and I've hit quite a few. Adding a little forgiveness in there too, these could be a long-term winner for me. If the weather settles this weekend, I hope to get some time on the grass range and get some video of me attempting to work these each way. I can say for sure that I can draw the blades and splits at will, and can manage a half decent fade with both. Hope to get the pockets in the mix too, just to show how versatile the whole set is.

 

[dway]

Good rite up the Paulo. It's strange that lowering your hands is what finally did it for you, but if it works, go with it. Have your misses with your previous sets been on the heel or is this something that just started with this set?

 

[TC]

I enjoyed that paulo. I like reading about what's going on in your mind and what you're working on on the range. The funny thing is, I've been going through something very similar dude.

 

[JRod]

Has anybody heard from tester Beowulf here? It has been 9 days since his last update in this thread. He has been PM'ed twice and still no response.

Have not, I hope hes ok but other than that this is disappointing.