Somebody explain it to me

[One Planer]

A friend of mine (28+ capper) has just brought himself a set of MD Superstrong combo irons, convinced they will give him the "tools" to start lowering his handicap (His toss swing has nothing to do with it)

The sole on the irons is enormous, even the 5 iron looks like it has an ironing board for a sole.

Another friend plays the TaylorMade Superlaunch irons and, if anything, they have an even wider sole (I understand the Ping G10's are the same).

Can someone explain the point of such a wide sole and how it can/should/might improve your game?

 

[Alex1975]

I believe its weight low and back in the club for easier launch.


You should see the sole on the K15 irons!!!!

 

[One Planer]

I believe its weight low and back in the club for easier launch.

Cheers Alex.

Would these be classed as GI Irons then?

 

[Alex1975]

I believe its weight low and back in the club for easier launch.

Cheers Alex.

Would these be classed as GI Irons then?

Wide sole, deep cavity, large offset if so yes, or even supper GI.

 

[One Planer]

I believe its weight low and back in the club for easier launch.

Cheers Alex.

Would these be classed as GI Irons then?

Wide sole, deep cavity, large offset if so yes, or even supper GI.

They're fugly whatever they are!!!

 

[StrangelyBrown]

supper GI.

Is that because they'll put you off your dinner?

 

[Scouser]

Who cares.... They work


Sometimes

 

[Smiffy]

I think they help prevent "digging in" so promote a sweeping action. Allegedly.

 

[kid2]

Ill try my best here as im constantly reading up on gear....

The wider soles do help prevent digging into the ground for steep swings...Most players have this fault....
Add to this the offset that they have is pretty substantial compared to some other clubs...Now according to some, offset
helps players square the face at impact its got nothing to do with stopping you slicing the ball...That can still happen with clubs with alot of offset...


Offset is a design condition in clubheads in which the neck or hosel of the head is positioned in front of the face of the clubhead, so that the clubface appears to be set back a little from the neck of the club. (Put another way, offset is the distance that the forward side of the neck/hosel of the clubhead is set in front of the bottom of the face of the clubhead.)
When a wood or ironhead is designed to have more offset, two game improvement factors automatically occur, each of which can help the golfer. First, the more offset, the farther the head's center of gravity is back from the shaft. And the farther the CG is back from the shaft, the higher the trajectory will be for any given loft on the face. In this case, more offset can help increase the height of the shot for golfers who have a difficult time getting the ball well up in the air to fly.

Second, the more offset in the clubhead, the more time the golfer has on the downswing to rotate the face of the clubhead back around in order to arrive at impact closer to being square to the target line. In other words, offset can help a golfer come closer to squaring the face at impact because the clubface arrives at impact a split-second later than with a club that has no offset. Thus the second benefit of offset is to help reduce the amount the golfer may slice or fade the ball.


I think that the centre of gravity(COG) in game improvement irons is lower and deeper in the head of the club to promote a higher ball flight and to help the player that catches the ball fairly thin and low on the face to get it up and airborne faster..

Contrast this to a players cavity back or a bladed iron which have a much narrower sole and the COG is a little higher on the face....This promotes a more penetrating and lower ball flight but with these clubs you need to catch them perfect to get the benefit of there smaller sweet spot....

So to cap a shot struck anywhere on the face of your buddies clubs has a better chance of not loosing as much distance and still reaching its target as a shot hit thin or fat with a smaller headed iron....Its a win win when your learning the game....

Phew!

 

[richart]

I think they help prevent "digging in" so promote a sweeping action. Allegedly.

Now you tell me.

 

[Alex1975]

Go go Kid!!

Sadly I have come to the conclusion that it all means nothing. I don't know why it has taken me do long but... I have all the kit a guy could hope for and I play ok. I play with a guy who has a bag of clubs that is rather like my wife's hand bag, I would not be seen dead holding it!! It is all non brand and at the cheepest end of non brand. It's all big and fat and ugly, the driver has a huge dent in it and... He hits his crap ball with his cheep clubs as far as I hit my Pro V1 with my bling bling clubs. We are the same handicap and have as many good and bad shots as one another.

Fundy got him a new putter and trippled the price of his bad... No kidding.

Given the choice I would still spend all the money cos it makes me feel good and given the choice Neil would not.

Play any clubs you like... It's all hype!!

 

[kid2]

Go go Kid!!

Sadly I have come to the conclusion that it all means nothing. I don't know why it has taken me do long but... I have all the kit a guy could hope for and I play ok. I play with a guy who has a bag of clubs that is rather like my wife's hand bag, I would not be seen dead holding it!! It is all non brand and at the cheepest end of non brand. It's all big and fat and ugly, the driver has a huge dent in it and... He hits his crap ball with his cheep clubs as far as I hit my Pro V1 with my bling bling clubs. We are the same handicap and have as many good and bad shots as one another.

Fundy got him a new putter and trippled the price of his bad... No kidding.

Given the choice I would still spend all the money cos it makes me feel good and given the choice Neil would not.

Play any clubs you like... It's all hype!!

Im kind of in agreement with you Al....
The ironc thing for me is like you a bag full of decent gear as per Sig....
The best part about this for me is that off a 19 handicap i had the 2 best rounds of the 2 years iv been playing with a set of Wilson Staff FG Tour irons A nett 64 and a 65........An iron that for all intensive purposes i should have been well out of my depth using....

Iv went from them to Cobra S2's and then from those to the Ping i10's im currently using...Happy out at the moment but there is still part of me that wonders how i would have faired out if i had settled with the Wilsons....

 

[Alex1975]

I have just been looking at those Wilsons, they are nice.... Should have kept um.

Na better still you should have joined you wise brother and father and got some Mizuno!!

 

[kid2]

I have just been looking at those Wilsons, they are nice.... Should have kept um.

Na better still you should have joined you wise brother and father and got some Mizuno!!

They've absconded pal....Gone to Ping G15's and Callaway Razr's respectively

 

[RGDave]

I opted for X-18s over Berthas because of the sole business.

According to some "chat" on another forum (in America) wide-soles work very well on lush American parkland courses.

...

...


All of which might explain why they might not suit certain swings on certain terrain over here.

 

[Evesdad]

I too opted for the x18's, my last choices when fitting were the big bethas, Cleveland launchers & the x18's. I just couldn't look down at te berthas and think golf club! I could see the soles stocking out the back!