Use blades to improve your handicap....

[medwayjon]

Think it would be an interesting feature for GM to run... Give a 20 handicapper a set of better players irons for a few rounds and see how it affects their game and a 2 handicapper a set of Game Improvements irons to see if it improves their game any..

That would be a very good experiment. I would be more than up for that as I am playing "better-player" irons and doing very nicely with my iron play.

Pure blades though, trust me I know, are bloody hard work below a 6I for a high handicapper.

 

[Parmo]

Jon what HCP are you on now?

 

[Faldo_Fan]

Er that's not strictly true about top pro's all ditching blades. They did a few years ago but i think you'll find a lot are going back to them. One of the reasons NIKE has produced the new TW series is the pro demand for them which apart from the great man himself, Paul Casey, Simon Dyson, and many other NIKE staff players are now using. I have always used blades right from the begining when i used a secondhand half set of Wilson Sam Sneads to my current Mizuno MP33's. I tried to use game improvement clubs but never got on with them. I asked my teaching pro if it mattered and he said not. If you fat it, thin it, heel it or toe it it's not going to matter what type of club you have in your hand.....it's still going to be a rubbish shot!

 

[mono217]

Welcome to the forum and I prefer cavity irons for there forgivness I find them eisier to hit and shape.

 

[medwayjon]

Jon what HCP are you on now?

Officially 27 still although should realistically be 21 at worst.

 

[Parmo]

Jon what HCP are you on now?

Officially 27 still although should realistically be 21 at worst.

Bloody bandit

 

[CrapHacker]

Think it would be an interesting feature for GM to run... Give a 20 handicapper a set of better players irons for a few rounds and see how it affects their game and a 2 handicapper a set of Game Improvements irons to see if it improves their game any..

That would be a very good experiment. I would be more than up for that as I am playing "better-player" irons and doing very nicely with my iron play.

Pure blades though, trust me I know, are bloody hard work below a 6I for a high handicapper.

I think GM should take it even further.

Get a crap hacker, who can hardly hit it, give them some decent kit, and top quality pros lessons. Give then membership of a decent club, and make them do a monthly article on how the handicap reduction is coming on - lets see if the clubs inspire the improvement.

All you would need is a hacker who is crap, but willing to suffer the slings and arrows of golf and the public humiliation of seeing their monthly medal scores.

Hmmmmmmm

A hacker who is crap.....

A crap hacker, maybe.....

Well there is someone who springs to mind to be up for the sufferance and humiliation.

But only in the name of science, obviously.

 

[EchtLoon]

Welcome to the forum and I prefer cavity irons for there forgivness I find them eisier to hit and shape.

With you there Mono. For years I had been playing Titleist DCIs, still cavity backs, but not true GI clubs. Last year I took the plunge and got new irons, MX25s, defo much more Gi irons, and got from 8 to 6.

Anyone using blades that doesn't play off 2 or better, is probably putting ego before performance. imo of course

 

[HomerJSimpson]

There is a definite trend amon pros (tour and club) towards a modicum of forgiveness. My pro plays X20 tour and got to final qualifying for the open last year. I think its all about using what is best for your own game. If you struggle to hit the ball consistantly you're not going to improve with blades. If you have a decent and repeatable action blades will give you more feel and control. Horses for courses.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Anyone using blades that doesn't play off 2 or better, is probably putting ego before performance. imo of course

Of course that all depends on what part of their game is keeping them above a 2 handicap.

 

[TonyN]

Anyone using blades that doesn't play off 2 or better, is probably putting ego before performance. imo of course

Of course that all depends on what part of their game is keeping them above a 2 handicap.

Exactly the point I would of made had I seen this earlier.

The asst pro at my place plays off 5(i think) and uses blades, he whoops butt with them, he dosn't play off lower than 2 because he can't putt! Whould you suggest he ditch the blades to drop some shots? Or do you think he would benefit from a few hours a week on the putting green?

 

[Deleted member 1147]

That's the boat I'm in Tony, according to SS2 I hit fairways like a 5 handicapper & GIR like a 2 handicapper but putt & get up and down like a 20 handicapper.
Hell, I three putted from 6ft last weekend. But I managed to get the ball 6ft from the pin easy enough from 160 with my bladed 8 iron.

 

[EchtLoon]

Anyone using blades that doesn't play off 2 or better, is probably putting ego before performance. imo of course

Of course that all depends on what part of their game is keeping them above a 2 handicap.

Aye true. In fairness irons are the weak point of my game, solid putter usually, and accurate off the tee, so in my case GI irons were maybe more pertinent than they would be to most 6-8 handicappers.

 

[TonyN]

Just like the ball debate, its not set in stone by your handicap what equipment you should use. It should be decided what equipment you use by your style of play.

I use MP52's and officailly my H/C is 19. According to Mizuno, these are designed for players in cat 1 and 2. I have a short game to match most scratch players usually. I just cant putt!

 

[Faldo_Fan]

Hmmmmm does putting not come under 'short game'????

I agree with the point made by Gil.....it depends on what part of your game that's not happening.

I regularly play with a guy that plays as well as most pro's tee to green, but on the green you've never seen anything like it!
If i play against him in matchplay i never concede any putts as i've seen him miss the hole from 10" loads of times!

 

[USER1999]

No part of my game works that well, I am pretty bad at all of it. Consequently I use what I like the look of. My clubs are mainly players clubs, but if you only use the shank, toe and bottom edge, it matters not that you have blades or massive GI shovels. I middle stuff so rarely that I don't really care. Same with driver, and tbh, putter too. The heal is good, as is the toe, and heaven forbid, if I find the sweet spot, I am done for, yards past, minimum.

 

[haplesshacker]

Murph. You wouldn't think that you're talking about the same chap that won at Royal Ascot and Crowborough!

 

[USER1999]

You might note HH that I didn't say I couldn't score, I just don't middle much. I have learned to play around it.