Is it all in the mind?

bobmac

bobmac

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What is the difference between a blade, a progressive set, GI and super GI clubs ?

On off centre hits.....1 yard, 5 yards, 10 yards ?

If you are a good player, you can pretty much hit the ball well with anything, but....

If you are new to the game does it really make that much difference to the way you hit the ball which club you use?

Maybe the statistics prove that off centre hits are better on the GI clubs but by how much?

I had a pupil once who told me he didn't carry a 3 iron as he couldn't hit it.
I gave him my 3 iron (actually a 2 iron but didn't tell him) and after a few swings, he started to hit it quite well. When I told him it was a 2 iron, he couldn't hit it for peanuts.
All in the mind?
At the end of the day, I guess it's easier to buy a new set of irons that are easier to hit than actually to practice and learn how to hit what you've got.

If super GI irons are so easy to hit, why doesn't everyone use them?
 
Becasue SGI irons are designed to go high and straight, not necessarily where everyone wants to hit them. The sole is so wide it's very reicky even for a good player to keep them down or move the ball as required.
As you say, anyone "can" hit shots well with anything. How consistently though is open to question. The higher the handicap - generally - the more inconsistent the swing, the harder it will be to get the best from a blade or Players club.
And whilst it is easier to but SGI clubs than to practice and learn how to use something else, it still comes down to time.
We play this game, primalrily, for enjoyment. It's a hobby. It's not our living. We, generally, don't have the time to beat balls on the range every day in order to hone our swings so we can get the best from a bladed 2 iron. A lucky few can do that without much practice. I know I couldn't - consistently - hit decent shots with a bladed 2 iron given the amount of time I can devote to pratice - I'd rather play. Give me a morning or afternoon and I'd rather be out playing than beating balls on the range.
 
Give me a morning or afternoon and I'd rather be out playing than beating balls on the range.
Click to expand...

I agree, but how much difference would it make to your game if you used blades and swung them the same as your present set?
 
No idea Bob as i bought my GI set to start many years ago and still have them, i keep getting told i need better/newer/shinier clubs now so i will try hitting my winter league partners newish blades today if i get the chance and let ya know :)

I have mentioned doing this before and said buddy has warned me not to as i will just spoon them...just makes me more determined to hit them well tbh lol.
 
I am speaking as a person who hasnt been playing for a long time and has had both a GI set and a cb forged iron set. I dont see much if any difference in terms of 'forgiveness', I am thinking alot of the talk about forgiveness/sweet spots is marketing which then definitely gets in a person's head if you let it

Interesting title though, because IMHO golf is 90% in the mind....how many people on here have said that 'they were in a good relaxed-just wanted to enjoy themselves type of mood' and go out and shoot a personal best?
Perhaps more emphasis on frame of mind as opposed to size of the sole/sweet spot/technical details would reap greater benefits?

It is mostly in the mind
 
bobmac said:
I agree, but how much difference would it make to your game if you used blades and swung them the same as your present set?
Click to expand...

Real full-on MP69 type blades...?

As long as I'm swinging well then I guess not much, although the launch angles may be different and that may affect playability.
Confidence is a huge component of good golf and looking down on a butter knife, knowing that you've got a piece of metal the size of a small pea to hit to get the ball where you want it to go wouldn't fill me with particularly much!
I've noticed, having swapped from MP58's to RazrTours, that off-centre strikes are not as bad with the cavity-back club. If I hit a stinker with the 58's there was little distance and not much direction control. A stinker now still gets the ball close to the right direction and a lot further.
 
I guess to an extent Bob is onto something and I think a lot of it is down to confidence rather than in the head. Confidence plays a huge part in golf and one or two bad shots with that bladed 3 iron can really sap your confidence which in turn can place doubts in the back of your mind over every shot.
 
Have played both and to be honest, dont see much if any differance between them. Bit like the old small headed driver V the big headed ones now. Always hit my small head 9* driver really well. Took me ages to get use to the big lumps. Think it must all be in the head.
 
thecraw said:
I guess to an extent Bob is onto something and I think a lot of it is down to confidence rather than in the head. Confidence plays a huge part in golf and one or two bad shots with that bladed 3 iron can really sap your confidence which in turn can place doubts in the back of your mind over every shot.
Click to expand...

Or it could work the other way and the smaller heads of a bladed club breeds confidence
 
Because GI irons are ugly Bob, that's why!!!!

It's definately in the mind as well, if you stand over a shot thinking you can't hit the club, chances are you won't hit it well
 
Is it all in the mind? Of course, a mind unfortunately is build in to all golfers, common sense however is a option for only some models. ;)
 
It probably is in the mind. How come you can have a lesson and stand there for an hour afterwards hitting it like a god and go back the next day and not replicate it. I don't think it matters two hoots if you have SGI or blades, if the basic swing is so flawed you'll never play consistant golf.

I've been desperate to get the R11's as they are the best club I've hit (probably in the last two years) but my game is in a doldrum at the moment and the lesson I had yesterday made a radical change to my set up. It doesn't matter what I use but until this change clicks I'm not going to make any progress. The R11's are therefore back in the wish list and the money safely in my account
 
I think its absolutely in the mind, a conditioned mind, conditioned by the manufacturers and marketing bods who found that if they analysed a perfect swing on iron byron there was slightly better dispersion and higher flight with a GI club over a blade.

I've always said it, a GI club will not turn that thin, top, shank, fat into a good shot but it certainly looks slightly easier to hit at address.

Now that I didnt win the Titleist comp (need a stiff whisky) I'll be buying some blades this week
 
I have a set of blades, with stiff shafts, a set of blended irons with regular, and a set of cavity backs with stiff shafts. I play the same with any of them.

That said, I only use the hozel, the toe, and the bottom edge, so may be my judgement is not that valid.
 
Radical swing changes with the winter pairs coming up Homer my old mate, whatever were you thinking:)

I suppose I can rest in the knowledge that if ever anyone was gonna put in the practice to bed in a swing change, it's you.
 
HawkeyeMS said:
Radical swing changes with the winter pairs coming up Homer my old mate, whatever were you thinking:)

I suppose I can rest in the knowledge that if ever anyone was gonna put in the practice to bed in a swing change, it's you.
Click to expand...

Rest easy my old pal. Just a change in posture to a much more upright position without so much lean with the back and a focus on turning and not sliding. I think Geoff is away until at least next week and so we won't be playing until the 26/27th at the earliest and it'll be a seamless process by then. Hitting the range this week and I'll schop it round in the roll up next Saturday and see how it stands up. I know my main man has the game to cope anyway
 
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