Too good a club for the average Joe....

[stanleyboy]

Hi Guys and hopefully someone in or who has been in my position,

I do not have a handicap as yet 2 out of 3 rounds completed and cards signed, 86 and 88 on a par 72 so im looking at roughly 16ish I think aslong as I shoot something similar and dont have a mare on Thursday.

After some deliberation over whether or not to keep or sell my MP33's I decided to stick with them and over the weekend started to bond with them on the course.

Some people say blades are not for the average golfer (which I clearly am). But what makes an average golfer, I strike the ball well and hit reasonable distances, should I persist or do you think it was a one off and I will fall out with them again very soon?

Anyone else been in a similar GI cavity back vs Blade dilemma recently?

Thanks
SB

 

[RGDave]

I do not have a handicap as yet 2 out of 3 rounds completed and cards signed, 86 and 88 on a par 72 so im looking at roughly 16ish I think aslong as I shoot something similar and dont have a mare on Thursday.

Your 3rd card will be irrelevant unless you do better than 86. 86, par 72, depending on SSS you might find 14 coming your way. You'd be off 13 max at most courses I reckon.

It's the BEST card, forget the rest.

 

[stanleyboy]

Ah I see thanks for that, I thought they took an average as Im not really clued up on how it works. Well If I play well Thursday I may get even lower.....Enter the nerves!

 

[USER1999]

You can play with whatever clubs you like. It's up to you. Are you making the game harder by doing so? Yes.

You might think you hit the ball well (that said how well, well for a 16 handicapper, or well as in better than your mates, or well as in could turn pro if I could putt).

Maybe you do hit it well. Most pro's probably think they hit the ball pretty well too. Most don't use blades though. If they don't, there must be a reason.

It's up to you. Most golfers try blades out at some stage, and most realise it is a passing fad, and their next set are cavity backs again.

 

[patricks148]

Only trouble with blades of this type are if you have an off day the ball goes nowhere. I ‘m currently using MP 32’s and hit them pretty well, but the main reason for using them is I’m going though swing changes at the moment and the hosel of the MP 32 is far less forgiving than the MP57 I have.

 

[stanleyboy]

"Are you making the game harder by doing so? Yes."

@ Murphthemog.
I strike the ball well by most standards I think. Yes putting leaves me frustrated and with higher scores than I feel my iron play deserves but its not all about iron play golf is a mix of many components, good iron play alone does not make a single figure handicapper!

If Im honest I dont think they felt any better than my Ci9's. I think I have just answered my own question there. Golf is a hard enough game as it is no need to make it harder!

 

[jammag]

I have blades as well, the nike tw version. They are my first proper set since I started playing regularly, and I can tell you now I get on well with them and would have no hesitation in having another set and I only play off 19 at the moment. Most blades now are designed to give you a bit more forgiveness than how blades used to be.

You may find that sometimes when you miss the sweetspot it doesnt go as far or you get a little vibration up the club but you make sure you wont do it again so it makes you concentrate on a proper swing rather than what you can get away with.

Ignore what the pros use as they have them made for there swing and constantly adapted to suit. If you get on well with them then why risk a change when you may go back to using what you got on best with originally?

 

[USER1999]

@jammag,
Again, for a 19 handicapper, you might be hitting the Nike VRs fine. As your h/cap comes down, so does the margin for error, and these little mis hits, where you aren't getting the full beans make all the difference. At the moment, you have a shot a hole to use to rectify mistakes. Once you get to single figures, it is not so easy (just because you get to single figures doesn't automatically mean you have a beter swing).

 

[0]

"Are you making the game harder by doing so? Yes."

@ Murphthemog.
I strike the ball well by most standards I think. Yes putting leaves me frustrated and with higher scores than I feel my iron play deserves but its not all about iron play golf is a mix of many components, good iron play alone does not make a single figure handicapper!

If Im honest I dont think they felt any better than my Ci9's. I think I have just answered my own question there. Golf is a hard enough game as it is no need to make it harder!

I played Blades for years and still have my Titleist Pro blades which look like a sliver of thin metal compared to todays clubs. However I went to Mizuno T Zoid Pro's which look like blades from the players perspective but are more forgiving as a small cavity back, I'd recommend that route especially if your hitting blades well then your swing is sound, I have single fig friends that cant hit my blades to save their life

 

[jammag]

@jammag,
Again, for a 19 handicapper, you might be hitting the Nike VRs fine. As your h/cap comes down, so does the margin for error, and these little mis hits, where you aren't getting the full beans make all the difference. At the moment, you have a shot a hole to use to rectify mistakes. Once you get to single figures, it is not so easy (just because you get to single figures doesn't automatically mean you have a beter swing).

I didnt mean it as in you will get a better swing by using blades, it was more the comment of you get used to playing your own clubs knowing what works and what you can do with your own equipment. I have tried cavity backs and never felt as in control for some reason but thats personal preference and no club suits all.

I understand that when your handicap comes down then the margin of error is less but I meant I would feel comfortable going for these again. I think it comes from playing other sports I want something that will help my good shots rather than defend the bad ones. I wouldnt buy a cricket bat that kept all my shots on the floor and would wipe out the being caught, I would rather a bat that will help me clear the ropes and still risk the being caught.

Everyone is different and I would try other clubs to see if it suits you, just dont go on the opinion that cavitys will automatically help you as its still your swing.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Personally I think you only have to look in an increasing number of tour pro bags and see how many areusing a cavity of some sort to see that for most of us blades don't make sense. Those that have posted saying that off 16, 19 or whatever they strike them comparitively well need to quantify who they are comparing them against.

If you are mid to high handicaps whilst you may have good ball striking days, are you really, really getting maximum benefit even off the sweetspot? When it isn't going well how much are you losing compared with the larger sweetspot and forgiveness of a cavity back. I wouldn't dream of going anywhere near a blade unless it was some sort of combo set and the short irons were the only blades. Even then I'd question whether I was getting maximum efficiency hitting a bladed 8, 9 or wedge

 

[granters]

I'm still using my blades but am about to upgrade in the next 12 months. I love my blades, and i hit the ball well, used to play off 5 and am getting back to that form again now.

But i know for a fact that i'm not getting the benefit out of my clubs these days. They feel great, but when i'm hitting a 7 iron and my opponents are hitting 8 and 9's (and i'm not a short hitter) then i realise it's time to call it a day with them.

Technology has moved on so much that you can buy a cavity club that to all intents and purposes plays and feels like a blade, but has the forgiveness and extra distance too. It depends what you want from your game really. I want to be back to low singles by the end of next year, and if i continue with my current clubs i won't do that. They cost me 1 or 2 shots a round purely in lost distance from slight mishits.

 

[Alex1975]

with golf being such a mental game as long as you are not a total donkey, and clearly you are not... if you look down your club at address and think "that looks nice, I feel I can hit that well" then you can.

On miss hits you will lose some distance and maybe your long irons will need some good swing speed to get the ball moving but I think if you enjoy them then your 90% of the way there.

That said, I was talking to Drawboy the other day and he said to me that "the only way you will ever be as good as you want to be is by cutting out the errors" This is now my mantra. So if you think you make errors on a regular basis because your not making good contact then you may want to look at something else.


All my clubs are players clubs or better players clubs. On a bad day I have no business using clubs like these but on a good day its like sex without a condom or riding a motorbike without a helmet and fill you with confidence. I am a little more aware of my 5 iron than my 8 iron but for anything around 130y and in I don't want a big ugly cavity and wide sole and nor do I need it.


Maybe a mixed set would be good? keep the blades in the short irons and get some Fli-Hi or MX longer irons.

Have you looked at anything else prior to making this post?

 

[patricks148]

Anyway it’s a matter of taste, what works for you might not work for others everyone is different. I know guys off 2 and 3 who both have beautiful swings and both use great big hulking Callaways. They could both use any irons they liked with probably the same results, they just happen to like the ones they have.

I also take the benefit of custom fitting with a pinch of salt anyway. If you are a reasonable ball striker with a repeatable swing its worth it but not if you are a 20 something handicapper with no two swings the same.

Equipment is not going to make you a better golfer and isn’t the average handicap now the same as it was when everyone was using blades and persimmons woods?

I feel too any golfers are too caught up with equipment and trying to get a quick fix. Working on your game and playing and enjoying it would make more difference than changing your irons every month.

I’m shite 9 handicapper not cos of the irons I have but my swing.

 

[USER1999]

Was it the same cat?