Differences between "Players irons" & irons for "higher handicappers"?

[slugger]

I know in general that the players irons are slightly smaller in size and have a thinner top line, that they can include blade style etc. but what is it that makes them able to shape shots as opposed to their slightly chunkier cousins?

Or are all irons capable of exact same shots and it's all marketing bull to encourage us to buy new irons as we get better at the game?

 

[Wildrover]

They generally have little or no offset as well.
The playability thing means that they are easier to work the ball (fade/draw, high/low).

Higher handicap irons (or Game Improvement) by their nature are more difficult to work as they are designed to eliminate side spin and to hit the ball straight.

 

[birdieman]

With blades the clubhead weight is focused bang in the middle of the clubhead and not on the periphery of the clubhead like a cavity back.
That makes a much smaller sweet spot on a blade so if you are able to hit the sweetspot you are focusing the energy of the strike on a smaller area of the clubface so can impart modifications to the shot such as side spin for fade or draw more effectively on the ball. The differences aren't huge but enough for some players like TW to notice and take advantage of.

For 99.9% of players I reckon some kind of perimeter weighting is better.

Workability is over-rated IMO. Us lot (amateurs) should be going at middle of greens with as repetitive an action as possible and not be introducing changes in set-up to alter flight shape unless absolutely necessary. We already move it about unintentionally with our ingrained swing flaws.

I can move the ball a bit but I'll only do that if I have an obstruction like a tree in the way, not do it to try and get at an impossible flag position for example.
If the shot demands that you move the ball, you're out of position from the previous shot probably so take your medicine, develop a great short game, get a par and get out of there.

Play the percentages in competition golf which means good course management. Take the option you know you can play 8 out of 10 times, not the one you can play one in ten times.

I do think the bladey clubs of Titleist and Mizuno for example are marketed cleverly to get improving amateurs drooling and parting with cash cos they look so damn nice, when truth be told they'd probably be better off with the cavity backs they're getting rid of.

 

[USER1999]

Players clubs have a higher cg, which launches the ball with a more penetrating flight.

GI clubs have a low cg, which launches high, and this high launch over rides any attempt to move the ball sideways.

Supposedly.

 

[pitchperfect]

I used to own a set of bladed irons, and though I hacked many a fairway to pulp, I found that when I hit the shot sweetly the crack off the club face was beautiful and the ball flew out of sight. However, I find my present set of cavity-backed irons produce more consistency in ball striking and are far more cool forgiving. What I would say for blades, though, is that hitting draws and fades is easier, at least for me.