New irons - Cure my Cynicism

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

In my experience there is a reason for that...

If you want my opinion (as you asked ) buying a £300 2nd hand set if you don't know what specs you are after is a complete waste. Fitting is invaluable and if you have the money to spend and are happy doing it I'm sure you'll find it's money well spent if you keep them for the next 10 years.

If I buy a new set they will most certainly be expected to put up with being mis-hit for a long time - my history in buying sets of irons does indeed suggest about 10yrs...

Anyway - my buddy is going to give me an hour lesson in our nice cool swing studio - and once he's done the lesson - and hopefully I'm hitting my six iron (cos that's what he teaches iron swing with) as well as I can - he'll stick a new 6i in my hand...and he is convinced I will really notice a difference - well - we'll see

 

[Bunkermagnet]

I would say what have you got to lose?
You're obviously not a hatitual club changer, so I think 10 yrs is a good time to look at possible new ones.
The i200's should be more forgiving than your current JL's, so I imagine you might actually surprise yourself and like them.
I think having a lesson first, and then havng a new club put in your hand is not a bad way to start. At least any attempt to over do it or instant swing alterations should be picked up on and put down straight away, so go for it.
I think its a good idea, especially the way being proposed.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

In my experience there is a reason for that...

If you want my opinion (as you asked ) buying a £300 2nd hand set if you don't know what specs you are after is a complete waste. Fitting is invaluable and if you have the money to spend and are happy doing it I'm sure you'll find it's money well spent if you keep them for the next 10 years.

I'll disagree with this. Have bought off the shelf and been fitted. I've just bought a set of Ping I Series irons secondhand, well virtually unused in truth, and went from a fitted green dot in my I25's to these off the shelf in a blue dot. Not noticed any difference subject to my swing variances

 

[the_coach]

is his place a main ping stockiest ?

bit odd that friend/asst pro would just recommend one particular iron head only - & an improvement tied to those clubs being an index improvement of specifically 8 to 7

would current irons be an improvement to those of 10 - 12 years ago - yep for sure (assuming whatever new irons are 'individually fit' also with new current shafts)
in that they would improve the shot results of indifferent strikes in terms of accuracy & distance over a season as the drop off of shots out of the toe side & or higher face contact is goin to be less than the drop off with the current irons - they likely goin to marginally improve any pure center strikes which again would tend add up overtime through a season rather than just being immediately seen through a hitting small number of shots

it likely only show as a very marginal improvement during the number of shots hit in just one fitting session

as to the cost of new irons over the price paid for either the original current irons or newer used irons - thats a completely separate issue - either you comfortable spending the money or not

gettin new irons though should always be through a good comprehensive fit trying various club heads that 'fit' the eye first off - then are matched to the optimum shaft for the swing motion - & the swing used during the fit should be a normal comfortable one similar to the one used out in play as opposed to trying to swing out of the shoes to the maximum effort

& a big part of the result of it would be down to taking an open mind along as opposed to a closed one

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

is his place a main ping stockiest ?

bit odd that friend/asst pro would just recommend one particular iron head only - & an improvement tied to those clubs being an index improvement of specifically 8 to 7

would current irons be an improvement to those of 10 - 12 years ago - yep for sure (assuming whatever new irons are 'individually fit' also with new current shafts)
in that they would improve the shot results of indifferent strikes in terms of accuracy & distance over a season as the drop off of shots out of the toe side & or higher face contact is goin to be less than the drop off with the current irons - they likely goin to marginally improve any pure center strikes which again would tend add up overtime through a season rather than just being immediately seen through a hitting small number of shots

it likely only show as a very marginal improvement during the number of shots hit in just one fitting session

as to the cost of new irons over the price paid for either the original current irons or newer used irons - thats a completely separate issue - either you comfortable spending the money or not

gettin new irons though should always be through a good comprehensive fit trying various club heads that 'fit' the eye first off - then are matched to the optimum shaft for the swing motion - & the swing used during the fit should be a normal comfortable one similar to the one used out in play as opposed to trying to swing out of the shoes to the maximum effort

& a big part of the result of it would be down to taking an open mind along as opposed to a closed one

He wasn't seriously specific...I'd like to think he'd aim to get me to 6 this year.

I have always played a blade-like club - so notwithstanding how 'great' any club might be - if I don't like the look of it I won't buy it, I have never played Pings - might hate how they look.

The Pro Shop is a Ping specialist outlet - but the club is part of Foremost Golf and we have links to other clubs in the area who specialise in other brands. So when, for instance, I wanted a new putter - the pro advised a Odyssey - we don't stock them - but another local club does and so he went to them for it - and got a good price for me.