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- #51
This is so true. A loss of 10 yards on a missed irons could result in a double bogey on a forced carry, whereas on a links style course, you make a little pitch or bump and run and still have an excellent chance of saving par.
Who hits blades/muscle backs better
This is so true. A loss of 10 yards on a missed irons could result in a double bogey on a forced carry, whereas on a links style course, you make a little pitch or bump and run and still have an excellent chance of saving par.
I certainly don't hit them as consistently, but on good strikes with the right shaft match the performance is comparable. On mishits, however...let's not talk about those.
I have had fun in the past playing MB's on occasion, and have often found that I don't lose nearly as many strokes as I might initially expect. But every little bit counts, and the forgiveness I get from my player's (hidden) cavity backs with tungsten weighting to lower the CG is invaluable.
I have had fun in the past playing MB's on occasion, and have often found that I don't lose nearly as many strokes as I might initially expect. But every little bit counts, and the forgiveness I get from my player's (hidden) cavity backs with tungsten weighting to lower the CG is invaluable.
Chisag
Active member
... This is an opinion from someone that this applies to, and of course perfectly valid for you. But teaching really opens your eyes to all kinds of swing flaws that can be helped by GI and SGI irons. Over the top swings that tend to make contact far out on the toe that does not have a downward angle of attack and often has the opposite, where they attempt to hit up on the ball, is helped quite a bit by extreme perimeter weighting as well as a wider sole with more weight low. If you have a reasonably solid swing with reasonable consistency your opinion of how much an iron helps is radically different than those that struggle to hit good shots, which in turn causes a lack of confidence that causes even worse results.
... Forgiveness is severely under rated by many on golf forums imo. Index isn't always a good barometer for what type of irons any given player should use because great, good, average, poor and very poor ball strikers all need different levels of forgiveness. And while any given iron may not make much difference in scoring as an 19 index, poor ball striker may score very similar with AP2's or AP1's, their enjoyment of the game as well as their confidence can be much higher with AP1's even though they may only shave 1 or 2 strokes off their scores.
I see this debate a lot on many forums! People for and against blades/mbs. If you play more golf, practice more, take lessons, and get properly fitted, you should play better and therefore, lower your score! If shooting lower scores makes you happy, congratulations. If you like to use blades, go for it! If you see a "butter knife", and your behind instantly puckers, don't use them! I have yet to see how someone else's clubs in their bag, affects my game! Chances are you were either given/enheireted clubs when you were younger and you were grateful to have them or you went out and spent your hard earned money on the clubs you wanted. Either way...go outside...play golf...have fun...congregate with others...enjoy your day. There is an old saying in tractor pulling....Run what ya brung...and hope ya brung enough!
I played my first set of MB's last year (Z965). I was chasing more consistency in my ball flight. I suspected that I wasn't getting enough spin in some situations and was experiencing some extremely long carry distance in the worst possible time. I found that this particular set was no harder to hit than any other set of players CB's assuming your swinging reasonably well. In fact, I think I picked up a few yards. At the end of the day I was finding that my draws started over drawing and my fades were exaggerated as well.
I decided to go back to a players CB in the Apex Pro and noticed a much straighter ball flight. But, I picked up even more yards. There is such a thing as hitting your irons too far. I am finding that I am really needing to work on my 3/4 swings to get my yardages covered.
At the end of the day, if you can put a good swing on any club and make reasonably solid contact, MB's are worth a look. I am finding that there are pros and cons. I like the thin sole of the MB and solid feel. But, I have to pay a lot more attention to my swing path as I found it was a lot easier to miss a green when you don't put a good swing on it.
For those of you who have the option to do a real outdoor fitting and can actually see the turf interaction before making a financial commitment, I envy you. Hitting off a mat can be deceiving and so much of the playability of an MB has a lot to do with how the sole interacts with the turf.
I decided to go back to a players CB in the Apex Pro and noticed a much straighter ball flight. But, I picked up even more yards. There is such a thing as hitting your irons too far. I am finding that I am really needing to work on my 3/4 swings to get my yardages covered.
At the end of the day, if you can put a good swing on any club and make reasonably solid contact, MB's are worth a look. I am finding that there are pros and cons. I like the thin sole of the MB and solid feel. But, I have to pay a lot more attention to my swing path as I found it was a lot easier to miss a green when you don't put a good swing on it.
For those of you who have the option to do a real outdoor fitting and can actually see the turf interaction before making a financial commitment, I envy you. Hitting off a mat can be deceiving and so much of the playability of an MB has a lot to do with how the sole interacts with the turf.
- Thread starter
- #56
I returned to the golf shop where I hit the used Cobra cb/mb 7 iron last week. This time, I took my Cobra FTB 7 iron so that I would have a comparison. Here are the numbers. Honestly, when I really pured the FTB, it went 5 yards further, but the average ball speed with the blade was higher than the players distance iron, which leaves me very perplexed, given that the distance iron (FTB) 7 iron is 30 degrees and the mb 7 iron is 33 degrees (I had both measured while at the store). The FTB shaft is a stiff C-Taper Lite (its Japanese equivalent), 110 gram shaft. The mb shaft is an $ Taper x stiff, 130 gram shaft. The spin is a little lower than I would expect, but the descent angle (not shown in the photo) averaged 50 degrees, so the ball will stop.
So, having now hit this iron twice, the objective evidence says I hit this mb better than the players distance iron. Again, this is so perplexing to me. I shouldn’t be hitting it longer on average. I shouldn’t be hitting it more consistently. I certainly didn’t think my swing speed justified an x stiff shaft. I have never had difficulty launching the ball. Maybe I am the unicorn who just fits better into this particular iron/shaft.
So, having now hit this iron twice, the objective evidence says I hit this mb better than the players distance iron. Again, this is so perplexing to me. I shouldn’t be hitting it longer on average. I shouldn’t be hitting it more consistently. I certainly didn’t think my swing speed justified an x stiff shaft. I have never had difficulty launching the ball. Maybe I am the unicorn who just fits better into this particular iron/shaft.
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For me, playing on courses where nearly every hole has a false front, having that little bit of extra speed on a slight mishit is nice. Especially on one of the par 3s I play regularly, which sits on top of a hill that you can end up in the bank if you're short, and being long is absolute death since the green slopes back to front to collect the ball. I feel like I could fire at the pin a bit more aggressively when I was playing the CF16 than I could with the Honma players cavity.
A lot of the discussion on GI/SGI irons in here has focused on one thing - speed. But that's ignoring another aspect of these iron designs that helps a lot of people that play these irons is launch. Some people, even those who strike the ball relatively consistently just don't get the ball up in the air. An SGI iron will help them do that and get the most out of their iron set.
At the end of the day, I say play what makes you happy. One of the best parts about golf is looking in your bag and liking every club you see in there. But at the same time, I'm scratching my head at the people acting like there has been zero innovation in irons in 25-plus years.
I am assuming this is off a mat? Off turf you may get completely different results. Maybe not. Just a variable to consider.
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I don't, at least anymore. I started the season with playing Razr X Forged. I ended it with Nike Vapor Speeds. I'm a lot more confident in them anymore so unless I somehow get better again, I'm sticking with something that'll help me when I slightly mishit it.
My 12 year old though, he actually plays better with blades and MB irons. His HC is slightly higher than mine, but that's not due to ball striking. It's because he doesn't hit it far enough yet to compete. He routinely beats me in all other phases of the game, the exception being he's usually at least 50 yards behind me. Sometimes even 100 yards. He also isn't quite as good at putting but his 50 yard in wedge game is fantastic. Once he shoots up a foot and can put the ball out there? I'm a goner.
My 12 year old though, he actually plays better with blades and MB irons. His HC is slightly higher than mine, but that's not due to ball striking. It's because he doesn't hit it far enough yet to compete. He routinely beats me in all other phases of the game, the exception being he's usually at least 50 yards behind me. Sometimes even 100 yards. He also isn't quite as good at putting but his 50 yard in wedge game is fantastic. Once he shoots up a foot and can put the ball out there? I'm a goner.
DG_1234
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I believe the only true method (for knowing which equipment one strikes consistently best) is for him/her to play the clubs during rounds of golf.
Strikes off synthetic mats I think are of little value. Even shots at a grass driving range , due to the flat lies and driving range balls, do not reveal much. But on the course, playing from a variety of lie types and wind conditions, one learns about the shots he/she produces with the clubs.
This is truth. But, there are a lot of folks out there that don't have access to some luxuries that are probably taken for granted by others. I know because I'm one of them!
I play at a public city owned course. They can order anything that you want but stock nothing. Their "fitting" set is an old set of Ping ISI irons that they can use with a lie board to get your kind angle figured out. Nothing beyond that.
I envy anyone who has access to a green grass fitting. Even a large selection of demo 7 irons to bring in the course would be nice.
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DG_1234
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What about using ebay to buy and sell used equipment ? I think if one is careful not to overpay for items he/she can buy-try-sell lots of equipment without losing money.
That's where I do most of my iron purchasing. I can't afford to drop $1k on a set without knowing it will work. Buying a set from a year or two ago can cut the cost on half or less. I paid $450 for the Z965's I played and sold them for about $350. I took that and purchased the set I have now. I know my tough specs from a Ping fitting years ago. Things may have changed a little, but it's a good starting point.
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eBay is where it's at for cheap iron sets. Bought two sets of Mizuno MP15's with Px LZ Shafts new in plastic from an authorized dealer for 225.00 each last winter. Granted they're a couple years old but we're still brand new. 3-PW so not even a reduced size set.
Brand new Vapor Speeds (4-GW) with a new Vapor Speed driver for around 250.00.
If you're not opposed to playing a generation or two back you can find some screaming deals. Bought Dad a set of Wilson Staff (D200?) 4-GW for under 200.00 brand new.
You do have to look out for counterfeits for sure though, but you can find some screaming deals. Several clubs I've bought new I've turned around and sold slightly used for more than I paid for them, including any listing fees and shipping costs. Most of the time if I take a flier on something I just want to be able to break even or close to it.
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- #65
That surely is true, but not often possible without making the purchase first.
I love the feel of the blade or muscle back when you make contact with the ball and you barely feel the movement of the ball off the club face. The ability to work the ball right to left and left to right on command. The look of the thin line on the ground behind the ball, I have always played blades and will as long as i can, I am 61 and still play them as my club of choice.