Better Players/Pros opinions on Cavity Back irons for mid handicapper

[slugger]

I've got my eyes on a set of MP53s.

I've had a few hits with the six iron at the range and I hit it just as well as my current clubs (MX900) and better than a few others i tried.

Having only hit them at the range, I can't comment on how they played in real life conditions and I've read a lot of contrasting reviews wether they'd be suited for a mid handicapper or not.

So, do the better golfers here think that technology has moved on to such a degree that it's now conceivable for a mid handicapper to put these sticks into play? or would a decision to buy come back and bite me on the behind?

I've also hit the Callaway X-forged and felt that was nicer to hit than the MP53s!

 

[SGC001]

Words of Tom Wishon (The search for the perfect club)

"Moving from a muscleback to a cavity of even moderate depth...is akin to filling an 8 ounce glass with 7.5 ounces. In short you've made a quantum leap in shot forgiveness. You can further deepen the cavity...,but the real effect in shot distance from an off centre hit will end up being more like squeezing that last 1/2 ounce into the glass. In other words, not much in the way of real, visible performance enhancement."

The question is then do they fall into the moderate cavity or more?

If you have chance to try them hit a few off centre (on purpose) and see how they perform.

 

[fundy]

I've also hit the Callaway X-forged and felt that was nicer to hit than the MP53s!

Why having said this do you want to buy the Mizunos then? Go and buy the x-forged if you hit them better

 

[slugger]

Couple of reasons... I still prefer the look of the Mizunos, but mostly because it's easier for me to get access to the national fitting centre than the Callaway version. Callaway used to have a place at Kingsfield just outside Linlithgow (about 5 mins drive for me), but that's now a Taylormade fitting centre.

Not sure if I actually hit the Callaways better, but they certainly made me smile more than the Mizunos... which surprised me a lot.

 

[fundy]

I went through that process several years back. The X forged were not even on my desired list when I went for new irons, but they were so much better for me than any of the ones I had hankered after, wouldnt change them for the world currently, despite them starting to age a little.

 

[Tommo21]

Couple of reasons... I still prefer the look of the Mizunos, but mostly because it's easier for me to get access to the national fitting centre than the Callaway version. Callaway used to have a place at Kingsfield just outside Linlithgow (about 5 mins drive for me), but that's now a Taylormade fitting centre.

Not sure if I actually hit the Callaways better, but they certainly made me smile more than the Mizunos... which surprised me a lot.

Dont do a thing just yet......get in touch with Scott Gourley at Craigmillar park golf club, about an hour away from you. Scott is the best club fitter by far and will let you try many different shafts. He has the full Mizuno range as well as others. You wont leave his place until you're well sorted and he wont sell you anything if it's not right for you...trust me. 0131 667 2850 If you need more info drop me a PM.

 

[sev112]

Dont do a thing just yet......get in touch with Scott Gourley at Craigmillar park golf club, about an hour away from you. Scott is the best club fitter by far and will let you try many different shafts. He has the full Mizuno range as well as others. You wont leave his place until you're well sorted and he wont sell you anything if it's not right for you...trust me. 0131 667 2850 If you need more info drop me a PM.

I can't beat that fantastic bit of advice
But here's my story for what it's worth

i had a set of some non-name (presumably some kind of copy) perimeter weighted set in the 1990s - my first formal hanidcap was 24, and that stayed in the low 20s, high teens, when i finally bought some reasonable graphite shafted metal woods, worked out to hit them and got down to 17 without much fuss.

i used to be quite a bio-mechanical freak adn was always working out how to make my swing better. After several testing sessions, and trying various other perimeter weighted sets from proper manufacturers, I bought a set of Mizuno blades/musclebacks in about 2001/2002 ish. I believed then (i dont know whether i would these days with modern irons) that a blade iron would force me to make the swing improvements that i wanted to be a better golfer. I got down to 11.something in October 2003 (indelibly etched - the month that my daughter was born).

Since then i've become a better golfer, but never made the handicap drop that i thought my overall improvement merited. Always a few decimal points down and the same amount of 0.1s up.

3 years ago i worked out that the blades, whilst lovely, and a pleasure to play with, just weren't consistent enough over a number of rounds. I flirted with buying some big cavity backs, but in the end bought some Forged Hogan Apex FTX - blades from 8i to PW, Cavity in 3i and 4i, and a transition in 5,6,7. Beautiful beautiful clubs that up until this summer i could honestly say i loved. I added bladed Hogan U,S and L wedges that i also loved. Except that teh 3i and 4i sat in the boot of the car to make space for my Mizuno 18 and 24 HiFLis.

By a glint of large good fortune thsi summer, GM and PING donated a set of fitted PING G20s to me. Very very different from what i traditionally liked and thought suited me, and which i thought my handicap demonstrated i could./should play with. Big hollow cavities, with elastomeric weights, and big bottoms !!! 5 rounds in and the results are astonishing. Handicap is now single figures, and could have been even lower had i sunk any of the 8 putts that i left on the edge in Saturday's medal.

I can't believe how quickly i've adjusted from a "traditional" or "better players" set to a set of Super Game Improvement irons. The distance improvement is astonishing - 1.5 to 2 clubs; my bad shots are at the edge of the green rather than in the rough. Even a duffed shot goes miles. My wedges are unbelievably straight.

i recognise that i am extremely lucky to have got a great freebie and that most cant afford new clubs.

However i am seriously converted. My daughter is now 8 years old, and i am really enthusiastically working on the next target (which is a tough 7.9) but i am surprisingly confident. I've even been out pratising


To conclude - play with whatever you feel great playing with. I still reallllllly love my Mizunos and my Hogans and they are (securely) locked in my garage, where i occasionally go to have a feel of them for old times sake But if you want the benefits that you think your swing deserves, take the benefits that the design and quality production of the manufacturers can offer.

Good luck

 

[GeneralStore]

I am relatively new to the game and not a low handicapper yet, but what I can say is that I now own a set of MP53s and I was a little concerned before trying them out that they might be to much of a 'players' club compared to my set of MX200s.

My only advice is that there is alot of marketing talk going on and its difficult to see the wood from the trees with all the terms and glossy brochures etc, for me the MP53s are as easy to hit as the MX200's which were meant to be very much a game improver iron.

In fact, if you get properly fitted, and you werent before, then you will find them easier to hit.

A great fitting from an expert fitter is more important than how large the cavity is. An additional word about Mizuno is their fitting process with their swing analyzer is IMHO unbelievably good

 

[slugger]

Do Callaway have any kind of similar system?

The Mizuno fitting is also free, whereas Callaway seem to charge an awful lot of money for the pleasure up in St Andrews.