Thick and sometimes Fugly

[kid2]

Evening all...
Just a bit bored...Sunday afternoon n all that...

Iv been wondering lately about all the different iron types out on the market and what people play and why...
Also im aware that asthetics play a massive part on our perception of what we like but what really gets me thinking is if we were to get over the clunky looks of the GI irons and there overbearing nature how would our games improve.....As high mid or even low handicappers excluding scratch golfers Im guessing what seperates alot of our handicaps is our short games....

After all they are geared towards the club golfer...
And lets face it for most of us working a ball left to right is a big task considering a huge percentage of players have an out to in swingpath....

Its hard keeping one shot shape under control let alone trying to hit 2 shapes......

Is there any low handicappers playing Gi irons with the wider soles and thick top lines and really getting on with them.....

Its always argued about mid and high handicappers playing players cavities and blades im just wondering what the other end of the scale is like....

Surely the shortest distance between 2 points is straight at the target so would it be more beneficial for us average players to play within or skills rather than above them....


If KJ Choi can play GI Irons then why cant the club golfer swallow pride and the machoness of having a bag full of shiney butter knives in exchange for function and form and maybe our handicaps will fall a little quicker.......


Cue the fight

 

[golfstick]

i dnt know many people who opt for blades over functional clubs, most people i know know their limitations and wont attempt it. I however had blades since i was 15 and i dnt think i would go back to something like callaway x22's

 

[brendy]

Billy Mayfair plays AP1s which have the larger heads also. GI irons are fine but you just dont get the same feedback and shotmaking with them. If you always hit a straight ball and never want to do anything else then they would be perfect. I am usually stuck behind the odd tree etc so being able to turn the ball a bit helps.

 

[kid2]

Billy Mayfair plays AP1s which have the larger heads also. GI irons are fine but you just dont get the same feedback and shotmaking with them. If you always hit a straight ball and never want to do anything else then they would be perfect. I am usually stuck behind the odd tree etc so being able to turn the ball a bit helps.

Thats a fair comment Brendy but surely if a club player has this predicament then is oly a matter of opening the stance and the face of the club for the required shot....

I understand the shot making and feedback argument but what business has a club level golfer wanting feedback from an iron....Surely the outcome of the shot is enough evidence of a bad swing!
Also and i may be wrong here but doesnt all common thinking suggest that most golfers would benefit from hitting the centre of all there greens rather than going pin hunting...Even some pro's wont do this.

Also if those clubs do hit straight shots then the chances of being behind that said tree are greatly reduced

 

[BROOKIE]

As Ive said b4 on this forum when it comes to irons we've
all got our own preferences,3 guys who I play golf with,2 use Ping irons,while the other guy plays Titleist,as 4 me
I play Mizuno mx 300 which I love,but none of the guys rate
Mizuno at all,this I dont understand.I know a lot of people
on this forumum either hate them ,or rate them.

 

[Owen_Thomas_14]

Blades for me, even though you can shape cavities i just dont like the chunkier look behind the ball. Thinking about changing clubs again?

 

[Matty]

I don't think I'd ever dare try to hit a blade - the feedback may break bones in my hands. I'm never going to get a handicap in single figures because I simply don't have the time nor the innate skill.

I'm quite happy at the moment my second hand X-18s!

 

[brendy]

Thats a fair comment Brendy but surely if a club player has this predicament then is oly a matter of opening the stance and the face of the club for the required shot....

I understand the shot making and feedback argument but what business has a club level golfer wanting feedback from an iron....Surely the outcome of the shot is enough evidence of a bad swing!
Also and i may be wrong here but doesnt all common thinking suggest that most golfers would benefit from hitting the centre of all there greens rather than going pin hunting...Even some pro's wont do this.

Also if those clubs do hit straight shots then the chances of being behind that said tree are greatly reduced

Take Callaway X14's, they get the ball into the air easily, in fact flattering to deceive. The only time you know you hit a really bad shot is when you take a massive divot or thin it. They are like toys and have so much forgiveness that it is hard to do anything other than hit it straight (ish, within reason, they only make up for off centre hits, not a bad swing).
Comparing my old x14's to my AP2's is like night and day, I still hit them fairly straight but would never have dreamed of trying to hit a 6 iron low or try to cut it with the Callies.

 

[EaseNgrace]

I much prefer the look of blades (or at least something forged, thin topline, compact head etc.), they give me more confidence. If im hitting the ball well I feel more in control of the ball and if im hitting the ball as badly as I can a cavity back isn't going to help

 

[kid2]

Blades for me, even though you can shape cavities i just dont like the chunkier look behind the ball. Thinking about changing clubs again?

No Owen.....Just something that i came across on the internet earlier....I was just interested on what the lads on this forum thought.

 

[Owen_Thomas_14]

Im shocked to hear that . I do play with a scratch golfer who plays X-14 or 18s though, he cant hit blades .

 

[kid2]

I much prefer the look of blades (or at least something forged, thin topline, compact head etc.), they give me more confidence. If im hitting the ball well I feel more in control of the ball and if im hitting the ball as badly as I can a cavity back isn't going to help

Thats what im really getting at here EnG.....
For most of us our swings are so inconsistent from one week to the next my point is why arent we playing clubs that help us more than hinder us.....

It still brings me back to my original point.....How more would we enjoy our rounds if we gave into our preferences of playing something that we like looking at rather than something that is more of an aid to us!

And i know that you can argue the point if i dont like the look then i wont get on with it but i think that if this was persevered with then surely the results would be better than what we currently play....

 

[kid2]

Im shocked to hear that . I do play with a scratch golfer who plays X-14 or 18s though, he cant hit blades .

This is exactly what im getting at Mate...
If pro's and scratch golfers play GI irons then would it not be more beneficial to a club golfer to do the same....


Then maybe all these players that have plateau'd at a certain handicap may in fact lower it even further if they were hitting more GIR instead of missing them from say 100-150 yards......

I mean how many on here can actually hold up there hand and say i hit all my GIR or FIR today but my putting left me down....
I think most will agree that with there natural shape of shot a majority will miss there GIR or Fir either left or right of where they were aiming......


My thoughts on it are that most who shoot in the 80's and 70's consistantly do so by hitting there GIR and 2 putting not by scrambling.

 

[Owen_Thomas_14]

The thing is.... this scratch golfer i play with is a scrambling god . Its the short game thats what gets people down to be honest.

 

[kid2]

The thing is.... this scratch golfer i play with is a scrambling god . Its the short game thats what gets people down to be honest.

But would a more modern set of GI irons not help him in some way Owen......
X12's are a bit long in the tooth now id say.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Having had Wilson (Fat shafts) TM (Tour Burners) and Cally (X20) I'm fairly use to the sight of a thicker topline and wider sole. To me it makes diddly difference and I'll always pick a club based on performance rather than looks. Even my TP's have a thicker topline that some clubs and I need the benefit of the cavity it has.

I haven't the skill to hit blades. I tried the S55's last year and was desperate to like them. I couldn't hit them consitently enought to ever consider getting them. There are some clubs that give you the best of both wrolds though and the MP53, Nike Pro Combo etc are both decent sized heads with some forgiveness and would allow some manouverability and shot shaping

 

[HawkeyeMS]

I hate chunky clubs but I'm not stupid enough to think I could play blades. For me my S59s are a balance between the look I want and the forgiveness I need.

GI irons wouldn't make a blind bit of difference to my game either way. I don't hit a huge amount of greens, maybe 6 a round but I don't tend to miss by much either and if you're telling me GI irons would somehow improve my GIR then I just don't buy it but then we all have our opinions

 

[lobthewedge]

Played my whole golfing life with blades, anything else just doesnt look/feel right. Wont lie, they are tough to play with but when youre on your game and hitting it sweet you quickly forget about the miss-hits and stinging fingers from the bad days.

Although, I am a little tempted to try the new nike pro combos especially for a little more forgiveness in the long irons, but thats about as thick as I could go.

 

[kid2]

Played my whole golfing life with blades, anything else just doesnt look/feel right. Wont lie, they are tough to play with but when youre on your game and hitting it sweet you quickly forget about the miss-hits and stinging fingers from the bad days.

Although, I am a little tempted to try the new nike pro combos especially for a little more forgiveness in the long irons, but thats about as thick as I could go.

Cant be a whole lot wrong there if your playing off 4 mate

 

[Owen_Thomas_14]

But would a more modern set of GI irons not help him in some way Owen......
X12's are a bit long in the tooth now id say.

Personally i would say if he drove the ball better he would have easier shots into the greens so really i wouldnt say they would help him a great deal. I also dont think all these new GI clubs have improved much over the years just the shafts that are out that makes them 'even better'. Go with what you feel comfortable with and im sure you will get your best results i would say .